The Music of My Life – 1995

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 1995 a new form of media was invented – The DVD. 1995 was also the year I hit the quarter century mark, turning 25.

30 years ago this month, in 1994, my partner, Rob, and I lost our jobs at Honey Radio. We searched for other radio work, but no one was looking for a morning team. I kept searching and eventually found some part time radio work. I also ventured out and began to host Karaoke at a few places every now and then.

My full time gig was working in the mail room at EDS. I spent a lot of time in the car and listened to a lot of radio. Many of these songs accompanied me on my deliveries.

After seven years of touring and three previous albums, Blues Traveler finally broke through with the song Run-Around. John Popper had a crush on the band’s original bass player Felicia Lewis. She was actually classically trained as a violinist. She was just playing bass for fun.

Guitar player Chan Kinchla says that Felicia was a great student and eventually became a doctor. “Her calling was medicine, not music” . When Bobby Sheehan was ready to take over on bass, Felicia stepped aside. Kinchla says, “It’s a very amicable situation. John always had kind of a crush on her, but they were friends, as well. So that song’s from that whole affair. They’re still very close. It’s just an unrequited love song.”

The song won a Grammy for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal in 1995.

John Hopper could really blow the harp! His harmonica stuff is just fantastic. It is hard to to hear this one and not feel happy. I often found myself having to set the cruise control, as this one often made me want to drive fast.

If you are a fan of the Wizard of Oz, you’ll appreciate the nod to the classic film in the video.

Run-Around

Until researching for this blog, I had no idea the story behind the next song. I Believe was a top ten record for Blessid Union of Souls. The song is about the power of love and the belief that it can impact life for the better. It is a powerful message.

The song came about because of the end of a relationship. Eliot Sloan recalls writing this song after his girlfriend’s father coerced her into breaking up with him. Many sources say that it was because of his race. Her dad went as far as threatening to cut off her college tuition, if she didn’t leave him.

They did break up, but she obviously meant a lot to him. He placed a message in the liner notes of the Home album. It says, “Lisa, give me a call sometime just to say hello, my number is still the same.”

Sloan says, “I always tell people, and it’s the truth, ‘I Believe’ was written in the middle of the night at about three in the morning. I always used to live in downtown Cincinnati, a really cool spiral staircase up to my bedroom, which kind of ended up as my studio. I kept a piano there that my mother got me when I was nine. In the middle of the night I was hearing the melody and I thought, ‘this is pretty.’ I just had to get up and play it.”

That piano line is really beautiful, and I love the way it intermingles with the strings. I love the message, too:

‘Cause I believe, that love is the answer
I believe, love will find the way

I Believe

There are many stories about how Better Than Ezra came up with their name. As far as I can tell, they’ve never really said. The one that I love is that they were playing at some event that featured many bands. The story goes that they followed a band called Ezra, and when asked what their name was they said, “Better Than Ezra.” I hope that is the real story, because I think that is hilarious!

We just heard I Believe about a break up. Better Than Ezra’s, Good, looks at a break up in a different way. As a matter of fact, I tend to look at my past break ups like this.

BTE’s Kevin Griffin wrote the song. In an interview with songfacts.com he said:

“I wanted to talk about the positive things that come from the end of a relationship. There’s always the hurt feelings and everyone’s guarded and it can be traumatic, but when the dust settles, it was about looking at the good things – no pun intended – that you got from that relationship. How did you grow? What did you learn emotionally? And to experience some stuff. And in this case it was just kind of reflecting on how this person changed.“

That isn’t always easy to do. I have to remind myself, for example, that while things with my ex-wife weren’t great, I have two amazing sons from that relationship.

As much as I heard this song, I find it hard to believe that it only reached #30 on the charts.

Good

A new Beatles song in 1995?! How can that even happen!? John Lennon had been dead for 15 years by then. Believe it or not, you can thank Yoko Ono for it. Yoko agreed to release a demo tape of John’s to the other Beatles the day after he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

In 1994 the three remaining Beatles recorded around his demo track to complete the song Free As a Bird. It was released as a single in 1995. Before their breakup, The Beatles won just four Grammy Awards. They picked up three more in 1997 when “Free As A Bird” won for Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal and Best Music Video, Short Form.

It was Jeff Lynne of ELO who would produce the single. He The Daily Mail that of all the songs he’s produced, “Free as a Bird” is the one he’s most proud of. “I just had to improvise and come up with a few things to make it work,” Lynne recalled. “I did it late at night, 3 a.m. in the studio, just me and the engineer, because I didn’t want to do it in front of Paul and George. But I came in the next day and Paul gave me a hug and he said, ‘You’ve done it, well done!'”

My first records were Beatles songs. So it was so neat to hear all four of them together again for the first time in years!

Free As A Bird

Next is another song that I heard a lot while driving. It stood out for a few reasons. First, it was uptempo. I seem to remember a lot of ballads being played at the time. Driving while tired, uptempo is always good!

Second, it was short. It was very rare to have any song be under 3 and a half minutes on the radio. Many of them were 4 and 5 minutes. This one clocks in at just under 2 and a half minutes.

Finally, it reminds me of Run-Around by Blues Traveler. Ok, maybe it was Blues Traveler that reminds me of this one. I really don’t know.

The first time I saw the video, I laughed out loud. In it the guys from Del Amitri are being wheeled about in strollers by beautiful women. The band members’ heads were superimposed (badly) on the babies to create the effect.

Roll To Me

When I worked at W4 Country in Detroit, they used to host a huge summer festival. It was downtown in Hart Plaza and all kinds of country artists came to play. It was called the Downtown Hoedown. At this time in my career, I had really never done a lot of backstage stuff.

Looking back now, I could kick myself. So many of the singers were just walking around backstage and in the area that was reserved for our staff. I took my ex wife with me and we were just sitting at a table drinking water. This guy walked by with a cowboy hat on and he looked familiar. I couldn’t place him to save my life.

As he walked by, he nodded and said hello to us. I didn’t know if it was an artist, a manager, a roadie, or someone else. We said hello and he continued walking. What was weird was that as he approached us, he kind of slowed down like he expected us to start chatting him up. I know now that this was David Lee Murphy.

Dust on the Bottle was a big hit for him, but it almost didn’t make his album. He tells the story:

“I had the idea for that song, but I hadn’t ever done anything with it. I just remember being at my house the second day [of recording]. We started recording on Monday, and Tuesday morning, I was drinking coffee at my kitchen table. I started playing the opening chords on my guitar for ‘Dust on the Bottle.’ It just came out of nowhere. The song just fell out in like 15 minutes.

I called Tony Brown, who was producing my record, and I told him, ‘Man, I just wrote this new song!'” Murphy continued. “We had all the songs picked out already for the album. He told me to bring it in and play it for him that day. When he heard the song, he said, ‘Man, we’ve got to cut this.’ So we cut it, and what’s on the record is the first take of the song. A lot of the vocals on it were the first time I sang it. It was really a special song, and it still is to this day.”

Dust On The Bottle

I will apologize for the next song right now. I had to include it because it was such a big song when I was DJing. In the US, the Macarena was the biggest dance craze of the 1990s. It was played at weddings, office parties, cruise ships, and just about anywhere there was dancing. Like the earlier dance craze, the “Electric Slide,” it was easy to learn and was done in a group. This made it perfect for Americans who lacked rhythm. It would spawn other dance crazes in the years ahead.

The song was one that had many “mixes.” The meaning of the song changes depending on what mix you are listening to. In the original version, Macarena is upset because her boyfriend, Vitorino, has joined the army. She retaliates by going out on the town and carousing with other men. In the Bayside Boys mix, Macarena gets mad at her boyfriend and goes out to shake it while he’s out of town. In this version, she seems to be more promiscuous. The Bayside Boys also made it a first-person account, with the lyrics being the voice of Macarena.

Macarena

I never cared for the song that much, however two years later, there was a country mix. It sounded ridiculous. I went out and bought one of those hillbilly hats with the feather on it and a corn cob pipe. I would get out and dance with it on. It only made it more silly.

The next song was one that got played a lot on the radio with dedications to someone who passed away. It was played at weddings in remembrance of a loved one, too. When my mom passed away, this was another of those songs that made me think of her.

Mariah Carey wrote One Sweet Day with Boyz II Men. She said she wrote a song that was identical to a song Boyz II Men had written, so they combined the two.

Mariah was in the middle of writing the poignant ballad with her longtime collaborator Walter Afanasieff when she had the idea to bring in the R&B group.“I just thought the chorus was crying out for the vocals that they do,” she recalled in a 1999 interview. “We contacted them, we went through all the channels, this and that, and we finally got together, sang them the song and Nate had written a song that was basically identical to my song in the theme and melodically – he could actually sing it over my song and it was really bizarro, it was like fate, so we put the two songs together and came up with ‘One Sweet Day.'”

This was #1 on the US Billboard charts for 16 weeks! That is longer than any other song up to that time. It held that record until 2019 when Lil Nas X’s Old Town Road was #1 for 17 weeks.

One Sweet Day

Despite being a 1995 release, Give Me One Reason was a song that Tracy Chapman had been performing since 1988. She also performed it on a 1989 episode of Saturday Night Live.

The song would wind up on her fourth studio album, New Beginnings in 1995. In 2005, she said “This is autobiographical,” before performing the song. “I left it on someone’s answering machine, and it worked. I wrote it late one night hanging out with my dog, a mini dachshund.”

The song would be her first hit since 1988’s Fast Car. The charts had changed a bit in 1995. Songfacts.com explains: The mid-’90s were a tougher time for female singer-songwriters with stories to tell, but Melissa Etheridge, Alanis Morissette, Sheryl Crow and Jewel all got their piece of the pie even as the airwaves were dominated by R&B and dance singers, mostly guys. “Give Me One Reason” fell into this bucket, skewing to an older audience averse to hip-hop and modern rock.

I love this song because of the bluesy feel to it. That opening guitar lick and her voice are just so good!

Gimme One Reason

My final pick for 1995 comes from a gang member. Yes, you read that right. Lead singer Pauly Fuemana was a gang member in Auckland, New Zealand before achieving pop immortality with this song. He received his musical training in a New Zealand juvenile prison.

How Bizarre by OMC reached #1 in eight different countries, the first of which was New Zealand in early 1996. Others include Australia, Canada, and the US (on the Mainstream Top 40 chart). What is Bizarre is that it never entered the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. Why? It was released as a radio-only promo single. Therefore it was ineligible to chart on the Hot 100 according to rules in place at the time.

According to songfacts.com: OMC stands for Otara Millionaires Club, after the neighborhood in Auckland where Fuemana grew up. It’s a somewhat fanciful name, as the Auckland suburb of Otara is a ghetto/slum.

This was another one of those songs I would hear driving at work. Many of the drivers would come in to the mail room and if something unexpected happened they’d say “How Bizarre!” Some of my ex wife’s sisters would also say this a lot, but usually they’d say, “How Bizzaaaah.”

The song has a fun sound to it and it brings back some great memories.

How Bizarre

So that’s all for 1995. Did I miss one of your favorites? Let me know in the comments.

Next week, we move forward to 1996. My list includes movie music, a cover song or two, a couple artists I have had the chance to hang out with, and a few I’d like to hang out with. It also includes a song that was given to me by a girlfriend to express how she felt about us. Was it good or bad? Tune in next week!

Halloween Recap

Halloween 2022 is now behind us. The day started with me and the kids getting our flu shots. I, of course, waited until the last possible minute to get mine for work.

As we drove home, one of the neighbors had put up a HUGE inflatable pumpkin. Ella saw it from the window, and despite the fact that it was raining, insisted that we go down to look at it. Thankfully, it was only a couple houses away. When she got up close to it, she couldn’t believe how big it was!

Sam took last night off from work and we were all able to walk the neighborhood to trick or treat last night. Trick or Treating in our city started at 5pm. We had napped late in the afternoon and by the time we had dinner, we didn’t get out in the neighborhood until around 5:30.

Despite it being a bit misty, the temperatures weren’t too bad. Last year, it was SO cold I brought Ella home early. This year, she was gung ho to do the whole neighborhood – and she had a BLAST!

This was the busiest Halloween I’ve seen in our neighborhood. There were kids of all ages, too! I loved seeing the families who dressed up together. One of our neighborhood families dressed as characters from the Wizard of Oz. It was awesome.

Ella wanted to go to every house! She loved seeing the pumpkins lit up and all of the costumes. What was really sweet was that there were neighbors who recognized us from our daily walks and they would give her extra candy.

We did let Andrew venture out on foot once or twice, but he was running all over the place, so we wound up having to put in back in the stroller. He didn’t seem to mind, however, as that is where much of the candy was …

I was impressed that the kids did the entire neighborhood! When we got home, we took Andrew’s costume off because it had chocolate all over it!! We got in the car and drove to Sam’s mom and dad’s. They had special treats for them when we arrived.

It was almost 8 when we got there and on the drive we talked about how foggy it was! It was truly spooky. It wasn’t that foggy by our house, but it was crazy foggy on the way to her folks. Perfect for Halloween. The fog lasted well into the morning, as a friend posted this picture of downtown Detroit:

When we finally left Sam’s folks to head home, we both decided we were hungry. I veered off the diet as the only thing open was McDonalds. The kids had chicken nuggets, Sam had a Big Mac, and I grabbed a Filet of Fish Sandwich. It was probably not the best thing to eat that late, and probably explains the weird dreams I had, but overall, the day was a great one with the family!

Expanding on an earlier Facebook post.

I am on vacation. I have the next week off and will have my sons all week. I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am to have them over. I am hoping that the weather will cooperate and we’ll get to do some fun things this week. This vacation could not have come at a better time. I’m not sure why, but I just need the break. I have so much that has been on my mind.

For example, Thursday was typical for me. I slept for about 3-4 hours. It is my day to switch from “midnight” mode to “days.” Normally on Thursday, my head hits the pillow and I am asleep quickly. That was not the case. I actually broke my own rule (and what I tell all my patients about electronics before bed) and was surfing the web and reading stuff hoping to make myself tired – it didn’t work.

I read once that if you can’t shut your mind off, just jot all the thoughts down. The thought process is that it can help free your mind of them. I hoped that this would work and posted the following on Facebook. In posting it here and re-reading it, I may or may not comment on these thoughts. Some of them are repeat thoughts, some are not. Here goes:

“Been here in bed since 10:30. Sam is already sleeping. The cats are both on the bed, too. Mind won’t shut off. Trying not to think about something that happened earlier that really just made me angry. Random thoughts/wishes:

* As much as I love to sit and write, I wish I could find a gig that paid me to do it.

Comment: The more I think on this, the more I wish I could do this! I believe that you are always your own worst critic. I have often wondered why anyone would even want to read what I write, yet, here you are. I’m sure many authors have wondered if people would want to read their stuff too. Writing is therapeutic for me. Much like radio, I can take my observations and share them. You won’t always agree with my thoughts or opinions, and that is OK with me.

* In talking to an old radio buddy, it makes me miss doing it full time (even though it has changed dramatically)

Comment: While I am not doing this full time, I need to acknowledge that I am very lucky to still be doing it part time. Even if it is once a week, whether it is live or recorded, I still have my foot in the door and I get to “create” and “perform.” I still love it and radio will probably always be in my blood.

* I wish I could review music, bands, or movies and get paid for it. Neat to see some friends of mine doing it and having success with that!

Comment: I follow some blogs that write movie reviews. I know they don’t get paid for that. However, I have a friend who writes a lot of political stuff for websites and gets paid for that. I also have a buddy who always seems to be out and about interviewing celebrities about their films for various news stations, TV and radio. What a cool gig that has to be. When I interviewed people on the radio I was always told I was a “good interviewer.” Maybe I am. Pardon me while I digress and share two instances come to mind:

When I was at B95, Craig Morgan was scheduled to come by the studio. At the time he had a minor hit, and some tunes that weren’t being played on the radio. I was told by my boss to put him on the air for a few minutes, ask him about his new song, play it and move on. I did my research, and there were a lot of things about Craig that I found interesting. Yes, I was going to ask about his song, but there were other things I wanted to as about. I asked about his military career, his family, and such. Craig is a very funny guy. He and I hit it off instantly. We laughed a lot and had a bunch of fun. About 5 or 8 minutes into the interview, my boss went into the studio in the next room and stood in front of the window. I thought he was gonna give me the “Wrap it up” signal because we were going longer than anticipated. Instead, he gave me the “keep going – stretch it out” signal.

I don’t recall how long the interview went, but it was FUN. My boss said, “You just took a guy who no one was really familiar with, and made the listeners love him, because you related to him. You asked questions that made him so real. It was entertaining, and enjoyable. That’s the best damn interview I have heard in a long time!” The kudos I received were unexpected.

Also at B-95, Jewel came by the studio and I interviewed her on the air. She had recorded a country album and was promoting it. I did my research and prepped for her interview. I found a lot of stuff that I could ask about. Jewel was homeless for a time. She lived in a van. I wasn’t sure if that was a topic she would want to talk about. When she arrived I asked her off air if there was anything that she didn’t want to talk about, she said to ask whatever I wanted to. Naturally, I asked about her album. I also asked about her family life and pop hits. I also asked about her being homeless, in which she shared some great stories about writing songs.

One of the things I asked about was some Wizard of Oz TV special she did in the mid ’90’s. She started chuckling and joked about it. She asked “How did you find out about that?!” This led her to talk about some plays she was in in school and some other childhood memories. She was so moved and excited to be talking about those things. It was so cool for me to see how moved she was to remember those stories and it was great radio!

After Jewel left the station, about a half hour later, I got a call on my cell phone from the record rep who brought her to the station. He said, “I wanted you to know that Jewel just told me that you were by far the best interview she has done on this radio tour! She was blown away that you asked her about that Wizard of Oz thing! She said she felt so comfortable talking to you and she really enjoyed herself. She said you made her remember some great stories that she has never shared with anyone before. Nice work, cowboy!”

Again, a high point in my radio career!

back to my original thought – I think it would be very cool to get the chance to hear an album before it hit stores, see a movie before it hits theaters, or read a book before it hits the shelves and then offer a review.

* It’s a shame when an entire team has to be punished because of a few others.

On my hour drive to work each night, it is often the time I catch up with friends on the phone. We talk about family, friends, and work. In discussing work, there was this common theme. Rather than dealing with employees individually and holding them accountable for whatever the issue was, bosses made a knee-jerk reaction and punished the entire staff for the issues of a few people.

I am not in a position of authority at my job. I was a boss on more than one occasion. Observations that I made as an employee, helped me to manage. Managers motivate! When employees are motivated, they will go above and beyond for you. Many managers tend to demotivate. Jay Trachman, one of my radio mentors, wrote an article geared toward radio managers, and it holds true for any manager, really. It included things that managers do to demotivate, with or without knowledge of doing it. They included:

Ignoring employee ideas
Setting unattainable goals and holding employees responsible for them
Treating employees like children
Ignoring that employees have lives outside of work
Making rules for the entire staff because of the behavior of a few members
Focusing on errors or mistakes, no matter how trivial (Incidentally, the facts show that when you dwell only on problem areas destroys the employee’s confidence and self-esteem makes the employee more error-prone!)

* I hate when an opportunity seems right, but no matter how many ways you try to make it work, you can’t.

Comment: Without going into detail, an opportunity presented itself. It was one of those opportunities that doesn’t come around too often. I took it all in. Asked questions. Weighed options. Re-weighed options with different scenarios. Crunched numbers. Re-visited scenarios. Made a pros and cons list (my wife swears by these!). It was an opportunity that just was not something I could jump at. I am ok with that, though, because, it doesn’t change anything I am already doing. No big deal.

* I am hoping the scale shows a loss tomorrow at weigh in.

Comment: It did. My total weight loss now is at 24 pounds!! I couldn’t be happier! I was a bit worried because last Saturday I DJ’d a wedding and the dinner didn’t necessarily have the most healthy choices. Oh, and they had a doughnut bar! LOL. I am determined to get back down to 199 (where I was about 20 years ago, and the last time I was on Weight Watchers). The journey continues!

* I am not looking forward to a visit to the dentist tomorrow.

Comment: Uneventful cleaning. No cavities, so I was happy with that!

* I wish I could do more voice over work.

Comment: I looked into a few voice over services, but most cost money to be a part of. They also require you to do many auditions daily. I could probably do this on my days off, but it is hard to do working midnights, and without a home studio (or the money to build a home studio)!

I am lucky to have the relationships I have with The American Way, Whitetail Journey, Modern Craft Wines, Fox 66, and RPM Auto Sales. I would love to add a few more clients to that list. If you know anyone looking, I can certainly send a voice sample to them.

* I probably could have wrote a blog instead of this. Maybe I will just copy and paste it….lol.

Comment: That’s what I am doing!

* There is so much sadness in the Facebook feed this week. My heart goes out to my friends who have lost loved ones or have loved ones in the hospital.

Comment: Scrolling the Facebook news feed this week, I was saddened to read of some friends coping with the loss of someone special to them. I also read of a dear friend who is now home with hospice care. Some friends have been Facebook silent, but I am aware of some health struggles that are dealing with.

Many people state that they hate Facebook. They say there are too many political arguments, opinions, etc. I would agree, but I also utilize the “mute” button. There are ways that you can unfollow those who post stuff you don’t want to see. You remain friends, but you don’t see their stuff. You can also post things while making sure that certain people can’t see it.

I happen to like Facebook. It is a great way to keep up with friends. I almost never forget a friend’s birthday! I always love the pictures of weddings, first and last days of school, band concerts, dance recitals, and the addition of new babies or grandbabies. There are sad things, too. The passing away of parents, prayer chains for those who are sick or suffering, or the loss of a pet. Without Facebook, I’d never know these things. It can be a place to offer words of support, encouragement, or better yet, prompt you to reach out to your friend on the phone.

While I love social media, I also feel that it is important to reach out and actually talk to friends. I have decided that I am going to try to do that more. Yes, texting and messaging is easy, but you know what? I want to hear your voice!

* I hate change. I am a man of routine. Sometimes, change is inevitable. Sometimes change is exciting.

Comment: I take the same way to work every day. I am a creature of habit. One of the things that helps me stay focused on Weight Watchers is that I know the point values of meals. I tend to find something I like, and will stick with that meal. I have been eating a lot of veggies and fruits. I am also eating a lot of salads. However, to change things up we had turkey tacos last night. Not going to lie, changing it up was exciting! That’s right – I was excited for Tacos!!

* Guy on TV said to his gal, “I couldn’t be happier.” I think you can always be happier. Happiness can grow, much like love can grow. Each day I think I can’t love Sam any more than I do, but that love grows deeper. Happiness can grow too – that’s cool to me.

Comment: Just re-reading that made me smile. Think about this – “Happiness is a habit – cultivate it” (Quite attributed to Elbert Hubbard)

* The wrong motivation can kill morale and desire to give their all for you.

Comment: See above comments about punishing the entire team because of a few others.

* I wish I was an expert on something. With the recent talks I have done for conferences and small groups, I would totally love to do that for a living.

Someone commented on the original Facebook post and said I should be a motivational speaker. I don’t know that I’d go that far. I have many obstacles of my own that I have yet to conquer. I am not sure how motivating I can be.

I have always enjoyed doing career days at schools. I think it would be cool to host classic movies at a theater. I have no problem public speaking. I thought about teaching a public speaking class at one of those community education night class type programs. I don’t know, it’s a pipe dream perhaps. I just think it could be a very fun thing to do and would be great to get out and meet people.

* Was hoping that by jotting this stuff here, I’d get sleepy … Maybe I should at least try to go to sleep.

Comment: I didn’t.

* Even with all of these random thoughts, one still remains true. I am one lucky man! I am blessed beyond measure.

Comment: The Bible says in I Thessalonians 5:18, “In EVERYTHING give thanks.” What powerful instruction, and a very difficult thing to do! I have always tried to make this one of my “life mantras,” but some days are harder than others. At one point in my life, nothing could make me feel better. I was deep in that depression and suffering with so many feelings. I was struggling bad.

Today, however, I am a new man. Those quotes that I always had in my mind are back and help keep me focused. This one still remains difficult, because “everything” means “everything!” In good times and bad times – give thanks! What a challenge! Despite the fact that I had a variety of things (both good and bad) running through my head Thursday night, I remind myself of just how thankful I am to be alive! I am thankful for my family. I am thankful for my job. I am thankful for my friends. I am thankful for YOU. Thanks for reading!

Now, I am off to enjoy my time off!