Stacey Swain joined the band Q as a lead vocalist, and they took her initials as a return favor. Then, of course, she sort of took off on a solo career - in the same way that Gloria Estefan was still the lead vocalist of Miami Sound Machine, even though they stopped getting credited - and took the original name with her.
So, yes, this is Stacey Q before she was Stacey Q. Although I very much enjoyed Stacey Q - she keeps trying to make comebacks that don't go so well for her - I enjoy Jon St. James's harder edged keyboard sound here. That's right. I was enough of a fan to know the names of the band members.
If you have Spotify, we now have The Official Wicked Guilty Pleasure Blog Playlist. You'll find a Stacey Q version of this song there - rerecorded after SSQ was done in name - as well as almost every song Scott and I have posted thus far.
I adore Aimee Mann. Over the last 10 years I've seen her perform a handful of times. Happy to say that I'm seeing her again tonight! So let's go back to Aimee's "care free and light-hearted 80s days" in 'Til Tuesday.
Welcome to Non-Guilty Sunday, where we wash the guilt away with an artist who isn't going to make you feel so bad about liking them. I open with two songs that have been stuck in my head ever since I did that Shakira post.
Mala Rodríguez. At times, she has gone by La Mala - her name means bad. As in, bad-ass. From Spain, she has come to America to work with the top names in hip hop, a musical genre for which she obviously has a lot of respect and understanding. She also worked with Nelly Furtado when she was going through her Spanish language phase, but we've all made mistakes.
It wasn't her birth name. That was María. Please don't make me type any more accent marks.
This first video, from 2010, is for a song that won the Latin Grammy for Best Urban Song. The video is one of those few that actually enhances the song, despite not really having anything to do with the lyrics. It is also pretty bad-ass.
Mala's fashion sense is nothing new, as can be seen in this 2006 video for an earlier song, Nanai. Clearly, her music has matured since this time, but you can more clearly see her energy and her respect for hip hop. In fact, I think it's much easier to see her energy from this video than in her later work. The other thing that is clear in this video? The flamenco influence on her performance style.
Update: here's a working live video:
I discovered her music through a curling friend of mine from Schenectady, Victor Rodriguez, and his Spotify playlists, which correspond to two of her albums. He knows his movies and his curling, and he has excellent musical taste. He's also on Twitter, and you should follow him. I give him full credit for making me a huge Mala Rodríguez fan.
I know that 90% of you aren't going to understand these lyrics. I think both of these songs transcend language barriers, as do most of Ms. Rodríguez's songs. I just hope we hear more from her soo
It was a huge hit, and it made a lot of year-end "Best of" lists. With the caveat that they should stop at just one. They didn't, of course. Still, it's poppy, but catchy. In all honesty, there were four rather talented singers in this group. OK, three and one marginally talented one. And Victoria Adams*.
* I know she's Victoria Beckham now, but at the time of this song and this video, she was still Victoria Adams.
My Friday's at Wicked Guilty Pleasures are going to be dedicated to the wickedest of all guilty pleasures -- 80s hair metal. All I need now is killer name for the day (something like Hair Metal Fridays, but less lame...any help is appreciated). Anyway, lets get the party started with one of the Sunset Strip's finest -- RATT!!!
Muchos de ustedesestán viendoestemensaje,pensando que nuncahan escuchado estacanción.Que usted tiene.Sólo que nohan escuchadoesta versión.
Yo estudié español(literatura),e hicealgo de trabajode la escuelade posgrado enlingüística españoladel Ohio State, donde tambiénenseñó español101 comoun socio dela enseñanza de postgrado. No puedo hablar español como solía hacerlo, pero yo todavía lo amay lo entiendo.Shakira es una delas más grandes estrellasdel mundo de hablaespañola, y una delas pocas quehan atravesado con éxitoenen elmundo de habla Inglés. Shakira cruzótan bien, ella fue capaz de liberarcon éxito, en los Estados Unidos, un álbumen español queterminó siendo unaalta (Fijación Oral Volumen 1).
Estefuesu primer singlecantado enInglés, y fueun éxito.Más o menos.Estano es la versiónen idiomaInglés.
OK, I'll be nice. Here it is in English.
A lot of you are looking at this post, thinking that you have never heard this song. You have. You just haven't listened to this version.
I was a Spanish (literature) major, and I did some grad school work in Spanish linguistics at Ohio State, where I also taught Spanish 101 as a graduate teaching associate. I really can't speak the language like I used to, but I still love it and understand it. Shakira is one of the biggest stars of the Spanish speaking world, and one of the few who have successfully crossed over into the English-speaking world. She crossed over so well, she was able to successfully release, in the United States, an Spanish language album that ended up being a hit (Fijación Oral Volumen 1).
This was her first English-language single, and it was a hit. Well, sort of. This isn't the English-language version.
For those who are so inclined - here is the English-language version, titled Whenever, Wherever. It's pretty much the same song, right down to Shakira feeling lucky that her breasts are small and humble so you don't confuse them with mountains - 'Suerte' is the Spanish word for "lucky". I just don't think it's quite as good as the Spanish version.
I had this whole speech prepared about how much I enjoy the bratty pop stylings of Avril Lavigne, but it pretty much went nowhere (it sucked). Then I realized that with today's induction, 40 percent of my posts so far have been about Canadian artists. Can liking Canada be a guilty pleasure? I kid. Of course it is. I kid again. Here's a fun video from her debut album. (editor's note: we here at Wicked Guilty Pleasures LOVE Canada and it's wonderful people). (editor's note No. 2: except for Jim Carrey).
