9 February 2023 - Bad Brains - I Against I

Little known fact: Bad Brains started off life as a jazz fusion band. 

Sure.  I hear it.  

The title of this song, the title song from their 1986 album, is actually a reggae reference - "I and I" is a phrase used in reggae to signify one's relationship with God.  Although Bad Brains was - is - clearly a punk band that I first learned about on the pages of Thrasher magazine in my days as skate punk in the 1980's (yes, I still have my board), their influences include reggae, jazz, and funk.  

Anyway, if this is the first time you're hearing Bad Brains, enjoy.

8 February 2023 - Tina Turner - We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)

In 1985, Tina Turner was well into her musical comeback, already having the record for oldest person to ever score a #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1984 ("What's Love Got To Do With It").  Other opportunities were falling into her lap.

One of those was to star in a movie - Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome - the sequel to Mad Max and The Road Warrior (if you aren't reading this from the United States or Canada, that second movie was Mad Max 2, and I apologize for the confusion). The film did modestly at the box office, but sparked a #2 hit that would be one of Turner's biggest hits.

The song, a power ballad, referenced the movie and the post-apocalyptic future of 1997 directly.  (That's right.  This futuristic look in the video is what 1985 filmmakers thought 1997 would look like). It would be a bigger hit than the movie, and received a lot more critical acclaim, too, including several award nominations.

Throughout her career, Turner has continued to perform this song..... and dress up when she does.  Here she is in 2009, pushing 70, still belting this song hard and huge as she always did.  

7 February 2023 - Prince & The New Power Generation - 7

It's been a LONG time since we had Prince on here.  

So let's just go with what is arguably his most ambiguous song in his catalog.

7?  Seven of WHAT?  Seven names of God?  Seven deadly sins?  Is he just into numerology? Either way, it's clearly heavy on the religious undertones.  Also, in the video, he kills past versions of himself - even Purple Rain-era Prince, people.  Also, his wife dances with a sword on her head, which is pretty badass.

The song has middle Eastern and funk influences, with a heavy drum and bass.  This unusual song made it to #7 on the pop charts, mostly because of Prince's intellect and savoir-faire.  

(Yes, of course we chose to post this today.  Makes sense, right?)

6 February 2023 - Ava Max - So Am I

I pretty much hated pop music in my teens and twenties…well with very few exceptions.

In 2009 I turned the corner so to speak and fell head over heels for the one and only Kelly Clarkson and her song “My Life Would Suck Without You.” I actually hid the fact that I owned All I Ever Wanted for longer than I would care to admit. It was a matter of punk rock pride. Like I, a huge Archers of Loaf and Quicksand fan, would dig the first American Idol???

(For the record, I have never watched that show…even if I have friends who have done well on it…I don’t watch The Voice…anymore either…but an old friend did well last season).

So that takes us to the somewhat present. XM Radio’s Hits 1 is always on in my wife’s car. I dig it. Especially when Albanian-American artist Ava Max comes on. Her tunes are so reminiscent of Clarkson’s “rockers” but not as wholesome. “Kings & Queens” and “Sweet But Psycho” are her two big songs off her first album, but there’s something about “So am I.” It has that Clarkson vibe but throw in the empowerment of Pink and Katy Perry (two artists we here have paid tribute to in the past) and we’re talking gold.

3 February 2023 - Ice Cube - It Was A Good Day

I know we all think of "gangsta rap" as super angry and negative.... but Ice Cube, one of the godfathers of the genre, shows us that it doesn't have to be.  

This single peaked at #15 on the POP charts.  The POP charts, man.  It's his biggest hit to date...... which, given that he's also the godfather of Daddy Day Care, is likely to hold. 

The song was a reflection of Mr. Jackson's life in 1992 - it was pretty good.  He was well known, on top of the world, and not slinging constant disses back and forth with N.W.A. anymore.  Funny thing is, some people have tried to pin-point the exact "Good Day" in the song.  Note: there wasn't ONE.  It was a compilation of a lot of good days.  

2 February 2023 - Living Colour - Glamour Boys

Why this New York City band used British spelling is no mystery to me - guitarist and principal songwriter Vernon Reid was from London.

This 1988 single - a top 30 hit - was a biting rebuke of those who were caught up in fashion and lifestyle. The best part?  Produced by Mick Jagger - from a little British band himself - who was instrumental in getting the band signed to a record deal.... a fact the band found bittersweet.  In the 1980s, there weren't all-black rock bands getting major label deals, but the fact that Mick Jagger happened to see them live and "endorsed" them got Living Colour signed.

Still, I'm grateful.  This unique, funky band got real MTV airplay and attention thanks to a chance meeting with a rock and roll legend.  

Let's get to this song.  The verses are clearly reggae-influenced, with an "island" feel.  The chorus, however, ramps up the heavy and rocks hard.

The band briefly broke up in the 1990's, but got back together.  Here they are in 2019, performing this song. Personally, I don't think Corey Glover has lost a bit of his vocal power.

1 February 2023 - Aya Nakamura - Baby

Most of my readers are from the United States.  So, you've likely never heard of French/Malian singer Aya Nakamura.  In Europe, though - she's huge, without a doubt. Nakamura isn't her real last name (she lifted that from a character on the TV show Heroes, which I can't recommend enough unless you want to watch it past the first season.....).  Her fame grew out of, shockingly, her YouTube channel.

This is the lead single off her latest album, DNK, released on January 27th.  Written by Nakamura herself, it is a pretty standard R&B song both musically and thematically.  It just happens to be in French.  So, I encourage you to give it a listen, and I hope you like it as much as the last French-language artist I pushed down your throats.