The Cure were a leading alternative band in the late 1980s and early 1990s. They didn't really get a lot of mainstream success..... until this single in 1989 vaulted them into the Billboard Top 10.
It's not like they altered their style to get that hit. The song was someone morose-sounding, but its subject matter.... well, it was a love song. This wasn't a typical Cure song, because it was lyrically upbeat, and not trying to be clever - it was just a straightforward love song.
And, it's one of the most beautiful, lyrically simple songs ever written and performed.
In hindsight, MCA Records did a really REALLY bad job marketing Kelly Willis. She recorded three albums for them, plus there was a compilation (which included her fantastic version of Dave Alvin's "Little Honey").
Take this video, which was a minor country hit in 1991. The song is an emotional powerhouse, about an imminent breakup, with some significant snark included. How many wardrobe changes does she need for that? Because there are no less than six of them, and probably a lot more.
Still, the video does NOT detract from the great musical performance that is typical of Kelly Willis.
Yeah, I felt guilty about yesterday's post, because there are two Stella sisters and they are both fantastic.
If you are - were, I guess - a fan of the ABC/CMT television show Nashville, then you already recognize Lennon Stella. She and her sister Maisy played sisters on the show - and are sisters and musicians in real life. We featured them several years ago on Totally Covered.
Well, these sisters, from Ontario, Canada, like so many of our greatest actors, still perform together, but they also have solo careers in their own rights. Here is one of the great singles from the elder Stella sister's solo debut, Three. Two. One. Perhaps surprisingly, her music isn't generally seen as country music, but more quiet pop music. This song's video features a lot of home movies featuring both Stella sisters.
The Stella Sisters got way more than their share of musical talent. Her older sister has the more current record as of this writing, but Maisy Stella has multiinstrumental and vocal talent in spades.
This was the younger Stella's debut single, her take on the theme for the Dreamworks series Spirit Riding Free. It is an uplifting, happy song, and her youthful voice (she was 13 when it was recorded) is perfect for the feeling the song is trying to convey.
I know it's technically a cover - she took over the existing theme song in season 3 of the show - but it's here. Don't @ me.
This song was recorded in 1969 by The Clique, who hailed from Austin, TX. Their sound was a little trippy, and this song was originally a B-side.
The song is a little combative. The narrator is expressing his feelings for a girl, who happens to be with someone else.
The Clique were not at all keen on recording "Superman", which they did not write (Gary Zekley and Mitchell Bottler get the songwriting credits). They saw it as a bubblegum pop song, but also, they wanted a hit, so, there you go. The music industry was no less seeking sellouts in 1969.
For my final entry in WGP:Revisited Week, I decided not to revisit one of my posts, but one of Scott's. Why did I choose this song? Two reasons.
1) Scott did a short post about it and I thought it deserved a better write-up
2) I was pretty disrespectful of it in the comments.
When this song was released in 2003, it was widely touted as a sellout - a label that Phair EMBRACED. She wanted a hit. And, with this song hitting #32 on the Billboard Hot 100, she got a hit. But the reason she wanted a hit was not your typical reason, which she explained to Vice on the occasion of the 25th anniversary reissue of her debut Exile in Guyville:
"Despite all the horrible things people were saying—I didn’t even think they were horrible, I honestly thought I was doing therapy. I would do interview after interview and I’d try to talk them down off the ledge because they were so mad. I just had to calibrate, explaining that I was on a major label, that’s where I got left, and I had to sink or swim and so I swam. In actuality, promoting that record exposed me to far bigger audiences and I learned how to get my sea legs on stage and learned how to do a ton of things. Those were heavy times but that was really fun, to be part of a band, and that camaraderie, and our tours were so great. I just experienced so much that I would never, ever give back. So I don’t have regrets."
In essence, this "sellout" caused a spike in sales of her three previous albums, which means more people were exposed to her pre-"sellout" music.
The song itself is one I have gained an appreciation for in my old age. It is a sweet love song that isn't afraid to use the word "fuck". This version of the video does censor that.
Here she is, performing a completely acoustic version of the song. Sure, it sounds less like a sellout on acoustic guitar. She did shy away from the F bomb in this version.
