Because Pia Mia was clearly the only artist I could choose, and I have been wanting to post about this real outlier of a single of hers.
She was discovered by Babyface on YouTube.... who helped her get a real record deal and even a hot 100 hit.
What she lost was her creative control, so she left Interscope Records and started self-releasing music. This song was less hip-hop and more country.... and I gotta say, it suits her. Her voice is huge.
When I say her voice is huge, perhaps it's better if I feature a live version of the song....
And R. City are from there, hailing from St. Thomas. Sure, they do record in Atlanta, but they are from the USVI.
I think that's pretty cool.
This song is by far their biggest hit, hitting the top 10 in the US and worldwide. Toni Tennille gets a songwriting credit because the chord progression in the chorus is straight out of 'Do That To Me One More Time", no joke.
Anyway, the song itself was NOT written by Adam Levine, so that's something.
They also don't need Adam Levine around to perform the song - which the duo co-wrote as well. In fact, I think it flows better without him and retains more of a reggae flair.
I have been holding this song back for a long while. I go back and forth on it, honestly. I don't always love the song, but I always like it. And, as I write this, I am in a love period.
Tori Amos grew up in Baltimore, and since today is Maryland day, I felt it was time to uncork it.
This was one of Amos's biggest hits - a breakthrough of sorts in the UK. She had bigger pop hits but no song did better on alternative radio.
And it's about.... cornflakes? No, "cornflake girl" is slang for someone close to you who betrays you - specifically used around the practice of female genital mutilation. And now you know.
The song itself is something of an upbeat waltz and you're going to be tapping your toes to this song for the rest of the day. You're welcome.
And she made two videos for the song - her insistence. She WANTED two DIFFERENT videos. The US version featured Amos driving a truck full of women.
The UK version is much better. It's kind of a reverse Wizard of Oz situation where Dorothy goes to hell.
Not shockingly, her 1997 performances of the song live sounded just like the record. Well, not identical. It's a little different. But the flair and sound are still there.
And, kind of shockingly, the 2015 performances also sound like the record, but with glasses.
She actually seems to perform it with more personality here.
She does still perform, by the way. Here she is in 2023, still sounding incredible.
At this point, both Tanya Donelly and Fred Abong had left the band, leaving only Kristin Hersh (Tanya's stepsister.... or half sister. It's never actually been clear to me. But they are sisters) and David Narcizo, both of whom you see in this video. (Leslie Langston, their original bassist, did return to do some bass work).
What resulted is arguably the worst reviewed Throwing Muses album - Red Heaven. This is not me saying this (and, truth be told, Allmusic tells me it's Hunkpapa which I love but I understand the bad reviews). I think Red Heaven is a revelation and I'd rank it 2rd in my list of their albums (House Tornado being inarguably better).
Go ahead. Debate me in the comments.
The band released two different versions of this single, and I own them both somewhere. Or I lost them in a past move. I don't know. Anyway, it's a fun song that is probably as close as they came to a pop hit.
I think it would be really intimidating to meet Kristin Hersh in reality. I had the chance to in 1995, and I regret not doing it because I found it quite intimidating.
But if you watch the interview and the intense solo performance of the song, you might understand where I'm coming from. It's intense, and as someone who has seen Throwing Muses live twice and will do so a third time if given the opportunity, yeah. She's intense.
Yeah. This is gonna be a two post day. Sorry. But I couldn't choose between two sisters again.
Belly is a fully, 100% Rhode Island band. The four original members went to high school together in Newport, Rhode Island. And, well, they had some degree of success in the 1990s after leader (and my favorite doula) Tanya Donelly's stints in Throwing Muses (more on that in the second post) and the Breeders (more on THEM later this month, probably).
In fact, the debut album by Belly was supposed to be The Breeders's second album. Early demos of Star are clearly labelled "The Breeders". Tanya went in a different direction, and this song wasn't included in those demos - which may explain its unique sound.
To be clear, by all indications I have seen, Tanya didn't get kicked out of either previous band. She left both to focus on Belly of her own accord.
Although Fred Abong - also ex-Muses - was the bassist when the song was recorded (and therefore, his is the bass you hear), he had left the band soon after the release of Star and was replaced by Gail Greenwood by the time this video was made. That's her playing bass in the video. Thankfully, Greenwood is also from Rhode Island, although she had relocated to Boston when she was recruited.
By the way, Belly did break up.... but they got back together in the mid-2010's. Here they are - the Gorman brothers, Donelly and Greenwood - performing this song in the KEXP studios in 2018.
Lest you think I'm lying about them being back together, this is them in 2024.
I want you to focus not on Tanya - who is wonderful but please. I've said enough - but on Gail Greenwood. She brings JUST as much energy as she did in the 1990s.
And, yes, I know. The Lonely Island are from California, largely. But we're not here to talk about them today.
We're talking about Michael Bolton, and, while I find most of his music to be dreck, this collaboration he did with The Lonely Island is absolutely fantastic.
He did not, however, write the sexy hook. In fact, it took the group some doing - and eliminating most of the profanities (the Scarface reference near the end couldn't be sanitized). But what came out was a classic weirdly big hit song.
And by the way, a lot of it was recorded using Skype. No word on whether or not he was in Westport when he recorded it, but that's where he lives to this day.
Of course, Michael Bolton isn't known for his club bangers. He's known for piano-driven ballads, and yeah, he does a solo version of the song.
It kinda works.
But it almost works better live, with all of them together. Yeah, it's the first part of an Emmy medley, but still. It's incredible. How did Michael Bolton make such a quick change?
Massachusetts? Probably the easiest choice of the whole list. You see, I grew up in a town called Enfield, CT.... which is right on the Massachusetts border. I grew up going to concerts in Northampton and Springfield.... throughout the Pioneer Valley.
And in the valley full of pioneer, a band formed in the 1980s called the Pixies. And I heard them and enjoyed their music. This was the first song of theirs I heard - it was fuzzy and noisy and weird and deep.
I have been lucky enough to see the Pixies live. I saw them in 1991 in Springfield, MA, in a pretty large music hall.
This performance was from the same tour, and it's pretty much exactly as I remember it sounding.
Even though Kim Deal left to be a full-time Breeder, the Pixies are still around and still touring, and of course they still perform this song.
And it still sounds just as dark and noisy and weird and great as it always has.
Maine was one of the hardest states for me to do. Not a lot of nationally famous musicians have come from Maine.
Patty Griffin is the anomaly - hailing from Old Town, ME - who has made a name for herself as an excellent folk and gospel singer. This song is from her 2010 Grammy Award-winning album Downtown Church, and it was literally recorded in a downtown Nashville church. Written by Griffin, it is an absolutely beautiful song, and no, you don't have to be a believer to believe this song is excellent.
Despite not being the most popular artist, Griffin is held in high regard and is seen as influential. Here she is on Austin City Limits performing this song with the legendary Emmylou Harris.
So yeah. Here's a second band from New York NOT from New York City.
Saratoga Springs, in fact. OK, fine, Greenwich, which is closer to Glens Falls - but trust me, they're all close together.
I have had the opportunity to see Phantogram live, and they were spectacular. That was on their tour supporting their third album, Three, which this song opens. That album catered to rock radio a lot more than their other work has, so it has a slightly harder edge, which works.
All these years later, they still perform this song live, as they did last month in Rochester. They still sound amazing performing it.
Joywave are from Rochester, NY, the city I lived in for a quarter century. I don't live their anymore, but that doesn't mean I don't love Joywave.
And there was no fucking way I was featuring a band from New York City. Fuck that. Just, no.
This song, from the band's debut album How Do You Feel Now?, is one that they often use to end their shows...... and they frequently play it twice in a row. It, and not "Dangerous", is absolutely their signature song. The song is scary and in-your-face - by design. That's how it's supposed to sound.
It received a lot of modern rock radio airplay, and is just a great song.
I mention they frequently play this song twice in a row during their sets.
In this particular set, they played it SEVEN times. In the band's words:
On June 21st, 2018 at 6:30 PM Joywave took the stage at PNC Bank Arts Center (now known as The Joywave Center For Performing Arts) in Holmdel, NJ. Dozens of fans were packed into the 17,500 capacity shed, eagerly awaiting the evening’s headline performers. As the band walked out on stage to roars of silence, one devilishly clever audience member suggested the band perform “Free Bird” that evening. But with roughly 17,400 seats reverberating his request throughout the Greater Holmdel area, it was a bit difficult to hear. The following video is an uninterrupted feed of 6:30 PM -7:00 PM ET on that fateful day. A simpler time. The power. The musicianship. The Destruction of Holmdel, NJ. Enjoy.
Yeah. I listened to all of them. They're all solid. The crowd, however, was a little pissed.
Yes, I on purpose used a really obscure way to put these in order, mostly because I wanted to reliably mix in the territories and not put them all in date of admission or acquisition, because that's a boring list.
Which is why New Mexico is 3rd, and that brings us Beirut. Despite their Santa Fe roots and Middle Eastern name (yes, they are named after the Lebanese city), their sound is a lot more Balkan than Dessert Southwest. And by "their" sound, I mean his - it is largely the brainchild of Zach Condon, although he clearly has a lot of support in his efforts. The world music feel is one that has been met with pretty widespread critical acclaim....
.... and this sound is a bit leaning on the side of cacophony, and yet, still seems melodic. Please, enjoy this American music.
Now, listen to the live version of this song. I believe that Condon's voice comes through a lot stronger, and the cacophony feeling is much reduced.
All in all, this is a great song with a lot of horns.
Y'all were expecting reverse order of admittance into the Union, weren't you?
Nope.
Today is Puerto Rico's day to shine.
And, for today, I decided to go with Circo. They are in that category of "best band you've never heard" DESPITE their multiple Latin Grammy nominations.
Anyway, they rock. And you should have been listening to them already. But we're giving you the opportunity to do so now.
Happy Autumn! Today is the Autumnal Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere.
If you're in the Southern Hemisphere, Happy Spring, but I'm not making two hashtags.
Anyway, I wanted to do something special this autumn - and that is feature artists from the United States, one state and territory at a time. Because yes, I am including territories.
#AmericanAutumn
I did choose a non-logical order that I will probably reveal at some point, but for now, we start with the most logical beginning, Hawaii, or, if you prefer, Hawai'i. The state consists of all but one of the islands of the Hawai'ian Archipelago (Midway Atoll is outside the state), and is a volcanic state.
Poi Dog Pondering, a bunch of street musicians from Honolulu, with a mi of modern and traditional instruments, are the perfect representatives of the state. Starting as a solo project of Frank Orrall, the lineup grows and shrinks, currently sitting at about 17 members.
This song was from the band's 1989 self-titled debut album and introduced the Hawai'ian sound to the rest of the world.
I mentioned their lineup grows and shrinks. Because it does.
Here they are in 2021, in New York City, performing their 1989 song. And sounding different and great and neat.
