1 May 2025 (Special Edition) - Jill Sobule - I Kissed A Girl

This 1995 song by folkie Jill Sobule was her biggest hit, in both the US and Canada.  It was on my short list to be posting this song very soon.  

Unfortunately, her untimely death today in a house fire at age 66 hastened that for me.  

In 2009, in response to Katy Perry's song of the same name, Sobule said, and I quote: "Fuck you Katy Perry, you fucking stupid, maybe “not good for the gays,” title thieving, haven’t heard much else, so not quite sure if you’re talented, fucking little slut."   No, she really said that.  

She didn't actually harbor any ill will against Katy Perry.  She was kidding.  Perry's song sparked new interest in Sobule's.  

Anyway, this song was sweet and earnest and kind, and here it is. 

Jill was touring until, no joke, this week.   She was literally scheduled to perform in Denver tomorrow.  This is a performance of this song from February of this year.   Her storytelling is pretty damned amazing.  

This is a sad day for music, and she will be missed. 

1 May 2025 - Technotronic - Pump Up The Jam

Well, I had a significant power outage yesterday.   Absolutely huge.   I was personally in the dark for a day and a half.   

And I had grand plans for an *NSYNC post yesterday, too!  Oh well.  Next year. 

Today, I'm dealing with the aftermath, so I felt like I'd pull out an easy one from my youth.  "Pump Up The Jam" was Technotronic's first and biggest hit. The brainchild of a couple of Belgian producers, the vocals were provided by Congolese-Belgian artist Ya Kid K.  She does NOT, however, appear in the video. 

The song was a massive worldwide hit in 1989, hitting #2 on the US charts and pretty high elsewhere.   

29 April 2025 - Hugh Cornwell - Another Kind of Love

The former leader of The Stranglers released an album in the late 1980s, and it was a pretty good pop-rock album that never really went anywhere.  

This was the biggest hit from that album, and it was a hit because of the video. This song, which came out two years after Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer", was directed by avant garde artist Jan Švankmajer, in his only forray into music video (the Brothers Quay, who made the "Sledgehammer" video, were influenced by him).  

Anyway, the song itself was a minor US alternative hit but also, it's a fun song. Cornwell brings the same Stranglers bravado he always had. 

Cornwell does not tour much, but he does perform this song, still.  Here he is performing it live, and playing guitar.

28 April 2025 - James - Laid

Let's talk about the only song by James that you know, "Laid".

OK, maybe not, but this song represents their only trip to the Billboard Hot 100 - and that was after suffering some serious attempts at censorship at the hands of MTV - who wanted to change a pretty bold line that you certainly know about her only able to do something when "she's on top" *drums*

The band didn't even take the song seriously - they were going to use it as a B-side. However, producer Brian Eno convinced them otherwise, and it was the best decision they ever made. Released in late 1993, it ended up bringing them great success both in their native UK and overseas. 

The song is about getting laid, people. 

By the way, more than three decades later, James is still together and still performing. This performance, from last year, still sounds as great as it always did. 

25 April 2025 - Charlotte Lawrence - Why Do You Love Me

Sometimes, I am surprised at the stuff I have not posted yet.  This is not one of them.

You see, Charlotte Lawrence has skated under my radar, and it's been only recently that I discovered her. Which is weird, because her dark pop sounds hits my wheelhouse hard. This 2019 single - from her 2021 EP Charlotte (release schedules are so weird these days) - is a phenomenal example of this. It's fun, and yet also dark. 

Lawrence is also an actress - she has a recurring role on the AppleTV series Bad Monkey, not coincidentally developed by her father, Bill Lawrence (her mother is actress Christa Miller, who you either know from Cougar Town or The Drew Carey Show, depending on your age, and Charlotte looks an awful lot like her mom).  There. I said it.  Now let's talk about the music.

Actually, I don't have a lot more to say about the music except that it was written by a long list of people, including the artist and Charlie Puth. Also, the video is pretty fun and playful, in spite of the dark lyrics.

She also released an entire acoustic version of Charlotte, including this song, and I can't lie - I like it.  It's a darker song with the extra production missing, but it still hits. 

24 April 2025 - Chairlift - Met Before

A couple of days ago, I featured a solo artist that emerged from a previously posted band.

Today, I go in the other direction.  

Before Caroline Polachek was a solo artist, she was in a band called Chairlift.  Polachek founded the band with Aaron Pfenning in 2005, and they lasted more than a decade before breaking up in 2017. 

This song, the second single from their 2012 album Something, is fun and sonically interesting. At this point, Pfenning had left the band, but early member Patrick Wimberly was still there. Polachek and Wimberly co-wrote this song, which has hints of an 80's sound (the band mentioned OMD and Art of Noise among the influences on this album). 

There's a lot of record of the band performing the song live, but my favorites are the stripped down versions, like this one for Belgian radio, where it's just a guitar, keyboard, and voices.....  

... or this duet version that even removes the keyboard. Polachek and Wimberly had a nice harmony that really pops here. 

23 April 2025 - Los Lobos - Shakin', Shakin' Shakes

This song by just another band from East L.A. was the lead single from their third album, By the Light of the Moon, in 1987.

It did not chart, but it DID get a lot of MTV airplay, and I have to say, it's what really got me into the band, ahead of their hitmaking years. Co-written by Cesar Rosas (the vocalist) and T-Bone Burnett (the producer), the song has a rockabilly/Latin feel - which makes sense given the songwriters. 

On an album that is somewhat bleak, I always found this song to be a bright breath of fresh air, even as a 15-year-old music fan in 1987. 

Guys, the band is still together, and the core of their lineup is still together, all these years later.

And of course they perform this song live, still.

And of course they still sound great!!