Dave just wrapped up another chapter of Turntable Talk. This was my contribution:
It is time once again for Turntable Talk hosted by Dave at A Sound Day. For over three years now, he has offered up a musical topic each month for me (and other participants) to write about. This month’s topic is “It’s About Time.”
Dave’s instructions are simple. “Tell us about a song about “time.” It could be one using the word “time” in the title … and there’s no shortage of them… or one that actually somehow explores the passage of, or idea of time.” While this is a topic that is fairly easy, I can’t help but wonder if there will be duplicate submissions.
For example, right off the top of my head I came up with Time in a Bottle from Jim Croce (which I have written about before. Then Time After Time from Cyndi Lauper came to mind. This was followed by Cher’s If I Could Turn Back Time and Huey Lewis’ Back in Time. Before I could shut my mind off Styx Too Much Time on My Hands and Semisonic’s Closing Time entered my mind.
I immediately discarded those, because I am sure that the other participants would choose one of those. So I dug a little deeper and tried to think of a song that might not be someone’s choice. I narrowed it down to No Time by the Guess Who, Just in Time by Dean Martin, Crying Time from Ray Charles, Time is Tight by Booker T and the MG’s, and my choice.
I chose a song written by Herman Hupfeld! Now everyone knows Herman, right? No. Not really, but I am sure you will know the song. It is a song that was written in 1931 for the Broadway show “Everybody’s Welcome.” It was first recorded by Rudy Vallee in July of 1931. It would be covered by Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Frank and Nancy Sinatra, Natalie Cole, Carly Simon and Bob Dylan (Just to name a few).
While the song was recorded a few times after Vallee’s version, it was 11 years later when it would really get noticed. In 1942, the song was sung by the character “Sam” (portrayed by Dooley Wilson) in the classic film – Casablanca. As Time Goes by is heard throughout the film in short musical breaks.
RCA Victor wanted Dooley to record a version of it to be released to the public. However, a musician’s strike happened between 1942 and 1944, so he was not allowed to do so. Instead, the record label re-released the Rudy Vallee version, which went on to become a number one record (11 years after the original release).
Wiki states: Like many later singers, Wilson in Casablanca starts with “You must remember this, a kiss is still a kiss…”, singing only the verses and refrain (“As time goes by”). He entirely omits the intro that put those “fundamental things” into context: “This day and age we’re living in gives cause for apprehension, With speed and new invention and things like third dimension. Yet, we get a trifle weary with Mister Einsten’s theory, So we must get down to earth, at times relax, relieve the tension. No matter what the progress or what may yet be proved, The simple facts of life are such they cannot be removed.”
The song was voted No. 2 on the AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Songs special. The show commemorated the best songs in film.
The version I chose to feature is by a multi-talented comedian, actor, pianist and singer. His voice was instantly recognizable on radio. He was a guest on many television shows and had some success as a singer. He is, however, probably best known for … his nose. His nickname was “the schnozzola.” I am, of course, talking about the great Jimmy Durante.
The song itself is beautiful. Every artist who has covered it brings their own special take on it. There is something that really hits me when I hear Durante’s version. Despite that raspy voice, there is a sincerity that makes it just a bit better than the other versions. I’m not trying to diss the other versions, but none of them give me goosebumps when I hear them. Jimmy’s version does. For some reason, his voice blends so well with the string arrangement.
Before I post the song, you know I have to say it – “Play it again, Sam!”
In a live version, Jimmy adds the intro that many leave out.
Thanks again to Dave for asking me to participate and for hosting this feature. I’m excited to see the choices of the other writers!
Homer “Boots” Randolph was born on this day in 1927. Boots Randolph was a Nashville sax player who performed solos on Roy Orbison’s “Mean Woman Blues” and Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree.” He also played on many of Elvis Presley’s songs. He was often called Mr. Sax.
As a solo recording artist he placed four singles in the Top-100 between 1963 and 1967. The most successful of these was “Yakety Sax”, which reached #35 in 1963 and stayed on the charts for nine weeks.
The song had some influence by the Coaster’s hit, Yakety Yak, however, it will forever be connected to a British comedian. The song was popularized on The Benny Hill Show, where it played when Hill was being chased around by policemen and angry women. Because of its use on the show, it has appeared in many comedic skits on other shows over the years.
American composer and conductor Marvin Hamlish was born on this day in 1944. He is one of a handful of people to win the “EGOT” (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards).
Marvin’s first film score was in 1968 for The Swimmer. He also wrote the score for The Way We Were, the theme music to Good Morning America, and the score of the Broadway Musical A Chorus Line. He was also conductor for symphony orchestras in San Diego, Buffalo, Dallas and Pittsburgh. It is obvious to say that he was musically busy.
He may be best known for adapting the music of Scott Joplin for the movie The Sting in 1973.
The Entertainer is a rag that was composed by Scott Joplin, the first classically trained black composer to become a household name in America. The piece was copyrighted December 29, 1902; copies were received by the Copyright Office, January 8, 1903.
Joplin died in April 1917; although his place in the history of contemporary music was already secured, he predicted that he would not receive the recognition he deserved until 25 years after his death. He had no Idea that his music would go on to chart success over 50 years later!
Marvin Hamlisch on adapting Joplin’s tunes for The Sting:
“From the beginning, [director] George Roy Hill’s idea had always been to use the ragtime music of Scott Joplin. I was well aware that there were other musicians who knew the music of Scott Joplin far more intimately than I, men who had popularized Joplin’s famous piano ‘rags.’ But I knew how to write for film, marrying music to the length of each scene, and I could also play the piano ‘rags’ – those Juilliard piano lessons were about to pay off.
The real fun came for me when we started recording the soundtrack. We didn’t have a full-size orchestra, as with The Way We Were, but we had eight or nine great musicians, with yours truly at the keyboard. We spent hours making ragtime; the piano player in me had found a long-lost brother in Scott Joplin.”
Hamlisch’s rendition peaked at #3 on the Hot 100 in May 1974. It hit #1 on the Adult Contemporary charts.
My apologies for the late post today. Normally I post earlier, but the past few days we were a bit busy.
This weekend my daughter had her dance recital. The recital features groups of all ages and is really fun to watch.
Dress rehearsal
This recital was divided into three “themes.” The first was about the water – surfing, the beach, the ocean, etc… The second was more serious tap, ballet, and jazz. The final section was a salute to “the greats.”
Ella dances in the first and third sections with her group. Her first song will make the Beatles fans who read Happy – Yellow Submarine. All the gals hopped into a bathtub on wheels that was made up like a submarine. As the song starts to play, they are wheeled out and exit the sub. They moved to the front of the stage and do their dance. It was priceless!
Yellow Submarine
Saluting the “greats” was a fun theme. Ella’s dance was saluting Betsy Ross with You’re a Grand Old Flag. I’m not sure if there is supposed to be a kick in it, but she did one! She looked like she is having so much fun.
The other dancers saluted Babe Ruth (Centerfield – John Fogerty), Henry Ford (Life is a Highway – Rascal Flatts), Nat King Cole (L-O-V-E), Albert Einstein (Weird Science), Dolly Parton (9-5), The Big Band Era (Sing Sing Sing), Gene Kelly (Singing in the Rain), Alexander Graham Bell (Pennsylvania 6-5000 and a few I can’t remember.
Grand finale
She had two shows – one last night and one this afternoon. Last night, a boy from her preschool class was there to watch and even brought her flowers! Honestly, I thought I had more time before boys started wooing my daughter!
I didn’t want to post without permission, so I had to cover her friend’s face. She was surprised to see him.
Andrew’s speech therapist, who we’ve become very close friends with, was also there with her daughters. Ella calls them her big sisters. They brought her a beautiful butterfly corsage and a baby rose bouquet.
With Miss Christa and her girls
She had to wear the wrist corsage when she woke up today. She put her flowers in a vase. They are next to her bed. On her nightstand.
Her flowers
Today, Nana and Pa brought Aunt Nikki to the show. Andrew stayed the night there last night, so they brought him to the show.
A two hour dance recital and a three year old don’t work well together. We brought his tablet, but he didn’t last long on it. He was kicking the poor woman’s seat in front of his. He also kept asking if it was over.
I wound up bringing him out to the lobby so he could run around at intermission. They had a feed of the show on the monitors in the lobby, so I got to watch her second performance on TV.
Aunt Nikki, Nana, Pa and Andrew with Ella
I’m glad Sam and I got to watch it without interruption last night. We are so proud of her.
Beaming with happiness
They featured two seniors from their studio during the show. One of them had been dancing there since she was Ella’s age. Perhaps she’ll keep on dancing. I hope so!
One of the books I was anxious to read was the follow up to Jesse Sutanto’s Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers. I was finally able to secure a copy of it. The first Vera book had me laughing out loud at times, and I really enjoyed it. I hoped the second would live up to the first one.
The book takes place about a year after the events of the first book. It is a book that I feel you can read without needing to know much about the first one. There are references to some of the events of the first book, but they do not distract or take away from the story of the sequel. So before I go on, here is the Goodreads synopsis:
Vera Wong is back and as meddling as ever in this follow-up to the hit Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers.…
Ever since a man was found dead in Vera’s teahouse, life has been good. For Vera that is. She’s surrounded by loved ones, her shop is bustling, and best of all, her son, Tilly, has a girlfriend! All thanks to Vera, because Tilly’s girlfriend is none other than Officer Selena Gray. The very same Officer Gray that she had harassed while investigating the teahouse murder. Still, Vera wishes more dead bodies would pop up in her shop, but one mustn’t be ungrateful, even if one is slightly…bored.
Then Vera comes across a distressed young woman who is obviously in need of her kindly guidance. The young woman is looking for a missing friend. Fortunately, while cat-sitting at Tilly and Selena’s, Vera finds a treasure Selena’s briefcase. Inside is a file about the death of an enigmatic influencer—who also happens to be the friend that the young woman was looking for.
Online, Xander had it a parade of private jets, fabulous parties with socialites, and a burgeoning career as a social media influencer. The only problem is, after his body is fished out of Mission Bay, the police can’t seem to actually identify him. Who is Xander Lin? Nobody knows. Every contact is a dead end. Everybody claims not to know him, not even his parents.
Vera is determined to solve Xander’s murder. After all, doing so would surely be a big favor to Selena, and there is nothing she wouldn’t do for her future daughter-in-law.
Vera once again sticks her nose into a case where it doesn’t belong and with each new fact she discovers, things become a bit more dangerous. She is bound and determined to solve the mystery, no matter who tries to scare her or what friend tells her to stay away from the case.
There were more laugh out loud moments and some more serious moments. It was a fantastic follow up that, like the first book, left me wanting more!
Every now and then I find a picture that I have taken that I haven’t posted anywhere. In searching for another photo, I actually stumbled on one. Now, I didn’t take it, but we had someone take it for us.
For newer readers to this blog, back in 2019 I shared the story of how my wife and I came to be wed. It was a three part blog. First, how we met, dated, and such. The second was the proposal and finally our wedding.
I proposed to her on a horse drawn carriage ride in Frankenmuth, MI. The story is one that always seems to get a laugh or two. This photo was taken at the end of our ride and after she said “yes.”
For those who don’t know the story, you can read it here – The Proposal.
I forgot just how good this picture is. I wish the horse hadn’t moved, though.
It was 83 years ago today that the man who became known as “the voice of Christmas” recorded a classic. The song that he recorded would forever be connected with his name. The song was written by the great Irving Berlin for the film Holiday Inn. Now you know who and what song I am talking about, right?
Bing Crosby – White Christmas.
Bing actually had performed the song once on his radio show – The Kraft Music Hall. That was on Christmas Day 1941 (a few weeks after Pearl Harbor). He didn’t record it until this day in 1942. He recorded it with the John Scott Trotter Orchestra and the Ken Darby Singers for Decca Records. The classic only took 18 minutes to record!!
At first, Crosby did not see anything special about the song. He just said “I don’t think we have any problems with that one, Irving.” In the Marsh/Propes book “Merry Christmas, Baby” it says: “‘White Christmas’ changed Christmas music forever, both by revealing the huge potential market for Christmas songs and by establishing the themes of home and nostalgia that would run through Christmas music evermore.”
Bing’s version would stay atop the charts for 11 straight weeks that year. It would hit the top again at least a dozen more times over the years. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, White Christmas is “the best-selling single of all time” that “was released before the first pop charts. It was listed as the world’s best-selling single in the first-ever Guinness Book of World Records (published in 1955) and—remarkably—still retains the title more than 50 years later.”
The version most often heard today on the radio during the Christmas season is the 1947 re-recording. The 1942 master was damaged due to frequent use. Crosby re-recorded the track on March 19, 1947, accompanied again by the Trotter Orchestra and the Darby Singers, with every effort made to reproduce the original recording session. However, it is easy to hear that it is a rerecording because of the addition of other instruments.
I’m just now sitting to write about the holiday weekend, because it was busy, but relaxing.
When we ordered our new dryer, we all assumed that the 220 plug was hot and ready to work. It wasn’t. You may remember last week I mentioned that the people who put our air conditioning unit in, used the 220 wire that at the time was not being used to give it power.
So I went to the store and bought 50 feet of wire and a breaker so we could get it up and working. On Saturday my brother-in-law and father-in-law came to help me get it set up. When my brother-in-law opened the breaker box, he noticed that despite it being big enough to hold 16 breakers, whoever wired the house only used a 12 breaker bus bar.
At my house, every breaker slot is in use, so there was no where to add a breaker. This meant we 1) had to find a 16 breaker bus bar, 2) add some sort of sub box off the one we have, or 3) send back the electric dryer and swap it for a gas dryer (which only needs a 110v plug instead of a 220v).
I made some calls to the people we bought it from and found out that there was no restocking charge and they’d have someone come out and pick up the old one. Once it was returned, they could refund the money back on the card we used and then we could buy the gas dryer. Either way, it was going to cost a couple hundred bucks to get us a dryer that worked.
Naturally, we noticed that when they removed the gas line from the old dryer, it had cracked near the connector. Thankfully, that was an easy fix and we’ll anxiously await the new dryer. In the meantime, I will continue to do what I did Saturday….
…sit in the laundromat to dry our clothes!
Sunday was pretty low key and we were outside in the yard. I grilled up some chicken and we threw it on salads. Sam worked Sunday night, so it was just me and the kids watching Disney channel at night.
On Memorial Day, I woke up and opened my Facebook and started to get angry. This happens every year, but it is a pet peeve of mine. Perhaps it is because my dad served in the army and I have many friends who also served in the Armed Forces, but nothing grinds my gears more than when someone says, “Happy Memorial Day!”
Those people obviously don’t understand what the holiday is about.
Anyway, the kids played outside and I worked a bit outside. My lawn hadn’t been mowed in a while because of the rain we’d been having. I had to raise the deck on my mower and will no doubt have to go back out again to cut it. It was cut, but it already looks like it hasn’t been mowed in 2 weeks.
We got a call from one of my daughter’s preschool friend’s mom. They were heading up to a park near us and wanted to know if we wanted to go. My daughter was excited to see her friend, so we went.
We’d never been to this park before. It had a playground for the kids, but it also had these boat/kayak launches. The park is right on a lake. They have a wooden deck area where people can fish from, too.
My daughter’s friend’s brother brought a fishing pole with him and he was having trouble casting it. It was an open face reel, and he was only like 6 or 7. So I was out on the wooden deck teaching him how to cast it. He didn’t have any live bait, so he was using lures. We didn’t catch anything, but he loved it. I asked my kids if they would like to fish with me and they both gave a resounding NO. LOL
My wife, my daughter’s friend’s mom, and all the kids were up under a pavilion. They had brought goldfish crackers and juice for all the kids. The food must have caught the eye of a winged friend. There was this chicken that kept jumping up on the table! I was by the lake and my wife sent the kids to come get me when the chicken started trying to eat my daughter’s dress!
When I got there, the chicken was still there. My wife said to “get rid of it.” I asked her how I was supposed to do that. She said, “I think you just pick it up and take it somewhere.” Now, I’ve never held a chicken before. I had no idea if this thing was going to peck at me. I had no idea if it was going to squawk when I picked it up. I also had no idea where I was supposed to take it!
This thing was a pretty big chicken. I walked up behind the thing and was able to grab it with both hands. I picked it up and it started trying to move its feet, I walked quickly to a wooded area that was on the other side of the park. I set the thing down and walked away. I turned around and that dumb thing was following me!
It stopped a couple times to peck at grass or whatever, but eventually the thing came back. I picked it up again and carried it a lot further than I had the first time. It started to follow again, but got distracted. As we were packing up to leave there was some girl who was holding the dumb thing like a cat or something!
As we walked to our cars, lo and behold, that chicken was right by our car! I had to shoo the thing away just to get in the car. What a crazy bird!
When we got home we grilled up some hot dogs and my wife started a fire in the firepit. It was our first one of the year. The kids sat out and relaxed with us – anxious to make smores!
When we made up the smores, they each took a bite and asked if they could just eat the chocolate (Which they did!). My wife and I even got the chance to make one.
It was a perfect night. It wasn’t too hot and cool enough where the fire kept us warm. It was so nice to just sit by the fire. The kids didn’t sit long, but I expected that. My wife and I enjoyed just relaxing there. We were all exhausted by the end of the night. We let the kids stay up much later than usual and we went inside earlier than we wanted, but we also were all asleep very quickly.
This is toward the end of the night. I hope we get to have more bonfires this summer.
I hope that you enjoyed your holiday weekend, too.
This is sort of a continuation of the Music of My Life feature. It focused on music from 1970-2025. It featured tunes that have special meaning to me, brought back a certain memory or a tune that I just really like. I found that with the first three decades, there were songs that I didn’t feature. So I sat down with my original lists and selected some songs that “bubbled under,” so to speak.
I figured a good way to present them was to focus on a decade. 10 years = 1 song per year = 10 songs. Last week we looked at the 90’s. This week I have 10 more from the 90’s. Next week we’ll move to the 2000’s. So, let’s check out a few “Decade Extras.”
1990
To kick off the decade, I chose a song that is still played today and remains one of the most requested songs at parties and weddings. When Vanilla Ice hit the scene, many people mocked him, but all these years later, his song Ice Ice Baby remains a favorite.
In a 2016 interview, he explained that the song was based on a real life scenario. “The song tells you the story. It’s me, with my top down, in my 5.0 Mustang, cruising down A1A Beachfront Avenue. It’s a weekend experience that turned into an amazing song. It’s timeless. I still love singing it, and it never gets old.”
The song samples “Under Pressure” from Queen and David Bowie. Songfacts.com says: Vanilla Ice never got permission to use it. No lawsuit was filed, but it is likely that Vanilla Ice agreed to pay Queen and Bowie a settlement. According to industry insider Hans Ebert, Brian May of Queen first heard this song in a disco in Germany. He asked the DJ what it was, and learned that it was #1 in the US.
Ice Ice Baby
1991
In 1991, I was working at my first country station. I was familiar with many of the legends that were mixed into the playlist like Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash. My dad listened to many of them, so I heard them, too.
The song Get Rhythm was a Johnny Cash song from 1956 as the B-side to I Walk The Line. Johnny’s music has influenced many an up and coming country singer. In 1991, Martin Delray decided to cover the song for his debut album. It had to be a thrill for Delray to have Johnny sing with him on the track AND appear in the music video.
I’ve always loved this song.
Get Rhythm
1992
Annie Lennox is best known for being in the 1980’s group the Eurythmics. It was her extremely successful and inventive duo with Dave Stewart. In early 1990, the group split and Lennox took time off to work on charitable endeavors and focus on her home life. In 1992 she released her first solo album, Diva.
The third single from the album was Walking on Broken Glass. Pop Matters Magazine described the song as a “gloriously weird pop song with one of the oddest intros: prancing strings, strutting keyboards, and the enigmatic line”. It went on to claim that “all of that make the track sound like nothing else on pop radio in 1992.” Honestly, I think that is why I like the song – it stood out.
The video was based on the 1988 movie Dangerous Liaisons, with elaborate costumes inspired by film, which was set in France during the 1700s. Annie Lennox recalled the song’s video in a blog promoting her 2009 greatest hits album:
“This was a wonderful video to create. There were some wonderful people involved – John Malkovich and Hugh Laurie (before he had an American accent)! That was tremendous fun. The idea of it being a period piece, like Les Liaisons Dangereux. The alternative title for ‘Broken Glass’ could easily have been ‘Hell hath no more fury than a woman scorned.’ The video is very wry and tongue-in-cheek. People can take me a little seriously sometimes, but I do actually have a rather radical sense of humor.”
Walking on Broken Glass
1993
Karaoke introduced me to the Gin Blossoms. I was going out the the bars a lot around this time and every once in a while someone would sing one of their songs. When I started driving for EDS and listening to the radio, I heard them much more.
Found Out About You was written by Doug Hopkins for the group’s first album, 1989’s Dusted. The album, however, was on a small label and really didn’t get noticed. When the band signed to A&M, they rerecorded the song for their New Miserable Experience album and it was released as the fourth single.
Singer Robin Wilson says, “The first time we ever demo’d “Found Out About You” we knew it was a hit song. I remember that being a significant event in my mind, when we were in the studio doing that song. I was sitting out on my car and what I imagined to be a hit song was a bunch of kids dancing to it at the Devil House. We were listening to it and Bill [Leen, the bassist] looked over at me and said, “Hey, wow, this song is going to get you a lot of women, isn’t it?” I was just like “Yeah, whatever.”
I was hooked from the opening guitar…
Found Out About You
1994
I heard Round Here by Counting Crows long after it had been released. This was one of the albums that my ex loved to listen to, so I hear it on long drives a lot.
Adam Duritz wrote the song and says it is sort of autobiographical. He wrote the song when he was in college and part of a band called the Himalayans. Members of that group helped with some lyrics and the music. When he formed Counting Crows, he brought the song with him and they reworked it a bit. Wanting to give everyone their due, Adam made sure to credit everyone in both bands with writing the song, so “Round Here” has eight different writers listed on the composer credits.
Songfacts.com says, The theme of childhood promises not panning out is one that shows up a lot in Duritz’ lyrics. In the chorus of this song, he lists some sayings that our parents often say: “Around here we always stand up straight,” “Around here we’re carving out our names.”
Adam says, “You’re told as a kid that if you do these things, it will add up to something: you’ll have a job, you life. And for me, and for the character in the song, they don’t add up to anything, it’s all a bunch of crap. Your life comes to you or doesn’t come to you, but those things didn’t really mean anything. By the end of the song, he’s so dismayed that he’s screaming out that he gets to stay up as late as he wants and nobody makes him wait; the things that are important to a kid – you don’t have to go to bed, you don’t have to do anything. But they’re the sort of things that don’t make any difference at all when you’re an adult. They’re nothing.”
Round Here
1995
When You Say Nothing At All was originally a hit for country singer Keith Whitley in 1988. It was co-written by Paul Overstreet. I had played it when I was at that first country station. I thought it was a great song lyrically, but wasn’t a fan of his voice. He died in 1989 of alcohol poisoning.
When some of Whitley’s friends decided to put together a tribute album to Whitley, they had other singers recording his songs. It was Alison Krauss who chose to cover “When You Say Nothing At All.
When I heard her version of the song, it stopped me in my tracks. Her voice is so beautiful and perfectly fit the song. Her voice took the song to an entirely different level. She knocked it out of the park!
When asked by Songfacts what he thought of the Krauss version, Overstreet said when he first heard it, “All the hair stood up all over my body. I was like, ‘Are you kidding me!?’ She sang it great.” It still gives me goosebumps!
When You Say Nothing At All
1996
I think whenever guys have a “guy’s night” or gals have a “gal’s night” they begin to talk and tell stories. “My wife/girlfriend does that, too!” or “Why is it that all men keep shirts or socks with holes in them?” You know, that kind of thing.
I have been guilty of asking male friends, “How come they can do that and we can’t?” It all falls into that “Battle of the Sexes” thing. Music has focused on those male/female differences for years, but I hadn’t heard it put the way Mindy McCready did in 1996.
It was at my second country station that I heard “Guys Do It All The Time.” It is the ultimate switcheroo song from the woman’s point of view. The song itself does a great job in conveying this, but the video only enhances it with gal’s doing guy things.
I saw Mindy in passing at a Radio Seminar, and she was even more beautiful in person. It was sad to see her life spiral out of control before her passing.
Guys Do It All The Time
1997
Picture it – you are getting ready to go on a trip or maybe you are being shipped off for the military. This is the last night you will be with your special someone for a while. You’d want it to last forever and make it special right? That’s the premise of Save Tonight by Eagle Eye Cherry. He wants to cherish this one last night spent with his love. He explains that you can’t fight changes, all you can do is accept them.
This was the last song Cherry wrote for his debut album and he wanted it to be special, “something that would stand the test of time.” He achieved his goal – two decades later, the song is still in rotation on throwback radio stations and is a fixture on the setlists of countless cover bands.
Songfacts says that the black-and-white music video was filmed in Sweden and follows Cherry in the roles of several different characters whose lives intersect, including an amiable young man, a bespectacled butcher, a robber, a truck driver, a busker, and a homeless man.
Cherry is actually a trained actor, having attended New York City’s School of Performing Arts, with credits that include a bit part on The Cosby Show and a stint as an ex-con on the short-lived TV drama South Beach.
Save Tonight
1998
Another song that really stood out to me on the radio was Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls. That opening guitar always seemed to cut through whatever was going on. It was almost hypnotic.
Songfacts says that lead Goo Johnny Rzeznik wrote this song for the movie City Of Angels, where it is sung from the perspective of Nicolas Cage’s character. In the film, Cage plays an angel sent to help humans make their transition to the afterlife. When he falls in love with a human (played by Meg Ryan), he must choose between love and eternal life.
Johnny explained how the film influenced the song: “I was thinking about the situation of the Nicolas Cage character in the movie,” he said. “This guy is completely willing to give up his own immortality, just to be able to feel something very human. And I think, ‘Wow! What an amazing thing it must be like to love someone so much that you give up everything to be with them.’ That’s a pretty heavy thought.”
Iris was nominated for Grammys in the categories Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Pop Performance By Duo Or Group. It didn’t win any of them.
Iris
1999
It was around 1998-1999 that I took a leap of faith after deciding to give up on radio. I had received a call from a station in the Flint area. They had called the Detroit country station that I had just resigned from asking if they knew anyone who wanted full time work. The boss talked me up and gave them my number. It was from there that I would spend the next 10-12 years working full time in Country radio.
LeAnn Rimes was making quite a name for herself around this time. She had burst on the scene in 1996 with her debut single “Blue.” She was only 13 years old at the time!
In 1999, she recorded an album of country cover songs. It included Patsy Cline’s Crazy and She’s Got You, Hank Williams Your Cheating Heart and Lovesick Blues, and other classics. The album was entitled “LeAnn Rimes” and was her fourth studio album.
If you have ever been in a situation where your lover broke up with you, only to begin dating one of your closest friends, you know how much that hurts. How do you handle that situation? In country radio, you write a hit song about it. That song was only original song on the album – Big Deal.
What I loved about the song is the slow and deliberate opening verse. It almost has a gospel song feel to it. She is lamenting about letting her man get away and eventually winding up with her friend. Then the tempo kicks in and she let’s her rival have it. She’s tired of her bragging …
Big Deal
And that is a wrap on the 1990’s. You may remember that the further along I got in the original series the less songs I was able to come up with. I think I have enough to look at the early 2000’s and officially put this feature to bed. Next week we’ll glace at 2000-2009. I hope you’ll come back then.
It was on this day in 1971 that John Lennon recorded his classic “Imagine.” Biography.com says: The impact of the song is unquestionable. But disguised within its message of peace and love and its flowing piano melody is a collection of edgy, “dangerous” ideas that challenge society as we know it.
John Lennon wrote and recorded this song on his white grand piano at his Tittenhurst Park estate in the English countryside (He and Yoko took up residence in the summer of 1969). In early 1971, Lennon worked up songs for a new album and “Imagine” was one of them.
When he had finished writing the song, John didn’t think that it had any potential of being a hit song. He recorded a rough demo of Imagine and wanted to know what others thought of it. He invited a few journalists and other associates over to have a listen. Ray Connolly of the London Evening Standard recalls Lennon playing him the demo and asking, “Is it any good?” Connolly and the others who heard it had to convince John he had a hit on his hands!
In May, he brought in several of his musical friends to Tittenhurst to record it, including Phil Spector, George Harrison, bass player Klaus Voormann, piano man Nicky Hopkins, and drummers Alan White and Jim Keltner. They recorded on-campus in the studio Lennon had recently built, which he called Ascot Sound Studios. Footage from the session shows Lennon and his guests enjoying each others’ company, but also getting down to business when it came time to work.
It was Phil Spector kept the sessions on track. “Imagine” was one of the first songs they recorded. Spector kept the track fairly simple. Although they did experiment a bit. At one point they had Hopkins play on the same piano as Lennon, but on a higher octave. However, the more they added, the more they ended up stripping away. The very simple arrangement was designed to spotlight the lyric, it required just Lennon’s vocals and piano, Voormann’s bass, and White’s drums. Strings were overdubbed later by John.
Julian Lennon shared his thoughts on the song in the 2019 documentary Above Us Only Sky: “He’s not shoving it down people’s throats. It’s not religious and it’s not political – it’s humanity and life. We all really want what he’s singing about, and I think that’s why even today the song is still so important. The sad thing is, the world is still in a bad way. Why is it impossible to move forward in these dreams and make them a reality?”
Rolling Stone described “Imagine” as Lennon’s “greatest musical gift to the world”, praising “the serene melody; the pillowy chord progression; [and] that beckoning, four-note [piano] figure”
Let’s go back 54 years and join John at his piano …
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 