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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?

  • The Best You’ve Never Heard..or Have You? Shiver by Coldplay

    The Best You’ve Never Heard..or Have You? Shiver by Coldplay

    I love Coldplay.  When I say I love them I genuinely mean I LOVE them.  Now maybe I’m not crazed enough to know Coldplay Shiver Covereveryone in the band’s birthday and favorite food and color, but there’s something about this band that can make me happier on a happy day and mellow me out and make me stop for a second on a bad day.  I met Chris Martin once and shook his hand–I kept my cool but was almost sure I was going to have a heart attack.
    They have quite a catalog of songs now as they’ve released four studio albums, and sure many of their singles have a special place in my heart that remind me of people and places.  There’s one song in particular that I always come back to and wish I could’ve convinced the folks at their record label that they should’ve worked a bit more aggressively here in the US (and well..in the UK too as it’s peak chart position across the pond was 35).
    SHIVER is a logical next step right after the quick DON’T PANIC on the bands debut, PARACHUTES.  DON’T PANIC gives you a little taste of what’s to come on this album, and is quick enough to set the tone then lead in to one of the gems in their catalog.  It rocks, but not too hard.  What bums me out the most is it’ll probably take a miracle for me to EVER hear this song performed live.  While I (obviously) can’t confirm this, I’ve heard countless times the song was written for/about Natalie Imbruglia and well why would Gwenyth want to hear her husband perform a song about another woman?  Speaking of Imbruglia, she released a song called SHIVER in 2005 from her album COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS (which wasn’t release here in the US, but was actually a good album–more about that some other time), and I immediately thought there could be a connection—nope, I was wrong…unless I’m really right?
    For the longest time I wanted to believe that SHIVER was “my” song.  Meaning people must pass it by and not think of it as a favorite or even being a “quality” track in the Coldplay song catalog.  Sure it didn’t do a ton here in the US and I’d wager most people might not know what I was talking about if I struck up a conversation with someone who wasn’t a big fan.  Fortunately for me, a few years back I got a feeling that the song might be bit more well known than I’d thought.
    (INSERT DRAMATIC FLASHBACK MUSIC)
    It was a cold, rainy, wet night.  A buddy and I were out and about running around the city.  We stopped to see a friend and asked him if he’d get a drink with us to catch up.  After waiting around he declined, so we set out in search of a drink, but having no clue where we’d stop.  We vowed to walk until we found a bar to have that one drink or if not, when we came across a subway station we’d go home.  As we continued to walk it started to drizzle and we got wet, as did our brown paper bag we were carrying with some CD’s we’d picked up earlier from an industry friend.
    Maybe about 30 minutes later we found ourselves up near Times Square (don’t ask me where we started…I have no clue) and the Port Authority Bus Terminal.  Exhausted, I remember seeing a number of neon glowing BAR signs.  Finally we ducked into a place–that felt a bit more upscale then your regular NYC dive bar where some young guys would grab a beer.  Somewhat defeated we sat up at the bar, set our bag down and removed our damp coats and jackets.  We both ordered a beer and shortly after the magic moment happened.
    The previous song had faded out on the jukebox and what I heard next amazed me.  I heard the opening notes of SHIVER and lit up.  I was so excited and couldn’t believe I was hearing this song at a bar.  It was that moment that I started to sing along with Chris Martin at a low volume level, not wanting to be that weirdo in the bar.  But I heard more voices gradually and then in that “TV sitcom moment” it appeared that EVERYONE in the bar was singing along and singing loudly as Chris and the band backed us up.  Everyone was singing–everyone except my buddy.
    (FADE BACK TO PRESENT DAY)
    Anytime I go to a bar now and see Coldplay on a jukebox it makes me immediately like the bar.  Of course it’s usually their later albums, and that’s fine.  It’s nice to get a little Coldplay action while I have a drink at the end of a bad day or to celebrate a triumph.  While their might not be a “happy ending” who doesn’t enjoy a good tale of, “Hey…I like you, but I’m not sure you know I even exist…”  I’d be too nervous to ever ask Chris Martin about the song if I ever did meet him, but I’ll admit I’d love to hear the TRUE story right from the source.