Back in the early 2000’s I was the Afternoon Drive guy on B-95. My shift was from 2pm to 7pm. I got to “kickoff” the weekend every Friday at 5pm. They were calling the 5pm hour “The Drive at Five.” It was far from an original name.
When the clock hit 5PM, I had a factory whistle that I would play followed by the voice guy saying, “Welcome to the weekend!” This was immediately followed by 4 or 5 weekend oriented country songs. Since it is now officially the weekend here in Michigan, I thought I’d showcase some of those songs.
I’d usually start with one of these two classics –
Finally Friday – George Jones
Take This Job and Shove It
Then I would rotate from the following:
Working for the Weekend – Ken Mellons
Redneck Rhythm and Blues – Brooks and Dunn
It’s Five O’clock Somewhere – Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett
Come Friday – Aaron Tippin
Wrong Five O’clock – Eric Heatherly
Yee Haw – Jake Owen
That got me thinking about other formats. What might I play if I was working at an oldies station? Maybe:
Rip It Up – Little Richard
Friday on my Mind – The Easybeats
Five O’clock World – The Vogues
If I was at a classic rock station? Maybe:
Saturday Night – Bay City Rollers
Working For The Weekend – Loverboy
Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting – Elton John
What song is YOUR weekend song? Drop it in the comments!
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 turned 35 in 2005. There was plenty going on in my personal life at this time. We were doing various therapies for my son, who had been diagnosed as being on the Autism spectrum. I had settled into my position at 94-5 The Moose in Saginaw as their afternoon guy and music director. I was certainly loving that. And at some point during the year, my mother’s cancer returned.
At the time, My Space was pretty popular. I was blogging a lot on there. Somewhere, I have a Word document with every one of those blogs. I had to contact them to get them. I had stopped posting there after joining Facebook, and at some point they moved content. I was thankful to get those blogs as they covered the time leading up to my wedding, the birth of my sons and the death of my mom.
I posted a lot about new songs we were playing on the radio, too. A few of them make this list. Let’s head into 2005:
The legendary Ray Charles passed away in 2004, but before he did, he recorded an amazing duets album. Genius Loves Company was the best selling recording of Charles’ more than 50-year career. It was a collection of duets with Norah Jones, Natalie Cole, Elton John, B.B. King, Gladys Knight, Diana Krall, Michael McDonald, Johnny Mathis, Van Morrison, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt and James Taylor.
The album entered the Top 10 on the US album chart more than 40 years after Charles’ previous appearance on that same chart. This broke the record held by another act who also made his comeback with a duets album. In 1993 Frank Sinatra’s Duets reached the Top Ten 25 years after his previous Top 10 album.
Here We Go Again was a song that Ray had recorded in 1967. Then in 2004 he re-recorded this as a duet with Norah Jones for Genius Loves Company. She recalled collaborating with Charles on this song in a 2010 interview with Billboard magazine:
“I got a call from Ray asking if I’d be interested in singing on this duets record. I got on the next plane and I brought my mom. We went to his studio and did it live with the band. I sang it right next to Ray, watching his mouth for the phrasing. He was very sweet and put me at ease, which was great because I was petrified walking in there.”
This song won Grammy Award for Record of the Year and Best Pop Collaboration in 2005 eight months after Charles passed away. In addition Genius Loves Company was awarded Album of the Year among six other awards, as the American music industry paid lavish tribute to him.
Unlike Frank Sinatra and Willie Nelson, Ray Charles’ voice is as strong as ever on this recording. I felt Sinatra’s voice was weak on his duets albums. Willie is still putting out albums and at times he sounds like he’s just speaking the lyrics. Ray, however, sounds fantastic. I love the blending of these two voices.
Here We Go Again
The next song is an example of a song that I first heard in a polka. You read that right – a polka. Weird Al Yankovic has done quite a few polka medleys on his albums. The medley usually contains a verse or chorus from a pop song done as a polka. When I first heard Beverly Hills by Weezer on the radio, I found I liked it.
Weezer lead singer (Rivers Cuomo) explained in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine that this song is about how he could live in Beverly Hills, but he wouldn’t fit in. “I could live in Beverly Hills, sure,” he says, meaning he could afford it easily. “But I couldn’t belong there.'”
Songfacts explains:
The song comes off as satire, but that wasn’t what Rivers Cuomo had in mind when he wrote it. “I was at the opening of the new Hollywood Bowl and I flipped through the program and I saw a picture of Wilson Phillips,” he said. “And for some reason I just thought how nice it would be to marry, like, an ‘established’ celebrity and live in Beverly Hills and be part of that world. And it was a totally sincere desire. And then I wrote that song, ‘Beverly Hills.’ For some reason, by the time it came out and the video came out, it got twisted around into something that seemed sarcastic. But originally it wasn’t meant to be sarcastic at all.”
The music video was shot at the Playboy mansion. It included appearances by Playboy founder Hugh Hefner and some of the Playboy bunnies. Two of those bunnies were Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt.
Beverly Hills
When I was music director at the Moose, I spoke with a lot of record people. One of the industry folks knew I loved music from the Rat Pack. She asked me if I had heard of Michael Buble’. I hadn’t. She sent me some MP3’s of his music and I was hooked.
The song could have been sung by just about any artist who tours. The lyrics sound as if they could be autobiographical. It is sung by someone who spends a lot of time on the road with great success. With that success, there is sacrifice. He is missing his home, particularly the woman he loves.
Despite the fact that Home only reached #72 on the Hot 100 chart, it was a breakthrough song for him. The song hit #1 on the Adult Contemporary survey in July 2005. Three years later Blake Shelton reached #1 on the Country chart with his cover of Bublé’s hit.
Bublé and Blake Shelton teamed up in 2012 to record a holiday version of this song for Shelton’s, Cheers, It’s Christmas album. The collaboration happened after Shelton sent Bublé an email saying he hoped to record a yuletide-themed rendering of the tune. “I had the idea of doing a Christmas version of ‘Home,'” he said.
This was the song that proved to folks that Michael was more than a cover artist. His original songs are just as good as the standards he records. He is also more than just a Christmas artist. It bugs me that people pigeon hole him and label him like that. He’s one of my favorites.
Home
My on air name was “Keith Allen.” As a music director, I got to hear all the new music before it went on the air. I popped Play Something Country by Brooks and Dunn in the CD player and loved it. On my first listen, I thought they said my name – Keith Allen. I suppose, in a way, they did. But the lyrics refer to Toby Keith and Alan Jackson:
Said, I’m a whiskey drinking, cowboy chasing, hell of a time I like Kenny, Keith, Alan and Patsy Cline.
I have to tell you my favorite story about this song. When my program director and I first heard this, we said, “That’s a number one song!” We told our consultant that we wanted to add it. He said he didn’t feel like it was a hit. We were both shocked. We both told him that we felt it would be number one. He fought us.
He fought us for a few weeks on this one. He finally said that if we really felt it was a hit, we should add it. We wound up making a wager. I told him that if it didn’t go to number one, we’d buy him dinner. He said if it did hit number one, he would buy US dinner. The week it hit number one, he called us for our weekly music call. When we answered we started giving him restaurants we could go to!
His issue with the song? The “wolf-like” howl of the chorus.
Play Something Country
The next song is one that everyone jokes about on October 1st every year. “Someone needs to go wake up the guy from Green Day!”
This song reminds me of Fastball’s The Way. I say that because it starts with a simple acoustic guitar behind lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong. Then the song kicks in with drums and the rest of the instrumentation. I love the sound of that.
Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong wrote this song about his father, who died of cancer on September 1, 1982. At his father’s funeral, Billie cried, ran home and locked himself in his room. When his mother got home she knocked on the door to Billie’s room. Billie simply said, “Wake me up when September ends,” hence the title.
“My father died in September of ’82, and I purposely, up until that point, never went there,” Armstrong said in an interview. “I think really what I was doing was processing that loss that I had with this person that I never really knew. So I wrote that song for my father and about that loss and how 20 years had passed. I remember right after I wrote it, I felt this huge weight off my shoulders.”
Wake Me Up When September Ends
Another country newcomer makes my list this week. I have actually written about him, and the song. Here is that blog:
The next song is one of the slowest chart climbers in history. It was on the American Hot 100 chart for 23 weeks before it entered the Top 40. KT Tunstall’s “Suddenly I See” was inspired by another artist, Patti Smith. Tunstall said, “The inspiration for the song was Robert Mapplethorpe’s photograph of Patti Smith on the cover of her album Horses. I was staring at it one day thinking it was incredible. It’s everything I love about music – mysterious, inviting, frightening.”
Suddenly I see This is what I wanna be Suddenly I see Why the hell it means so much to me
“The chorus was me thinking, ‘that’s what I want to be,'” Tunstall told The Guardian. “Not a famous pop star with lots of money, but like this woman who’s living her life as an artist. I’d been trying for more than 10 years to be a professional musician. I was just exhausted from trying to persuade other people I was good enough.”
I remember hearing this song shortly after realizing that my first marriage was over. After all I learned and discovered through therapy, the title spoke to me. Suddenly, I saw just what was going on and I realized that I couldn’t do it anymore.
Suddenly I See
There were some really good country songs around this time. There were many new artists and some really distinct sounds that were on the radio. I was impressed with Josh Turner from the first time I heard him. I couldn’t believe the tone of his low voice.
Your Man is a song that I wish I could have written. Here is a guy who has been thinking about his woman all day long. He tells her to lock the door, turn the lights down low, and play some music.
I’ve been thinking about this all day long Never felt a feeling quite this strong I can’t believe how much it turns me on Just to be your man
That’s LOVE right there!!
I love the entire feel of this song. It’s the perfect song to “sway” to.
Your Man
As the “Nostalgic Italian,” I think it is safe to say that I believe in the power of a photograph. The memories that can come from looking at an old picture just amazes me. My Friday Photo Flashback is always fun to do. I think that is because of the stuff that comes to mind with those old pictures.
I know there are plenty of people who hate Nickelback. However, Photograph is a song that I can relate to in so many ways. (From songfacts): This song is about reviewing the memories (missed and forgotten) from the band’s childhood in Hanna, Alberta. The lyrics are a chronicle of real events and personal landmarks lead singer Chad Kroeger recalled as he wrote it.
“It’s just nostalgia, growing up in a small town, and you can’t go back to your childhood. Saying goodbye to friends that you’ve drifted away from, where you grew up, where you went to school, who you hung out with and the dumb stuff you used to do as a kid, the first love – all of those things. Everyone has one or two of those memories that they are fond of, so this song is really just the bridge for all that.”
Someone once said, “If you don’t think photos are important, wait until they are all you have left.” I couldn’t agree more.
The photograph Kroeger is holding in the video is the one that inspired the song: It’s a shot of him and their producer, Joey Moi, at a New Year’s Eve party.
Photograph
We wrap up 2005 with a One Hit Wonder. Defining a “one hit wonder” isn’t really easy. Most feel it is when the artist fails to have their follow up released crack the Top 25. There are certainly many songs that fit into that category.
Daniel Powter’s album was released in America in 2006. Bad Day was released in the UK in 2005. In the fifth season of Americal Idol, the song was played over a video montage of the contestant that was being sent home that week. This helped the song gain popularity.
Powter is from British Columbia who later moved to Los Angeles. “Bad Day” was his first single released on a major label (Warner Bros.), and his only hit. He later described it as “a blessing and a curse.” Powter said:
“I was touring the world and performing for thousands of people, but I felt like the song was starting to define me. I actually found myself getting almost angry about it.”
This was the top-selling digital download of 2006. This was the star of people prefer downloading songs to buying CDs. It was part of a shift toward digital distribution of individual songs. In America, the album sold 500,000, but the single was digitally downloaded over 3 million times!
My mom was doing chemotherapy and radiation for her breast cancer at this time. She found the song to be inspiring. It basically says that even if you have a bad day once in a while, things will get better. My mom always tried to have a positive outlook. She battled cancer for 10 years and by this point she was tired.
My mom had the gift of gab. She was always on the phone. She assigned Bad Day to be the ringtone for her cell phone. I believe it was on there until she passed away. When I hear this song, I am taken back to those final weeks of her life.
Bad Day
What song from 2005 did I miss that was your favorite? Drop it in the comments.
Next week, we’ll focus on 2006. On my list is a song about a steeplechase runner, a song that became a hit because of Grey’s Anatomy, and a song that was a hit on the Adult Contemporary Chart and the Country charts. It also has a great Drifter’s cover song, one that took on a whole new meaning for me when my daughter was born, and a creative way to insinuate profanity without actually using it.
Thanks for reading and for listening! See you next week.
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.
This particular year is posting on Christmas Day. I wasn’t sure about skipping it or moving it to another day, so here it is. That being said, Merry Christmas to you and yours!
In 2002, I turned 32 years old. I also became a father for the first time. It was a year of change to be sure. I was also a year of struggle, as I would be let go from my radio job shortly after my son was born. I was able to find another radio job, but the rate of pay was so much lower that I would have been better off on unemployment.
Music has always been a way for me to get through tough times. Here are my favorites from 2002:
In February of 2002, the world was introduced to the amazing Norah Jones. The album was Come Away With Me and it was something that really stood out amongst the rest of what was going on musically at the time.
According to Songfacts.com, Norah started performing this song with Jesse Harris (the write of the song) after moving to New York City. Harris “thought it was a good fit for a female voice. Jones changed the key to fit her voice, added a drum beat, then recorded a demo of the song with Harris in October 2000. That demo got the attention of the jazz label Blue Note, which signed Jones and sent her to the studio to record with a group of session musicians. The results were too convoluted, so Jones was assigned to a different producer, Arif Mardin, who had worked with many famous artists, including Aretha Franklin. He was brought in to capture Jones’ distinctive sound, which he did by keeping the original demo take and adding some guitar and a vocal harmony, making Jones harmonize with herself.”
Jesse Harris played guitar on the original demo, which ended up being used on the final recording. He almost stopped the take because he didn’t like the mix in his headphones. He kept going and was glad he did, since that was the keeper. Jones and her band were willing to do another take, but the engineer, Jay Newland, thought it was perfect and wouldn’t let them.
Songfacts says, “Grammy voters were enamored with Jones, nominating her in five categories, with “Don’t Know Why” up for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. After the nominations were announced, the album went to #1 in America, claiming the top spot on January 25, 2003, 11 months after it was released.
Jones cleaned up at the Grammys, winning all five awards she was nominated for, with Come Away With Me earning Album of the Year. Jones also won Best New Artist and performed “Don’t Know Why” on the show.”
It wasn’t long after this that I was watching Sesame Street with my son. Norah sang this with altered lyrics about the letter “Y.”
I Don’t Know Why
The Come Away With Me album is a rare massive seller with no big hits. The only song to land in the Hot 100 was “Don’t Know Why,” which made #30. “Come Away with Me” was the third single, released in December 2002 after the album had been out for nine months. By this time, it has already sold millions of copies, but many were just discovering it.
I love that these two songs really show off the unique voice of Norah Jones.
Come Away With Me
I don’t recall the first time I heard A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton. It is entirely possible that it was years after it was released. I probably heard it for the first time when I was at the Adult Contemporary station I was working for.
I just know that I really liked it. I loved the melody and her voice. I had never seen the video before I watched it to post here.
Vanessa wrote the lyrics after coming up with the song’s piano riff in the summer of 1998 at her parents’ house in Philadelphia. She revealed in a documentary for Vice that she penned the words about a Juilliard student she had a crush on while studying at the School of American Ballet. However, her love was unrequited. “I would never talk to this person,” Carlton said. “I was very shy. I was like, ‘There’s just no way on God’s creation that this would ever happen.'”
She refused to reveal the subject’s name to Vice because he’s a “famous actor” now, apparently.
The song was used in the Shawn and Marlon Wayans movie “White Chicks.” When asked about the song being in the movie, Vanessa said, “I thought it was hilarious. Those guys are really nice, too. I ran into them backstage or something, and they asked me if they could use it. They’re like fans, they’re so cute. But the scene that was in was hilarious.”
A Thousand Miles
Brad Paisley was just coming on the scene when our station brought him to town for a show. He was friendly and a bit shy. When he hit the stage, he was a marvel to watch. I’d watched a lot of people play guitar, but I was in awe of his playing!
His second album, Part II, was released in 2001. One of the songs from it showcases Brad’s playful lyrics and sense of humor. I’m Gonna Miss Her (The Fishing Song) is about a wife who gives her man an ultimatum. He needs to pick between fishing and her. I would imagine this could be re-written as The Golf Song or The Hunting Song, too.
The video is something that takes the song up a notch. Songfacts, quotes Brad:
“I’ve always written with a little humor. Even my saddest songs have a little smile to them,” Paisley recalled in his spotlight interview during the 2018 Country Radio Seminar in Nashville. “So for the [‘I’m Gonna Miss Her’] music video, I pitched this whole idea: I said, ‘I’m gonna do a video that’s gonna take the song to whole other places.’ I was going to get Dan Patrick, who was at ESPN at the time, and have him officiate a fishing tournament. And then Jimmy Dickens was gonna be my fishing buddy. Then, we were going to end up on The Jerry Springer Show. The wives were going to be upset with us, throwing chairs and stuff. [The guy from the label] said, ‘Can you really make this happen?’ And I said, ‘Absolutely.'”
“I walked out of that meeting,” Paisley added, “called my agent and said, ‘I really, really need Dan Patrick’s number.'”
His real life wife, Kimberly Williams, also appears in the video.
I’m Gonna Miss Her
The next song is one that I can relate to quite well. I have been very lucky to still have friends from elementary school (as well as middle and high school). Those elementary school friendships that last are treasures. I have written here many times about my best friend, Jeff, who I have known since second grade.
“We’re Going To Be Friends” by the White Stripes was released on the band’s third album, White Blood Cells. At that time, they were little known outside of their Detroit stomping grounds and in the UK, where they got a lot of love from the music press. But thanks to a surprise hit movie, they gained lots of recognition and fans.
This song plays at the beginning of the 2004 movie Napoleon Dynamite, where it’s used under a clever opening sequence where the credits appear on various everyday objects (lip balm, bag lunch). The film, of course, was a surprise hit and earned a great deal of exposure for the song. The main character, Napoleon, is a strong-willed, talented, quirky type with big ideas. Kinda like the White Stripes frontman, Jack White.
The movie was my first exposure to the song. It led me to dig deeper into their musical catalog.
We’re Going To Be Friends
I have always loved a song that has a Spanish feel to it. There is something about the sound of a Spanish guitar that I really dig. When I first heard My Heart is Lost to You by Brooks and Dunn, I was impressed on many levels. The thing that stuck out most was just how good Ronnie Dunn’s voice fit this type of song.
It only went to #5 on the country charts, and faded away afterward. You rarely hear it on the radio today. It is one of the songs that really got me through a rough patch. It always made me feel good when I heard it.
My Heart Is Lost To You
The 9/11 attacks were still very fresh in our minds in 2002. Patriotism was still on the rise, too. The next song became a sort of anthem for the country, but almost was not released.
Toby Keith wrote Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue shortly after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. He said he wrote the song based on what he thought his father’s thoughts on the terrorist attacks would have been. Keith’s father was a veteran and a patriot.
He told the CBS show 60 Minutes that he wrote this song in just 20 minutes, a week after 9/11. His intention was to play it for troops on USO tours, but not to be part of a commercial release. However, after playing it for Pentagon brass in Washington, the Marine Corps commandant said, according to Keith: “You have to release it. You can serve your country in other ways besides suiting up in combat.”
This was one of many country songs that were written and released after 9/11.
Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue
Elvis Presley had been dead 25 years in 2002, yet, here he is on my list!
Songfacts explains: Mac Davis and Billy Strange wrote A Little Less Conversation for the 1968 Elvis movie Live A Little, Love A Little, which was one of Presley’s last. Davis wrote the original version for Aretha Franklin, but when Billy Strange, who was handling music for the film, approached Davis about contributing a song, he realized that “A Little Less Conversation” fit the scene perfectly, so he reworked it with Strange and Elvis sang it for the film.
This was a fairly obscure Elvis song, peaking at a very un-Kingly #69 in America when it was released in 1968. But when it was remixed and released as a single in 2002, this new version went to #1 in the UK, giving Elvis 18 #1 hits there, the most of any artist. Previously, he was tied with The Beatles at 17. The remix topped the charts in several other countries as well, but only reached #50 in the US.
I do remember the first time I heard this. I was blown away. I thought it sounded modern and fresh. It was great to hear his vocals preserved and this take on the song. I was surprised when high school kids were asking for it at dances, too. They loved it and so did I.
A Little Less Conversation
The band Weezer has made some fantastic and memorable music videos. The next one is no exception.
Maladroit was Weezer’s fourth album. Keep Fishin’ was the second song released from the album. It received some high praise from critics. The AV Club stated: “It’s the kind of infectious, impeccably crafted power-pop rocker Cuomo can probably bang out in his sleep”.
The video is just a joy to watch, especially for folks like me who grew up watching The Muppet Show. The music video features Weezer as guests on The Muppet Show as drummer Patrick Wilson is held captive by none other than Miss Piggy. As noted in the Weezer Video Capture Device DVD, it marks the acting debut for the band members in a music video.
The video premiered on July 14, 2002, on MTV2. It was accompanied by a half-hour special showcasing behind-the-scenes footage from the video’s shoot.
Despite the Muppet Show wrapping in 1979 after five seasons on the air, I can see them having more fun with Weezer and other artists if it were still airing. (The new version from a few years ago took it to a more adult level with themes that I felt were not “Muppet-ish”)
Keep Fishing
Speaking of growing up in the 70’s and 80’s, the next song was like a time capsule. It tossed in many things that I remembered, and many others did, too. It was a crossover hit for Mark Wills called 19 Something.
The song begins with singer’s reminiscence of his formative years, the 1970s and 1980s. In the first verse and chorus, various 1970s-related bits of pop culture are referenced, such as Farrah Fawcett, eight track tapes, and Stretch Armstrong. The first verse also mentions the videogame Pac-man (“I had the Pac-Man pattern memorized.”). The first chorus begins with the line “It was 1970-somethin’ / In the world that I grew up in.” Verse two, similarly, references 1980s pop culture, such as the Rubik’s Cube, a black Pontiac Trans Am, and MTV. The second chorus likewise begins with “It was 1980-somethin’.” In the song’s bridge, the singer then expresses his desire to escape to his childhood years: “Now I’ve got a mortgage and an SUV / All this responsibility makes me wish sometimes / That it was 1980-somethin’.“
It was released as a single from Mark Wills’ Greatest Hits CD. It went to number one on the Country Charts and peaked at number twenty-three on the Hot 100 charts.
19 Something
The final song on my list is a cover of a Joni Mitchell song, Big Yellow Taxi. The song was a hit for her in 1970. She said in an interview: “I wrote ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ on my first trip to Hawaii. I took a taxi to the hotel and when I woke up the next morning, I threw back the curtains and saw these beautiful green mountains in the distance. Then, I looked down and there was a parking lot as far as the eye could see, and it broke my heart… this blight on paradise. That’s when I sat down and wrote the song.”
The Counting Crows covered the song as an afterthought and originally for a hidden track on their 2002 album Hard Candy. It was only released as a single after Vanessa Carlton’s back-up vocals were added for a new version that featured on the soundtrack to the 2003 movie Two Weeks Notice. Their version became the band’s only Top 20 single in the UK, peaking at #13. In the US it reached #42.
If I had to choose between the original and the cover version, I’d choose the original. I don’t think this is a bad cover, but many did. It appears on a few “worst cover song” lists.
I think the song itself is why it is on my list, I love the song. This version doesn’t touch the original, but it did introduce younger folks to the song.
Big Yellow Taxi
Did I leave off one of your favorites from 2002? If so, mention it in the comments.
Next week, we kick off the New Year with 2003. Next to my list for ’03, I wrote “difficult year.” Whether that means that it was hard to narrow my list down to 10 songs or that it was hard to find 10 songs, I don’t remember. I can tell you it features a couple covers songs, a song every parent can relate to, and we learn what beverage equestrians give to their horses.
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 suppose it is when you are on the backside of 20, you begin to really understand how fast the years go by. I turned 26 in 1996 and I was told, “30 is just around the corner!” One co-worker told me that every thing starts to fall apart when you turn 30. I learned that he was right!
My first pick from 1996 has a Meatloaf vibe. “I would do anything for love, but I won’t do that. The Gin Blossoms will “follow you down, but not that far.” Follow You Down was their first single from the “Congratulations…I’m Sorry” album. The album got its name because that was what people said to the band finally having hits (Hey, Jealousy & Found Out About You) after struggling to get one for years.
The song was a last minute addition to the album. “We were working on the record, and I’d come home at night to my hotel room, and I had those chords, and finished writing by the time we got home,” guitarist Jesse Valenzuela told songfacts.com. “We’d already finished the record, but I had this great song, so I demoed it up and I sent it to my main A&R man, David Andaly, the great David Andaly, and he said, ‘Why are you hiding this thing? Let’s put it on the record.’ So we went and recorded it right away.”
This is one of those songs that really stuck out to me on the radio. I loved the little harmony on “Anywhere you go.” It was another one of those songs that I would crank up the radi.
Follow You Down
Let it be known that I am not the biggest Celine Dion fan. However, I think Diane Warren is one of the best songwriters ever. Diane wrote the song Because You Loved Me for the movie Up Close & Personal.
From songfacts.com:
Diane Warren explained in the book Chicken Soup For the Soul: The Story Behind The Song how she honors her father in this song. Said Warren: “I saw the film with the director, Jon Avnet, on a Friday. I thought, ‘What would I want to hear at the end of the movie?’ Jon played me a tape of a gospel singer to give me a sense of what he was looking for – something really soulful.
I went into my office on Saturday, the following day, and the chorus came quickly. Michelle Pfeiffer’s character is thanking Robert Redford’s character for believing in her. The song became personal at the same time that it was telling the story of the film. Once I began, it became a way of thanking my dad for everything he did for me and the support he has always given me. He believed in me and my music from the time I was a little girl. When I was 15, he took me around to music publishers. Not only did he support my goals, he supported me financially while I was struggling in the beginning.
I had to wait for months to see if my song would be chosen to use in the film or if they would select one of the other four submissions. Thank goodness I had just started therapy! It got me through it.”
When I was DJing weddings, I would say that 8 out of 10 couples used it as their wedding song. Even Vince Gill and Amy Grant used it for their first dance. Lyrically, it is just spectacular.
On a Billboard podcast, Diane Warren said, “I feel like it was a leap in my craft. I felt that when I wrote that song, it was better than I was at the time, if that makes sense. I was like, ‘Whoa, this is probably my best song.’ There’s something lyrically about it.”
Because You Loved Me
My next pick was actually a hit back in 1973 for BW Stevenson. My Maria was written by Daniel Moore and Stevenson. It is basically Three Dog Night’s Shambala written about a woman.
In 1996, it was covered by Brooks and Dunn and it went straight to number one on the Country Chart. It was also named Country Song of the Year.
This version made Moore happy as it made him more money than any other version. He said, “The original sold 950,000 singles, Brooks & Dunn’s version has sold over 6 million. The original version got about 1,500,000 US radio performances. The Brooks & Dunn version is over 6,500,000 US radio performances and still going.”
It was one of Brooks and Dunn’s biggest hits, but it almost wasn’t recorded. Ronnie Dunn admitted he was reluctant to cut the song when the idea was first presented to him. “I thought, ‘Oh man, it’s just that falsetto thing,'” he remembered. “It’s a rock song, in my opinion. And I was very much wrong.”
Personally, I like the Brooks and Dunn version better than the original. I also have fond memories of a few of the country stations I played this one on.
My Maria
Next is a song that was never released on a Weird Al album. The song Spy Hard was recorded and used as the title song for the Leslie Neilsen movie of the same name.
Anyone who has seen a James Bond film knows the importance of the opening credits. They were all very unique and this song (and video) were a nod to those Bond intros. Spy Hard is unique in that it was recorded with an orchestra (which was conducted by Bill Conti of Rocky fame).
There is a Bond Urban legend that says that for the song Thunderball, Tom Jones held the song’s final note long enough to pass out; in this film, Yankovic holds it long enough to make his head explode. Originally, Yankovic had planned to loop the note to the required length, but in the studio, he discovered he was able to hold the note long enough that no looping was required. What a talent!
As for the movie itself? Let’s just stick with the song ….
Spy Hard
One of the first songs I remember playing when I started at my first country station was by a group called Ricochet. Many of the “older” songs I was playing were new to me at the time and that included Daddy’s Money.
This song was their second single and it was a number one hit for them. I could relate to the song in a way. Whenever the choir at church there, I often found myself staring a a pretty girl singer. The opening lyric:
Can’t concentrate on the preacher preaching My attention span done turned off I’m honed in on that angel singing Up there in the choir loft
I love the line, “My attention span done turned off!” The only thing that makes me chuckle more in this song is the fact that it goes out of the way to make sure you know that she is “a good bass fisher!” Now, what man doesn’t want that in a woman?!
This is on my list because I love singing along to it.
Daddy’s Money
I knew Alanis Morissette from the children’s comedy show You Can’t Do That On Television. When her Jagged Little Pill album was released I was struck by the deep and profound lyrics of many of the songs. Some of the lyrics shocked me, honestly.
At a live show, she explained how the song came about:
“When relationships get healthier and healthier we somehow equate that with not being as passionate or as sexy,” she explained. “I’ve kind of realized that it’s actually sexier when there’s less drama. It’s been better, and I never thought that that would be the case because of the whole clingy, overly dependent roller coaster that often times seemed very passionate and very sexy. And when I wrote ‘Head Over Feet’ about this particular person it was the first time that I actually had a glimpse of what it would be like to be in love and have it be something that was inducing of the heart palpitations, yet at the same time I could spend a couple minutes and actually not think about that person. It was very new to me.”
I was dating a gal in 1996 who was not as vocal about her feelings as me. I have always believed in letting people know how you feel about them. I always thought it was odd for me to say “I Love You” and not hear it back in return.
I had made a cassette tape of love songs for this gal and it had a huge variety of singers. She actually liked it a lot. She told me that she had a song that made her think of me and told me to listen to it. The song was Head Over Feet.
Knowing this gal like I did, it made perfect sense for her to use this song. She was exactly like the gal in this song and I was exactly like the guy. It wasn’t exactly the way I wanted her to express her emotions, but it worked.
Later on, she broke up with me by putting a note on my windshield. That even led me to some pretty dark times.
Head Over Feet
Some of my music blogger friends are familiar with the next song. I love it because it has that 60’s Beatles feel to it. It’s from the imaginary group called The Wonders. That Thing You Do becomes a hit for the group in the movie of the same name.
The song was written by Fountains of Wayne bass player, Adam Schlesinger. He said, “That was 1995 I think I first heard about it, or ’96, and I was just starting out. I had a publishing deal as a writer and they told me about this movie – they said that they were looking for something that sounds like early Beatles. And they knew that that was an era that I liked a lot. So I just took a shot at it and got very lucky and they used the song.”
Adam says he is better known for this song than Fountains of Wayne’s Stacy’s Mom.
I admit that this is a song that I play over a couple of times when it comes up on my music playlist. I just love this one.
That Thing You Do
One of the best interviews I’ve ever done was with Jewel. She promoting a country album when I chatted with her on the air, but I was very familiar with her music. Some folks wanted to write her off as a one hit wonder after her song Who Will Save Your Soul, but You Were Meant For Me stopped that!
Jewel wrote the song during the time she was homeless and living in her car. During that period she started having panic attacks and anxiety, and came up with her own way of coping, using mindfulness exercises to retrain her brain. In an interview with ABC radio, she said the line, “Dreams last for so long even after you’re gone” is about “the love of fantasy versus the actual reality.”
Songfacts.com says, “Jewel wrote the song during the time she was homeless and living in her car. During that period she started having panic attacks and anxiety, and came up with her own way of coping, using mindfulness exercises to retrain her brain. In an interview with ABC radio, she said the line, “Dreams last for so long even after you’re gone” is about “the love of fantasy versus the actual reality.”
At the time, this was the biggest-selling single in the history of Atlantic Records, and Jewel became the label’s first artist to grace the cover of TIME magazine (July 21, 1997). She is such an amazing singer and songwriter.
You Were Meant For Me
Beavis and Butthead were so successful that they got their own movie – Beavis and Butthead Do America. The soundtrack included songs from Ozzy Osbourne, White Zombie, No Doubt, Isaac Hayes, and AC/DC. It also included a cover of the Ohio Players’ song Love Rollercoaster by the Red Hot Chili Peppers!
While the original was a number one song, the Chili Peppers’ version didn’t do much in America. It did go Top 10 in the UK.
It’s not that I love this song, but I do like the more modern take on it by the RHCP. The video is kind of fun to watch too.
Love Rollercoaster
Remember the movie The Mirror Has Two Faces? Me either.
I Finally Found Someone was a hit for Barbra Streisand and Bryan Adams. Streisand initially wrote the love theme with veteran composer Marvin Hamlisch, but her producer, David Foster, envisioned it as a duet. That’s when Bryan Adams and his producer, Mutt Lange, were brought on to the project.
Barbra says, “Bryan played our track and heard me humming and fell in love with this little theme that I wrote, and then he and his producer Mutt Lange wrote a counter melody based on the track that I sent him. And they wrote the lyrics. So that’s how that happened.“
The single gave Streisand her first Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 since 1981 and was a top ten hit. This was a song that I would often suggest to couples who did not want the most popular wedding songs (like the aforementioned Celine Dion). This was also a song that I mentioned to my wife as a possible “our song.”
Adams and Streisand have two very distinct voices, but they blend well together and this is really a fantastic and underrated love song.
I Finally Found Someone
This year was a difficult one for me to narrow down to ten songs for some reason, so I am sure I left off a few of your favorites. Tell me about yours in the comments.
Next week, we’ll look at 1997. I can see that this was another difficult year to pick ten songs as below the ten I have another nine artists names! The list does lean a bit alternative, but there is also some pop, country and swing!
I mentioned that my breakup of 1996 began some dark times. In 1997, there is a song that ties in way to closely with what I was doing in my personal life … More on that next week.
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 1992, I turned 22 and would land a radio gig at WHND, Honey Radio. It was through my old radio partner that I would become all too familiar with karaoke bars. We spent a lot of time pretending to be singers at them. Believe it or not, it was listening to people try to sing that introduced me to many songs. Many of those songs, were ones I normally would have been unfamiliar with.
Let’s jump right into 1992!
The Spin Doctors are often referred to as an alternative band. I tend to think of them as a rock band, though. Two Princes sounds more like a rock song to me. I could easily hear the Stones covering it.
A buddy of mine used to sing this song all the time. From the opening drum kick and guitar lick, I was hooked. The content of the song was influenced by some classic literature. Chris Barron, said:
“I loved The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. I was really into fantasy fiction and stuff like that. I wrote that song when I was 19, so I was still coming out of childhood, and as a child I loved wizards and kings and queens and princess and princesses and stuff like that. And I loved Shakespeare – I already was way into Shakespeare. So I gravitated towards that kind of imagery just because I liked books and poems from that period of time.”
Drummer Aaron Comess said that the song was almost a lot faster. “There are certain songs when you find the right tempo, all of a sudden the lyrics come out, it feels right and I think with ‘Two Princes’ we really lucked out. It’s one of those things, we got in the studio, found a good tempo, we recorded it, everything just really came together. It’s very simple, there’s not a lot of stuff on it, somehow the sound and feel we got, we just lucked out and found the perfect thing.”
Songfacts pointed out that it was songs like this one that were in high demand on radio in 1992-1993. There was an onslaught of hip-hop songs at the time and it was this “sound” that began pushing it back a bit.
Two Princes
Here is another example of how I came to learn of the original because of a parody. I was familiar with the cover of their Nevermind album, but unfamiliar with a lot of their songs. Enter once again, Weird Al.
When Al first heard Nirvana, he was very impressed but thought they wouldn’t catch on. He was thrilled when “Teen Spirit” became a huge hit, since that made the group a parody target.
Al is famous for asking for permission before doing any type of parody. He got permission from Nirvana’s lead singer Kurt Cobain while he was doing an episode of Saturday Night Live. Kurt initially thought the song would be about food. Instead, it was poking fun at how hard it was to understand their lyrics.
The video is a very close parody of Nirvana’s, and got almost as much airplay. For example, the same janitor used in Nirvana’s video also makes an appearance in Weird Al’s. This time donning a tutu and playing a tuba. Al dresses just as Cobain did, complete with wig. He plays a fake blowup guitar and makes fun of the hard-to-understand lyrics by gargling water and singing with marbles in his mouth.
FYI – Dick Van Patten was not in the Nirvana video.
This song is probably the one that really solidified my opinion of Weird Al as a musical genius!
Smells Like Nirvana
For comparison – the original video:
Ok, I admit that the next song was far from a hit. It only peaked at #92 in the US, however in the UK it hit #27. The original, of course, was a number one hit for Elvis Presley in 1957. Personally, I really like Billy Joel’s version of All Shook Up. I think it should have done better on the charts.
The song is one of many Elvis covers from the soundtrack to Honeymoon in Vegas. The movie starred Nicolas Cage, James Caan, and Sarah Jessica Parker. It also featured a whole lot of Elvis impersonators.
What I love about Billy’s version is that it retains the feel of the original, but there is enough “Billy” to make it his song. When I was DJing, I used to put on a cape, an Elvis Wig, Elvis glasses, and grab some random gal out of the audience and “lip synch” this to her. It was ridiculous, but it always got a laugh from the crowd (along with a lot of photos).
All Shook Up
Next, we have the only song that I will fast dance to. I say this, because I believe there is no real dancing necessary. Songfacts explains this perfectly:
House of Pain’s Jump Around earned relentless airplay on MTV and pop radio, and became a huge crowd pleaser in bars and dance clubs. It was great for getting people on the dance floor, as no real dancing is involved – just jumping around.
Exactly. I jump like a fool when this one is on! It’s hard to look bad. It brings the bounce with a steady, throbbing rhythm along with explicit instructions on when to jump. You can’t mess this one up!
Erik “Everlast” Schrody wrote the song. Songfacts explains that the lyrics on this track are very aggressive. It contains lines like “I bust him in the eye, and then I’ll take the punk’s ho.” Everlast was surprised when the song crossed over to a pop audience. He thought it was “too hardcore” to do so. The “pugnacious” lyrics, however, are tempered with comic relief. Listen for lines like “I got more rhymes than there’s cops at a Dunkin’ Donuts shop. ” They make it a lot less threatening.
If the horn flourish that opens this song sounds familiar, it is because it comes from Bob and Earl’s song, “Harlem Shuffle”.
Jump Around
Next a movie song that never made the movie’s soundtrack. In A League of Their Own, Madonna starred with Tom Hanks, Geena Davis and Rosie O’Donnell. The film was based on the true story of an all-women baseball team that was popular during World War II.
The song is about a woman who can’t and let go of her past, with the implication that her present circumstances aren’t so good. The lyrics fit well with the film’s premise, as the now-elderly women reunite and recall their glory days as baseball stars.
To a degree, I can relate to this as I tend to live in my nostalgia and memories, however, my present circumstances are actually good. I find myself thinking of those summers playing ball at our old elementary when I hear this song.
This made me laugh: The video for this song, which shows Madonna singing from the pages of a photo album, bears a strong resemblance to Boy George’s video for his 1987 song “To Be Reborn.” The similarities were not lost on the Culture Club singer, who angrily dubbed it “This Used to Be My Video” in his autobiography.
This Used To Be My Playground
What I love about country music is the honesty of it. There are a handful of songs that I can say really hit home for me. One of them is from Travis Tritt’s third album. For me, I could relate to the lyrics of Lord Have Mercy on the Working Man. After all, I was working on a DJ’s salary!
Truth be told, it doesn’t matter what job you hold, these lyrics hit home. While primarily focusing on the economical injustice to blue collar workers, it fits anyone who struggles financially.
Uncle Sam’s got his hands in my pockets And he helps himself each time he needs a dime
Why’s the rich man busy dancing While the poor man pays the band Oh they’re billing me for killing me Lord have mercy on the working man
The final verse features Tritt’s friends joining in. Listen for Brooks and Dunn, George Jones, Little Texas, Tanya Tucker, T. Graham Brown and Porter Wagoner.
Lord Have Mercy On The Workin’ Man
MTV’s Unplugged had been around since 1989. It featured Joe Walsh, The Cure, Paul McCartney, Sting, and Mariah Carey. Eric Clapton recorded an Unplugged performance at Bray Studios in London. He rearranged many of his classic songs for the acoustic context.
The resulting Unplugged album went on to become the best selling Unplugged album in the U.S. and worldwide with sales of 10 million in the U.S. and 26 million worldwide. He earned six Grammy Awards for the album. He earned Grammys for Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, Best Rock Male Vocal Performance and Best Rock Song.
I have been a fan of acoustic shows for a long time. I loved when artists came in and played acoustically for us. It is raw and you really feel the song. When I heard the Unplugged version of Layla, I couldn’t get enough of it. I loved the entirely different feel to the song! It was so much more bluesy.
The Unplugged version also helped Eric do his vocal. According to Songfacts, “playing the “Layla” riff while singing is like juggling on a unicycle, so Clapton tries to avoid it. When he does the rock version live, he’ll play the riff until his vocals come in, then let one of his band members take over the riff.” With the slower version, it was a lot easier for him.
Layla (Unplugged)
When it comes to Disney, you cannot deny the amazing songs that have been featured in their films. It is truly hard to picture anyone other than Robin Williams as the Genie in Aladdin. He was just perfect. There were hours of audio that were not used in the film from Robin. If it were ever released to the public, I’d buy it in a heartbeat!
Prior to having children, I was not one to run out and watch a Disney movie. However, knowing that Williams was the Genie in this one, I had to go see it. I was not disappointed.
The Genie’s song, Friend Like Me was written by the amazing composer Alan Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman. Menken and Ashman didn’t write this with Robin Williams in mind, but the actor would make the number his own. Menken told Entertainment Weekly:
“We didn’t know who was going to play the genie when we wrote the song. We were looking at the character as black, a hipster, and I suggested a Fats Waller, Harlem stride-piano style from the ’40s. When Robin Williams was suggested, my first thought was, ‘Can he sing like Fats Waller?’ Robin learned every note. He was working on Hook at the time, and he would come in after being stuck in a harness all day and sit at the piano and learn. When we went into the studio, we got exactly the Fats Waller performance we wanted, and then everyone said, ‘Okay, but now can we let Robin do his thing?’ He was amazing. That trumpet wah-wah-wah was supposed to be from an instrument, and he made it vocal. He took ahold of the creative process, both on that and ‘Prince Ali’ especially. My God, he went crazy on ‘Prince Ali.’ He was doing the Thanksgiving Day Parade, Arab-style.”
One source says that the song was originally written as a Cab Calloway style big band number. Some elements of this concept remain (for instance, when the Genie scats, in typical Calloway moves), but after Robin Williams was cast it was expanded as a more comedic, pop-culture-filled song.
I miss Robin Williams. He could do comedy and drama and do them both well. This is what makes a great actor, in my opinion. He was truly one of the best ad-libbers and I always loved watching him on late night shows.
When we were picking songs for our alumni band one year, I picked this song for us. Not the best song to march to in a parade, but it was fun to play.
Friend Like Me
I was disappointed in the soundtrack version, as it seems like Robin’s vocals are a bit buried.
I just realized that my list has two Elvis covers on it. Technically, they are both movie songs, too.
When ZZ Top released their Greatest Hits album, they included a remake of Viva Las Vegas. ZZ Top took it up a notch. They took Elvis’ song and modernized it and gave it a real driving rock sound.
I remember my dad bringing home the 12 inch single of it and saying, “Keith, you’ve got to hear this!” He put it on the turntable and there was a downward swishy sound effect followed by Elvis saying, “Y’all still want me to come with ya?” Once the guitars kick in, it just jams!
It’s one of my guilty pleasure songs.
Viva Las Vegas
I had a meeting with a bride and groom once. We were going over songs for their wedding. When I asked them what their wedding song was, they told me “If I Had $1,000,000 by Barenaked Ladies.” I must have looked like an idiot. I thought they were joking. “Barenaked Ladies?! Really?!” I had never heard of them.
I had no idea what to expect when I went searching for the song. I’ve had my share of weird songs to play for the bridal dance, so I was ready for anything. I was finally able to get a copy of it, but it wasn’t easy. The couple enjoyed their dance and the crowd loved every second of it.
Even though it’s one of the group’s most popular songs, it was never a hit single in America. It wasn’t a hit in the UK either. A lot of it was timing: The group didn’t break through outside of their native Canada until their 1998 album Stunt. The song was even re-released in 1996, but didn’t chart then either.
This is a very important song for Barenaked Ladies. They have performed it at nearly every live show since 1988. Frontman Ed Robertson told Songfacts:
“It has become its own thing and people sing along and it represents a time and a place for so many people. It’s oddly a song I don’t get bored of. It brings such joy to the room that it’s hard to not enjoy it.”
He goes on to say, “That song, it was about being in love and being maybe a little bit extravagant but not losing hold of what’s important.” Ultimately it’s just about celebrating your good fortune with someone else, and I think I’ve stayed pretty true to that.”
The song was my introduction to the group. I have come to enjoy many of their future songs, too. Perhaps one or two may show up in the years to come.
If I Had $1,000,000
That’s a wrap on 1992. Did I miss one of your favorites? Drop it in the comments.
Next week, as we head to 1993, a few ballads with a lot of personal meaning to me, a couple fun dance songs, a spelling lesson, and more stories behind the 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 turned three in 1973, so let’s see what music had some influence on me ….
In January of 1973, The Four Tops released their second song on the ABC label. They had left Motown the year before and this song became their biggest post-Motown hit. Ain’t No Woman (Like The One I’ve Got) was originally recorded by Hamilton, Joe Frank, and Reynolds in 1972. It’s hard for me to hear anyone else but Levi Stubbs on the vocal. It reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Ain’t No Woman (Like The One I’ve Got)
In March of 1973, Elvis released one of my favorite live cuts – Steamroller Blues. I did a piece on the song for Tune Tuesday a few months back. You can read that here:
Elvis added the song to his concert set list and this recording was from his Aloha From Hawaii show. It reached #17 on the charts.
Steamroller Blues
In April of 1973, Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan’s song about a music industry party was released by their band The Stealer’s Wheel. “Well, I don’t know why I came here tonight” is the opening line of Stuck in the Middle and it makes you want to hear the rest of the story.
It was a top ten hit for the group, reaching #6 on the charts. The band was surprised at the success of the song, especially since Gerry’s vocal was meant to sound like a funny Bob Dylan. Many people thought it actually was Bob Dylan singing!
Stuck in the Middle
Also released in April of 1973, the last Top 40 hit for a singing barber. This song actually seems out of place on my list, but I have a reason it’s here.
Don McLean wrote And I Love You So for his debut album in 1970. It was the B-side of his single Castles in the Air. Crooner Perry Como used it as the title song for his 1973 album. It would peak at #29 on the charts.
I include it here because when my old morning show partner and I would go out and sing karaoke, he used to sing this one. I had never heard it before then and I loved the lyrics and melody.
And I Love You So
Another great opening line for a song was from Paul Simon. “When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school….” Kodachrome was released in May of 1973. The song was originally written as “Going Home,” but he didn’t think it worked. Kodachrome sounded similar and he went with that.
It has been said that the song is a sort of admiration for all the things that brighten the world. After his lamenting about high school, his world becomes alive with memories.
Kodachrome
Also released in May of 1973, a song that is based on real events and has one of the greatest opening riffs of all time. Smoke on the Water is the story of how Deep Purple was getting to record in a mobile studio they rented from the Rolling Stones. The night before they were set to record, someone fired a flare gun during Frank Zappa’s song King Kong and set the casino venue on fire that destroyed it. Deep Purple watched the fire from their hotel room and the smoke from the fire across the water led to the song’s title.
The opening riff which was written by guitarist Richie Blackmore, was inspired by “an interpretation of inversion” of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. That intro remains something I love hearing, especially in headphones. The guitar riff by itself, then the hi-hat cymbal, snare drum kicks, bass guitar and finally the vocal. SO cool.
The next song has an interesting story. It has it’s origins in a song that I almost picked for my list. From Songfacts.com: In February 1973, Stevenson released the song “Shambala” which was written by the composer Daniel Moore. Two weeks later, Three Dog Night released their version of the song, which became the much bigger hit, charting at US #3 while Stevenson’s version stalled at #66. Stevenson and Moore then got together and re-wrote “Shambala” as “My Maria,” changing the lyrics so the song became an ode to a beautiful woman. The ploy worked, and Stevenson had by far his biggest hit. (It went to #9 on the Billboard Hot 100.)
Brooks and Dunn enjoyed a number one country song with their cover of the song in 1996.
My Maria
Another song that was inspired by real events was from Jim Croce. In 1970, Jim Croce wrote Time in a Bottle the night that he found out his wife, Ingrid, was pregnant. Songfacts.com says: The couple had been married for five years, and Ingrid found out she was pregnant when she went to a fertility specialist. She recalls a mix of terror and delight in Jim’s reaction when she told him the news. The child was a boy named Adrian, who grew up to become the singer-songwriter A.J. Croce.
The song was released in November of 1973, and it hit #1 in America 14 weeks after Croce was killed in a plane crash in September.
For the record, I have never been to a whorehouse. The next song is a classic rock standard about the aforementioned establishment. The boys of ZZ Top based La Grange on John Lee Hooker’s Boogie Chillin’, and there is even a vocal tribute to Hooker as Billy Gibbons sings “Ho Ho Ho Ho!”
Again from Songfacts.com: The place in this song is the subject of the 1982 movie The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, starring Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds, which was adapted from a 1978 Broadway play.In a 1985 interview with Spin magazine, ZZ Top bass player Dusty Hill explained: “Did you ever see the movie, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas? That’s what it’s about. I went there when I was 13. A lot of boys in Texas, when it’s time to be a guy, went there and had it done. Fathers took their sons there.
La Grange
We wrap 1973 with another great classic rock song. “I was cutting a rug down at a place called the Jug with a girl named Linda Lou…” the story begins and right from the get go trouble is brewing! Lynyrd Skynyrd released Gimme Three Steps in November of 1973.
From Songfacts.com: This song is based on a true story. As Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington tells it, lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, who was about 18 at the time, used a fake ID to get in a bar while his younger bandmates Rossington and Allen Collins waited for him in a truck. Van Zant danced with a girl named Linda, whose boyfriend, who was not too happy about it, came up to Ronnie and reached for something in his boot. Figuring he was going for a gun, Van Zant told him: “If you’re going to shoot me it’s going to be in the ass or the elbows… just gimme a few steps and I’ll be gone.” He ran to the truck, and he, Rossington, and Collins wrote this song that night.
This was one of the few songs Skynyrd released as a single. It was their first major-label release, and it didn’t chart, which simply amazes me. It is a song that has truly become a party classic. I think I got more requests for this one than Sweet Home Alabama at weddings. Maybe it wasn’t a hit, but I have certainly heard this a lot throughout my life, and I always sing along!
Gimme Three Steps
That wraps up 1973 for me. Did you have any favorites from that year? Next week, we move on to 1974. See you there!
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 