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  • Best You’ve Never Heard: Whatever Happens – Michael Jackson

    It would be up to me to add some Michael Jackson to The Best You’ve Never Heard week, since Money Mike didn’t do it.

    (Don’t worry, he probably would’ve, but I called first dibs. He’s still the biggest MJ fan on the planet.)

    In 2001, Michael Jackson released Invincible, his first album in six years since the HIStory double album. After a few listens, there were some definite conclusions. Firstly, Jackson could still sing as shown on some of the ballads like Break Of Dawn, Heaven Can Wait, and Butterflies. Secondly, he was still capable of making terrible song choices. The Lost Children and Cry were terrible songs. But the thing that many people walked away thinking was that Whatever Happens, featuring Carlos Santana on guitar, was the best song (or Butterflies based on your taste) and was a surefire hit single. But what happened is that Sony didn’t support the album and pushed nothing except the initial single and no one outside of the die hard MJ fans got to hear Whatever Happens.

    He gives another smile, tries to understand her side
    To show that he cares, she can’t stay in the room
    She’s consumed with everything that’s been goin’ on
    She says …
    Whatever happens, don’t let go of my hand

    Viewers of American Idol will be familiar with the song because Mario Vasquez performed it in his audition that was shown before the season. He also sang back up vocals on the original track.

    The song starts with an old fashioned instrumental that you’d hear in Westerns as if to say that MJ and Santana were about to draw on each other and a musical explosion was ready to occur. Just walk ten paces.

    It’s Latin flavored, but not too much. Santana plucks the strings ever so delicately which forces MJ to sing with more emotion than you’d think possible.

    Don’t you let go baby! Don’t you let go!

    Lyrically, the song tells a story about a mysterious relationship between a man and a woman. The woman is scared about what they’re doing. The man is trying to make things right. Perfect even. He doesn’t understand that all she wants is just him and that’s all. The conclusion is that whatever happens, don’t let go of my hand. Forever, forever, forever.

    Even though the finale of the song seems a bit corny with two of the greatest artists of our time thanking each other, especially Michael’s, “Thank you Carlos”, which seems like it took 20 takes, but it’s the perfect finish. They go out guns a blazin’. Well, sort of.

    Whatever Happens is the song that would’ve should’ve could’ve, but didn’t. But thankfully for you, you can now find it because I know it’s the best you’ve never heard.

    Photo shared via creative commons

    More on “The Best You’ve Never Heard” week
    The Best You’ve Never Heard..or Have You?: “Shiver” by Coldplay
    The Best You’ve Never Heard: “Hesitate” by The Mysteries of Life
    The Best You’ve Never Heard: “Must Have Been Crazy” by Chicago
    The Best You’ve Never Heard: “Wheel” by John Mayer
    The Best You’ve Never Heard: Introduction

  • What’s in a Voice? Rolling Stone Presents The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time

    Aretha Franklin. Photo by Ryan Arrowsmith.

    Ah, lists. Meant to be discussed, meant to be argued. The latest list to come from the folks at Rolling Stone magazine is “The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time”. It’s a semi-interesting list, with some curious choices as well as some expected ones.

    To no one’s surprise, Aretha Franklin tops the list. In her heyday, the Queen of Soul could have sang a TV instruction manual and made it sound soulful. I can’t argue with her placement even though she’s fallen into a super-sized parody of herself in recent years. Thankfully, Patti LaBelle, a singer whose voice is just as strong and has held up better, also pops up further down the chart, although the admission of Mary J. Blige while omitting Chaka Khan is a head turner.

    There are plenty of distinctive musical voices here. Some are inarguable. You can’t have a list like this without including Freddie Mercury, whose voice could blow the fur off a farm animal. Actually, if this was my list, I’d have placed him a hell of a lot higher than #18. Otis Redding? Check. Bono? Check. Van The Man? Double check. They even made room for my boys MJ and Prince.

    However, no list would be a list without a couple of head-scratchers. While Bob Dylan and Bjork are certainly unique vocalists, I wouldn’t necessarily call them “great” singers. Dylan’s nasal whine is grating on a good day. I’ve always maintained that while he is obviously a genius songwriter, his songs sound a helluva lot better coming out of someone else’s mouth. I personally love Bjork, but while I think her voice is expressive, I think it’s part of an overall package with her music and her visuals. I would pay (or have paid) money to see Nina Simone or Luther Vandross sing without musical accompaniment. There’s a bluesiness or a soulfulness in the voices of John Lennon or Steven Tyler that resonates even when they’re singing the blandest material-hey, no one else could have made me like “I Don’t Want To Miss a Thing”. But Bjork? Not so much. Unique does not always equal great.

    Anyway, since I haven’t been able to get my grubby little hands on a copy of the magazine, I haven’t gotten the chance yet to see what the tributors have to say about the artists profiled on this list. However, you can have a look at the list here and let us know what you think. Is there anyone on the list who shouldn’t be there? Was anyone incorrectly omitted?

  • No More Rockin’ for Janet Jackson

    One of our favorite pastimes (well, one of mine, anyway) is trying to figure out the exact moment that Janet Jackson’s career went into the toilet. Was it Nipplegate? Was it the relationship with gnome-like Jermaine Dupri? Was it the obsession with sex that was cute 13 years ago and is absolutely boring now? Was it the fact that she seems to have forgotten how to make good records?

    At any rate, the cancellation of Janet’s Rock Witchu tour, following mediocre reviews, tepid ticket sales and a bizarre “illness”, comes as no surprise to most, particularly after opening act LL Cool J bailed out of the tour (dude, are you serious? You’re one of the few people whose career is in worse shape than Janet’s!). Hopefully, this latest career catastrophe sends Janet back to the lab (here’s a hint: bring Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis with you and leave JD at home), where she can make a creative, age-appropriate, non-desperate sounding album and return to the form that gave us classics like this.