Last week, we inducted our fourth Hall of Fame artist - INXS. For the rest of this week, I figured we could revisit the other three, because each of them had deeper catalogs than this little blog could tap into during just one week.
We start with the original, Katy Perry, who has also been the most active in releasing music. This song came soon after her HoF induction, in 2013. Co-written by Ms. Hudson, the song has elements of pop, but also trap and hip-hop. Lyrically, it's full of clichés - cold, unfeeling, and still full of passion despite the clichés.
The song ended up being one of her biggest hits - and gave Juicy J his first #1 in the US.
Did you know that "Thriller" did not win Best Video at the MTV Video Music Awards?
No, no.
That honor went to "You Might Think", a video that was one of the first to use computer graphics. The song, written and sung by Ric Ocasek, is a straightforward love song - and the song was one of their biggest hits to date, so the sweet lyrics resonated with a worldwide audience.
A lot of you are travelling home today from your Thanksgiving festivities. Please travel safely.
I decided to provide you with a classic Velvet Underground song for your travelling pleasure. In its best known version, it is a haunting instrumental classic, written by Lou Reed. It gives the feeling of riding into the sun - not into the sun per se, but more into the sunSET to start anew, brighter.
In this rare vocal version, Lou Reed punctuates that feeling with words specific to New York City, which is what a lot of their music was about - but it can apply to any city. Or even small town.
"I was writing lyrics like 'Baby Don't Cry' and 'Beautiful Girl' and lyrics just about how wonderful it is to have something else in your life besides yourself to worry about and think about." - Andrew Farris
This, the fifth single from Welcome to Wherever You Are, was also penned by Andrew Farris, this about his infant daughter. His quote says everything that needs to be said there.
(by the way, if you're looking for the third and fourth singles, we posted them previously in 2012 and on Monday)
This song, the second single from Welcome To Wherever You Are, was wholly written by Andrew Farris as a sweet love song for his six year old daughter, who, not shockingly, he missed when he went on tour. Backed by the Australian Concert Orchestra, the song is about choosing love, even when far away, in the face of adversity.
As has become customary for this little blog that could, when there's a Hall of Fame artist, we give you a little extra, for the loyal readers.
Thus, "Heaven Sent", the first single from what was considered something of a comeback album, the band's eighth (save for their live album, Live Baby Live) and in my opinion, their high water mark, Welcome To Wherever You Are.
This is a high water mark on an album that is already a high water mark. It's a pretty typical INXS song - Michael Hutchence frequently goes to the megaphone vocal trope, as he does on this song, and it's straight-ahead pop-rock - but it is the band at their happiest. They clearly enjoyed making this song, which is lyrically about the beginning of a life-altering love.
This was a song that became a live staple throughout the 1990's for the band. At their last show ever, in Pittsburgh, they performed what has become my favorite version of this song. Hutchence sings the song with more passion and energy than even the original recording - or any pther live version. The rest of the band matches his vigor here.
I had way too much material for just one Hall of Fame week. This is why I'm posting on the weekend.
And I couldn't ignore the biggest INXS anthem of all. Initially not a big hit song, this has become one of their most played and most popular. And it's for good reason - the song is so uplifting and sweet. Opening with one of the most iconic synth solos of the 1980's, it erupts quickly into a full band showcase.
The song is about a love that was lost and found again. I like to think of it as the reclamation of a relationship after a breakup, or maybe finally finding that love after failed attempts. The resolution of happiness and execution of bitterness in the lyrics is referring directly to that love, and the pleas to not change are a wonderful reminder and acceptance to love those who we love just as they are.
Of course, because Michael Hutchence is no longer with us, there were a finite number of times he performed this song. This performance, from September 27 1997 in Pittsburgh PA, is sad in hindsight, knowing that it was the final time he'd sing the song - he would be dead exactly two months later. Still, even though it's only audio, you can hear his stage presence, even in his exhaustion.
In 2011, Kirk Pengilly and Andrew Farris - not typically lead vocalists - took the vocal duties for a slower, deeper version of this song they co-wrote. It is a fitting tribute.
