It was on this day in 1993 that Mrs. Doubtfire premiered in theaters. Sally Field, Pierce Brosnan, and the late Robin Williams all starred in this funny, yet serious film. Robin Williams is SO good in this movie.
Desperate to see his children after a divorce, Robin’s character disguises himself as Mrs. Doubtfire, a nanny, to help with the kids. If you’ve never seen it, you really should. It is a fantastic film.
One of my favorite scenes in the film is when there is a montage of Mrs. Doubtfire doing various things while Dude Looks Like a Lady is playing underneath the scenes. Robin dancing with a vacuum or a broom is cinema magic.
The song was written by Desmond Child. Songfacts.com spoke with him about the song’s use in the film: “Desmond Child told us, “It’s funny, because they used that song in Mrs. Doubtfire, and then it was like every four or five-year-old child in America was able to sing that song. It was like; do you realize this is about a tranny?”“
Songfacts also shares:
While Aerosmith is a very heterosexual band, they were secure enough to sing about wanting sex with the “Dude” even after they discover he is a man. They weren’t concerned about their masculinity, but were worried about offending the LGBT community – they didn’t want to come off as jackass rock stars making fun of someone different.
Desmond Child was the one who pushed it through. He told us, “Joe (Perry) stepped in and said, ‘I don’t want to insult the gay community.’ I said, ‘Okay, I’m gay, and I’m not insulted. Let’s write this song.’ So I talked them into the whole scenario of a guy that walks into a strip joint and falls in love with the stripper on stage, goes backstage and finds out it’s a guy. But besides that, he’s gonna go with it. He says, ‘My funky lady, I like it, like it, like it like that.’ And so he doesn’t run out of there, he stays.
If you think about how far back that was, it was a very daring song to sing, and everyone went with it. It’s not like the polarized society we have now, because that was before gay people really started fighting for their rights and nobody cared about it and everyone thought that they could make fun of us. So they accepted the lyric, and not only that, went for it. (Laughs) I don’t know if anyone has looked deep enough into the song, but it’s a very accepting song, and it has a moral that says never judge a book by its cover, or who you’re going to love by your lover.”
If you’d rather just listen to the song – here is the official video from Aerosmith:
Welcome back to The Music of My Life, where I feature ten songs from each year of my life. In most cases, the ten songs I choose will be ones I like personally (unless I explain otherwise). The songs will be selected from Billboard’s Year-end Hot 100 Chart, Acclaimed Music, and will all be released in the featured year.
In 1998, I turned 28. I was still working in the mail room at EDS and spent a lot of time driving and making deliveries. Most of my radio listening was to the morning show on the alternative station or the rock station. The gal I was dating at the time would go on to become my first wife. She also listened to the same stations and we’d talk about stuff we heard on the shows. I will have to talk about her in more detail in a few. But only because it ties in with a song, that I suppose had to be on this list.
Let’s dive into the music.
If you are a regular reader to this blog, you are familiar with the Turntable Talk feature. Dave, from the A Sound Day blog hosts it and gives us a monthly topic. This month is was to write about a song that was based on a real event or a real person. My first song was almost my pick, but I knew this week it was on my list. Surprisingly, not one of the other bloggers chose it.
Here is the story from Songfacts:
The Way, by Fastball, is based on the true story of Lela and Raymond Howard. They were an elderly couple from Salado, Texas who drove to the annual Pioneer Day festival 10 miles away in Temple and didn’t return. She had Alzheimer’s disease and he was recovering from brain surgery.
When they disappeared, a reporter from the Austin American-Statesman wrote a series of articles about the missing couple. Fastball bassist Tony Scalzo came up with the idea for the song after reading the articles (the band is from Austin). “It’s a romanticized take on what happened,” he said. Scalzo pictured them “taking off to have fun, like they did when they first met.”
Thirteen days after the Howards went missing, they were found in Hot Springs, Arkansas, about 400 miles from their destination. They were still in the vehicle (an Oldsmobile Delta 88), which had veered off the side of the road and was hidden in brush. Scalzo had finished writing the song when he learned that the couple had died.
The song itself has a sort of retro feel to it. It also incorporates a lot of little sound effects into the mix. “There was this brief moment in time when people were having hits with really weird stuff,” Fastball’s Miles Zuniga said. “We got lucky that we came around at that time. Even two years later was too late.”
I think that is what I loved about the song. It starts off someone tuning a radio dial. It has a hollow sound to it. All of a sudden, you are hearing a full produced cut. That change in sound really grabbed me.
Songfacts puts it this way, The song opens with the sounds of an analog radio going up and down the dial, briefly tuning in stations amongst the static. When “The Way” starts, it’s as if the listener has found a song he likes and is going to give it a listen. For the first 40 seconds, the dynamics are restricted to simulate the limited frequency of a radio signal. At the line, “they drank up the wine,” the full range comes in.
Despite the sad story of the song, it is one of my favorite 90’s songs.
Listen carefully: The guitar solo was inspired by the song Secret Agent Man. Guitarist Mike Zuniga was a big fan of 50’s and 60’s songs.
The Way
Before you hear the next song. Here is a vocabulary lesson for you.
Jiggy. (adj.) (1) To be cool and trendy. (2) Often associated with a style of dress. (3) Dancing effectively. (4) Making a name for yourself. (noun) (1) sex.
Will Smith’s Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It was a monster hit. It was a song that packed the dance floor when it came out and for years afterward. It was often the song I played as the first fast dance when I was DJing weddings.
This song has so many different things piled into it. For example, This samples the beat from “He’s the Greatest Dancer” from Sister Sledge. Now add the “na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na” hook, which is from a song called “Sang and Dance” by the Bar-Kays. Finally it also incorporates some lyrical elements from the 1980 song “Love Rap” by Spoonie Gee and The Treacherous Three. (Who?!) Because of all of that, 12 different writers are credited as composers on the song!
I’m not really into rap music. While many consider this song rap, I think of it as more a pop/rock/dance/rap song. My favorite lines in the song, which make me laugh every time:
Women used to tease me Give it to me now, nice and easy Since I moved up like George and Weezie
Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It
Prior to 1998, I was spending a lot of time at the karaoke bar. It was a regular thing to close the bar for me. This song became the “Bar Closing Anthem” in 1998 and beyond. Many DJ’s used it at the end of the night, too.
Closing Time was Semisonic’s only American hit. Dan Wilson told The Hollywood Reporter how he wrote this song in 20 minutes:
“My bandmates were tired of ending our sets with the same song, so there was kind of an uprising where they demanded something different to end our nights with. So I thought, ‘OK, I’ll write a song to close out the set,’ and then boom, I wrote ‘Closing Time’ really fast.
There was one little adjustment later, which I credit to our A&R guy, Hans Haedelt. He said, ‘It’s too simple. You need to break up the rhythm of the verses.’ So that line, ‘Gather up your jackets, move it to the exits, I hope you have found a friend’ is the first time it deviates from the rhythmic pattern. He was right – it’s a great moment in the song.”
I used this for a while as my last song of the night, but it never felt right to me to end a DJ gig with a semi-upbeat song.
Closing Time
The next song is one that could be featured on my Movie Music Monday feature. The song appeared on the Can’t Hardly Wait soundtrack.
Can’t Get Enough of You Baby is a song that was written back in 1966! Denny Randell and Sandy Linzer wrote the song for the Toys. It was also recorded by The Four Seasons and Michigan’s ? and the Mysterians. ?’s version of the song was the more Rocking/Swinging version. When Smash Mouth recorded it, they copied that sound. Smash Mouth became the first group to bring it into the Top 40. They released it as the lead single from their Astro Lounge album.
This is one of those songs that immediately makes you feel good. Well, it does for me anyway. I mean, it’s a love song, but it rocks!
Fun Fact: Running just 2:29, this was the shortest Top 40 hit of 1998.
Can’t Get Enough of You Baby
Speaking of love songs, Diane Warren sure knows how to write them! I could write an entire blog about all of the hits that she has written! Maybe one day I will.
This is another song that could be a Movie Music Monday song. It appeared in the film, Armageddon, which starred Liv Tyler, the daughter of Steven Tyler of Aerosmith.
Originally, U2 was asked to perform I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing. The idea for Aerosmith performing it only came after Liv was cast in the film. The song was “A grand production featuring a 52-piece orchestra. This was by far Aerosmith’s biggest hit on the US Hot 100, and their only chart-topper. It was #1 US for four weeks in September 1998, becoming one of the most popular songs of the year.” – songfacts.com
Diane Warren found inspiration for this song after hearing about an interview with James Brolin. He said that when his wife Barbra Streisand was away, he missed her even when he was sleeping. When she set out to write a song for Armageddon, she thought this was a good sentiment to express, since the film deals with the impending destruction of all on Earth.
This was another one of those “pack the dance floor” songs. Most of the time, it was used as the bridal dance. When it wasn’t I often played it in my first slow song set. As the DJ, it was always heart warming to see couples dancing to a song like this. Staring into each others eyes, or singing the lyrics to each other. I played this one a lot!
I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing
My introduction to Barenaked Ladies was If I Had $1,000,000. The more I heard from them, the more impressed I became. I remember the first time I heard One Week on the radio. It really was something to hear them rattling off the lyrics.
Songfacts says: The band has said that this song is about a big fight in a relationship. The lyrics are essentially meaningless, but wildly entertaining. It showed off their clever wordplay in a rapid-fire interplay between their lead singers, Ed Robertson and Steven Page. Robertson wrote the song.
Robertson said, “I wrote the chorus structure of the song, but I couldn’t figure out the verses at all. I got together with Steve a bunch of times and said, ‘I have this idea for a song, and I couldn’t figure out where to go with it.’ And finally Steve said to me at some point, ‘Just freestyle it! Just do what you do onstage every night. It’s gonna be great.'”
The song One Week was a number one hit for the band – for one week.
One Week
Trivia Question: What was the most-played radio song in 1999 in 11 different countries, including Canada, UK, Australia, Japan and Israel? Answer: Kiss Me from Sixpence None The Richer.
Here in the US, the song got a lot of help and exposure from the media. Songfacts explains: It was used on the second season of the WB TV show Dawson’s Creek, first on November 11, 1998 and then on another episode that aired April 28, 1999. In between, it was used in the movie She’s All That, which premiered January 29, 1999. With just about every teenage girl in America hearing the song on the TV show, the movie, or the many radio stations that put the song in rotation, it cracked the Top-40 on February 27, 1999 and made it all the way to #2.
TV soundtracks helped a lot of songs in the 1990’s. Shows like Ally McBeal, Friends, Mad About You, and Party of Five were just a few that released soundtracks.
To me, I love the sound of the song. The guitar and the vocal of Leigh Nash blend so well together. It’s no wonder that Taylor Swift says it was the first song she learned how to play on the guitar.
Kiss Me
Last week, I mentioned the Swing Revival that was taking place and mentioned Zoot Suit Riot. The Cherry Poppin’ Daddies and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy were a part of that, but I believe that it was Brian Setzer who took it to a whole new level.
Brian Setzer had success with the Stray Cats in the 80’s. When he formed the Brian Setzer Orchestra and started covering jazz and swing songs, we saw a resurgence in his career.
The first album came out in 1994 and featured covers of Route 66 and Lady Luck. It also featured originals like the beautiful September Skies. The second album came out in 1996 and featured covers of Stevie Ray Vaughn, Roy Montrell, and Gene Pitney. In 1998, The BSO released the Dirty Boogie and the lead single was a Louis Prima classic.
Jump, Jive, an’ Wail originally appeared on a Louis Prima album called The Wildest. It was recorded live in Las Vegas in 1956. Setzer’s version went to #23 on the Hot 100 chart, but I always felt it was more popular than that. We used to get requests for it when we DJ’s so that people could swing dance to it.
I absolutely love this version. To me, Prima’s version sounds like the Demo and Setzer’s is the finished product! The song won Setzer a Grammy in 1999 for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.
Jump, Jive an’ Wail
The next song is hard to include on this list. I almost skipped it, but in a feature that is called The Music of My Life, how could I not list it? Let me explain.
When my ex and I decided to get married, we didn’t have a wedding song. I had some suggestions that were pretty much shot down immediately. Looking back at this now, I understand why. I was never really going to have a say in the song. I had a list of great songs. I was a wedding DJ for crying out loud, I had all kinds that we could make work.
For weeks, I attempted to suggest song after song. For each song I would be told why it was a bad choice. I finally accepted that anything I offered up was going to be turned down for some reason. So when she came to me with Edwin McCain’s I’ll Be, I listened to it and told her okay.
That being said, I have to admit that I never really felt like this was a wedding song. Not surprising that Edwin didn’t feel it was either! In a songfacts interview he said the track was not intended as a love song at all: “It was kind of a Hail Mary prayer for me, personally. And it’s been obviously linked as a romantic song. It’s one of those things that I hesitate to say too much, because sometimes songs become what they were supposed to be, and it’s not really up to the songwriter to determine what that is.”
He went on to say that a break-up prompted him to pen this song: “It was the end of a relationship for me, and it was also an admission of my inability to function in a relationship, hence the love suicide line. And it was the hope that I would be better, grow and be better as a person. I was struggling with some personal problems at the time, as well, so it was all of those things. It was this admission of failure and this prayer that I could be a better person, wrapped up as sort of the end of a relationship kind of thought. And it was something that I said to a girl that I’d been going out with. I knew that she was waiting, and I always said to her, ‘Don’t ever look back on this in any other way than I’ll be your biggest fan.’ You know, ‘I’ll always be a fan.'”
So my first wedding song was about a break up. Maybe it was prohetic?
I’ll Be
The final song brings us back to Barenaked Ladies. It wasn’t until I researched this for this feature that I realized it wasn’t really a hit. It only got up to #44 on the charts, which is surprising to me. I almost like this more than One Week. For what it is worth, it did go to #1 in Canada.
As you watch the video, keep in mind that the band was not happy with it. They had a concept of what they wanted. It was to be seen from the point of view of various household pets. (A cat, a dog, a goldfish, and a bird). The band was disappointed with the filming of the video while it was being shot, as they did not feel it was fitting their concept.
Many times, a video helped a band with their song. This was not one of those times, obviously. I have to wonder how the release date played into the song’s poor performance. It was released in late December. The charts are pretty much done at that time, and you’ve got two weeks where nothing really changes. The song could have been dead in the water the week it was released. Sorry, that’s my radio mind spewing out thoughts.
It’s All Been Done
Did I miss one of your favorites from 1998? Let me know in the comments.
Next week, we’ll party like it’s 1999! On my list is a song that was so popular I played it 4 times at a prom. The list also features one of the songs that was shot down by my ex, movie music from two big animated films, an artist who waited 30 years for his first #1, a song that makes me think of Barbara Eden, and one of my favorite cover songs.
Welcome back to The Music of My Life, where I feature ten songs from each year of my life. In most cases, the ten songs I choose will be ones I like personally (unless I explain otherwise). The songs will be selected from Billboard’s Year-end Hot 100 Chart, Acclaimed Music, and will all be released in the featured year.
I would turn 17 in 1987. It was my junior year in high school and I did what I had to do to get by in all my classes except band class. I was completely devoted to band class. I was an officer in band class (I was one of the librarians who helped sort, catalog and distribute music). I often stayed late and practiced with a couple other band nerds.
It was also the year I dated a gal who was kinda sorta toxic. It was an 8 month relationship that really had me messed up. I won’t go into details. We had some good times, but the bad times outweighed them. As I have worked ahead for this feature, I began to notice how some songs really hold some big relationship memories. The power of a song and the memories attached to them aren’t always happy, but I have noticed that there are more happy ones than bad ones.
Off to 1987 and my ten picks …
One of the best concerts I ever attended was Billy Joel and Elton John. There were two piano greats and a night of fantastic music. I am always interested to find out an artist’s hero, or favorite artist. Billy has often said that his favorite was the great Ray Charles. Put the two of them together and you’ve got one very cool song.
According to songfacts.com, when Ray showed up at the session, they met for the first time, and Joel was in awe. To break the ice and get to know each other, they each played piano for a while before recording the song. Whenever Charles would meet someone for the first time, he would touch that person’s face. When he did this to Joel, he said, “relax,” since he could tell Billy was nervous.
In a 1986 promotional interview, Joel said he was sitting at home trying to find inspiration for the song in his surroundings when his baby grand sparked his imagination. “I began looking around at things that have been consistent in my life, and in this age of synthesizers and electronic keyboards the piano has almost become an old-fashioned instrument,” he recalled. “I glanced at the baby grand piano and realized that I had a lot of love for that thing. The piano has provided me with a nice living, a career, and happiness. It’s gotten me women, and it’s gotten me through some strange times.”
He continued: “Sometimes at night I’d sit down and give myself a concert, and it’s almost like the piano did it – I didn’t even have anything to do with it. When I was thinking about a theme for Ray and me, it seemed apropos: you know, Ray Charles, piano player. Billy Joel, piano player. Let’s talk about a real love in our lives – the baby grand. ‘Baby Grand’ is really a love song to an instrument.”
Personally, this is just one of those magical musical songs to me. It’s a bluesy love song played by two talents who love their instrument – and making music. And that is good enough for me.
Baby Grand
I’m sure that every radio market had an adult contemporary station that played love songs at night. Usually, it was hosted by a deep voiced DJ who would smoothly deliver requests and dedications over the air. In Detroit, we had “Pillow Talk” hosted by Alan Almond.
In 1987, I had my driver’s license and I would go out cruising around with my friends. When I began dating, I would often “park” and listen to the love song show. As I was going through songs for this feature, I was overwhelmed by just how many of those songs were nightly staples on that show.
While there were times that my girlfriend and I would make out in a parking lot, there were also a lot of times when we sat and listened to the music and talk. There were a lot of ballads that came out in the mid-80’s. Many of them continue to be played as wedding songs and such.
One song that really stood out on the radio was an instrumental by Kenny G. It was his hit, Songbird. It sounded so out of place, yet perfectly fit. Because it was an instrumental, the DJ would often use it to read those lovey dovey dedications. “Sarah wants Josh to know that she misses him so much tonight.” “William called in to thank Beth for a wonderful first date.” “Deborah wants Tim to know that she is very sorry for the argument they had tonight and wants to dedicate this one to him.”
Fun fact: “Songbird” is all Kenny G – he played every instrument on the track (including the drum programming) and recorded it in his home studio. “I created a whole sound based on what I was hearing inside me,” he told Vanity Fair. “It came out, and Whoa! That’s exactly what I wanted!”
When I hear Songbird, I am reminded of those nights where I thought I was really in love and had no idea what true love was at the time.
Songbird
MTV turned 6 in 1987 and as we have seen in the past few weeks, there were many creative videos to boost record sales. I could list about 50 videos that are forever etched in my brain, and up near the top would be the one for the next song – Doing It All For My Baby.
Mike Duke (who played with the Outlaws) cowrote the song with Philip Cody. They couldn’t get anyone to record it. Mike went on tour with Delbert McClinton and at some point was doing club gigs in Mississippi. Some guys from Huey’s band came in to see the gig and he was playing ‘Doing It All For My Baby.’ The guys in the band said, ‘Wow, we love this song. We’re going to bring it to Huey.’ And they brought it in, and three years after we wrote the song, Huey Lewis & the News recorded the song and put it on their biggest selling album ever.”
The band produced an extended video for the song that lasted almost 8 minutes and resulted an one of the iconic MTV images of the ’80s: the band’s heads on display in glass cases while they sing this song. In the video, the band gets stranded somewhere spooky, and end up in various Frankenstein scenes with Lewis playing Dr. Frankenstein. It was truly one of those “fun” videos!
This song features the Tower of Power Horns. I can’t imagine the song without them!
Doing It All For My Baby
When I used to DJ, I would often play music at the VFW hall that my dad belonged to. I met so many great people there and remain friends with many of them. It was here that I became familiar with a lot of songs that I hadn’t heard before. One of them was my next song.
Jimmy Mac, as he was known to all of us, used to always ask for stuff like Barry White, Deon Jackson and the Whispers. Rock Steady never failed to get people on the dance floor. I started playing it at other gigs afterward and it always worked.
According to songfacts.com, the song was written and produced by the team of L.A. Reid and Babyface. It was one of the first songs the pair worked on for another artist – they were members of the group The Deele at the time. In 1989, they formed LaFace Records and became music moguls as well as hit producers. TLC, OutKast and Pink were all signed to LaFace. It would be their biggest hit, reaching #7 on the chart.
Rock Steady
It has taken me 17 weeks to finally “Rickroll” you. Sorry. Of course, Rickrolling wouldn’t even become a thing until 2007, but you have to admit that the song was an earworm. Once you heard it, it was stuck in your brain for hours. (The same thing happens to me with his song, “Together Forever.” Which is almost the same song, really!)
At the time, however, this was a pretty big thing. I remember it playing at all the high school dances and all the kids dancing to it, well, not me, but you know what I mean. Astley’s story is actually a cool one …
He worked for the British production team of Stock, Aitken and Waterman’s studio for two years. While he was there he was operating tape machines, singing on recordings for other singers, learning the trade and famously making the tea before the production trio wrote and produced this song for him, which became his first hit. It was recorded in October 1986, but wasn’t released until July 1987, as the producers were waiting for the right environment to break a new artist.
It was inspired by a woman Pete Waterman had been seeing for three years. Rick Astley was staying with Waterman at the time, and after a three-hour phone call with the woman, Astley said, “You’re never gonna give her up.” Aitken and Waterman then changed the story a bit and made him the one who was vulnerable. It was the biggest hit of 1987 in the UK, and went to number one here in the states.
I guess the nice thing about this blog is that you don’t have to click on the video, but you KNOW you want to! Do it! Click it!
Never Gonna Give You Up
Time to clear your musical pallet of Mr. Astley. I’ll do it with the phenomenal blending of three beautiful voices.
The group Trio was made up of Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris. These three ladies were good friends with each other and admirers of each other’s work. The first attempted to record an album together in the mid-1970s, but scheduling conflicts and other difficulties (including the fact that the three women all recorded for different record labels) prevented its release. Record labels were real peculiar about that kind of thing, I guess.
The Trio album was released in March of 1987. One of four singles that was released was called Those Memories of You. This song was recorded by Bill and James Monroe in 1950! Mel Tillis’ daughter, Pam, released a version in 1986 (reaching #55), but the Trio version is the one that was the hit. It was a top 5 song on the Country charts. The video starred a familiar face – actor Harry Dean Stanton.
The Trio album won the Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
It is one of those songs that I could get lost in the vocals and the harmonies.
Those Memories of You
The next song is on my list because of my brother. He listened to a lot of music in his room, but I can distinctly remember Madonna and Debbie Gibson music playing a lot. If memory serves me right, he saw her in concert a few times. Shake Your Love seems to be the one song from this album that I always heard from down the hall.
Out of the Blue was Debbie’s debut album and Shake Your Love was the second single from it. What is impressive to me is that she wrote every song on this album and was only 16 when the album was released! This and her first single (Only in My Dreams) were both top 5 records for her.
Another 1980’s superstar helped Debbie with the dance moves in the video for this song – Paula Abdul.
Shake Your Love
Desmond Child has written and co-written some very big songs, including You Give Love a Bad Name and Livin’ on a Prayer for Bon Jovi. When a record rep suggested that Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith write a song with him, they were not thrilled.
Child told songfacts.com: Steven was much more friendly, as he is, and was very generous, really, and showed me a song that they had started called ‘Cruisin’ for the Ladies.’ I listened to that lyric, and I said, ‘You know what, that’s a very boring title.’ And they looked at me like, ‘How dare you?’ And then Steven volunteered, sheepishly, and said that when he first wrote the melody he was singing ‘Dude Looks like a Lady.’ It was kind of a tongue twister that sounded more like scatting. He got the idea because they had gone to a bar and had seen a girl at the end of the bar with ginormous blonde rock hair, and the girl turned around and it ended up being Vince Neil from Motley Crue. So then they started making fun of him and started saying, ‘That dude looks like a lady, dude looks like a lady, dude looks like a lady.’ So that’s how that was born. That’s the true story of how that was born. So I grabbed onto that and I said, ‘No, that’s the title of the song.'”
I have always loved the story of how the song came to be. It really became the comeback song for the group, as their last hit was back in 1978. When I first saw Mrs. Doubtfire with Robin Williams and they played this song, I laughed out loud.
Dude Looks Like A Lady
In 1982, George Harrison released his Gone Troppo album and it didn’t do well. It can be said that a lot of his work was well off the mainstream, using unusual instruments and based on Indian music. “Got My Mind Set On You” proved that he could release a song requiring very little thought and send it up the charts. Naturally, many of Harrison’s ardent followers can’t stand this song.
The song was written by Rudy Clark and originally recorded by James Ray in 1962. George had bought a copy of the single in the summer of 1963 when visiting his sister Louise in Illinois. Many years later when he was writing his Cloud Nine album, he remembered the song and decided to cover it.
Songfacts.com says that when Harrison conceived the Cloud Nine album, he looked for a producer who could carry some of the load and not be intimidated by working with a former Beatle. He sought out Jeff Lynne of ELO for the role even though he had never met him – he connected with Lynne by having their mutual friend, Dave Edmunds, get him the message. It ended up being a great fit. Lynne brought his distinctive production sheen to the tracks and helped out writing some of the songs. Lynne’s influence can be heard in the backing vocals of the “Got My Mind Set On You” chorus. Harrison and Lynne are responsible for bringing together Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, and Tom Petty, forming The Traveling Wilburys in 1988.
MTV played the video a lot for this song and VH1 had recently gone on the air, so it aired there, too. As simple as this song is, I’ve always loved this one by George.
There were two videos for the song, the first I was unaware of until I stumbled on it for this piece. Both were directed by Gary Weis. The first features a young guy trying to win a ballerina for a gal he sees in an arcade. She is watching the video of George on a kinescope. Here is that video:
Got My Mind Set On You
This second video is the one I am most familiar with. It was inspired by the then-recently released movie – Evil Dead II. As George sits in a study singing, furniture and knick-knacks (including a stuffed squirrel, sentient chainsaw, a suit of armor, and mounted stag and warthog) begin to sing or dance along with the song. FYI, the backflip is performed by a stunt double.
I have made it no secret that I love Roy Orbison’s music. I remember being thrilled that he was making a comeback in the late 80’s. His stuff with the aforementioned Wilburys is so good. His posthumous Mystery Girl album was a fitting sendoff for him.
The original version of crying was recorded in 1961. Roy claimed to have written this as the result of an encounter he had with an old flame with whom he was still in love. He refused to say how much she meant to him, and when he ran into her again it was too late. It has one of the most powerful endings in music, in my opinion.
He claimed the stunning climax at the end of the song was not contrived, but just happened in the course of the song. He told the NME in 1980: “Immediately I thought of a past experience and just retold that, was the way that came about. It was the retelling of a thing with a girlfriend that I had had. I couldn’t tell you right now what notes I hit at the end of the song, or anything.”
In 1987, shortly after he signed with Virgin Records, he recorded a duet of this song with kd lang which was released as a single and later used as the B-side to his 1989 release “She’s A Mystery To Me.” This duet won the 1988 Grammy award for Best Country Vocal Collaboration, and was re-released in the UK in 1992, where it hit #13. Lang said that when they met to do the recording, it was obvious that their voices had a “tonal connection.”
I do not disagree with her. To me, the 1961 version is perfection. When I hear it, I am mentally exhausted. It is so moving. How can you top it? Add kd lang. Wow. To say that I was blown away by this version is an understatement. The arrangement and the vocals are just powerful and beautiful at the same time.
There was a time in my life where I could relate to the lyrics of this song. It was a painful time, and the hurt conveyed in the song was very real to me.
Crying
Boy, this week I Rickroll you and end on a sad note. Sorry about that. Next week will be better.
We’ll travel to 1988 next week. It was my senior year, and there are some fun ones on my list. I hope you will come back and check out the list.
What was your favorite from 1987? Drop them in the comments ….
This blog is part of the next installment of Dave from A Sound Day’s Turntable Talk. This time around, the subject is “cover songs.” Per our instructions:
This time around, wanting to get your thoughts on Cover Songs…what makes a really good one, maybe what your favorite bold one is. Do you like ones really faithful to the original, or ones that spin it in an altogether direction? Or conversely, what one is atrocious to you & why.
By ‘bold’ I mean covers of songs that were already known, and hits. I won’t set any minimum guidelines but as examples, most people never heard The Arrows version of ‘I Love Rock n Roll’ or The Clique’s ‘Superman’ so it was easy for Joan Jett & REM respectively make them their own. But to do a Beatles song, like Joe Cocker did only a couple of years after the original was released… that took …something.
So what cover songs work great for you?
Cover Songs
If you do a Google search on “cover songs,” there are plenty of links to articles containing lists of “the best” ones. There are also links to video’s that feature countdowns and lists of “best and worst” cover songs. Those lists, no doubt, will include: Twist and Shout by the Beatles, Proud Mary by Ike and Tina Turner, Hurt by Johnny Cash, Last Kiss by Pearl Jam, Mony Mony by Billy Idol, All Along the Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix, and many many more!
Many people are unaware that some of their favorite songs are actually cover songs. A lot of the early Rolling Stones and Beatles songs were actually covers of songs they loved by other artists. In a way, a cover song is the ultimate “hat tip” to a band’s early influence.
Personally, I tend to love cover songs. If you were to grab my iPod, that becomes very clear! I recall a time when I was married to my ex-wife and her iPod was dead. She wanted to go walk and asked if she could take mine instead. Upon returning home, she said to me, “How many different versions of a song do you need?!”
Cover Song Example
Dave asked “what makes a good” cover song? He also asked, “Do you like ones really faithful to the original, or ones that spin it in an altogether direction?“
It is difficult for me to say what exactly makes a good cover song because I think it can be one that is faithful to the original, spun in a different direction, or a mixture of both of those elements. Take for example, the Rodgers and Hart song – Blue Moon.
The song was written in 1934. There were recordings made as early as 1935. One of the best known versions is the Doo Wop hit from 1961 by the Marcels. Dean Martin did a stripped down version with piano and drums that was performed as a slow ballad. Frank Sinatra’s version was more “swingy”. Sam Cooke’s “bounced” and in 1997 a swing band called the Jive Aces covered it as a bouncy boogie woogie sounding cover. Every single version I mentioned, I like for different reasons.
Some of My FavoriteCovers
If I were to make a list of all the cover songs I have on my iPod and feature one a day on my blog, I would have enough songs to write about for about 6 months! Instead, I grabbed a piece of paper and off the top of my head started jotting down the cover songs that came to mind. I gave myself 5 minutes to do this and came up with about 18 songs. The reality is that I know that I will complete this blog and after it posts say, “Oh, man! I forgot (insert cover song here)!” That’s ok.
While it may be hard for me to tell you exactly what I love about cover songs, maybe by giving some examples of some of my favorites, the music will answer the question for both of us.
The first three I came up with are all from movie soundtracks. There is no shortage of cover songs in the movies. These covers will often give new life to old songs – examples include Sweet Child of Mine by Sheryl Crow from Big Daddy, Hallelujah by Rufus Wainwright from Shrek, Hazy Shade of Winter by the Bangels from Less Than Zero, Girl You’ll Be a Woman Soon by Urge Overkill in Pulp Fiction, and, of course, I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston in The Bodygaurd.
Johnny B. Goode – Marty McFly and the Starlighters
From Back to the Future, this is the song Marty McFly plays at the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance. In the movie, He goes off on a Eddie Van Halen type solo and the entire crowd looks at him stunned. On the soundtrack, however, there is a full version with an additional verse not in the movie. What I love about this version is the stripped down instrumentation, the saxophone and piano, and the whole feel of it. It really sounds like an “early” version of the song. It’s actually quite good.
From the soundtrack of Honeymoon in Vegas, which contains some very good Elvis covers. This one is my favorite. It has the feel of the Elvis version, with a little “boogie woogie” piano feel to it. Simple background vocals enhance the Billy Joel version. One addition I love is the bass drum hit after he sings, “I’m in love ….”
I stumbled on this by accident. This cut was used in the movie Little Big League. I’ve always been a fan of Fats Domino, but this version is just so much better. It has “meat” to it. The driving bass line keeps it moving, the piano is still there, and those saxes in the background – LOVE them. Add the electric guitar and Taj Mahal’s vocal to the mix and it is just perfect! This is one that I find myself listening to at work when I need a “pick up”
Phil Phillips did the original of this, but how can you NOT love this version?! First and foremost, you have Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant and Jimmy Page as well as Jeff Beck in the group! Add a beautiful string arrangement and background singers to compliment them and you have a top 5 record!
Not many people are aware that this is actually a cover song. It was originally done in 1964 by Gloria Jones. The song was written by Ed Cobb, who was in the Four Preps, and was actually the B-side of a song called My Bad Boy’s Comin’ Home. The original had a “Motown” feel to it, while Soft Cell certainly has more of an 80’s feel to it.
This one was written and recorded by the legendary Otis Redding. Otis’ version is already great, but I love this one equally. It certainly has a great feel to it. It doesn’t sound dated at all. It’s funky and a great jam!
The original was done by Johnny Burnette, who was known for rockabilly, in 1960. It’s not that I dislike the original, I just think Ringo’s version is … more fun. For years I thought Paul McCartney was playing Kazoo in this, however, one article says, “Michael Verity has quoted the song’s producer Richard Perry as revealing that it wasn’t actually a kazoo: “In fact, the solo on ‘You’re Sixteen,’ which sounds like a kazoo or something, was Paul singing very spontaneously as we played that track back, so he’s singing the solo on that.” Ringo’s version remains one of the few No. 1 singles to feature a ‘kazoo-sound’ solo. (It sure sounds like a kazoo to me!) I also love the driving piano bassline in his version.
Originally done by the Beatles, this is almost a carbon copy of the Beatles version. I like it because I think Steven Tyler’s vocal perfectly fits the song.
Elvis did his share of covers, and this is one that comes from his Aloha From Hawaii concert special. I have always preferred this version to the James Taylor version. To me, it is more “bluesy.” I love everything about this cut!!
This one was originally done by the Ronettes in 1963 and featured Phil Spector’s “wall of sound.” Andy Kim recorded his version in 1969 and had a top 10 hit with it. It mimics the “wall of sound” but if you listen in headphones, there is a lot of little stuff going on in the background – jingle bells, glockenspiel, castanets, and more. I remember hearing it a lot as a kid.
This remake I stumbled on by watching MTV!! The original was done by Ivory Joe Hunter in 1956. I remember seeing the Title and Artist show up on the bottom left side of the screen when the video started and couldn’t believe that Dean Martin was on MTV. He recorded it for his The Nashville Sessions Album and I love that it stays true to the original, yet is purely Dean.
It better be good if you are covering the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, and this one is! Aretha did the original in 1968 and then covered herself for a version in the Blues Brothers. I don’t remember how I stumbled on Joan Osborne’s version, but it is different enough that I love it. It has such a cocky attitude to it. Dig it –
Originally done by Wilson Pickett, this is one of greatest soul songs of all time! I heard this on the Blues channel on Sirius XM and fell in love with it. I’ve always dug Buddy Guy and while this stays pretty true to the original, it has a sound of its own!
Carl Perkins seemed to have all of his songs covered and many times, his songs became associated with the other artist rather than him. That’s the case with Blue Suede Shoes – it is Elvis. Elvis’ version is so much better than Carl’s in my opinion.
Originally done in 1952 by the late Hank Williams Sr. this takes a whiney and twangy song and cranks it up about 10 notches. We had Crystal in for a show when I worked at the country station and she was fantastic. This was on her debut album. I’m not sure she isn’t a huge star. Her voice is amazing and she is very talented.
Written by and a hit for Don Henley, I have always loved this song. The content of the song is about mass media and how they exploit just about everything. Henley had a top 5 hit with it. I didn’t even know that Lisa Marie Presley had done this song until I heard it on some Pandora playlist. Her vocal is sultry and sells the content lyrically. A great cut!
A cover of James Brown’s classic! James has a hit with this in 1956 and it went top 10 on the R&B charts. I think Delbert McClinton is someone who just doesn’t get enough praise for all he does. He’s a singer songwriter who can play many instruments and has released many albums. This version comes from his Honky Tonk and Blues album, which is a personal favorite.
Jimmy Van Heusen composed this song in 1962 with lyrics by Sammy Cahn. According to Mel Torme’, the song was written for Judy Garland to sing on her TV show. It was written as a parody to her well-known problems. Many people have done versions on the song – Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, Eddie Fisher, Julie London, and more. Michael Buble’ used this as the title track for his 2007 album. It get’s me right from the opening “walking” bass lick. Buble’ has made a career out of covering so many songs from the Great American Songbook, as well as many originals. He has a great band backing him and he sings this effortlessly.
I love Bill Withers. he wrote and recorded this for his 1972 Still Bill album. It was a smash and was a number 1 song. I never cared for the cover version. Yes, it stayed very close to the original, but I just never cared for the arrangement at all. It’s almost annoying to me. It is actually playing in my headphones as I am typing this. To me, the whole 80’s synth sounds just sound out of place. Not to mention the whole “We be jammin” part – URGH!! One good thing about this was that it won a Grammy for Bill Withers as the writer for Best R&B song.
So what can we say about cover songs? Are they done as a tribute to the original artist? Are they done because it’s a favorite to perform? Are they done to “improve” on the original? Are they done because an artist feels it should be presented in a different way? Who knows, really!? One could easily ask the same questions about all the crappy movie remakes that have come about.
Some of my favorite concert memories are hearing the singer do a song that is totally unexpected. My favorite memory of the Billy Joel concert I attended wasn’t Piano Man. It was when he talked about loving the Motor City and breaking into his own version of I Heard it Through The Grapevine! Magical!! Aaron Tippin played a county fair for us and one point he threw on a fedora and sang Fly Me To the Moon, which blew my mind! Very cool songs – never released – but covers, nonetheless.
In the end, a good song is a good song. I love listening to a great song done by many other singers. It says something about the song melodically and lyrically. I don’t always love the cover, but that’s ok. It’s fun to hear the artist’s take on it.
I want to thank Dave for allowing me to ramble on and on about this month’s topic. I’ve wanted to feature cover songs on my site, but just couldn’t figure out how to present it. I guess I better stop typing because the more I think about it … the more songs are coming to my head!
This blog is my entry for Dave over at A Sound Day’s “Turntable Talk.” Kudo’s to Dave for picking some fantastic topics, and at the same time letting us participants “run” with it. The following are the instructions we were given:
We were told we ” …don’t have to write literally about the question, but we’re looking for your thoughts on all things music video – how much did MTV change the music of the ’80s? Since there were already British acts making videos regularly in the 70s, do you think it would have taken off in a big way even without the American MTV influence? Did it kill careers… or make careers that shouldn’t have happened? Do you have favorite ones you still like to watch? Do you miss the days when MTV (or Much Music in Canada, or European equivalents) ran music videos instead of reality TV and old reruns? Really, approach it how you like, but I’m curious to get thoughts on the Video Revolution.“
My Conundrum
There have been many people who truly believe that video killed the radio star. As a child of the 70’s and 80’s, I lived through the beginnings of MTV. When I think about music videos, there are so many that I will forever associate with the songs. For example:
Take On Me – a-ha
Sledgehammer – Peter Gabriel
Rhythm Nation – Janet Jackson
Bad, Billie Jean, Beat It, Black or White, and of course, Thriller – Michael Jackson
Vogue – Madonna
Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana
Buddy Holly – Weezer
Weapon of Choice – Fatboy Slim
Dire Straits – Money For Nothing
Legs – ZZ Top
Land of Confusion – Genesis
Hot For Teacher – Van Halen
Simply Irresistible – Robert Palmer
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun – Cyndi Lauper
Run DMC and Aerosmith – Walk This Way
California Girls – David Lee Roth
Got My Mind Set on You – George Harrison
Stuck With You – Huey Lewis and the News
Faith – George Michael
White Wedding – Billy Idol
Opposites Attract – Paula Abdul
The list could go on and on! Those are just the ones that I pulled off the top of my head (and I am probably forgetting some big ones)!
The more I thought about it, I kept coming back to “Video killed the radio star.” Perhaps that is the case (as some proclaim), but I can think of one artist who made videos and it got him mainstream attention.
MTV Welcomes Weird Al Yankovic
According to Wikipedia, the discography of Mr. Yankovic consists of fourteen studio albums, nine compilation albums, eleven videos albums, two extended plays, two box sets, forty-six singles and fifty-four music videos.
Those fifty-four music videos helped to take Weird Al Yankovic to the mainstream world. Let’s face it, the only place you could hear him on the radio was on the Dr. Demento Show, which was often aired in the worst possible time slot because of the crazy content. When Al ventured into the video realm, more and more viewers wanted to see – and hear – more of him!
Parody songs have been around forever, and very rarely ever got radio play. Novelty records were big in the 50’s and 60’s, and there were a few here and there in the 70’s. When Al comes on the scene in 1983, he took it to a whole new level, using videos.
1983’s “Ricky” is credited as being his first video. It was a parody of Toni Basil’s “Micky.” It was a parody base on the TV show I Love Lucy. The video was shot in black and white and still looks great today.
From there, Al continued to use video to gain exposure on MTV. His next single was “I Love Rocky Road” which parodies Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock and Roll.” Instead of a greaser bar, it is set in … an ice cream parlor.
Al’s next video is really the one that really stands out as the one that moved him to a whole new level. Yes, he is a parody singer, but with the video for “Eat It” (a parody of Michael Jackson’s Beat It), not only is the song parodied, but so is the video. Al’s video is literally a shot for shot remake of Jackson’s. Throughout the video, instead of switchblades there are rubber chickens and kitchen utensils, and gags for almost everything in the Beat It video.
I can’t say whether or not the video is responsible for this, but the song won Al a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Recording in 1984. The video won for Best Male Performance at the 1984 American Video Awards!
From that point on, Al continued to make music videos for his singles. Art Fleming appeared in the “I Lost on Jeopardy” video, non-stop visual gags were plentiful in the “Like a Surgeon” video, and the James Brown “screams and shrieks” in “Living With a Hernia” were all more painful than soulful.
In 1988, Al once again parodied Michael Jackson. If I had to pick a “perfect” Weird Al parody video, it this would be one of two. Al won another Grammy Award for Best Concept Music Video for “Fat.” He even got permission from MJ to use the same set as the original video. Al’s makeup took three hours to apply every day and his fat suit weighed 40 pounds. Every time I hear the line, “Ding Dong, Yo!” I still crack up.
I mentioned that “Fat” is one of two “perfect” videos. The other would have to be the fantastic video for “Smells Like Nirvana” (a parody of Smells Like Teen Spirit). Al famously got permission for this parody from Kurt Cobain himself when he was performing on Saturday Night Live. In this Grammy-nominated video, Al satirizes Nirvana and the grunge movement, shooting on the same set as the original video and using the same actor who played the janitor (Rudy Larosa). Dick Van Patten has a cameo, which for whatever reason is extremely funny to me. Why Dick Van Patten??!! Someone said that Tony Hawk makes an appearance in the video, too. I’m not sure I know where.
Weird Al has certainly used music videos to his advantage. It takes a lot of creativity to write a good parody (I mean, come on, there are a lot of crap ones out there – just look on YouTube), but to take an already funny song and create a video that brings about even more humor, just enhances the song. I’ve said it before, and I will say it again, Weird Al is a musical genius.
There have been many other great videos that have followed. To name a few: Amish Paradise (featuring Florence Henderson), Headline News (featuring The People’s Court’s Doug Llewelyn), Gump (featuring Ruth Buzzi and Pat Boone), The Saga Begins (the fantastic Star Wars tribute), White and Nerdy (featuring Donny Osmond and Seth Green), and so many more.
Yes, video may have killed the radio star, but it certainly helped boost the career of Weird Al Yankovic.
Last week, he presented a blog of his favorite Beatles songs that were cover songs (songs originally done by other artists). This week, he looks at the other side of the coin. Here now, is his presentation of great covers of Beatles songs by other artists. I hope you enjoy it! Take it away, Max…
Beatle Songs By Others …
Hello everyone welcome back this week for the conclusion of the Beatlefest on Keith’s site. Today I’m going to list my favorite Beatle covers. Although I like these a lot…I usually still go with the Beatles version. There is one that I do like better than the original…and that is…well you will just have to read on. I did include some live versions of songs.
I added two at the bottom as runner ups but they just as well could have been in this list. Many songs could have been…depending on which day I was deciding. . I never thought about how many covers there were out there until Hanspostcard started to have a series on Beatle covers…there are a bunch! (KEITH: Hans posted some rare ones that I have never heard before!)
10: Aerosmith– Come Together...Aerosmith did a good job on this song. They didn’t stray too far at all from the original off of Abbey Road. This song was the one good thing about the movie Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band…there weren’t very many bright spots. Peter Frampton fighting Steven Tyler on film was also a keeper. (KEITH: I certainly love this one – but their cover of “I’m Down” is my favorite!)
9: Chris Cornell – You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away – Chris’s voice is incredible in this and it’s the way he phrases that I like so much…it’s a lot of depth and feel in his version. Eddie Vedder also has a good version. (KEITH: Great song, but I tend to lean toward the original)
8: Fats Domino – Lady Madonna – This song sounds like it was written just for Fats Domino. He did a great job. He did a wonderful job every time he covered the Beatles. (KEITH: Fats was one of the great influences of Beatles music. I would tend to agree that this really sounds more like a Fats song)
7: Emmylou Harris – For No One – I can listen to anything she sings but on this she re-worked the song in her own way and it works great. I was told about this cover by Aphoristical a year or so ago and ever since…I’ve wore it out. It puts a new light on the song. (KEITH: I have a buddy, Ken, who just loves Emmylou. Because of our many conversations about her, I stumbled on this one. Great voice.)
6: Stevie Wonder– We Can Work It Out – Stevie puts his incredible spin on this song and lifts it up. (KEITH: Love that Stevie really made this on his own!)
5: While My Guitar Gently Weeps – At the 2004 Hall of Fame Inductions you had Tom Petty, Dhani Harrison, Jeff Lynn, Steve Winwood, and Prince. Prince stole this performance with his amazing solo…you could tell Dhani (George Harrison’s son) was really enjoying it. (KEITH: When I went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a year or so ago, they played the video of this amazing song. Prince – WOW!)
4: Al Green – I Want To Hold Your Hand – I would have never put these two together but Al Green turns his version of I Want To Hold Your Hand into an Al Green song. (KEITH: How can you co wrong with Al Green + The Beatles?!)
3: Johnny Cash– In My Life – This version is heartbreaking to listen to knowing that Cash was looking hard at his own mortality. (KEITH: That was my thoughts exactly when I heard this cut. Johnny is VERY reflective in his vocal…)
2: Wilson Pickett– Hey Jude – Duane Allman was a studio musician at Muscle Shoals when he brought this up as a single to Wilson Pickett. The Beatles version was still on the charts at the time. No one wanted to do it but Wilson agreed when he heard Duane’s version. They re-worked it and it worked. After Eric Clapton heard this version he wanted to know who the guitar player was at the end of the song. That is how Eric found out about Duane Allman. (KEITH: The Wicked Mr. Pickett! This one has been a favorite of mine for some time. )
1: Joe Cocker– With A Little Help From My Friends – This is the one cover that I like better than the Beatles original. He turned the song into a show stopper. (KEITH: A Cocker Classic! I agree, Max. Such a powerful cut!)
Larkin and Poe – In My Life – Christian at christiansmusicmusings turned me on to. This one is a lovely version of In My Life. (KEITH: Have never heard this one before – but I like it!)
Aretha Franklin – Eleanor Rigby – She is the one and only Queen of Soul. My favorite female singer of all time. She turns this into a soul song. (KEITH: Everything she touched was gold! She was amazing! Great cut. I would say that Ray Charles version is equally as good!)
THANKS, MAX!
I want to take a moment and thank Max for taking the time to write for my blog. I guess I need to write my Beatles Blog now.
Last night at work I was listening to my iPod on shuffle. I have 4800+ songs on it and would have more if the hard drive that I stashed all the tunes hadn’t crashed. Last night a string of 4 songs in a row played and each of those songs brought me back to a specific memory regarding 4 of my best friends.
Song 1 – Green Onions – Booker T & The MG’s
When I hear this song, I immediately think of my best friend since elementary school. Jeff and I met in 2nd grade. He used to come up and hang out with me when I worked at my first radio station. He’s always ask me to play Green Onions. “Why the hell is it called Green Onions?” we often asked. Who knows, but it’s one of those great instrumentals!
Jeff and I listened to some crazy and silly songs growing up. Some of the ones that come to mind are Gimme Dat Ding by the Pipkins, Bread and Butter by the Newbeats, Beans and Cornbread by Louis Jordan, Ain’t Got No Home by Clarence “Frogman” Henry, I’m a Nut by Leroy Pullins, Show Me How To Dance by the Bingo Boys, and Ponderous by 2NU. Just looking at the list of those songs makes me laugh out loud! There are stories for each of them!
I can’t hear Sweet Emotion or Same Old Song and Dance by Aerosmith without thinking of Jeff. He always went over to the jukebox at the place we shot pool and played those songs. Another one that always makes me think of him is the Sanford and Son Theme by Quincy Jones. I think we’ve both used that as a ring tone for each other on our phones.
More recently, he played some crazy song I had never heard before – Saved By the Bell by Roy C. Tell you what – I’ll let you find it and listen to it….if you can describe it….please do in the comments!
Song 2 – Softly As I Leave You – Frank Sinatra.
This song is one that sits me at a kitchen table playing Pinochle with Joe. We’d be listening to 580 CKWW and the big band songs on there. The DJ was Don Alcorn and we listened to him a lot. He would often close his show with this song. Pinochle would usually go one for hours after Don went off the air.
Another song that makes me think of Joe is GI Jive by the Spitfire Band. It was another song we’d hear on 580, but we switched around a bit too. Sometimes we’d be listening to classic country on WCXI.
While in high school, we discovered that each of us appreciated Weird Al Yankovic’s music. Yes, both of us believe him to be a musical genius. Sure, anyone can write a parody song, but Al also wrote some pretty awesome originals, too! Al’s album, Even Worse, was released in April of 1988. We were in our final months of high school. “Fat” was probably the biggest hit on the album, but at my graduation party Joe, Steve and I all got up and sang Al’s parody of La Bamba – Lasagna. My dad had a few of his old wedding band players (and some cousins) bring their instruments and they played music at the party. Dad knew he was gonna have us do this and he had the lyrics ready for us to sing from (not that we really needed them). I will always remember us singing that.
Other songs that remind me of Joe: K-Mart Blues by Tom “T-Bone” Stankus, UHF – Weird Al, Santa Must be Polish by Bobby Vinton, Bus Stop by the Hollies and any Sousa March or random Polka!
Song 3 – Mambo #5 – Lou Bega
Steve and I spent MANY hours wasting gas and listening to music. I can’t tell you how many “driving tapes” I made. Cassette after cassette of songs we liked. The list of our favorites seemed to get bigger and bigger every time one of us heard a new song. Steve listened to songs like I did, he’d hear things in them that mostly went unnoticed. Sometimes he’d hear stuff that NO ONE ELSE heard, but then after telling you about it, that would be ALL you could hear! Mambo # 5 is a good example of that. Now, get the chorus in your head:
“A little bit of Monica in my life, a little bit of Erica by my side
A little bit of Rita is all I need, a little bit of Tina is what I see
A little bit of Sandra in the sun, a little bit of Mary all night long
A little bit of Jessica here I am, a little bit of you makes me your man”
Good. Now, when that part of the song plays – start singing the theme to I Dream of Jeannie. It totally fits! And thanks to this clown, I can never NOT sing it! LOL
Because of our many hours of driving (and wasting my dad’s gas), I could list at least 100 songs that make me think of Steve. Mack The Knife by Bobby Darin is one because he’d always sing that when we’d go sing karaoke. Viva Las Vegas (by Elvis and ZZ Top) was one of our favorite driving songs, as was Shake, Rattle and Roll by Big Joe Turner. He was the one who first played me Keep Your Hands To Yourself by the Georgia Satellites.
Huey Lewis and the News Sports album was one of our favorites. Songs like I Want a New Drug and Bad Is Bad were great sing a longs. We also added Hip To Be Square and Whole Lotta Lovin’ by Huey to our tapes after Fore was released. I remember Steve, Chris and I were at Cedar Point and before Karaoke was a “thing”, you could go and sing to instrumental tracks and make a tape of it. We paid big bucks and recorded Hip to Be Square with Steve on the lead vocal. Yeah, it sucked. LOL.
One last one for Steve – Rag Mop by the Ames Brothers. It’s a song that we used to hear on 580 and were familiar with because of an episode of The Honeymooners. Our school put on this Lip Synch contest and Steve and I did a “sketch” to Rag Mop involving a chalk board. At some point I was supposed to flip the chalk board over to show the other side of it and the leg of it broke. I still laugh about this. Great tunes and a good friend!
Song 4 – Tubthumping – Chumbawamba
This one hit wonder was a big one and we played it at a lot of weddings. My partner at those weddings was another Steve. We DJ’d many gigs together and those gigs remain some of my favorites. We had so much fun, and the guests could tell! We were having as much fun as they were. We choreographed some dumb dance to go along with this song and looking back at it, we must have looked pretty ridiculous! When ever I hear this one it makes me think of him.
Since we DJ’s together, you can imagine that there are plenty of songs that make me think of him. We used to open our gigs as the Blues Brothers, so the instrumental “Can’t Turn You Loose” always brings back memories of “Jake” coming out with his briefcase handcuffed to his arm, hugging “Elwood” and kicking off the gig.
We spent a lot of time hitting the Karaoke bars singing too. As a matter of fact, he is still hosting karaoke often. One of the songs that he sings is Big Ten Inch, a song originally done by Bull Moose Jackson, but better known to younger folks by Aerosmith. I didn’t even know they had that song at Karaoke, but I laughed like hell when he sang it!
I remember harmonizing with him on songs like Losing My Religion by REM and All My Loving by the Beatles. I remember dancing and jamming with fake instruments to Jump, Jive’ and Wail by the Brian Setzer Orchestra, doing the Chicken Blister to Blister in The Sun, and grabbing a microphone and making up stupid names to yell when he sang What’s Your Name by Lynryd Skynryd.
Four songs – Four Friends
Jeff and I have been friends for 40 years. I have been friends with Joe, Steve, and Steve for over 30 years each. That’s a lot of time, a lot of music, and a lot of memories. Each one of these guys stood up in my wedding and their friendship through good times and bad has been so important to me. We’ve shared many laughs, many tears, and many beers together. I am so lucky to have these guys in my entourage.
I hope you guys treasure our friendship as much as I do!
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 