Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini was born in Los Angeles, California in 1995.
You probably know her better as Doja Cat, and she is the quintessential Californian. She gives a cool, multitalented vibe.
A couple of months ago, she released her latest album, Vie. It is, in my opinion, unexpectedly excellent - one of my favorites this year, and a return to real pop music. This is one of the album tracks that got a music video - a video with more than a little debt to North by Northwest. It is indicative of how excellent the whole album is.
I could not do Minnesota and not give a nod to Prince Rogers Nelson - whose middle and last name you may not have known.
From his semiautobiographical movie Purple Rain and album of the same name, this song opens side 2 of the album. It was clearly meant to be a (slower) dance song, but, in an unusual move for the period, there is absolutely no bassline. It's unconventional, with just guitar, drum machine loop, and synthesizer.
It's also a song I hated in 1984. All these years later, I get it a lot more, and it's one of my favorites by him.
As genius as the simple song was, the live version - this was from Japan in 1990 - may be even more dynamic.
Gosh, it was tough to choose what to go with when it came to Minnesota.
Soul Asylum, a band I was listening to long before their breakthough Grave Dancers Union was released, and that album came out in 1992, a vulnerable time for me. I was in a position in college where I knew who this hot band getting all the MTV airplay was - and trying to convince them that the earlier stuff was better....
.... which wasn't true. Grave Dancers Union is arguably their best album, so it's great that it was the one that broke through. This was the first single - and a huge hit song. Plus, it was boisterous while remaining accessible, which was something I liked about the band.
I know, when I start posting these things, I always get asked "but, Tony, has your sister seen them live?"
Why yes, she has!!!! And they still sound great!!!
This is our 1900th post on this blog, and I can't think of a more appropriate song.
"Dance This Mess Around" was the third single from Athens, Georgia band The B-52's 1979 debut album. Written by the whole band - which at the time was a five-piece - the lead vocals on this song were taken by Cindy Wilson.
So, why did I choose a 1980 live version of this song to lead the post? Because it very quickly became a live performance favorite. You can see just how passionately Cindy Wilson performs the song. It builds slowly and relatively quietly, but builds louder and faster as she expresses heartbreak over having no one to dance with. The rest of the group picks it up and cheers her up, and it works! They don't even get a chance to do all sixteen dances!
There were a few years in the 1990s where Cindy Wilson left the band for awhile (her brother, Ricky, also a band member, had passed away in the mid-1980s). During her time away, the band did NOT perform this song.
But when she came back, they performed the HELL out of this song.
So, here we are, in 2025. Do you think it's still a live favorite, even as there are only three members left (Keith Strickland no longer touring with the band)?
Yes.
The question you SHOULD be asking is if my sister saw them live - but you know the answer.
Cindy Wilson calling herself out for being out of key is utterly charming - but also, the out of key desperation is the POINT of the song.
I remember the first time I heard the White Stripes (from Detroit, Michigan - which of course is today's state).
October 19th, 2002. Technically, it was probably October 20th, in the early morning hours. My ex-wife and I were in bed and watching SNL. We saw the musical guest was someone we had never heard of, and she wanted to turn it off before the musical guest came on.
I insisted we not do that. And, for once, I won one.
This is what we were greeted with.
She didn't like them. I LOVED it. (This may have been part of the reason she's my ex-wife now) I was completely into this, and wanted to hear more, so I that week went seeking out more of their music - including the studio version of this song, with lyrics by Jack White and music by Jack and Meg White.
For the uninitiated, yes, those are their government names. Jack was born Jack Gillis but took his wife's name when they got married in 1996. And yes, Meg was that wife, and by this point, they had been divorced for two years - clearly amicably, but the band didn't last forever.
The destruction projected in this video tells me that it was a very personal song for both of them - it is speculated that it was about the end of their marriage, although neither has confirmed or denied that.
Edit: They were literally just inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which I did not know when I wrote this post. Congratulations!
Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. are a hip-hop group from American Samoa (although they were based in California for most of their career). This was probably their best known song, a collaboration with San Francisco band Faith No More. An early hip-hop/rock fusion song, it was a sign of things to come for music - a preview of later acts such as Limp Bizkit.
I know exactly what you're thinking right now if you know this band.
"Shirley Manson is Scottish."
She is.
The other members of the band are NOT - and Butch Vig is from Wisconsin. Garbage was formed at his studio in Madison, WI.
That's true. It was called Smart Studios, and it was founded in 1983.
So, of course, with three producers and a hell of a dynamic vocalist, you know they put on a great live show..... and they did. This was from a festival in 1996.
But I'm sure ten years later, at Glastonbury 2005, they slowed down.... right?
Wrong.
Don't be fooled by this 2017 performance, guys. Keep listening. They, again, bring the angst and energy.
They are currently on a tour that they are alluding to being their last.... in 2025. But, let's be clear - they're not stopping the touring because of their energy levels. It's economic conditions. But I think they're not done yet.
