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Pop Rock Nation

Tag: Infatueighties

  • Infatueighties: #78: “Only You” by Yaz

    Infatueighties: #78: “Only You” by Yaz

    I’m sure this wasn’t just me. Did anyone else think Alison Moyet was a guy upon listening to Yaz’s 1982 album “Upstairs at Eric’s”. Moyet was blessed with Yaz Upstairs at Eric's Coverquite possibly the most androgynous voice of all-time. What’s up with British singers and androgynous voices anyway? Boy George? Annie Lennox? Geez. There must be something in the water across the pond.

    Anyone who considers synth-pop emotionless has obviously never heard Moyet sing her ass off on “Upstairs at Eric’s”, the first of two collaborations between her and Depeche Mode founder (and future member of Erasure with yet another androgynous singer in Andy Bell) Vince Clarke. The collection of songs on “Eric’s” contains enough drama to have any petulant schoolgirl singing in her hairbrush for months on end. “Only You”, the album’s only real ballad, brings that sense of drama to a majestic climax. Despite the wall of synthesizers, the only thing that really matters is the melancholy of Moyet’s voice. She could be singing this acapella and the song would be as emotional.

    Despite Yaz and “Eric’s”‘ lack of mainstream attention upon its’ 1982 release, both the album and “Only You” have become cult classics over time. The song’s been covered by everyone from Rita Coolidge to Enrique Iglesias, while it’s also popped up in several movies and commercials over the years. Still, it’s unlikely that anyone will come close to the soulful longing as portrayed by Moyet in the song’s original version.

  • Infatueighties: #79: The Show

    For someone who considers themselves a serious hip-hop fan, there’s surprisingly little hip-hop on this Top 100 list. I think there’s maybe 8 rap songs on this list (now when I decide to do the Nineties list, that might be a different story). That said, the songs that did make it to this list are stone cold classics, and Doug E. Fresh and MC Ricky D.’s The Show certainly qualifies.

    For a song with essentially no chorus, there are tons of hooks here. The scratched “oh my God”s, the dinky keyboard (allegedly played by a very young Teddy Riley of Guy and BLACKstreet fame) playing the “Inspector Gadget” theme, “six minutes, Doug E. Fresh, you’re on”. The kids who turned this song into a classic didn’t seem to mind the lack of a hook. I can clearly remember sitting on the school bus in Southfield, Michigan, reciting this song word for word with 25 other kids. I betcha the kids today can’t do that with a Lil’ Wayne song! (said in crochety old man voice)

    While Slick Rick’s turned into a hip-hop legend (and was far more influential as an emcee than a lot of folks are willing to give him credit for), Doug E. Fresh has sort of turned into a hip-hop journeyman. He’s never released an album worthy of his talents, although a Greatest Hits album is looooooong overdue. He’s probably better known these days for his appearances on every VH-1 pop culture special known to man, as well as for being hip-hop’s only Scientologist (trying hard not to make a face here). Questionable religious practices aside, we’ll always have “The Show”, right?

  • Infatueighties: #80: “Can You Stand the Rain”

    Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, along with their mentor/former boss Prince, brought funk into the 1980s. With angular synthesized rhythms and large heapings of attitude, they hit their stride around mid-decade, scoring hits for Cheryl Lynn, The.S.O.S. Band, Alexander O’ Neal, and of course, Janet Jackson. 1986’s “Control” turned Janet from Michael’s cute little sister who starred on TV to Janet-Miss Jackson if you’re nasty, and set the standard for kid stars looking for a quick and safe jump into adulthood.

    Somewhere in Boston, the members of New Edition were watching and listening. Around the time the “Control” campaign wound down in 1987, the boy group had lost/kicked out founding member Bobby Brown, were in danger of losing lead singer Ralph Tresvant to a solo career and had hired vocally talented Johnny Gill as a potential replacement. After Tresvant reconsidered and decided to stay, the gentlemen hooked up with Jam & Lewis in Minneapolis to begin work on the product that would transform them from boys to men (the name of the resulting album, “Heart Break”‘s final track and also the name of a group that NE member Mike Bivins would discover just a few short years later).

    While “If It Isn’t Love” was the album’s biggest hit (charting at #7 pop), it was “Can You Stand the Rain” that proved to be the album’s most lasting song. An anthemic ballad with a mature lyric, it was the first NE track to successfully combine Tresvant’s boyish tenor with Gill’s chesty baritone. All the candy girls finally had a grown and sexy song to get down to. Like most of Jam & Lewis’ ballads (there are at least two more in this countdown), the song features a touch of melancholy as well. Despite narrowly missing the pop Top 40, this song spent 3 weeks at #1 on the R&B charts at the top of 1989 and sealed the deal on the longevity of New Edition’s career, a career that is now in its’ 25th year. Slow jams from the decade of excess don’t get much better than this…