Music
Music Monday: November 18, 1994
Twenty-five years ago, this week, the song Creep by TLC debuted on the Billboard Hot 100, entering the chart at #71. Written and produced by Dallas Austin, it was the first single released from their second studio album CrazySexyCool. It is based on member Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins‘s experience with infidelity. The lyrics portray the singers as women who cheat on their unfaithful lovers for attention.
You’re with a guy and he’s not showing you attention, so another guy comes along and you’re like, “Hey, if you were where you were supposed to be, he couldn’t be showing me attention right now!” I was in the middle of this drama, because the other guy was [my boyfriend’s] friend and my boyfriend was just not getting it together.
[From T-Boz]
The idea was controversial. [M]ember Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes was opposed to it. She threatened to wear black tape over her mouth in the song’s music video to express her disagreement with its message, and its selection as CrazySexyCool’s lead single, [in] part because of the group’s history of advocating for safe sex.
The women sing about infidelity, revenge, status and power plays, not as victims but as contenders. [W]hen they’re cheated on, they cheat, too.
[From Jon Parales @ The New York Times, advocating for the concept.]
The song made it to #1 and remained for four weeks. It also made it to #1 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart and the Billboard Rhythmic chart.
Lisa Lopes passed away April 25, 2002, from injuries in a car crash. She was 30 years old.
[I have to confess that I have never heard this song. The middle 90s was the time I stopped listening to Top 40 and moved to Alternative Rock stations. ~Vic]
Accolades
Legacy
Cover Versions
Lyrics via LyricFind:
(Creep) oh ah, oh ah, oh ah yeah,
(Creep) oh ah, oh ah, oh ah yeah,
(Creep) oh ah, oh ah, oh ah yeah,
(Creep) oh ah, oh ah, oh ah yeah,
The twenty second of loneliness
And we’ve been through so many things.
I love my man with all honesty,
But I know he’s cheating on me.
Look him in the eyes,
But all he tells me is lies to keep me near.
I’ll never leave him down though I might mess around.
It’s only ’cause I need some affection, oh.
So I creep, yeah, just creepin’ on,
On the down low, ‘cept nobody is supposed to know.
So I creep yeah, ’cause he doesn’t know what I do
And no attention goes to show oh.
So I creep.
The twenty third of loneliness
And we don’t talk, like we used to do.
Now this is pretty strange,
But I’m not buggin’ ’cause I still feel the same.
I Keep giving loving till the day he pushes me away.
Never go a stray.
If he knew the things I did, he couldn’t handle me.
And I choose to keep him protected, oh.
So I creep, yeah, just creepin’ on,
But I’ll know. ‘cept nobody is supposed to know.
So I creep, yeah, ’cause he doesn’t know what I do,
And no attention goes to show oh.
So I creep, yeah, just creepin’ on,
But I’ll know. ‘cept nobody is supposed to know.
So I creep, yeah, ’cause he doesn’t know what I do,
And no attention goes to show.
So I creep, oh ah, oh ah, oh ah yeah
So I creep, oh ah, oh ah, oh ah yeah
So I creep, oh ah, oh ah, oh ah yeah
Baby, oh ah, oh ah, oh ah yeah
So I creep, yeah, just creepin’ on,
But I’ll know.
So I creep, yeah, ’cause he doesn’t know what I do,
And no attention goes to show.
So I creep, yeah, just creepin’ on,
But I’ll know.
So I creep, yeah, ’cause he doesn’t know what I do,
So I creep, ‘cept nobody is supposed to know.
Shutterbug Sunday: Volume Records
Taken: 05-03-2019
This place is a neat little find in downtown Hillsborough. It is a retro flashback to times when folks could go to a record store and buy albums & 45s. These were the years prior to CDs and, in some instances, prior to cassettes. Tony, the owner, has been in business for two years, now and is doing quite well. It’s a cozy place with a couch, chairs, stools, window seats and a charming little bar. He keeps 12 beers on tap, three ciders in bottles or cans and, provides some wine and soft drinks. All are welcome and he is closed on Mondays. He is a charming fellow and agrees that today’s music with its digital format has no soul in comparison to the tracks laid down in analog. Those days are long gone even though albums are making a comeback. I’d like to see the industry go back to analog tracks. Digital doesn’t have the texture. Put the needle on the record, put the needle on the record…
All photos are my personal collection. ~Vic
Taken: 11-10-2019
The picture is U2…Achtung Baby!
Cat’s Cradle poster…of course.
I didn’t get out of here without at least three albums…
Jefferson Starship, Little River Band and The Babys.
What can I say. The vinyls were pristine.
Music Monday: October 21, 1989
Thirty years ago, today, Real Love by the R&B band Skyy debuted on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart (called Hot Black Singles back in 1989), entering at #80. The third release from the album Start of a Romance, it spent 16 weeks on the chart, reaching #1 for one week and, also peaked at #47 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Lyrics (via LyricFind):
I said I would get over you
Now I’m here out on my own
Trying to live my life
And now you wanna come back
But I don’t need no brand new lies, listen up
I want a love that’s serious
No time to play love games
I don’t wanna be nobody’s fool
So if you wanna be with me
You gotta give it up
Real love
I know I wanna have one
Real love
Gonna try and get some
Real love
Everybody needs one
Real love
Got to have real love
All my friends are telling me
I should give you another try
But I don’t need opinions
To deal with what I have on my mind, listen up
I want a love that’s serious
No time to play love games
I don’t wanna be nobody’s fool
So if you wanna be with me
You gotta give it up
Real love
I know I wanna have one
Real love
Gonna try and get some
Real love
Everybody needs one
Real love
Got to have real love
Real love
Oh, oh, ah
Oh, oh, ah
Oh, oh, ah (Oh, yeah)
Oh, oh, ah
Oh, oh, ah
Oh, oh, ah
Oh, oh, ah (Give it up)
Oh, oh, ah
Real love
I know I wanna have one
Real love
Gonna try and get some
Real love
Everybody needs one
Real love
Got to have real love
Real love
I know I wanna have one
Real love
Gonna try and get some
Real love
Everybody needs one
Real love
Got to have real love
Real love
Ow, ow, ow
Real love
I know I wanna have one
Real love
Gonna try and get some
Real love
Everybody needs one
Real love
Got to have real love
Real love
Real love (Huh…uh…uh…)
Real love (I don’t need opinions)
(Don’t need your advice)
(Real love)
(Got to give real love)
Real love
Music Monday: October 14, 1989
Thirty years ago, today, It Ain’t Nothin’ by American country singer Keith Whitley debuted on the Billboard Hot Country chart, entering at #59. The second release from the album I Wonder Do You Think of Me, it was written by Tony Haselden and Keith was a co-producer. Released posthumously, it spent 17 weeks on the chart and became a #1 hit January 13, 1990, seven months after his death. It also reached #1 on Canada’s RPM Country chart February 3, 1990.
Lyrics (via LyricFind):
My boss is the boss’s son and that makes for a real long day.
When that day is finally done I’m facing 40 thousand cars on the interstate.
Feeling lower than a well diggers shoes
knee deep in a mess of blues.
But those blues just fade away
When I hear my baby say.
[Chorus]
It ain’t nothin a little bit of love won’t fix
It ain’t nothin but a scratch, a little bit of love can’t stitch.
It ain’t nothin a little bit of love can’t heal.
Your love makes me feel.
No matter what hands me — it ain’t nothin, it ain’t nothin.
It was written all over her face she was about to climb the walls.
She said you gotta get me out of this place cause even
Cindarella got to go to the ball.
If you multiply hell times three that’s what this day has been like for me.
I said honey we’ll do the town.
Just don’t let it get you down.
Cause……
[Chorus]
[Chorus]
It ain’t nothin, it ain’t nothin, it ain’t nothin, naugh it ain’t nothin, it ain’t nothin
Music Monday: October 7, 1989
Thirty years ago, today, Get On Your Feet by Cuban-American singer/songwriter/actress/businesswoman Gloria Estefan debuted on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, entering at #29. Released from the album Cuts Both Ways, it was written by John DeFaria, Jorge Casas and Clay Ostwald. It peaked at number five after seventeen weeks on the chart.
From Songfacts:
DeFaria is a guitarist/composer who has worked on a number of movies and TV shows. Casas and Ostwald are longtime collaborators with Gloria and Emilio Estefan and members of the late ’80s iteration of Miami Sound Machine (Casas the bass player, Ostwald on keyboards).
Estefan had several bigger hits but, Get On Your Feet became her signature song and the name of her 1989 tour, her first as a solo artist. That tour was cut short in March 1990 when she was badly injured in a tour bus accident. Estefan fractured vertebrae in her spine and had two metal rods placed in her back during surgery. During her recovery, this song took on new meaning, as it was a long struggle for Estefan to literally get back on her feet.
Trivia Bits
♦ The song was covered by Fantasia Barrino on the third season of American Idol during a Gloria Estefan-themed episode.
♦ The song was on the soundtrack to the movie Let It Be Me, starring Campbell Scott and Jennifer Beals (1995).
♦ The song was used in the fourth season episode of Parks and Recreation: The Comeback Kid.
♦ Gloria performed this song with Sheila E. during the seventh season edition of the American Idol charity fundraiser Idol Gives Back.
The Broadway Musical
Interview With John DeFaria
Lyrics (via LyricFind):
You say I know it’s a waste of time
There’s no use trying
So scared that life’s gonna pass you by
Your spirit dying
Not long ago
I could feel your strength and your devotion
What was so clear, is now overcast
With mixed emotions
Deep in your heart is the answer
Find it, I know it will pull you through
Get on your feet
Get up and make it happen
Get on your feet
Stand up and take some action
I think it’s true that we’ve all been through
Some nasty weather
Let’s understand that we’re here
To handle things together
You gotta keep looking onto tomorrow
There’s so much in life
That’s meant for you
Get on your feet
Get up and make it happen
Get on your feet
Stand up and take some action
Get on your feet
Don’t stop before it’s over
Get on your feet
The weight is off your shoulder
Get up and make it happen
Stand up, stand up, stand up and take some action
Gotta get on your feet, yeah, yeah
Don’t stop before it’s over
Get on your feet
The weight is off your shoulder
Get on your feet
Get up, get up, get up and make it happen
Get on your feet
Stand up, stand up and take some action
Get on your feet
Get up, stand up
Don’t stop before it’s over
You got to get on your feet yeah yeah
The weight is off your shoulder
Music Monday: September 30, 1989
Now that I have access to some old Billboard magazines, thirty years ago, today, Everything Is Broken, by American singer/songwriter, author and visual artist Bob Dylan, debuted on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart (called Album Rock Tracks back in 1989), entering at #23. Released from the album Oh Mercy, his 26th studio album, the song is a reflection of Dylan’s detachment from his world. It peaked at number eight after eight weeks on the chart.
From Wikipedia:
The track found on Oh Mercy is an April 1989 re-working of a take recorded the previous month. Originally recorded as “Broken Days” in March 1989, Dylan had re-written the song entirely by April, giving it its current name.
In an interview with Nigel Williamson (the author of The Rough Guide to Bob Dylan) and Oh Mercy’s producer, Daniel Lanois, he described how Dylan would rework his songs over and over again:
“I sat next to him for two months while he wrote [Oh Mercy] and it was extraordinary. Bob overwrites. He keeps chipping away at his verses. He has a place for all his favorite couplets and those couplets can be interchangeable. I’ve seen the same lyrics show up in two or three different songs as he cuts and pastes them around, so, it’s not quite as sacred ground as you might think.”
From All Dylan:
“Most of them [the songs on “Oh Mercy”] are stream-of-consciousness songs, the kind that come to you in the middle of the night, when you just want to go back to bed. The harder you try to do something, the more it evades you. These weren’t like that.”
~Bob Dylan (to Edna Gundersen, September 21, 1989)“While it would be unfair to compare ‘Oh Mercy’ to Dylan’s Sixties recordings, it sits well alongside his impressive body of work.”
~Clinton Heylin (Behind The Shades)[While] promoting The Traveling Wilburys in the fall of 1988, George Harrison discussed some of Dylan’s upcoming work. Harrison [was] enthused about Dylan’s new songs…informing a skeptical world that the experience of recording the Wilburys had given him the urge to write again.
[Bono], lead singer of U2, paid Dylan a visit at his home. When he asked Dylan if he had written any new songs, Dylan showed him the ones stored in his drawer. Bono urged him to record the songs but, Dylan was reluctant.
Notable Cover Versions:
Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Sheryl Crow
Lyrics [via LyricFind]
Broken lines, broken strings
Broken threads, broken springs
Broken idols, broken heads
People sleeping in broken beds
Ain’t no use jiving
Ain’t no use joking
Everything is broken
Broken bottles, broken plates
Broken switches, broken gates
Broken dishes, broken parts
Streets are filled with broken hearts
Broken words never meant to be spoken
Everything is broken
Bridge: Seem like every time you stop and turn around
Something else just hit the ground
Broken cutters, broken saws
Broken buckles, broken laws
Broken bodies, broken bones
Broken voices on broken phones
Take a deep breath, feel like you’re chokin’
Everything is broken
Every time you leave and go off someplace
Things fall to pieces in my face
Broken hands on broken ploughs
Broken treaties, broken vows
Broken pipes, broken tools
People bending broken rules
Hound dog howling, bull frog croaking
Everything is broken
Music Monday: Billboard Rant
Well, well, well…silly me. I was planning to do a post on a fresh Billboard chart entry for the week of September 23, 1989. After having done a Hot 100 entry and an Alternative Rock entry, I was looking at Adult Contemporary, Hot R&B, Hot Country and Mainstream Rock. Ladies…Gentlemen…if you so desire to look at Billboard’s history charts other than the Hot 100 chart, YOU ARE SHIT OUT OF LUCK. You can’t look at ANY of their charts, even the new ones, except the Hot 100…UNLESS YOU PAY THEM. This has happened, just in the last week.
I’m not paying these assholes $12/$13 a month just to LOOK at their damn charts. I was attempting to showcase ALL music pieces instead of just the number ones or stuff on the Hot 100, only. Not every song debuts on the Hot 100. Most country music goes straight to the country chart. Most rock, what new rock there is left to listen to on the radio, goes to rock charts. Now, I have no way of knowing what debuted when…or where. If anyone out there knows where I can get this information, let me know. FUCK THEM.
This situation tells me that Billboard magazine is in trouble and hemorrhaging money.
Music Monday: September 16, 1989
Shaking things up a bit and being different. ~Vic
Thirty years ago, today, Sold Me Down the River by The Alarm, a Welsh alternative rock/new wave band from Rhyl (formed 1981), debuted on the Billboard Alternative Rock chart, entering at number ten. The first release from the album Change, their fourth studio album, it peaked at number three after five weeks. It made it to number two on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart in October, staying there for two weeks and number 43 on the UK Singles Chart, starting September 10.
I confess. I’ve never heard of this band. They are still active (Band Website).
From LyricFind:
There’s a fire beneath my skin
There’s a fever that makes me ill
Got a love, a love that kills
I’ve got twenty-four hours to live, come back
I’m begging you please, come back
Come back
I’m down on my knees, come back
I’m begging you please
I don’t know why and I don’t understand
How you sold me down the river
I don’t know why, I don’t understand
How you sold me down the river
Sold me down the river
There’s a rose across my chest
Got your name written on it
Love’s the drug that I live by
Give me a shot before I die, come back
I’m begging you please, come back
Come back
I’m down on my knees, come back
I’m begging you please
I don’t know why, I don’t understand
How you sold me down the river
I don’t know why, I don’t understand
How you sold me down the river
Sold me down the river
Oh yeah, sold me down the river now
Sold me down the river tonight
Hoo-hoo
I’ve got twenty four hours
I don’t know why, I don’t understand
How you sold me down the river
Sold me down the river
Tune Tuesday: September 3, 1989
Thirty years ago, Miss You Much by Janet Jackson debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the week of September 2, entering at position 42 (changing to chart entries and releases instead of number ones to cover more pieces of music). Released August 22 as the lead single from the album Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814, it reached number one the week of October 7 and stayed there for four weeks. It also reached number one on the Dance Club chart the same week, staying for two weeks. It hit number one on the Hot R&B chart the week of October 14, staying two weeks and was number one in South Africa. Billboard went on to declare that the song was Janet’s biggest Hot 100 single. The song was written and produced by writing team “Jimmy Jam” Harris and Terry Lewis.
Grammy Award & Nominations (32nd Annual 1989)
American Music Awards
Billboard Awards
Soul Train Awards
Brit Awards Nomination
Lyrics [Via LyricFind]
Shot like an arrow going through my heart
That’s the pain I feel
I feel whenever we’re apart
Not to say that I’m in love with you
But who’s to say that I’m not
I just know that it feels wrong,
When I’m away too long
It makes my body hot
So let me tell ya baby
I’ll tell your mama
I’ll tell your friends
I’ll tell anyone whose heart can comprehend
Send it in a letter baby
Tell you on the phone
I’m not the kinda girl
Who likes to be alone
I miss ya much (boy-oh-I miss you much)
I really miss you much (M-I-S-S you much)
I miss ya much (boy-oh-I miss you much)
Baby I really miss you much (M-I-S-S you much)
I’m rushing home
Just as soon as I can
I’m rushing home to see
Your smiling face
And feel your warm embrace
It makes f-feel so g-g-g good
So I’ll tell you baby
I’ll tell your mama
I’ll tell your friends
I’ll tell anyone whose heart can comprehend
Send it in a letter baby
Tell you on the phone
I’m not the kinda girl
Who likes to be alone
I miss ya much (boy-oh-I miss you much)
I really miss you much (M-I-S-S you much)
I miss ya much (boy-oh-I miss you much)
Baby I really miss you much (M-I-S-S you much)
I miss you much
I really really miss you much
I miss you much
I’m not ashamed to tell the world
I miss you
I’ll tell your mama
I’ll tell your friends
I’ll tell anyone whose heart can comprehend
Send it in a letter baby
Tell you on the phone
I’m not the kinda girl
Who likes to be alone
I miss ya much (boy-oh-I miss you much)
I really miss you much (M-I-S-S you much)
I miss ya much (boy-oh-I miss you much)
Baby I really miss you much (M-I-S-S you much)
Flashback Friday: Disco Demolition Death 1979
Forty years ago, today, the Disco Demolition took place at Chicago’s Comiskey Park. What started out as a baseball promotion turned into a mêlée that damaged the field.
[..] disco didn’t quite die a natural death by collapsing under its own weight. Instead, it was killed by a public backlash that reached its peak on this day in 1979 […]. That incident, which led to at least nine injuries, 39 arrests and, the cancellation and forfeit of a Major League Baseball game, is widely credited […] or, blamed for […] dealing disco its death blow.
The event was the brainchild of Steve Dahl and Garry Meier, popular disk jockeys on Chicago’s WLUP “The Loop” FM. […] many […] rock DJs were displaced by disco [but], only Dahl was inspired to launch a semi-comic vendetta aimed at “the eradication and elimination of the dreaded musical disease.”
On May 2, the rainout of a game between the Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers led to the scheduling of a doubleheader on July 12. Dahl and Meier approached the White Sox with a rather unorthodox idea for an attendance-boosting promotion […]. […] allow Dahl to blow up a dumpster full of disco records between games of the doubleheader. White Sox executive Mike Veeck embraced the idea […].
[…] organizers […] grossly [underestimated] the appeal of the 98-cent discount tickets offered to anyone who brought a disco record to the park to add to the explosive-rigged dumpster. WLUP and the White Sox expected perhaps 5,000 more fans than the average draw of 15,000 or so […]. What they got, instead, was a raucous sellout crowd of 40,000+ and an even more raucous overflow crowd of as many as 40,000 more outside on Shields Avenue.
What followed was utter chaos, as fans by the thousands stormed the field, […] began to wreak havoc, shimmying up the foul poles, tearing up the grass and lighting vinyl bonfires on the diamond while the stadium scoreboard implored them to return to their seats. Conditions were judged too dangerous for the scheduled game to begin and the Detroit Tigers were awarded a win by forfeit.
[Source]
In the weeks before the event, Dahl invited his listeners to bring records they wanted to see destroyed to Comiskey Park. Owner Bill Veeck was concerned the promotion might become a disaster […]. His fears were substantiated when he saw the people walking towards the ballpark that afternoon. […] many carried signs that described disco in profane terms.
Some leapt turnstiles, climbed fences and entered through open windows. Attendees were supposed to deposit their records into a large box [but], once the box was overflowing, many people brought their discs to their seats. Many of the records were not collected by staff and were thrown like flying discs from the stands. Tigers designated hitter Rusty Staub remembered that the records would slice through the air and land sticking out of the ground. He urged teammates to wear batting helmets when playing their positions. “It wasn’t just one, it was many. Oh, God almighty, I’ve never seen anything so dangerous in my life.” Attendees also threw firecrackers, empty liquor bottles and lighters onto the field. The game was stopped several times because of the rain of foreign objects.
Dozens of hand-painted banners with such slogans as “Disco Sucks” were hung from the ballpark’s seating decks. Dahl set off the explosives, destroying the records and tearing a large hole in the outfield grass. […] the first of 5,000 to 7,000 attendees rushed onto the field […]. The batting cage was destroyed and, the bases were pulled up and stolen. Among those taking to the field was 21-year-old aspiring actor Michael Clarke Duncan […]. Duncan slid into third base, had a silver belt buckle stolen and went home with a bat from the dugout. Some attendees danced in circles around the burning vinyl shards.
Chicago police in full riot gear arrived (9:08pm) to the applause of the baseball fans remaining in the stands. Those on the field hastily dispersed upon seeing the police. Tigers manager Sparky Anderson refused to allow his players to take the field […] due to safety concerns. Anderson […] demanded that the game be forfeited to the Tigers. He argued that, under baseball’s rules, a game can only be postponed due to an Act of God, and that, as the home team, the White Sox were responsible for field conditions.
Photo Credit: npr.org
Tune Tuesday: July 2, 1984
Thirty-five years ago, today, the #1 song on the Billboard Hot Country chart was I Can Tell By The Way You Dance (You’re Gonna Love Me Tonight) by Vern Gosdin from the album There Is A Season. Released on March 26 as the lead single, it was written by Sandy Pinkard (of Pinkard & Bowden) and Robb Strandlund.
The song, later on, also made it to #1 on Canada’s RPM Country chart.
“The Voice” Passes Away [CMT]
2017 Inductee Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame
Lyrics:
I can see every time I look into your eyes
You don’t care a thing about those other guys
Without words you make me understand what’s on your mind
The rhythm of your body close to mine
I can tell by the way you dance
That you’re gonna love me tonight
Sometimes it’s cold sometimes it’s hot
Love’s either right or it’s wrong
Feels so good, love you a lot
Right here beside me is where you belong
I don’t care if everybody knows the way I feel
Until the dream of holding you is real
I can tell by the way you dance
That you’re gonna love me tonight
Sometimes it’s cold sometimes it’s hot
Love’s either right or it’s wrong
Feels so good, love you a lot
Right here beside me is where you belong
I don’t care if everybody knows the way I feel
Until the dream of holding you is real
I can tell by the way you dance
That you’re gonna love me tonight
I can tell by the way you dance
That you’re gonna love me tonight
I can tell by the way you dance
That you’re gonna love me tonight
I can tell by the way you dance
That you’re gonna love me tonight
Wayback Wednesday: Mama Cass Variety Show 1969
Update: Less than 24 hours after I posted this, YouTube snatched down the video. If they continue, YouTube won’t have any videos left to watch. So, that being said, I am leaving the original link and adding what I can find. ~Vic
Fifty years ago, today, Cass Elliot of the The Mamas & The Papas appeared in the TV special The Mama Cass TV Show. Directed by Sid Smith, it was an hour-long musical variety show co-produced by Chuck Barris. Guest stars were Barbara Bain, Martin Landau, Buddy Hackett, Joni Mitchell, John Sebastian, Mary Travers and, Elliot’s group, The Mamas & The Papas.
[This was] a one-shot pilot episode for a TV series that was never picked up. In 1968, Mama Cass had launched her solo career and was hoping to move into television. This one-hour program only aired once on ABC-TV and was never shown, again. The show features Mama Cass Elliot with special guest stars, John Sebastian (The Lovin’ Spoonful), Joni Mitchell, Mary Travers (Peter, Paul and Mary), Buddy Hackett, Martin Landau and Barbara Bain (husband & wife, both from Mission: Impossible and later, Space: 1999).
Songs include:
Mama Cass: Dream A Little Dream Of Me, “River Of Life,” I Can Dream, Can’t I, Dancing In The Street.
Mama Cass with Joni Mitchell: Both Sides, Now.
Mary Travers: And When I Die.
Mama Cass with Joni Mitchell and Mary Travers: I Shall Be Released.
John Sebastian: She’s A Lady.
Mama Cass with John Sebastian: Darlin’ Companion.There are also comedy sketches with Buddy Hackett (who is dressed very groovy mod!), Martin Landau and Barbara Bain.
[Source]
Tune Tuesday: June 18, 1984
Thirty-five years ago, today, the #1 song on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart (and, simultaneously, on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and Canadian Singles chart) was Time After Time from the album She’s So Unusual by Cyndi Lauper. Co-written by Lauper and Rob Hyman (The Hooters), it was released on January 27, the second single from the album. The title came from the 1979 movie Time After Time:
“We started by putting together a list of song titles. I thumbed through a TV Guide magazine. One movie title seemed good—a sci-fi film called “Time After Time” from 1979. I never meant for it to be the song’s real title. It was just supposed to get me thinking.” (Quote from Lauper)
It was her first #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
The video for “Time After Time” was directed by Edd Griles and, its storyline is about a young woman leaving her lover behind when she becomes homesick and worried about her mother. Lauper’s mother, brother and then-boyfriend, David Wolff, appear in the video and Lou Albano, who played her father in the “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” video, can be seen as a cook.
The video opens with Lauper watching the 1936 film The Garden of Allah and the final scene, where she gets on the train and waves goodbye to David, has Lauper crying for real.
[Source]
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Cover artists include Miles Davis, Eva Cassidy and Lil Mo. Lauper made an acoustic version with Sarah McLachlan and performed live with McLachlan at the 2005 AMA Awards. Other live performances have been with Patti LaBelle and Lil’ Kim.
♦ Critical Reception
♦ Accolades
♦ Awards & Nominations
♦ Greatest & Best Songs
♦ Other Cover Versions
Lyrics:
[Verse 1]
Lying in my bed, I hear the clock tick and think of you
Caught up in circles, confusion is nothing new
Flashback, warm nights almost left behind
Suitcases of memories, time after…
Sometimes you picture me, I’m walking too far ahead
You’re calling to me, I can’t hear what you’ve said
Then you say, “Go slow.” I fall behind
The second hand unwinds
[Chorus]
If you’re lost, you can look and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall, I will catch you, I’ll be waiting
Time after time
If you’re lost, you can look and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall, I will catch you, I’ll be waiting (I will be waiting)
Time after time
[Verse 2]
After my picture fades and darkness has turned to gray
Watching through windows, you’re wondering if I’m OK
Secrets stolen from deep inside
The drum beats out of time
[Chorus]
If you’re lost, you can look and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall, I will catch you, I’ll be waiting
Time after time
[Instrumental break]
[Bridge]
You said, “Go slow.” I fall behind
The second hand unwinds
[Chorus]
If you’re lost, you can look and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall, I will catch you, I’ll be waiting
Time after time
If you’re lost, you can look and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall, I will catch you, I’ll be waiting (I will be waiting)
Time after time
[Outro]
Time after time
Time after time
Time after time
Time after time
Time after time
Time after time
Time after time
Time after time
Time after time
Time after… time…
Tune Tuesday: June 11, 1984
Thirty-five years ago, today, the #1 song on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock chart was Dancing in the Dark from the album Born in the USA by Bruce Springsteen. The music video was directed by Brian De Palma (Carrie/Scarface/The Untouchables) and it introduced the world to a, then, unknown Courteney Cox. This was his biggest hit single and the album is, to this day, his best selling. The song also went to #1 with Cash Box, in Canada, with Radio & Records and, went on to #1 in 1985 in Belgium & The Netherlands. Notable cover version artists are Kermit the Frog, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Pete Yorn.
Awards
♥ Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male Grammys
♥ Grammy Hall of Fame Grammys
♥ Pop/Rock Single American Music Awards
♥ International Album of the Year Juno Awards
♥ Best Stage Performance MTV Video Music Awards
Nominations
Grammys: 2
American Music Awards: 2
Brit Awards: 1
MTV Video Music Awards: 1
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
I get up in the evening
And I ain’t got nothing to say
I come home in the morning
I go to bed feeling the same way
I ain’t nothing but tired
Man, I’m just tired and bored with myself
Hey there baby, I could use just a little help
[Chorus 1]
You can’t start a fire
You can’t start a fire without a spark
This gun’s for hire
Even if we’re just dancing in the dark
[Verse 2]
Message keeps getting clearer
Radio’s on and I’m moving ’round the place
I check my look in the mirror
I wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face
Man, I ain’t getting nowhere
I’m just living in a dump like this
There’s something happening somewhere
Baby, I just know that there is
[Chorus 1]
You can’t start a fire
You can’t start a fire without a spark
This gun’s for hire
Even if we’re just dancing in the dark
[Bridge]
You sit around getting older
There’s a joke here somewhere and it’s on me
I’ll shake this world off my shoulders
Come on, baby, the laugh’s on me
[Verse 3]
Stay on the streets of this town
And they’ll be carving you up all right
They say you gotta stay hungry
Hey, baby, I’m just about starving tonight
I’m dying for some action
I’m sick of sitting ’round here trying to write this book
I need a love reaction
Come on now, baby, gimme just one look
[Chorus 2]
You can’t start a fire
Sitting ’round crying over a broken heart
This gun’s for hire
Even if we’re just dancing in the dark
You can’t start a fire
Worrying about your little world falling apart
This gun’s for hire
Even if we’re just dancing in the dark
[Outro]
Even if we’re just dancing in the dark
Even if we’re just dancing in the dark
Even if we’re just dancing in the dark
Hey, baby
Tune Tuesday: June 4, 1984
Thirty-five years ago, today, the #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R & B charts (plus Cash Box) was Let’s Hear For The Boy by Deniece Williams from the soundtrack of the movie Footloose. This was Williams second number one hit on the Billboard 100.
Composed by Tom Snow and Dean Pitchford, country singer Jana Kramer performed the song for the 2011 Footloose remake.
From Songfacts [no citations]:
This was the second single from the Footloose soundtrack, following the “title track,” which was recorded by Kenny Loggins. In the film, the song was used in a scene where Kevin Bacon tries to teach Christopher Penn how to dance and Penn is having a hard time.
Once the song was written, Pitchford asked Deniece Williams and her producer George Duke to record the song. Kenny Loggins was onboard for the title track, which gave the project credibility and, Williams loved the song and the story idea for the film. She grew up in a small Indiana town with a religious environment similar to the one described in Footloose. When she saw the film, she thought the scene where they used her song was incredible. “If I had come to the film without the music in and they asked me what segment I wanted my song to be in, I would have chosen that segment.” said Williams.
♡ Best Original Song Academy Award Nomination
♥ Best Pop Vocal Performance (Single) Grammy Nomination
♥ Best R & B Vocal Performance (Album) Grammy Nomination
Official Music Video
Footloose Movie Clip
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
My baby, he don’t talk sweet
He ain’t got much to say
But he loves me, loves me, loves me
I know that he loves me anyway
And maybe he don’t dress fine
But I don’t really mind
‘Cause every time he pulls me near
I just wanna cheer
[Chorus]
Let’s hear it for the boy
Let’s give the boy a hand
Let’s hear it for my baby
You know you gotta understand
Maybe he’s no Romeo
But he’s my loving one-man show
Whooa, whooa, whooa-oh
Let’s hear it for the boy
[Verse 2]
My baby may not be rich
He’s watching every dime
But he loves me, loves me, loves me
We always have a real good time
And maybe he sings off-key
But that’s all right by me, yeah
‘Cause what he does, he does so well
Makes me wanna yell
[Chorus]
Let’s hear it for the boy
Let’s give the boy a hand
Let’s hear it for my baby
You know you gotta understand
Maybe he’s no Romeo
But he’s my loving one-man show
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
Let’s hear it for the boy
[Pre-Chorus]
‘Cause every time he pulls me near
I just wanna cheer
[Chorus]
Let’s hear it for the boy
Let’s give the boy a hand
Let’s hear it for my baby
You know you gotta understand
Maybe he’s no Romeo
But he’s my loving one-man show
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
Let’s hear it for the boy
[Outro]
Let’s hear it for the boy
Let’s hear it for my man
Let’s hear it for my man
Let’s hear it for my man
Let’s hear it for the boy
Let’s hear it for my man
Let’s hear it for the boy
Let’s hear it for my man
Let’s hear it for my man
Let’s hear it for the boy
Let’s hear it for my man
Let’s hear it for the boy
Let’s hear it for my man
Let’s hear it for my man
Let’s hear it for the boy
Let’s hear it for my man
Let’s hear it for my man
Tune Tuesday: May 21, 1979
Forty years ago, today, the #1 song on the Billboard Hot Country chart was If I Said You Have A Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me by The Bellamy Brothers from Pasco County Florida. Written by David Bellamy, the song’s title is a reference to the Groucho Marx line from You Bet Your Life. Bellamy was fond of the show and Marx’s comment stuck with him.
Released in March, it was the second single from the album The Two and Only and their first #1 hit on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart, with Let Your Love Flow reaching #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in May of 1976. The title […] shown on the original single was “If I Said You Have a Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me” but, on the album and subsequent releases, the title is shown as “… Had …”.
Lyrics
If I said you have a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?
If I swore you were an angel, would you treat me like the devil tonight?
If I was dying of thirst, would your flowing love come quench me?
If I said you have a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?
Now we could talk all night about the weather
Could tell you about my friends out on the coast
I could ask a lot of crazy questions
Or ask you what I really wanna know
If I said you have a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?
If I swore you were an angel, would you treat me like the devil tonight?
If I was dying of thirst, would your flowing love come quench me?
If I said you have a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?
Now rain can fall so soft against the window
Sun can shine so bright up in the sky
But Daddy always told me, “Don’t make small talk”
He said, “Come on out and say what’s on your mind”
So if I said you have a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?
If I swore you were an angel, would you treat me like the devil tonight?
If I was dying of thirst, would your flowing love come quench me?
If I said you have a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?
If I said you have a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?
If I swore you were an angel, would you treat me like the devil tonight?
If I were dying of thirst, would your flowing love come quench me?
If I said you have a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?
Tune Tuesday: May 14, 1979
Forty years ago, today, the #1 song on the Billboard Hot R&B chart (and the Hot 100 chart, simultaneously, plus Cash Box) was Reunited by Peaches & Herb (Herb Fame & Linda “Peaches #3” Greene). The song was co-written by Dino Fekaris and Freddie Perren, whom also co-wrote Shake Your Groove Thing, a previous Peaches & Herb song and, I Will Survive, the Gloria Gaynor hit. This was a sequel piece to the duo’s (Herb Fame & Francine “Peaches” Hurd Barker) previous song (We’ll Be) United released in 1968, a cover of The Intruders hit from 1966.
The song sold over two million copies, was the Billboard #5 song for 1979 and the RPM (Canadian) #9 song for 1979 (Wayback Machine). Artists Louise Mandrell (with husband R. C. Bannon), Faith No More and Lulu (with Cliff Richard) have done cover versions. [This link reflects David Hasselhoff and Raven-Symone as cover artists but, I can’t verify. ~Vic]
Nominated for:
American Music Award: Favorite Soul/R&B Song
Grammy: Best R&B Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group Or Chorus
Lyrics
[Verse 1:]
I was a fool to ever leave your side
Me minus you is such a lonely ride
The breakup we had
Has made me lonesome and sad
I realize I love you cause
I want you back, hey, hey
I spent the evening with the radio
Regret the moment that I let you go
Our quarrel was such
A way of learning so much
I know now that I love you
Cause I need your touch, hey, hey
[Chorus:]
Reunited
And it feels so good
Reunited
Cause we understood
There`s one perfect fit
And sugar, this one is it
We both are so excited
Cause we`re reunited
Hey, hey
[Verse 2:]
I sat here staring
At the same old wall
Came back to life just when I got your call
I wished I could climb right
Through the telephone line
And give you what you want
So you will still be mine
Hey, hey
I can’t go cheating
Honey, I can’t play
I found it very hard to stay away
As we reminisce on
Precious moments like this
I`m glad we`re back together
Cause I missed your kiss
Hey, hey
[Repeat Chorus:]
Reunited
And it feels so good
Reunited
Cause we understood
There`s one perfect fit
And sugar, this one is it
We both are so excited
Cause we`re reunited
Hey, hey
Yeah, yeah, yeah, baby
[Verse 3:]
Oh, lover, lover
This is solid love
And you`re exactly what I`m dreaming of
All through the day
And all through the night
I`ll give you all the love I have
With all my might
Hey, hey
[Repeat Chorus:]
Reunited
And it feels so good
Reunited
Cause we understood
There`s one perfect fit
And sugar, this one is it…
Tune Tuesday: May 7, 1979
Forty years ago, today, the #1 song on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart was Love Is The Answer by England Dan & John Ford Coley. Released on March 4, the song was written by Todd Rundgren for his band Utopia. It is the last track on the 1977 album Oops! Wrong Planet. Rundgren’s version didn’t chart but, this cover version reached #10 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.
From John Ford Coley:
Of all the songs we released as singles, that was my favorite. The song, first of all, had a classical base and the middle had a gospel section, which I loved.
From Todd Rundgren (on what the song meant to him):
We were doing an album at the time and, usually, we try and be collaborative when we write the songs because, we had made an agreement that we would share the publishing on all of our songs so that specific writers don’t get the credit. But, that was a song that I came up with. We put it on a bummer album like Oops! Wrong Planet thinking, maybe, we need to put something a little hopeful on it.
The song still has meaning to me. I perform it every night with Ringo. Ringo has his “three hit rule” and I’m taking advantage of a technicality in that Love Is The Answer was a hit but, it wasn’t a hit for me or Utopia. It was a hit for England Dan & John Ford Coley.
Originally, Ringo wanted me to do Hello It’s Me and I just felt that the song, in the context of what the rest of the band was playing, didn’t represent the message I wanted to convey because, “Hello It’s Me” is a kind of a selfish song. It’s me, me, me…it’s all about me. I’m in charge and, all this other stuff. I thought a better song, especially for Mr. Peace & Love, Ringo himself, would be “Love Is The Answer” and, people would know the song because it was a hit. […] they, maybe even, would just gloss over the fact that it wasn’t a hit for me and think, ‘Oh Yeah! Now, I remember him singing this song.’ So, for me, it’s a high point of the evening and, hopefully, the audience is getting the message.
Glen Campbell recorded the song in 2004 on his Love Is The Answer: 24 Songs of Faith, Hope and Love album. It remains a favorite of Christian artists.
Lyrics:
Name your price
A ticket to paradise
I can’t stay here anymore
And I’ve looked high and low
I’ve been from shore to shore to shore
If there’s a shortcut
I’d have found it
But there is no easy way around it
Light of the world
Shine on me
Love is the answer
Shine on us all
Set us free
Love is the answer
Who knows why someday
We all must die
We’re all homeless boys and girls
And we are never heard
It’s such a lonely, lonely, lonely world
People turn their heads
And walk on by
Tell me
Is it worth just another try
Light of the world
Shine on me
Love is the answer
(Let it shine)
Shine on us all
Set us free
Love is the answer
Tell me
Are we alive
Or just a dying planet?
(What are the chances?)
Ask the man in your heart
For the answer
And when you feel afraid
(Love one another)
When you’ve lost your way
(Love one another)
And when you’re all alone
(Love one another)
And when you’re far from home
(Love one another)
And when you’re down and out
(Love one another)
And when your hopes run out
(Love one another)
And when you need a friend
(Love one another)
And when you’re near the end
(Love, we got to love
We got to love one another)
Light of the world
Shine on me
Love is the answer
Shine on us all
Set us free
Love is the answer
Light of the world
Shine on me
Love is the answer
(Shine, shine, shine)
Shine on us all
Set us free
Love is the answer
Light of the world
Shine on me
Love is the answer
Shine on us all
Set us free
Love is the answer
Light of the world
Shine on me
Love is the answer
Tune Tuesday: April 30, 1979
Photo Credit: recort.nl
Forty years ago, today, the #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart was Heart of Glass by Blondie. Written by Harry and Stein in 1974-75, its working title was Once I Had A Love. The inspiration for its writing came from The Hues Corporation‘s song Rock the Boat.
From The Guardian:
Heart of Glass was one of the first songs Blondie wrote but, it was years before we recorded it properly. We’d tried it as a ballad, as reggae but, it never quite worked. At that point, it had no title. We just called it “the disco song”. Back then, it was very unusual for a guitar band to be using computerised sound. People got nervous and angry about us bringing different influences into rock. Although we’d covered Lady Marmalade and I Feel Love at gigs, lots of people were mad at us for “going disco” with Heart of Glass. There was the Disco Sucks! movement, and there had even been a riot in Chicago, with people burning disco records. Clem Burke, our drummer, refused to play the song live at first. When it became a hit, he said: “I guess I’ll have to.” The lyrics weren’t about anyone. They were just a plaintive moan about lost love. At first, the song kept saying: “Once I had a love, it was a gas. Soon turned out, it was a pain in the ass.” We couldn’t keep saying that, so we came up with: “Soon turned out, had a heart of glass.” We kept one “pain in the ass” in – and the BBC bleeped it out for radio. ~Debbie Harry
*************
As far as I was concerned, disco was part of R&B, which I’d always liked. The Ramones went on about us “going disco” but, it was tongue-in-cheek. They were our friends. In the video, there’s a shot of the legendary Studio 54, so everyone thought we shot the video there but, it was actually in a short-lived club called the Copa or something. I came up with the phrase “heart of glass” without knowing anything about Werner Herzog or his movie of the same name, which is a great, weird film. It’s nice people now use the song to identify the period in films and documentaries. I never had an inkling it would be such a big hit, or become the song we’d be most remembered for. It’s very gratifying. ~Chris Stein
An Oral History of Blondie
From CityBeat:
In season one, DJ Johnny Fever not only plays Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” on his broadcast but, home audiences actually hear him announce the band’s, and the song’s, names. It was fantastic promotion for the up-and-coming Blondie, whose huge breakthrough album, Parallel Lines (with other seminal singles like Hanging on the Telephone and One Way or Another), came out the same month WKRP in Cincinnati debuted. The band reportedly gave the show a Gold record plaque celebrating the album’s major sales numbers as a “Thank You” card. It can be seen in the background as set design on several episodes in later seasons.
From NPR:
Unlike many DJs from that era, Fever played punk as well as rock and soul. The range of music on the show gave this fictional radio station a better playlist than most of the era’s real ones. […] although the show helped break Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” big, the exception, in Fever’s case, was disco. “I asked him to play one disco record and he threatened to throw himself in front of Donna Summer‘s tour bus,” Travis complains in “Baby, If You’ve Ever Wondered,” from season two.
As of April 20, 2011, Heart of Glass is #259 of Rolling Stone Magazine’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Awards & Nominations
♦ Best Selling International Single (Juno 1980)
♦ Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (2006)
♦ Grammy Hall of Fame (2016)
Lyrics:
[Verse 1]
Once I had a love and it was a gas
Soon turned out had a heart of glass
Seemed like the real thing, only to find
Mucho mistrust, love’s gone behind
Once I had a love and it was divine
Soon found out I was losing my mind
It seemed like the real thing but I was so blind
Mucho mistrust, love’s gone behind
[Chorus]
In between
What I find is pleasing and I’m feeling fine
Love is so confusing, there’s no peace of mind
If I fear I’m losing you, it’s just no good
You teasing like you do
[Verse 2]
Once I had a love and it was a gas
Soon turned out had a heart of glass
Seemed like the real thing, only to find
Mucho mistrust, love’s gone behind
[Chorus]
Lost inside
Adorable illusion and I cannot hide
I’m the one you’re using, please don’t push me aside
We could’ve made it cruising, yeah
[Bridge]
Yeah, riding high
On love’s true bluish light
[Verse 3]
Once I had a love and it was a gas
Soon turned out to be a pain in the ass
Seemed like the real thing only to find
Mucho mistrust, love’s gone behind
[Chorus]
In between
What I find is pleasing and I’m feeling fine
Love is so confusing, there’s no peace of mind
If I fear I’m losing you, it’s just no good
You teasing like you do
National Lineman Appreciation Day
April 18 has three fixed celebrations, two ‘Third Thursday’ celebrations and one floating celebration. Today is National Lineman Appreciation Day.
From National Day Calendar:
If the power is on where you are reading this article, you likely have a lineman to thank. From the power plant, the grid crisscrossing the country, both above and underground, and right up to the meters on our homes, these men, and women, build and maintain the system that keeps our nation running. Regardless of the source, the electricity has to be transported by employing transformers and other equipment. Due to the dangerous conditions power poses, safety is of utmost importance for both the lineman and the consumer.
When mother nature destroys what our linemen have built up, they are on call to build it back up again as quickly as possible. These men and women work tirelessly to get emergency systems back in working order and, urgently, return service to remaining areas. Even when there is no crisis, they work under dangerous conditions on a daily basis. Whether they are working in trenches, near water or on high towers, the risks are extreme.
This day was first recognized on April 10, 2013, by the U.S. Senate [via] Resolution S Res 95.
Northwest Lineman College Appreciation Day Tribute Gallery
[I think some Glen Campbell would be appropriate…or, REM, if you prefer. ~Vic]
Tune Tuesday: April 16, 1974
Forty-five years ago, today, the #1 song on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart was Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me by Gladys Knight & The Pips. Written by Jim Weatherly, a former quarterback for the University of Mississippi, is the same songwriter that penned what became known as Midnight Train to Georgia, a previous hit for Gladys & her Pips. The song was originally recorded in 1973 by country music artist Ray Price.
From Wikipedia:
Weatherly told Tom Roland in The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits that he wrote the song in 1971 and let his father-in-law first record it as a Christmas present for the latter’s wife. “I thought it was really strange that nobody’d written a song with that title — possibly somebody had but, I’d never heard it — so, I just sat down and let this stream of consciousness happen. I basically wrote it in a very short period of time, probably 30 minutes or an hour.”
Other artists to cover the song were Dean Martin, Steve Lawrence, Andy Williams, The Persuaders and, James Cleveland & The Charles Fold Singers.
The song made it to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Lyrics:
I’ve had my share of life’s ups and downs
But fate’s been kind, the downs have been few
I guess you could say that I’ve been lucky
Well, I guess you could say that it’s all because of you
If anyone should ever write my life story
For whatever reason there might be
Ooo, you’ll be there between each line of pain and glory
‘Cause you’re the best thing that ever happened to me
Ah, you’re the best thing that ever happened to me
Oh, there have been times when times were hard
But always somehow I made it, I made it through
‘Cause for every moment that I’ve spent hurting
There was a moment that I spent, ah, just loving you
If anyone should ever write my life story
For whatever reason there might be
Oh, you’ll be there between each line of pain and glory
‘Cause you’re the best thing that ever happened to me
Oh, you’re the best thing that ever happened to me
I know, you’re the best thing, oh, that ever happened to me
Tune Tuesday: April 9, 1974
Forty-five years ago, today, the #1 song on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart was A Very Special Love Song by Charlie Rich. It was, also, the #1 song on the Billboard Hot Country chart, simultaneously. Written by Billy Sherrill and Norro Wilson, it was released as a single in January 1974 from the album Very Special Love Songs. Inspiration for the song came from the soundtrack of the movie The Summer of ’42, composed by French pianist Michel LeGrand. Track listing #8, The Summer Knows, was the lyrics version of the movie’s main theme. Rich was quoted by Tom Roland of Billboard:
“I don’t think I stole from them [at] all but, that’s my favorite theme of all time. There’s not a similarity, and yet, you can understand what I was thinking about and where I was coming from.”
The song garnered a Best Country Song Grammy for songwriters Sherrill & Wilson. Rich won an AMA for Favorite Country Male Artist of 1975 (for 1974) and the album was nominated for Favorite Country Album. He also won a CMA for Entertainer of the Year (1974) and the album won Album of the Year (1974).
Lyrics:
Babe, somewhere I know I’m gonna find it, babe
It’ll have my love behind it
And it will be a symphony of all you mean to me
A Very Special Love Song
And babe, if there’s a way you know I’m gonna say it babe
If there’s a melody I’ll play it
I’ll play it through especially for you and all the words are true
A Very Special Love Song
So don’t be surprised if you’re sittin’ alone and you hear it
‘Cause I’m goin’ to sing it to the whole big lonely world
So turn your radio way down low and get near it
And I’ll tell the world I love you, girl
Babe, if there’s an ounce of love I’m gonna give it to you
Babe, if there’s a breath of life I’m gonna live it every day for you
And all the whole night through, singin’ just for you
Flashback Friday: Losing Cobain & The 27s
“it’s better to burn out than to fade away”
Twenty-five years ago, today, according to most accounts, Kurt Cobain committed suicide. His body was discovered on April 8 by Gary Smith, an electrician that was there to install a security system. Seeing Cobain lying inside, Smith initially thought the singer was asleep until he saw blood oozing from his ear. He also found a suicide note with a pen stuck through it inside a flower-pot. A shotgun purchased for Cobain by his friend Dylan Carlson was found resting on Cobain’s chest. Cobain’s death certificate stated that he died as a result of a “contact perforating shotgun wound to the head” and concluded that his death was a suicide.
While it is true that Cobain suffered from stomach pains, drug addiction, clinical depression and bi-polar disorder, there are disputes to the official ruling. Courtney Love‘s own estranged father wrote a book and suggested that his daughter had her husband murdered.
Cobain was described as a “Generation X icon” and “the last real rock star“. He was only 27.
Twenty-seven appears to be a striking number. From The History Channel:
The untimely deaths of famous musicians at age 27 may be coincidence but, it is [a] tragic coincidence. The mythology of the 27 Club gained prominence with the death of Kurt Cobain in 1994 since he died at the same age as iconic rock musicians, including Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison, when they died in the 1970s. The premature death of Amy Winehouse at age 27 in 2011, again, renewed interest in the age’s apparent curse. This is a list of some of the artists and musicians who died at the far too young age of 27.
Robert Johnson…Blues singer-songwriter-musician (May 8, 1911 – August 16, 1938)
Brian Jones…The Rolling Stones founder (February 28, 1942 – July 3, 1969)
Alan “Blind Owl” Wilson…Canned Heat co-founder (July 4, 1943 – September 3, 1970)
Jimi Hendrix…Rock singer-songwriter-guitarist (November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970)
Janis Joplin…Rock-soul-blues singer-songwriter (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970)
Jim Morrison…The Doors co-founder (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971)
Ron “Pigpen” McKernan…Grateful Dead founding member (September 8, 1945 – March 8, 1973)
Kurt Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994)
Amy Winehouse…Singer-songwriter (September 14, 1983 – July 23, 2011)
Late Add from fellow blogger Badfinger20:
Pete Ham…Badfinger founding member (April 27, 1947 – April 24, 1975)
OH, the music we have lost. ~Vic
Tune Tuesday: April 2, 1974
Forty-five years ago, today, the #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart was Sunshine on My Shoulders by John Denver. Co-written with guitarist Mike Taylor and bassist Richard Kniss, the song was originally released in 1971 as an album track on Poems, Prayers & Promises. It wasn’t released as a single until October 1973 (oddly, the same month as his death) and hit #1 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart just two weeks prior to making the Hot 100. It had been re-mixed to include woodwinds and strings and, had the last verses removed. The full length single mix showed up on Denver’s later compilation albums.
From Wikipedia (without citation?):
Denver described how he wrote “Sunshine on My Shoulders”: “I wrote the song in Minnesota at the time I call ‘late winter, early spring’. It was a dreary day, gray and slushy. The snow was melting and, it was too cold to go outside and have fun but, God, you’re ready for spring. You want to get outdoors again and you’re waiting for that sun to shine and, you remember how, sometimes, just the sun, itself, can make you feel good. And, in that very melancholy frame of mind, I wrote ‘Sunshine on My Shoulders’.”
The song was used as the theme to the CBS Friday Night made-for-TV movie Sunshine starring Cristina Raines, Cliff De Young and, Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush. Canadian singer-songwriter-actress Carly Rae Jepsen released her cover version of the song on June 16, 2008.
Lyrics:
Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy
Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry
Sunshine on the water looks so lovely
Sunshine almost always makes me high
If I had a day that I could give you
I’d give to you a day just like today
If I had a song that I could sing for you
I’d sing a song to make you feel this way
Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy
Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry
Sunshine on the water looks so lovely
Sunshine almost always makes me high
If I had a tale that I could tell you
I’d tell a tale sure to make you smile
If I had a wish that I could wish for you
I’d make a wish for sunshine all the while
Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy
Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry
Sunshine on the water looks so lovely
Sunshine almost always makes me high
Sunshine almost all the time makes me high
Sunshine almost always
Tune Tuesday: March 26, 1969
Fifty years ago, today, the #1 song on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart was You Gave Me A Mountain by Frankie Laine. Written by singer-songwriter and NASCAR driver Marty Robbins, Laine’s version charted the highest of any performer, including Robbins.
From Wikipedia:
The lyrics to the song detail a series of challenges that the singer has endured in his life, including the death of his mother while giving birth to him, [being] deprived of the love of his father [described as] like time spent in prison “for something that I never done” and, the singer’s wife taking their child and leaving. He describes these setbacks as hills that he has scaled in the past but, then states that “this time, Lord, you gave me a mountain” […]
The original third line of Robbins’ song mentioned that he was “despised and disliked from my father” but, Laine requested that this line be changed to “deprived of the love of my father” when he recorded his version, since Laine’s father had died shortly before the recording took place.
Many other artists recorded the song including Johnny Bush, Don McLean, Eddy Arnold, Ray Price, Jim Nabors and Dean Martin. Elvis Presley included this song in the set for his Aloha From Hawaii concert in 1973.
This was the final Top 40 hit of Laine’s career.
Lyrics
Born in the heat of the desert
My mother died givin’ me life
Deprived of the love of a father
Blamed for the loss of his wife
You know, Lord, I’ve been in a prison
For something that I’ve never done
It’s been one hill after another
But I’ve climbed them all, one by one
But this time, Lord, you gave me a mountain
A mountain I may never climb
And is isn’t a hill any longer
You gave me a mountain this time
My woman tired of the hardships
Tired of the grief and the strife
So tired of workin’ for nothin’
Tired of bein’ my wife
She took my one ray of sunshine
She took my pride and my joy
She took my reason for livin’
She took my small baby boy
So this time, Lord, you gave me a mountain
A mountain I may never climb
And is isn’t a hill any longer
You gave me a mountain this time
