Tag: Grammy Awards

The Music of My Life – 2009

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.

One of my comedy heroes has always been Jack Benny. He claimed to be 39 for most of his career. It was one of the many personality traits built into his comedy character. In 2009, I actually turned 39 and have celebrated the anniversary of my 39th birthday ever since.

2009 once again brought changes as it was when my partner and I were let go from our morning show. They replaced us with a form of syndication. They had one person in Flint, and the rest of the crew was on the west side of the state. It hurt because we always talked about the importance of being local. Now the majority of the show is miles away and the only “local” Flint got was traffic and weather.

I think had they let us continue, we would have continued to do well in the ratings. Our program director loved what we were doing. When he passed and a new one came in, I always felt that they had it out for us. Why? So that they could do the morning show instead. In a sense, that is what happened.

It is one of those things that I have to look back on. When I do, I know that had that not happened, my life may have turned out very different. So I have to look back and be grateful for where I am now.

Ok, let’s look at some music.

I wrote all of the above without realizing that my first song is Lucky by Jason Mraz. This was the song that one of my former sisters-in-law used as her wedding song. Of all of my ex’s family, I miss her the most. I used to love making her laugh out loud. I think of her often.

This was a song I really liked right from the get go. I loved the blend of their voices. What was neat was to hear of their mutual love for each other’s music. Colbie Caillat said:

“He (Mraz) emailed me many months ago, saying that he loved my music, that he’s heard my album and he has a song on his album that he wanted me to help him finish writing and collaborate with. We finished writing through email. When he was in London recording his album, I was over there doing promotions for my album and I went over there to do vocals.”

Jason said:

“I became a fan of Colbie through MySpace and just cold-called her to see if she’d want to write and sing together. I dug her laid-back style and her attention to little things that make relationships work. She was a delight to share the mic with.”

They recorded the song without telling their respective record labels. The labels were not really into the idea. Those labels were obviously wrong as this won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.

Lucky

It has been said that “men only want one thing.” I suppose there are many “things” that can be interpreted to be that “one thing.” If you think that one “thing” is money, well, here is a song for you.

I remember the first time I put this one in the CD player at work. It follows the classic “flip.” In other words, you have this slow, serious sounding introduction. That is immediately flipped into something not so serious. Does that make sense? Give it a listen and you will understand what I mean, I hope.

The Trace Adkins songs I have featured here have always had a very serious tone to them. He has had his share of hits with that serious tone, too. But every artists needs to break away from those ultra serious songs now and then. Trace says:

“It’s just fun stuff. You have to try to balance these records. I try to go deep on some, but you’ve got to do some that are just mindless – just stuff you can listen to and turn it up loud and drive fast and just have fun with it and smile and sing along and laugh. You’ve got to have that stuff.”

That’s exactly what “Marry For Money” is. It is the picture of a low down, cheating, male gold digger. And with that being said, it is fun to listen to!

Marry For Money

I had DJ’s enough high school and middle school dances to hate Miley Cyrus. Urgh! That Hannah Montana stuff that the kids loved was just crap to me. That is until I heard, The Climb. It was the first song where I felt like, “Ok, she can sing” and “That song is a hit!”

The song was written by Jessi Alexander and Jon Mabe. I was worked with Jessi before, as she did a show for our listeners at the Moose. She seemed shy and quiet, but she sang like a superstar. I always thought her debut album should have done more.

This was the first single to be taken from the soundtrack of the 2009 Miley Cyrus film Hannah Montana: The Movie. When this reached #1 on the on the Adult Contemporary chart, Miley was 16 years and seven months old. This meant she was the youngest artist to top that survey since LeAnn Rimes. It was Miley’s first #1 single on any of Billboard’s airplay charts.

The song’s lyrics remind me of the poem “The Dash.” The poem is about a grave stone’s dates and the dash between them. Life isn’t about the date of birth or date of death, it’s about what happened between them – the dash.

Here is the chorus of The Climb:

There’s always gonna be another mountain
I’m always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I’m gonna have to lose
Ain’t about how fast I get there
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side
It’s the climb

Life is about the climb!

The Climb

The next song is one that really hits home for me. Not that it was important in 2009, however, it reflected my thoughts on a situation in the mid-90’s. Without giving too much info that folks who know her would figure it out, here is the story.

There was a gal who I really liked. Ok, loved. I hated seeing her with this other dude, who totally treated her like crap. She deserved more. Deep down, I wondered if I ever got a shot to be with her. If I did, I would treat her much differently. I would treat her like he should have. She would often come to me upset because of her relationship. I wanted to scream, “Dump him! I’m here!” That never happened.

Taylor Swift explained the song this way:

“This song is basically about wanting someone who is with this girl who doesn’t appreciate him at all. Basically like ‘girl-next-door-itis.’ You like this guy who you have for your whole life, and you know him better than she does but somehow the popular girl gets the guy every time.”

Last I heard, that gal married the guy. We lost touch, because of that guy. We were such good friends at one point. It is sad to think about.

You Belong With Me

When I used to DJ, I sort of had a rough play list. I started almost all of the weddings the same way. I would play Unchained Melody after all the wedding dances were done. This got all the couples on the dance floor to dance. After it, I would play a fast song to keep the floor packed. Depending on the age group, it might be Old Time Rock and Roll, Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It, Get The Party Started, or something else.

When the Black Eyed Peas released I Gotta Feeling, it was my go to “kick off” song. All age groups loved it. It was the perfect song to talk up, too. “I gotta feelin’ we’re going to have a great night tonight! What song can I play for you, etc….”

It was a great party song and a great radio song. The song was a number 1 song for 14 weeks! The song was the first ever single to be downloaded more than one million times in the UK. Said Fergie:

“It’s exhilarating to know we are so connected to our Peabodies. Hopefully the good vibes from that song will continue to brighten people’s lives.”

According to will.i.am, he literally dreamt up this tune. He said:

“I’ve written songs right from a sleep. Have you ever had a dream where there’s a melody in your dream? I’ll wake up out of my sleep and record that! ‘I Gotta Feeling’ was one of those songs.”

I Gotta Feeling

Next is a song that I remember playing when I worked at the Adult Contemporary station. I was, of course, familiar with Colby Caillat’s music already. It wasn’t until I had moved in with Sam while going through my divorce that the lyrics of this one took on a whole new meaning. I really did begin to fall for her.

Caillat explained to Elle that the song is:

“about falling for a guy I was friends with. We went out on a date and I realized that there was no one else in the room. The room was silent, and I was on this high from it the next day and wrote this song.”

If the guy in the video looks familiar, Colby explains why:

“Bobby Moynihan from SNL plays my love interest, and the whole video is about this guy who’s not my type, but he does all these dorky things on our date that somehow impress me. So he picks the roses from my garden instead of buying me flowers. And then we’re going to go surfing and he almost hits me over the head with the surfboard. And he also has this really funny fantasy dream where he’s dressed all ‘Guido’ in white shoes and his chest is showing and I’m in this ridiculous bathing suit with huge hair and we’re dancing at a DJ party on the beach. It’s just a funny, silly video.”

Falling For You

I have been friends with a gal for almost 40 years. She always said, “Remember to smile, it’s contagious!” I always loved that. There are plenty of great sayings about smiles. “Smile, it makes everyone wonder what you’ve been up to” is another great one. One of my favorite DJ’s used to say, “If you are walking down the street and you see someone with no smile, give them yours and tell them Don Alcorn says hello.”

There are some great songs about smiling, too. “When You’re Smiling” by Dean Martin and “Smile” by Nat King Cole immediately come to mind. Well, Uncle Cracker’s isn’t a bad one either.

Uncle Kracker told Billboard magazine this is: “probably the most positive song I’ve ever written.” He added that the overall tone of the album Happy Hour, “is pretty positive in light of everything that’s going on in the world.” He said: “I made a conscious decision to try something positive. It’s what I needed. it’s a positive spin on everything.”

It’s one of those positive songs that I love!

Smile

Remember the saying, “A stranger is a friend that you haven’t met yet?” That was the thought I had when I heard the title of this Michael Buble’ song. Whether it is an unborn baby or a future lover, the song can have special meaning.

When it came time to record the Crazy Love album, Michael told song facts:

“I started this record knowing I was going to record it differently than my previous ones. I dug way deeper and was more introspective on this one. Basically, I sang the truth – made each song autobiographical – and you can definitely hear the difference. I went back to the way my idols made their records. I wanted an organic feel – so people could feel like they were in the studio with me. The musicians and I all sat in the room, recorded it right from the floor and we let the sounds all come together and bleed into one another. It’s not contrived. Not too perfect. It just feels really good.”

In an interview with The Associated Press, Bublé was asked what the message is he’s trying to send with Crazy Love. He replied:

“I think the message is that all of us can relate to this feeling, this emotion called love and it’s a complicated feeling. It doesn’t just come with butterflies in the stomach and happiness and sunshine and lollipops, it comes with heartache and jealousy and sometimes rage and sometimes insecurity and sadness and regret. It’s a beautiful, complicated, and really special feeling that keeps us all connected.”

This was the first recording by a jazz crooner to reach the Top 30 of the Billboard singles chart since Norah Jones’ “Don’t Know Why” seven years previously in 2003.

Haven’t Met You Yet

The next song stood out to me because of the sound. The first time I heard Hey Soul Sister by Train on the radio, I loved it! That ukulele cut through like a knife to me. Train’s Pat Monahan said, “The ukulele made everybody happy. I think that along with the song itself and the melodies, people gravitate towards that positive part of it. The ukulele made a big difference.”

He told Billboard that the song and the album were a return to their folk roots. He said:

“There’s super catchy riffs and melodies in it, which I think are way more important that any production trick or great-sounding vocal production. It’s kind of us going backward so we can go forward.”

The song was the most downloaded on iTunes in 2010 and is just a great feel good song.

Hey Soul Sister

Lady Antebellum (Known now as Lady A) was one of those groups that came through on a radio tour and left me speechless. They were SO good. I knew that they would be stars. They music they played, their vocal stylings, the dynamics of the group – they had it all.

Lady A is Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and David Haywood. Need You Now was from their second album. Hillary Scott explained that the song, and many others on the album, “Are about what we are learning as we go through the ups and downs of different relationships.” She added: “All three of us know what it’s like to get to that point where you feel lonely enough that you make a late night phone call that you very well could regret the next day. But you do it anyway because it’s the only thing that’s going to give you any relief in that moment.”

Charles Kelly said that initially there some concerns about the song’s lyrical content from executives at their record label. “The response from the get-go was so big,” he said. “I remember even having some conversations with the label and people were [saying], ‘Oh no, hope they don’t get offended by the ‘I’m a little drunk and I need you now’ line. And I said, ‘But that’s honest! We’re talking about Country radio, right? What happened to the old Waylon [Jennings] songs and stuff and people said what they felt?’ It’s storytelling.” Dave Haywood added, “The three of us have been there, too. I mean, we’ve been in serious relationships and when you get out of that, all you want is that person next to you.”

I don’t know one person who hasn’t felt that way after a break up. The song connected with people everywhere and went straight to # 1. When this ballad reached #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart in its 10th week, it achieved the quickest climb to the top (excluding seasonal titles) since Phil Collins.

Lady A performed “Need You Now” at the 2010 Grammy Awards, where it won for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. It marked just the second time a country song won the Record of the Year prize and the third time Song of the Year went Country.

The song is a great song, and sadly at its peak was overplayed on the radio.

Need You Now

So there you have my picks from 2009. Did I pick one of your favorites? Did I miss one of yours? Tell me about it in the comments.

The Music of My Life – 2002

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.

See you then!

The Music of My Life – 2001

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 2001, I turned 31. It is a year that I will not forget. It was that year that I found out I was going to be a father for the first time. To say that I was freaking out a little was an understatement. My mom continued to get treatment for breast cancer. There was a time where I prayed that she would be around for my wedding. Now I was praying that she’d be around to meet her first grandchild. My first song was inspired by, coincidentally, a mother with cancer.

It was also the year of the 9/11 attacks. I, of course, was around for the Challenger accident. Many folks called that the “JFK assassination” of my generation. As sad as the Challenger accident was, 9/11 was on an entirely different level. I remember sitting alone wondering about the world we were welcoming our baby into. The event caused many of us to think … more on that shortly.

Train’s Drops of Jupiter came from devastating loss for lead singer Pat Monahan. In a VH1 interview, he revealed that he wrote this song about the death of his mother. Train was were touring in 1988 when Monahan’s mom was dying of lung cancer – she was a heavy smoker. Cell phones had not yet become widely used. This found Monahan making many stops to pay phones on the tour to speak with his mom. It was in December of that year, his mother died.

In early 1999 Train was working on their next album when their record company started pressuring them for a hit. Monahan returned to his childhood home in Pennsylvania, and woke one morning with the words “back in the atmosphere” in his head. Beginning a time of healing, he started to compose the song. Pat said: “Loss of the most important person in my life was heavy on my mind, and the thought of ‘what if no one ever really leaves? What if she’s here but different. The idea was, she’s back here in the atmosphere.”

He recorded a demo of the song and played it for the president of their record company at Columbia. The president loved it and told him it was his Grammy song. He was right: It won Grammys for Best Rock Song and Best Instrumental Arrangement With Accompanying Vocalist. The label had Train record the song quickly. That way they could put it on the album and use it as the title track.

Pat Monahan is quoted as saying, ““It was an obvious connection between me and my mother. ‘Drops of Jupiter’ was as much about me being on a voyage and trying to find out who I am. The best thing we can do about loss of love is find ourselves through it.”

That is SO true.

Drops of Jupiter

I mentioned when I did my list in 1999 that I’ll Be by Edwin McCain is hard to listen to. It was the wedding song my ex and I used. In 2000, Edwin released I Could Not Ask For More, which is a more beautiful song, in my opinion.

This song itself is about spending time with your true love. It is about realizing you do not need anything else in life to make you happy. The song was written by Diane Warren, who has written quite a few songs that I have written about. McCain said that he had to speed the song up to suit his voice. He said, “The tempo of the song was actually half of what it is now. At first, I wasn’t into it. Now it’s a popular wedding song; every night on tour people tell me that it was their wedding song.”

It was in 2001 that country singer Sara Evans covered the song. While not too different from McCain’s version, I love her version more. I have always felt that she has one of the best female voices in country music. She is also one of the most beautiful singers I have met. I loved watching her perform this live.

I Could Not Ask For More

This next song is on my list for one reason and one reason only – the video! I can still remember the first time I watched it and was blown away by Christopher Walken. I had no idea he could dance like this!

Weapon of Choice appeared on Fatboy Slim’s third album and featured Bootsy Collins. Bootsy is, of course, known for his work with Parliament-Funkadelic and Bootsy’s Rubber Band. Boosty co-wrote the song and plays bass on it.

According to Songfacts:

The official music video for “Weapon of Choice” reveals a surprising side of Christopher Walken, known for his intense, often villainous roles in films like Pulp Fiction, The Deer Hunter, and True Romance. What most of us didn’t know until this video appeared is that Walken is a great dancer – he trained at the Washington Dance Studio and appeared in musicals such as 1981’s Pennies from Heaven. In a 2014 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Walken said he accepted the role before he became “too decrepit to dance.”

He choreographed the video with Michael Rooney, son of Mickey Rooney, and performed stunts, including flying across the mezzanine in a harness. Reflecting on the humor and playfulness of the video, Fatboy Slim told Higher Frequency in 2006: “I think it’s full of irony, and to see an actor that I really admire but who’s famous for playing psychopaths, to see him do that silly un-psychopathic dancing made me smile and made everyone else smile.”

The “Weapon of Choice” music video was a huge hit! It won six MTV Video Music Awards in 2001. It won for Breakthrough Video, Best Direction, Best Choreography, Best Art Direction, Best Editing, and Best Cinematography. It also went on to win the Grammy Award for Best Music Video. To top it all off, it was named the greatest music video of all time by VH1 in 2002.

Weapon of Choice

I recently saw where Brian Cranston, Jane Kaczmarek, and Frankie Muniz announced that they will reunite for a reboot of Malcolm in the Middle. The show debuted in 2000 and did very well. I always watched it because I could relate to the constant fighting between the brothers. I also loved the humor of the show.

They Might Be Giants recorded this song specifically for Malcolm in the Middle, and can be found on the show’s soundtrack. The show used other songs from the band throughout the run of the show.

The rumor is that the song is about guitar player John Flansburgh’s brother. I can totally see this. We may not have used the exact phrase growing up, but I know my brother and I often said that the other couldn’t boss the other around. It hits home in that way for me.

Boss of Me

The next song was a triumphant return for Weezer. Their fans were a little worried about the band in the late ’90s. After touring for their 1996 album Pinkerton, they took some time off and went through some lineup changes. It was during this time that Rivers Cuomo was taking classes at Harvard. He enrolled there in 1995 and attended sporadically when it suited his schedule. “Island In The Sun” was welcome relief for fans, showing that the band was back and in a good place. (Cuomo did eventually graduate Harvard, earning a degree in English in 2006.)

Songfacts says, “Unlike many Weezer songs, there’s no trace of pathos and no deeper meaning, making it an easy song to enjoy even if you’re not a big fan of the band. It became one of their most popular songs, although it was never a bit hit, reaching a chart peak of just #111 in the US.”

This is another one of those songs that I remember hearing a lot on the radio. I find it hard to believe that it only reached #111 on the charts. It was obviously good enough for them to play on TV. Weezer played it along with “Hash Pipe,” when they were musical guests on Saturday Night Live, May 19, 2001. It was their only guest appearance on the show.

Sing along…. “Hip. Hip.”

Island in the Sun

What do Neil Diamond, The Monkees and Smash Mouth have in common? One MONSTER hit!

Neil Diamond wrote I’m a Believer in 1966. Don Kirshner was looking for material for the Monkees to record and liked it. Neil was allowed to record it as well as part of their deal and did so in 1967. The Monkees version went to #1in ’66.

Jump ahead 35 years to 2001. Smash Mouth recorded a version of the song for the Dreamworks animated movie, Shrek. The song was picked because it fit the movie’s theme, as it was a sort of fairy tale. The opening line of the song is “I thought love was only true in fairy tales.”

Smash Mouth’s version is a great modern take on the song and still fun to sing along with. When I hear it, I am taken back to watching this movie with my oldest son. He loved Shrek and we watched it MANY times.

I’m a Believer

The next song was one that I often used as a first song at parties and weddings. It was a good one because it was the “kick off” song and literally got the party started.

Songfacts.com says: Get the Party Started was written by Linda Perry of 4 Non Blondes. After the group broke up in the early ’90s, Perry released two solo albums and started writing for other artists. She learned that hits of the ’00s were made digitally. She bought Akai MPC and Korg Triton digital workstations and started experimenting with them. As she was learning how to use them, she came up with the track by adding layer after layer, then she quickly banged out a lyric with every party cliché she could think of, arriving at lines like:

I’m your operator, you can call anytime
I’ll be your connection to the party line

It worked: “Get The Party Started” was a huge hit for Pink and launched Perry’s songwriting career. Her next hit was “Beautiful” for Christina Aguilera.

The song is synonymous with Pink, but it was almost offered to another singer. Thankfully, a phone call changed that. Perry initially thought this could be a hit for Madonna. However, Pink happened to call her the week after she wrote the song. Pink was a huge 4 Non Blondes fan. She sought out Perry, who was very surprised to get a call from a pop star. When they met, Perry gave Pink an MP3 copy of the “Get The Party Started.” Pink’s management loved the song and arranged for them to work together on her second album.

Get The Party Started

When an artist’s first single is a ballad, it is usually because the ballad is amazing. Most record labels want uptempo songs. (Honestly, most radio stations want uptempo stuff, too!) There are no shortage of ballads waiting to get airplay!

When it came time to release his first single, Enrique Iglesias fought to get “Hero” released. “Everybody thought first singles at the time had to be uptempo,” he told People. “But I knew that it was one of those songs that when I wrote it it just felt special.” It was, and he was right. Iglesias attributes the success of this song to a combination of good lyrics, melody, and excellent production. He feels those three qualities need to work together to make a timeless hit.

The song took on a whole new meaning shortly after it was released. This song was released on August 14, 2001, just a month before the September 11 attacks on the US. The song doesn’t describe the type first-responder heroes, but the theme of standing by a loved one resonated at this time. The song became quite popular because of that, reaching a chart peak of #3.

One pastor taught a message on husbands and wives. He stated that what a husband wants is to be his wife’s hero. That’s the guy who will take away her pain and be there through thick and thin.

Hero

MercyMe is a contemporary Christian group. They had an Adult Contemporary crossover hit with a song that was written by their lead singer Bart Millard. I Can Only Imagine is simply about imagining what it will be like meeting Jesus for the first time.

In a Songfacts interview, Bart said that he that he wrote the song in about 10 minutes. He said that it was one of just three songs he wrote where he felt like he was “a spectator watching the song being written.”

Regarding the song’s meaning, Millard stated: “When my father died of cancer in 1991, he left me with the assurance that he was headed to a better place. For several years following his death, I would find myself writing the phrase ‘I can only imagine’ on anything I could find. That simple phrase would give me a peace thinking about what my dad was finally experiencing. Years later, in 1999, MercyMe was writing songs for an independent project. I remember coming home from a show and being wide awake on our bus at 2 o’clock in the morning. I was trying to write lyrics in an old notebook of mine, when all of a sudden, I stumbled across that phrase. About ten minutes later, the song was written. Some people say it’s amazing that it was written in ten minutes, when really it had been on my heart for almost ten years.”

This one means a lot to me personally. I am so grateful for my faith and my Savior. It is an amazing thing to imagine….

I Can Only Imagine

I can still vividly remember the morning of 9/11. I was in a meeting with my boss at the radio station when the morning gal came in and told us that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. We went into the newsroom and were shaken to the core when we watched the second plane it the Twin Towers. That would be one of the longest and most emotional days in my radio career.

I worked at a country station at the time. We saw a lot of patriotism come out of those attacks. Songwriters wrote songs about being an American and such, but none of the equaled the contribution made by Alan Jackson.

The 9/11 attacks made a lot of us stop and think about life. We were left with so many questions. We were left shocked and scarred by the images we watched on TV. It was constantly on our minds. Alan Jackson seemed to be on the same page as everyone else, and conveyed it all perfectly in the song Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)

He wrote the song alone, with the idea coming to him at 4am in the morning. He explained to The Boot that the lyrics really “came out of nowhere.” “It was just a gift,” he said. “I got up and scribbled it down and put the melody down so I wouldn’t forget it, and the next day I started piecing all those verses together, thoughts I had or visuals I had.”

The song made its debut on the Country Music Association’s annual awards show on November 7, 2001. I still cannot believe that he was able to sing the song without breaking down. Alan considers this to be one of his biggest (if not the biggest) accomplishment. He said in an interview: “I [recently] did a radio interview, and the guy was talking about being at the [CMA] Awards the night I sang ‘Where Were You,'” he explained. “Even though that was a hard performance for me and an emotional time, I still get so many comments about that. Of all the awards, and all that kind of stuff, the music is still what I like. To be able to create a song that really affects people and makes a mark in the music industry, I would have to say that would be a highlight.”

To this day, the song still gives me chills. I’m sure you will never forget where you were when the events of that day unfolded either.

Where Were You

Sorry to wrap up the year on a somber note, but that wraps up my list. How about you? What song from 2001 did I miss that was your favorite. Mention it in the comments.

Next week, we’ll head to 2002. My list features movie music, an in your face patriotic song, a song full of 70’s and 80’s nostalgia, a cover song, an appearance by the Muppets, and the return of the King! I hope you’ll check it out.

Until next week, thanks for listening and for reading!

The Music of My Life – 1992

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.

Thanks again for reading!

The Music of My Life – 1991

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.

1991 saw big changes for me.  In April, a former coworker called to ask if I wanted a full time radio job at his station.  It was a small market on the west side of the state (In Ludington). My girlfriend at the time and I had just had a big argument and I figured “Why not?!”

I was all by myself, in a place where I really only knew one person, at a job that decided to pay less than what I was told when I moved.  It was lonely and I struggled a lot.  The day I turned 21, I went to the store to buy beer and they never even carded me!

That summer would be one of my favorite summers.  Michigan’s West side is just beautiful.  I had never seen sunsets like those before!  They were breathtaking. 

Musically, there were some powerful tunes released in 1991.  Some of them wouldn’t play into the events of my life for a few years, but when they did …

The first pick from ’91 is a song that I have found people either love or hate.  I’m not sure why. Personally, I love the guitar sound and the harmonies in it, and I love the lyrics.

More Than Words is a song that was written by Gary Cherone and Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme.  Nuno says, “The word ‘love’ itself gets really diluted, so we just wanted to say, ‘It’s not really about saying it,’ because everybody gets really worked up when somebody says that to each other. They say, ‘I love you,’ and everybody goes, ‘Oh my God! It must be serious. It must be heavy.’ It’s like, ‘Eh… it’s easy to say that.’ It’s really about showing it constantly and continuously in a relationship. We knew that was the message.”

The song was a huge hit for them.  People who rushed out to buy their albums were quite surprised when they heard that the band primarily played Rock music.  The band has called the song “both a blessing and a curse.”

More Than Words

R.E.M. had released the very thought provoking Losing My Religion from their Out of Time album as their first single.  Their follow up was a song that could not be more different! That song was Shiny Happy People.

Michael Stipe calls this “A really fruity, kind of bubblegum song.” In an interview with The Quietus, he said that he was a bit embarrassed when it became a big hit, but it’s an important song because it shows a different side of him. Said Stipe:

“Many people’s idea of R.E.M, and me in particular, is very serious, with me being a very serious kind of poet. But I’m also actually quite funny – hey, my bandmates think so, my family thinks so, my boyfriend thinks so, so I must be – but that doesn’t always come through in the music! People have this idea of who I am probably because when I talk on camera, I’m working so hard to articulate my thoughts that I come across as very intense.”

Kate Pierson from the B-52s sang backup. She was in demand for her distinctive vocals after the B-52s achieved mainstream success with Love Shack.

In 1999, R.E.M. performed this on Sesame Street as “Furry Happy Monsters.” Kate Pierson’s part was performed by a Muppet that looked like her, voiced by Stephanie D’Abruzzo, a Muppeteer who was also a huge fan of the band.

Guitarist Peter Buck has two daughters who were big fans of the show. “You just looked around,” he recalled to Mojo in 2016, “going, Man this is a weird way to make a living.”

I had heard the song on the radio but it wasn’t until I was sitting at home watching Sesame Street with my oldest that I gained an appreciation for it. 

Shiny Happy People

My next one had been on my iPod for years before the lyrics really hit me.  My ex and I were at a point where all we did was argue.  It was a very unhappy situation. 

It was after an argument that I was in the car and heard Mariah Carey’s “I Don’t Wanna Cry.” Those lyrics were something I could have wrote;

Once again we sit in silence
After all is said and done
Only emptiness inside us
Baby look what we’ve become
We can make a million promises
But we still won’t change
It isn’t right to stay together
When we only bring each other pain

It stung, but it was true.  The end was upon us.

This was Mariah’s fourth consecutive #1 hit on the Hot 100, making her the first solo artist and female artist in Billboard history to have their first four singles top the chart.

I love her vocal and the guitar work in this one

I Don’t Want to Cry

Long before I stood next to a very drunk Hank Williams Jr at a urinal in Nashville, he had put out an album in ’91 entitled Pure Hank.

One of the singles that was released was If It Will It Will.  It’s very easy for us to get caught up in worry, but worry isn’t good for us.  Hank’s simple advice is something we should all remember,

“If it will, it will.  If it won’t, it won’t.”

The weirdest thing about this song is the video.  Right at the beginning, Little Richard shows up.  To me, he’s out of place and isn’t utilized very well. Even when he does sing along, you can barely hear him. The song, however, is a favorite.  It starts off with a  bluesy vocal/introduction and then kicks.

If It Will, It Will

As I compile these lists for each year, I always seem to stumble on one that could be used for another feature. The next song would certainly work for my Movie Music Monday feature. It was a big hit from the Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves soundtrack.

(Everything I Do) I Do It For You was written to order for the movie. It was initially written by American film composer Michael Kamen. The middle eight, break, outro and arrangement added by Bryan Adams and producer Mutt Lange. Adams used a line in the movie, “I do it for you…” as the basis for the song, and they had it written in about an hour.

The song didn’t meet with Hollywood approval. The film company wanted the song to have an instrumentation that was in line with the film’s era. Can you imagine the song featuring lutes, mandolins, and the like? The film company eventually relented, but still buried the song midway through the credits. They were obviously unaware of the huge hit they had on their hands.

The reason it made my list is because of an ex-girlfriend. It is not because it was “our song” or anything like that. She asked me if I knew the song. Naturally, I did. It was a big bridal dance song. She told me to listen to it again, but to listen to it as if God was speaking the words (making changes to tense and such).

You can’t tell me it’s (your) not worth dying for
You know it’s true
Everything I do (did)
I do (did) it for you

I had never thought of it that way before. I always remember that conversation when I hear the song.

(Everything I Do) I Do It For You

I love Bonnie Raitt. I love listening to her sing and watching her play. She is blues. She is country. She is pop. She is folk. She is something!

She was no stranger to the music scene. Her first album came out in 1971! She also did some session work. She’s collaborated with artists like John Prine, Jackson Brown, The Pointer Sisters, Warren Zevon and Leon Russell. She finally had some success in 1989 with her award winning album Nick of Time.

The first time I heard Something To Talk About on the radio, it stuck out to me. It was so different. As a blues fan, I could hear that blues influence and I feel in love with the song. The song would go on to be her biggest chart hit in the United States, rising to #5.

She was never a singles act, but after her four Grammy wins for the album Nick Of Time, her songs started getting radio play. With radio play, they began showing up on the chart. “Something to Talk About” was the lead single to her next album, Luck of the Draw. Because of her prior success, the song was highly anticipated and radio jumped on it. The song won a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Bonnie beat out Oleta Adams, Mariah Carey, Amy Grant and Whitney Houston.

Sadly, it is also a karaoke favorite that is destroyed by many a “wanna be” singer in pubs everywhere! I’ll take the original, thank you.

Something To Talk About

The next song is on the list not because of the content, but the title. “Things That Make You Go Hmmm” became a sort of catch phrase. Arsenio Hall used it on his show all the time. I still hear people using it today!

C+C Music Factory was a dance floor staple when I was DJing. “Gonna Make You Sweat” is still one that I hear when I go to weddings. “Things That Make You Go Hmmm” was a huge dance song when it came out. It had a cool dance beat and some catchy lyrics.

Songfacts says this:

In the early ’90s, before gangsta rap took hold, rap songs were often lighthearted and clever, telling self-deprecating stories over dance grooves. Examples of this would be “Bust a Move” and “Funky Cold Medina.”

I think that is why that early 90s rap is still popular today. They really were very clever. They were also light on profanity. It isn’t odd to see “MF” and other profane words right in the titles as time goes on. That always made me laugh because how can anyone like a song where 75% of the lyrics are bleeped out? I guess that’s one of those … Things That Make You Go Hmmm….

Things That Make You Go Hmmm

The next song was one that was never released as a single. I became familiar with it after my grandfather passed away in 1994. I was extremely close to my grandpa and was heart broken when he passed. I received Reba McEntire’s For My Broken Heart album from my dear friend Allyson.

We both have birthdays in May and when life wasn’t so complicated, we’d meet for coffee or lunch to celebrate. She gave me this CD as a gift. She mentioned that she knew I was still grieving the death of my grandpa. She told me she thought of me when she heard the song, If I Had Only Known.

Quick background on the album. Reba recorded this album after losing many members of her touring band in an airplane crash. In her liner notes she says the album is “a form of healing for all our broken hearts.”

When I listened to this song for the first time, I thought about my grandpa (as Allyson had suggested). It moved me to tears. A decade later, I would hear it and think of my mom, too.

The lesson of the song? If we were aware that we were experiencing the “last” of something, we’d live life a bit differently.

If I Had Only Known

I always love to hear stories about how a song almost didn’t happen. That was the case for I Can’t Dance by Genesis. It came from a mix of a Jam session and writing session.

The lyrics are made up of bits that Phil Collins improvised in the studio. When they started working on it, they decided to just write spontaneously to keep from over-thinking it. Mike Rutherford first created the main riff of the song he called “Heavy A Flat.” Which led Phil to suddenly improvise the basic concept for “I Can’t Dance”. The riff was actually inspired by a Levi Strauss & Co. television commercial.

Originally, the band did not think of it as anything more than a joke recording that would be discarded quickly. They felt this way because the song was too simple, too bluesy, and unlike Genesis’ style. Tony Banks said, “It was one of those bits you thought was going to go nowhere. It sounded fun but wasn’t really special.”

When Banks decided to add keyboard sound effects to complement Rutherford’s playing, “I Can’t Dance” took on an entirely different feeling. The band came to appreciate the sly humor inherent in the song and chose to not only record it properly, but to put it on the album as a single.

The video created a lasting image thanks to the “silly walk” the three band members did. This walk was something Phil Collins did from time to time. He got the idea for it when he attended drama school and noticed that the worst dancers would always lead with the hand and foot on the same side. The dance has become sort of iconic.

I think that I relate to this song in that I can’t really dance. I sway when slow dancing. Fast dancing? HA! Forget it. I can’t. When I try, I look like Elaine from Seinfeld.

I Can’t Dance

When I was DJing at the local VFW, line dancing was a pretty big thing. There were all kinds of country line dances. At one point I had to make a list so I knew what dances people were doing to certain songs.

“Can you play Moo Moo Land?”

That was what someone came up and asked me one day. Moo Moo Land? What in the world was that!? Naturally, my dad knew it because there was a dance they did to it. It was called “Justified and Ancient” by the KLF and featured Tammy Wynette! What a weird pairing!

But it gets weirder! According to Songfacts:

The title “Justified & Ancient” refers to the KLF’s pseudonym and earlier incarnation, “The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu” (The JAMs). The JAMs took their name from Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson’s sci-fi tinged, conspiracy theory-laden Illuminatus! Book series in which The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu are a fictional subversive cult who have been around since pre-history. The song lyrics describe the Justified Ancients making their way to Mu Mu Land in an ice cream van.

Huh?!

Even Tammy was unsure about it. She originally thought the song was called “Justified and ANXIOUS.” She said, “As it was, I didn’t understand what some of the words meant. I know about ice cream vans, but I’d never heard of a 99 before,” she added. “Bill explained it to me and now it makes perfectly good sense. I’m still not sure about Justified and Ancient though.” (A 99 is an ice cream with a flake in it).

Really, it is a great dance record. It’s neat to hear Tammy Wynette on it and it really revitalized her career.

Justified and Ancient

Last week I threw in that crazy Bingo Boys song at the end of my list. This week, I have to throw in another totally ridiculous song at you. Again, it is one that my best friend Jeff and I laughed about – a lot.

The group 2nu (pronounced “two – new”) was a pop group out of Seattle, Washington. When they first hit the scene, they has yet to come up with a name. A radio DJ said that the band was still too new to have a name, and they decided that worked. They have only released three albums, the first in 1991. What makes them unique (if that is the right word) is that their songs consist of sound effects, rhythmic beats, and a spoken word lyric. Their first single was “This is Ponderous.”

The song is more bizarre than ponderous. My buddy and I used to laugh at the “language the narrator doesn’t understand.”

Feel free to file this in the “What the heck was that?” folder…

This Is Ponderous

And with that silliness, we wrap up 1991. I mentioned that I can’t dance this week. Next week, as we dive into 1992, it contains the only fast song that I will dance to. It is an interesting list. It includes three cover songs, one parody song, three movie songs, a song about a royal feud, a song for the hard workers, and a song for the poor. I think you’ll enjoy it.

Did I forget one one your favorites from 1991? Drop it in the comments. I’d love to see if it was one that was on my radar.

I truly hope you are enjoying this series. Thanks for reading!

Tune Tuesday – Criminal

Admittedly, this is an odd pick for me. It is one of those songs that got my attention because of the instrumentation of the song and the unique voice of the singer. It was a song that would play on the radio on one of the stations I would listen to while driving and delivering for the EDS mailroom in between radio gigs. The intro had such an interesting sound to it.

I knew nothing of the artist, never saw the video, and only learned more about the song and the complex life of Fiona Apple recently. She has used real life and events from her life to express some very deep songs. To say that she has experienced a lot of hurt in her life is an understatement. She used music and writing to get through some tough stuff.

It was on this day in 1996 that 18 year old Fiona Apple released her debut album, Tidal. She got her record deal before she ever played live. A musical prodigy, she was writing songs by the time she was 11. Her high-school years were rough: she lived with her mom in New York City (her parents, never married, split when she was 4), and she felt like an outcast.

Music was her retreat – her way of expressing her internal struggles and making sense of the world. When she realized she would have to choose a profession at some point, she made a demo tape with three of the songs she wrote. Her friend gave it to a music publicist she was babysitting for, and Apple landed her deal. Less than a year later, Tidal was released with one song from the demo, “Never Is A Promise,” on the track list.

Fiona typically works by writing songs that are extensions of her journals, baring her soul for all to hear in a process that can be years in the making. “Criminal” is an outlier: she claims she wrote the song in just 45 minutes to prove she could, and to give her record label (Work, a division of Sony) the hit song they were after.

She sprung into action after one of her friends was giving her grief about how she wasn’t writing more songs. “The next time you see me, I’m gonna have a new song,” she told her. “I can force myself to do the work, but only if someone is right up behind me,” she explained.

With the weight of Sony Music behind her, the highly introverted Apple set out to promote the album with a series of showcases, interviews and performances. It quickly became clear that she will speak unflinchingly about the heartbreaks and horrors that inspired many of the songs on the album. One story she tells over and over is the one about being raped outside her apartment when she was 12 which became the subject of her song, “Sullen Girl.”

In the summer of 1997, she joined the Lilith Fair and in September, she made her mark at the MTV Video Music Awards. In her acceptance speech for Best New Artist (for her song, “Sleep to Dream”), she told the audience, “This world is bulls–t, and you shouldn’t model your life about what you think that we think is cool.” That moment went viral and the record company took advantage of it. Sony responded by releasing “Criminal” as a single, taking advantage of the wave of publicity. The song debuted at #28 on October 4, and peaked at #21 on November 29. The Tidal album went on to sell over 3 million copies.

Fiona has said that the song is about “feeling bad for getting something so easily by using your sexuality” and therefore making her a “criminal.” Depression and self-loathing were a common theme in Fiona’s songwriting at the time. She told Interview magazine: “It’s psychologically and chemically impossible for me to be happy.”

The video was quite controversial and all of the attention that it got (positive and negative) pushed the song onto the pop chart, giving Fiona the only Hot 100 hit of her career. Tidal took off, but the downforce of all the media attention and public appearances finally wore her down, and in March 1998, she canceled her tour.

Apple performed this “Criminal” at the Grammy Awards in 1998, where she won Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for the song. She was nominated for Best New Artist, but lost to her Lilith Fair tour mate Paula Cole.

Source: songfacts.com

Turntable Talk #8 – Best Year In Music?

Once again, Dave from A Sound Day has asked some of us music lovers to participate in another round of Turntable Talk. This time around was a bit of a challenge for me. Dave’s e-mail stated:

“Put your thinking caps on and go through your stacks of records (or scroll thru that I-pod) and … come up with what you think the best year for music was. A tough call of course, thankfully there have been more than a few good ones! I’m interested in what you pick and don’t worry if yours duplicates someone else’s , you still have your reasons which might be different.” He goes on to say, “I think I have a guess on a couple of years that might come up more than once, but we’ll wait and see.”

This particular blog will be one of the last ones to be featured and I do not know if my year will be or has been featured. I plan on writing this KNOWING that the year I have chosen very well may be one that comes up in another post. Before I tell you the year I picked, let me tell you that I had a very difficult time narrowing it down.

My first thought was to go with 1956/1957 because those years were always so unique. You had the birth of rock and roll mixing with pop standards. When I worked at Honey Radio, I loved doing the Top 12 at 12 show when those years popped up because there was such a big variety in what was played. You could go from Elvis or Jerry Lee Lewis to Pat Boone or Nelson Riddle. When I looked at the list of songs, however, were they really the BEST? No.

The same thing can be said for some of the years in the 70’s decades. I looked through many lists and while there were many great songs, there were also a lot of really crappy songs! I just couldn’t really come up with the conviction to pick a year in that decade as the BEST.

One year kept coming up every time I started thinking about it – 1964.

I want you to know before I continue that I was dead set AGAINST 1964 when I read Dave’s e-mail. Why? Well, I felt that it would just be too Beatle heavy and loaded with British Invasion stuff. And it is. On the Top 100 Chart, The Fab Four nabbed 9 spots. 18 spots were held by other British Invasion acts. In total 27% of the Top 100 were British acts. When I really looked at the chart, the more and more I felt like this WAS the year.

1964 really was the year of the Beatles, so let’s discuss them first. They were present almost right from the start as their “Introducing The Beatles” album was released in America on January 10th of that year.

This album preceded Capitol Records “Meet the Beatles” by 10 days and there was a lawsuit surrounding that whole issue. Capitol Records won an injunction and Vee-jay Records was not allowed to put out any more Beatles recordings.

In February of 1964, the Beatles arrived in the US and appeared on Ed Sullivan’s show three times (2/9, 2/16, and 2/23). In March of 64, Billboard magazine stated that the Beatles were responsible for 60% of all single record sales! In a feat that has yet to be matched, on April 4, 1964, the Beatles held the Top 5 spots on the Billboard chart!

A week later, the boys held 14 spots on the Hot 100 Chart! That broke the previous record of 9 spots held by Elvis Presley in 1956.

In May, The Beatles Second Album was released and in July, they would release A Hard Day’s Night in theaters. “I Want to Hold Your Hand” wound up being the #1 song for the whole year of 64 (“She Loves You” was #2) To say that they played a small part in the music of 1964 would be a huge understatement.

Among the other artists that came over from “across the pond” in 64 were Manfred Mann (Do Wah Diddy Diddy), Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas (Little Children and Bad to Me), The Dave Clark Five (Glad All Over, Because, Do You Love Me), Peter and Gordon (A World Without Love), The Animals (House of the Rising Son), The Honeycombs (Have I The Right), Dusty Springfield (Wishin’ and Hopin’), Gerry & The Pacemakers (Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying and How Do You Do It), Chad and Jeremy (A Summer Song), The Kinks (You Really Got Me), and the Searchers (Don’t Throw Your Love Away and Needles and Pins). It is interesting to note that the Rolling Stones debut album was released this year, but no songs appear in the Top 100 for the year.

Once you move away from the British artists, the chart has a nice variety of pop, rock, folk, country, soul, and even a few novelty songs. I think that is what made me ultimately choose this particular year.

It was nice to look over the Top 100 and see Motown represented with some classics. The Supremes hold two of the six Motown songs (Where Did Our Love Go and Baby Love), Motown was female heavy as Mary Wells (My Guy) and Martha and the Vandellas (Dancin’ In The Street) grabbed the next two spots, and the male gender was represented by The Four Tops (Baby I Need Your Loving) and The Temptations (The Way You Do The Things You Do).

While they were not “oldies” at the time, there were some classic songs that are still in hot rotation today on the oldies stations across the country. Roy Orbison had a smash with Pretty Woman in 64, and also had a hit with It’s Over. Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons grabbed three of the Top 100 with Rag Doll, Dawn and Ronnie. The Beach Boys only entry in the Top 100 was I Get Around.

1964 brought us classics like The Drifters Under The Boardwalk, Chapel of Love by the Dixie Cups, Suspicion by Terry Stafford, It Hurts to Be In Love from gene Pitney and Come A Little Bit Closer by Jay and the Americans. Johnny Rivers had a hit with Chuck Berry’s Memphis, Bobby Freeman invited us to C’mon and Swim, Detroit’s Reflections offered up Just Like Romeo and Juliet and the Shangri-Las told us the story of the Leader of the Pack.

Car songs were well represented in 64! Ronny and the Daytonas had GTO, while the Rip Chords sang Hey Little Cobra, and the Hondells had Little Honda. Jan and Dean told us the stories of The Little Old Lady from Pasadena and Dead Man’s Curve, while J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers told us the tragic story of a Last Kiss.

Soul music is represented by The Impressions (I’m So Proud and Keep on Pushing), Joe Hinton (Funny How Time Slips Away), The Tams (What Kind of Fool Do You Think I Am), Jimmy Hughes (Steal Away) and Nancy Wilson (How Glad Am I). If you throw Blues into the “Soul” mix, the great Tommy Tucker song “Hi Heel Sneakers” was out in 1964.

Instrumentally, Al Hirt had a monster hit with Java, The Ventures had Walk Don’t Run 1964, The Marketts had The Outer Limits, and Robert Maxwell had the incredibly cheesy lounge version of Shangri-la. While novelty songs included Jumpin’ Gene Simmons (Haunted House), The Trashmen (Surfin’ Bird) and Roger Miller (Chug-a-Lug).

While Rock was dominant in 1964, there were still some pop (and even folk) songs that made the Top 100 – one of them, doing the “impossible.” Two of the biggest pop hits of the year couldn’t be more different from each other. The third biggest hit of the year belonged to Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong and his Dixieland hit “Hello, Dolly!” Barbra Streisand (who won Album of the year at the 1964 Grammy Awards) had the 11th biggest hit of the year with “People.”

Pop/Folk was also represented by Gale Garnett (We’ll Sing in the Sunshine), The Ray Charles Singers (Love Me With All Your Heart), Dionne Warwick (Walk On By), Al Martino (I Love You More and More Every Day), and Andy Williams (A Fool Never Learns). But the biggest surprise came from an artist who hadn’t had a top 40 record since 1958!

Dean Martin didn’t care for Rock and Roll. With the British Invasion in full swing, there was very little chance of him ever having another hit. His kids loved the new artists. His son, Dean Paul, loved the Beatles. Dean told his boy, “I’m gonna knock your pallies off the charts!” On August 15, 1964 – he did just that with a song that became his NEW theme song, “Everybody Loves Somebody.” (It replaced That’s Amore as his theme song)

The song knocked the beloved Beatles A Hard Day’s Night out of the number 1 spot! It went on to stay at #1 on the Pop Standards Singles Chart for 8 weeks. It also became the theme to his weekly television show in 1965.

I picked 1964 for a few reasons. Despite my initial worry about it being British act heavy, it was the year that introduced us to the Beatles (who changed the music scene forever!). It is also the year that one act held the top 5 spots on the charts (a record that remains in place). It is also the year that my favorite singer of all time bumped the biggest group in music out of the top spot.

It is also a year that encompasses such a vast variety of music. While there may be better songs that appeared before and after 1964, it truly represents a unique time in history. America was still recovering from the loss of a beloved president, there were still Civil Rights issues, and a war in Vietnam. The music of 1964 was a welcome escape from so many things.

Was it all good? No, and that is true of every year. However, as I look at the 100 biggest songs of the year, there are a lot of great songs that have gone on to become classics. There are so many songs that are still looked at as pivotal in the music scene. The fact that many of these songs are still getting airplay today is a statement to just how good they are.

Thanks again to Dave at a Sound Day for allowing me to be a part of this feature. I can only hope that my contribution is worthy of an invite to participate in the next round.

Maybe I’m Over Thinking This …

I don’t want to get too deep into this. Personally, I think it is getting out of hand. I don’t have it all figured out. However, I can speak to what I know is true for me.

I watched Elmer Fudd …

I watched Yosimite Sam…

…and I have never had the desire to own a gun or the desire to shoot someone.

I watched Pepe Le Pew…

…and have never forced myself on a woman.

I watched Wile E. Coyote….

…and never had the desire to buy a load of explosives (or kill a Road Runner for that matter).

I watched The Three Stooges…

…and have never hit anyone with a hammer, poked anyone in the eye, pulled out someone’s hair, grabbed someone by the ear with a pair of pliers….

I don’t get it. Especially when I see the garbage that is accepted on TV, in movies, and on the radio. The Grammy Awards is a fine example of the trash that is looked upon by people as “entertainment.” It is far from it. How in the world is WAP by Cardi B even worthy of air play?

Recently, on Facebook everyone was posting the song that was #1 on the day you were born (Mine was American Woman by the Guess Who). I wondered about what song was #1 when my daughter was born, so I looked it up. The song is called The Box by some guy named Roddy Ricch. I truly hope my daughter never looks this up. It is complete garbage. The F word is prominent, the N word is prominent, and plenty of sexual content. It makes me sick.

Sadly, I don’t see things getting any better.

Midweek Music – Norah Jones

I missed Tune Tuesday for a couple weeks, so here is a musical blog.

In 2003, I was surfing from radio station to radio station and came across a song that “stood out” to me.  The singer had this sultry, smokey voice that peaked my curiosity.  I had no idea who she was and had never heard the song before.  I stood out to me because it sounded almost like a jazz standard, something like Frank Sinatra would have recorded.  The song was “Come Away With Me” by Norah Jones.

Norah Jones

The served as the title track of Norah’s debut album.  In 2003, Norah was about 24 years old.  She recorded the album in late 2000-2001 (so she would have been around 21). The album was very successful, peaking at #1 on the Billboard 200.  It also was a Grammy winning album walking away with Grammy’s for Best Pop Vocal Album and Album of the Year!

The song is so simple.  Her vocal is beautiful on this song (and all of those on this album).  It is one of my favorite songs to just sit and relax with.

Come Away With Me

“Come Away With Me”


Come away with me in the night
Come away with me
And I will write you a song

Come away with me on a bus
Come away where they can’t tempt us
With their lies

I want to walk with you
On a cloudy day
In fields where the yellow grass grows knee-high
So won’t you try to come

Come away with me and we’ll kiss
On a mountaintop
Come away with me
And I’ll never stop loving you

And I want to wake up with the rain
Falling on a tin roof
While I’m safe there in your arms
So all I ask is for you
To come away with me in the night
Come away with me

Norah Jones

Another song on the album that is just amazing is “Don’t Know Why”.  The song was written by Jesse Harris and had actually appeared on an album he did in 1999.  He teamed up with Norah at some point and she recorded it.  The word is that the song on the album is actually the first and only take of the song.  Norah told performingsongwriter.com:

“It was a demo I sang for Jesse in May of 2001. That was the first take of the song on that recording, and that’s the one we used for the record. I think it was really beautiful. It was so spontaneous. That’s what made it so cool. I feel like that’s why people connected with it. We were lucky we captured some kind of spark.”

In another story I read, the bass player thought he was too loud and almost stopped the take.  He admits, he is glad that he didn’t, as he calls the take “magic”.  I would agree.  It truly is an amazing cut.  In 2003, it won Grammy’s for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

 

 

Don’t Know Why

“Don’t Know Why”

I waited ’til I saw the sun
I don’t know why I didn’t come
I left you by the house of fun
I don’t know why I didn’t come
I don’t know why I didn’t come

When I saw the break of day
I wished that I could fly away
Instead of kneeling in the sand
Catching teardrops in my hand

My heart is drenched in wine
But you’ll be on my mind
Forever

Out across the endless sea
I would die in ecstasy
But I’ll be a bag of bones
Driving down the road alone

My heart is drenched in wine
But you’ll be on my mind
Forever

Something has to make you run
I don’t know why I didn’t come
I feel as empty as a drum
I don’t know why I didn’t come
I don’t know why I didn’t come
I don’t know why I didn’t come

artworks-000163738898-cipm77-t500x500
The album remains one of my favorites.  She does a great cover of “Cold, Cold Heart” and other songs on it.  Whether you want to call the album Jazz, Pop, Blues or Folk, it doesn’t matter to me.  I call it – AMAZING!

Tune Tuesday – Mack the Knife

 

bobby2

Bobby Darin was a talent.  He was a songwriter, a singer, an actor, and played multiple instruments.  Today is the anniversary of his birth – he was born May 14, 1936.  As a baby, he had bouts of Rheumatic Fever, which caused some damage to his heart.  He beat many odds and lived longer than most doctors expected him to.

He began his career writing songs for Connie Francis, and eventually recorded his first song, “Splish Splash” which was a hit in 1958.  He followed it with many other hits including “Dream Lover,” “Beyond the Sea,” “If I Were a Carpenter”, and “Mack the Knife.”

Mack the Knife was Bobby’s biggest hit spending 9 weeks at #1.  It was the #1 record of 1959.  It won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1960, and Bobby won a Grammy Award for Best New Artist of the Year.  The song later received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award.  But it was almost NOT released as a single.

The song is from The Threepenny Opera.  Bobby saw this show at a theater in Greenwich Village in 1958 and thought he could present it in a more “jazzy” way.  He began to sing it in his nightclub act and got a good response.  He recorded it on an album and the sales of the album and his nightclub act had audiences wanting more of it.  Originally Bobby did not want to release the song as a single.  After all, he was a teen idol and had an image to uphold.  A old song about a murderer could easily tarnish that.  The record label decided that it should be released – and the rest is history!

One cool piece of trivia (at least for me, as a trumpet player):  Doc Severinsen, who would go on to work with Johnny Carson as the bandleader of the Tonight Show Band, is one of the trumpet players on this song.

Mack The Knife

Oh, the shark, babe, has such teeth, dear
And he shows them pearly white
Just a jackknife has old Macheath, babe
And he keeps it out of sight

You know when that shark bites with his teeth, babe
Scarlet billows start to spread
Fancy gloves, though, wears old Macheath, babe
So there’s never, never a trace of red

Now on the sidewalk, ooh, sunny morning, uh-huh
Lies a body just oozin’ life
Eek, and someone’s sneakin’ ’round the corner
Could that someone be Mack the Knife?

There’s a tugboat down by the river, don’t ya know
Where a cement bag’s just a-droopin’ on down
Oh, that cement is just, it’s there for the weight, dear
Five’ll get ya ten, old Macky’s back in town

Now d’ya hear about Louie Miller? He disappeared, babe
After drawin’ out all his hard-earned cash
And now Macheath spends just like a sailor
Could it be our boy’s done something rash?

Now Jenny Diver, ho, ho, yeah, Sukey Tawdry
Ooh, Miss Lotte Lenya and old Lucy Brown
Oh, the line forms on the right, babe
Now that Macky’s back in town

I said Jenny Diver, whoa, Sukey Tawdry
Look out to Miss Lotte Lenya and old Lucy Brown
Yes, that line forms on the right, babe
Now that Macky’s back in town

Look out ol’ Macky’s back!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEllHMWkXEU

There are many biographies available about the life of Bobby Darin.  His son, Dodd, wrote one entitled Dream Lovers which talks much about his dad and his mom (Sandra Dee).  It’s an honest read.

Bobby had health issues throughout his life and his heart already had issues.  In 1973, he neglected to take the antibiotics he was prescribed for his heart before a dentist visit.  He ended up developing sepsis which spread throughout his body.  This made him weak and affected one of the valves in his heart.  He checked himself into the hospital for another open heart surgery (he had two heart valves replaced in 1971).  After a six hour surgery, he died in the recovery room on December 20, 1973.  He never regained consciousness.  Bobby Darin was 37 years old.

Bobby