When I thought about what to do for the year’s “bonus” day, my first thought was to list a bunch bunch of songs about “leaping” and “jumping.” Then I thought that was just too easy. So I decided to take another musical look at February 29th.
I present to you a look at songs that have the honor of being number one on Leap Day. So let’s leap back to 1940 …
2/29/40 – Glenn Miller and his Orchestra had the number one song with their best known song. In the Mood.
2/29/44 it was Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra with My Heart Tells Me
2/29/48 – Art Mooney was feeling lucky with I’m Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover
2/29/52 – Johnny Ray was shedding tears with his number one – Cry.
2/29/56 – The Nelson Riddle Orchestra took us to Lisbon Antigua
2/29/60 – It was Percy Faith and his orchestra with The Theme From a Summer Place.
2/29/64 – Of course, in 64 it had to be a Beatles song – I Want to Hold Your Hand was on top of the charts.
2/29/68 Yet another instrumental was number one. This time, Love is Blue from Paul Mauriat
2/29/72 – Harry Nilsson lamented about living Without You
2/29/76 – A TV Tune was number one. The Theme from S.W.A.T. from Rhythm Heritage
2/29/80 – Classic Queen! Freddy Mercury and the boys sat at number one with Crazy Little Thing Called Love.
2/29/84 – A song about leaping/jumping …. Jump from Van Halen
2/29/88 – George Michael took the top spot with Father Figure
2/29/92 – The is some confusion as to this particular year, however, the chart is dated 2/29/92 and it says the number one was held by Mr. Big – To Be With You (some people say Right Said Fred – I’m Too Sexy)
2/29/96 – It was the amazing pairing of Boys II Men and Mariah Carey on One Sweet Day
2/29/2000 the group Savage Garden hit number one with a forgotten favorite – I Knew I Loved You
2/29/04 Usher said “Yeah!” about having the number one tune. Any time I think of Lil Jon, I think of that sketch on the Dave Chappelle Show … LOL
2/29/08 – Flo-Rida hit number one with a song that still makes people dance – Low
2/29/12 Kelly Clarkston held the number one spot with Stronger
2/29/16 Justin Beiber was sitting at number one with Love Yourself
2/29/20 it was a song that I find to be a total piece of garbage. The lyrics disgust me and the fact that it was a number one song really makes me sick. I’ll just mention it, but I certainly will not be posting it here. The Box by Roddy Ricch.
As for today, it seems that Beyonce is at number one with something called Texas Hold ‘Em. I read the lyrics. Never heard it. I don’t care to.
Final thoughts? There were a lot of instrumentals on Leap Day! There were certainly some good tunes, some long forgotten, and some crap. Music is subjective. Any stick out for you?
It is time once again for my contribution to Turntable Talk, a series hosted by my friend Dave Ruch at his blog “A Sound Day.” This is the 16th installment and the topic this time around was an easy one for me. The topic this month is entitled “Coulda Been a Contender.” This is simply a song that we felt should have been a hit but wasn’t.
As a music director (the guy who helped the radio station’s program director choose what songs to play) I heard a lot of songs that wanted a spot on our play list. Many times we added songs that never went anywhere on the charts, but we thought they were good. On the other side of the coin, we played a lot of songs that I felt were crap, that wound up being hits.
When this topic presented itself, one song immediately came to mind. Unlike other topics where I went back and forth between 2-5 songs trying to pick one to write about, this one was the only one I felt really should have been a smash. I have felt that way about this song since hearing it the first time. It is a duet by a legendary artist you will know instantly, and a singer whose name you SHOULD know, because she is just that good!
The song is “Where We Both Say Goodbye” by Catherine Britt and Sir Elton John.
She has lived a life in the world of entertainment most will never experience or dream of. The archetypal Aussie girl from the coal works of Newcastle uprooted herself at 17 years old and moved for six years to Nashville TN (USA) where she gained a deep knowledge of country/roots/folk history as well as touring extensively and releasing top 40 Billboard hits.
How did this happen you may well ask. Not every 17 year old moves from Newcastle to Nashville to pursue their musical dreams. Well, the story is that a certain Elton John (yes, THAT Elton John – not to be mistaken for . . .) heard Catherine during one of his Australian tours in the early 2000s. So impressed with Catherine was Elton that he took her albums back to America with him and helped get a deal with RCA Records.
I can only imagine the feeling she had when she heard that Elton John was a fan AND was helping her get a record deal! There is a very cool video of Elton and Catherine that I will share after I talk about the song.
Music, like humor, is subjective. It has a certain power to it. Perhaps my feelings about the song are a bit swayed because of what was going on in my life in 2005. My mother was dying of breast cancer, my son was going through intense therapy for autism, and my marriage was slowly falling apart.
I connected with the song on a personal level, but I also understood that I wasn’t the only person who was having relationship trouble. This song struck a chord with me and I knew that there were listeners who had to be going through the exact same thing. As years went by, this song took on more and more meaning for me. As my first marriage continued to crumble and my unhappiness grew, I heard this song again on my iPod, and knew it was certainly time to “say goodbye.”
I still cannot understand how this song was NOT a hit. Perhaps it was programmers questioning whether or not to play Elton John on a country station? It could have been some consultant who felt that way, too. But today, we see artists crossing over from genre to genre and no one thinks twice about it. Maybe this song was ahead of its time.
Catherine’s voice is simply beautiful. It is almost sultry. Elton could sing just about anything and it would sound great. These two together? Magical! Their voices blend so well. Their harmonies are stellar and they convey the hurt of the lyrics. Here are two people who are dying inside because they both know – it is probably over.
Let the steel guitar pull at those heart strings …..
Where We Both Say Goodbye
A fire that’s left unattended Surely will burn out and die Now that we’re down to nothin’ but ashes Is this where we both say goodbye
Chorus
Is this where two hearts break down and cry Is this where we let go and give up the fight Have we reached the point where it’s too late to try Is this where we both say goodbye
It’s so hard to go on pretendin’ The truth is we’re livin’ a lie And it kills me to know our love’s dyin’ Is this where we both say goodbye
(Chorus)
I wanted you to hear the song before you watched the next video. This is a very cool piece with Elton and Catherine talking about how they came to meet and eventually record the song. I love watching behind the scenes stuff like this.
The song itself only reached #38 on the Country Singles Chart. Shame on country radio !!
In 2008, RCA dropped her from the label and she returned home to Australia, where she has had great success and continues to tour.
Her website states:
Over the course of her career Catherine has collected a host of accolades, a legion of fans and a mantel of awards including the country industry’s highest honours, 2009 CMAA Female Artist of the Year Award, 2012 CMAA Single of the Year, 2013 CMAA Female Artist of the Year Award, 2016 Female Artist of the Year, 2017 Vocal Collaboration of The Year for her celebrated single “F U Cancer” as well as APRA Award and CMC Artist of the Year nominations. 6 of Catherine’s albums released to date have been nominated for the ARIA Award for the Best Country Album release, which is a first for any Australian country artist. In 2010, Catherine was also presented with the CMA Global Artist of the Year award.
I tend to feel like Elton John in that I have always thought that she was the “real deal!”
Catherine got a raw deal here in the states. Personally, I believe she could have been as big as Martina McBride or Faith Hill. All too often, station programmers will opt to play crap from an established artists instead of playing a truly great song from a newcomer. Stupid radio/records politics!
She has done quite well for herself in Australia. Her fans love her and support her and she has taken control of her career. Her website says that her latest album, Home Truths, is “Catherine’s first release in over 20 years as a completely independent Australian artist. It’s a decision based on Catherine wanting complete control of her career – and having ownership of her own recording masters and copyrights. That’s something that – now as a parent of two young children – she believes is important – and something to pass on to them.“
“Where We Both Say Goodbye” should have been the song that made America country fans take notice of Catherine Britt. It is a song that proves that she is not only an amazing songwriter, but an amazing singer as well. Her music is deep, heartfelt, and honest. I’m glad that she is enjoying the success she deserves, even if it isn’t here in the US.
My hope is that I have chosen a song that is completely unfamiliar to you. If it makes you want to hear more from Catherine, fantastic. If not, that’s ok too. Music is subjective, right?
Thanks again to Dave for allowing me to take part in this monthly feature. I look forward to reading the rest of the gang’s picks and next month’s topic. Thanks for reading..
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 