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Pop Rock Nation

Tag: Sunday Seven

  • The Sunday Seven 2/1/08: Make Sure You’re Sure

    Congrats to the Steelers for winning what was one of the most exciting Super Bowls in recent memory. That Springsteen guy wasn’t bad either. Let’s throw the iPod on shuffle and see if any Boss comes up:

    01: The Grand Finale by The D.O.C. feat. NWA (1989): A car crash ruined what The D.O.C.’s once promising career, shattering his vocal cords and turning his booming baritone into a rasp. While the Doc has gone on to success as a ghostwriter for the Death Row camp (and one of a laundry list of Erykah Badu baby daddies), his debut No One Can Do it Better remains one of the best debuts in hip-hop history. Ice Cube, MC Ren and Eazy-E all join The D.O.C. on this track, a classic all-time posse cut…over a live band, to boot!

    02: Make Sure You’re Sure by Stevie Wonder (1991): Can someone tell Stevie that he needs to do a standards album? This jazzy piano ballad is one of the highlights of the “Jungle Fever” soundtrack. Considering Stevie’s personal release schedule, though, it’s unlikely we’ll see any new music from him until 2016. I love me some Spike Lee, but I have never seen “Jungle Fever” (although considering my own personal dating tastes, maybe I should). I’ll rent it someday.

    03: The Happy Song (Dum Dum) by Otis Redding (ca. 1966): It’s hard to believe Otis Redding was only 27 when he died, not because he made so much music in his few short years as a musician, but because he SOUNDED so much older. The man had the soul of someone 10 if not 20 years older, as evidenced by the fact that he sings the shit out of a song that’s pretty inconsequential lyrically like this one.

    04: Daddy Called Me Niga ‘Cause I Liked to Rhyme by Young Black Teenagers (1990): YBT, contrary to their name, consisted of five white kids. Discovered and produced by The Bomb Squad, they released two pretty decent albums. The subject matter of this song is apparent from the title. Strangely, there wasn’t much of an outcry in the media when these guys came out. Can you imagine the ruckus this would cause if it were released now? Talk about progression (yes, I’m being sarcastic). Most of the YBT returned to civilian life after their 15 minutes were up, but their DJ, Skribble, wound up becoming a fixture on MTV for a while, and his latest mix CD debuted in the Top 20 on the Billboard charts earlier this year.

    There’s no video for “Daddy…”, but if you want some YBT flavor, here’s a video for you. This was the jam back in ’93.


    05: Good Thing by Fine Young Cannibals (1989): This good-natured Motown rip was a huge hit in 1989. Two things I always wondered about FYC: 1) what planet did Roland Gift come from? (he looked like a bloody alien) and 2) how come their huge album “The Raw & the Cooked” (which contains this song) never got followed up? Such are the mysteries of the music world. Anyone remember the skit from “In Living Color” called “Old Train”, where one of the Wayanses as Don Cornelius mangles the name “Fine Young Cannibals”? Finally, did Barry Gibb ever call Roland Gift and tell him he wanted his voice back?

    06: She Needs My Love by The-Dream (2007): Some producers are better off not making their own records. I’m still on the fence about The-Dream, who’s written and produced songs for Usher, Mary J. Blige, Britney, Celine Dion and Rihanna’s “Umbrella”, among others. Dream’s no great singing talent, but the 80s-tastic production (similar to modern-day Timbaland) redeems this and many of the songs on his album “Love/Hate”. This song would be just as good as an instrumental.

    07: Sleep All Day by Jason Mraz (2003): Mr. A-Z’s a little too precious for my tastes sometimes, but this remains one of my favorites from him, maybe because sleeping all day is one of my favorite things to do. This song is actually the perfect soundtrack for a mid-afternoon summer nap. I can picture the hammock now…

    As usual, I’m taking submissions from anyone who would like to participate in a Sunday Seven someday (say that five times fast). Enjoy your week!!

  • The Sunday Seven 1/11/09: Just Can’t Get Enough

    Hey, folks…after having guests for a few weeks, I’m back in control of the Sunday Seven and it feels good! So without any further ado, here’s a random trip through my iPod, where I pull seven musical selections and talk about them.

    Track 1: Just Can’t Get Enough by Depeche Mode (1981)

    This was Depeche Mode’s first “hit”, I guess. Well, considering it didn’t do much in the States when it was released, let’s just say that it’s the band’s oldest popular song. This dates back from when Vince Clarke (later of Yaz and Erasure) was in charge of the band. Although Clarke split really quickly, DM kept his sound and, in a move uncommon when it comes to breakups, both parties went on to super-successful careers.

    Track 2: Brass Monkey by The Beastie Boys (1986)

    I knew the time would come when a song came up that I’d already discussed. Needless to say, I love Licensed To Ill, I love Brass Monkey (the song, never tried the concoction), and I wish I had a beer right now because this song always makes me thirsty.

    Track 3: I Was a King by Eddie Murphy feat. Shabba Ranks (1993)

    OK, I need to explain why this song is on my iPod. About a year and a half, I was visiting our own GG back in his home in the Garlic Capital of the World. Looking through his CD collection, I noticed he owned two of Eddie Murphy’s three non-comedy albums (well, OK, his three unintentionally funny albums). I figured there was tons of joke material to be found, so I burned them onto my laptop. Remember when the video for this premiered on Fox? Did Eddie think he was Michael Jackson or something like that? Ooh, and the video’s on YouTube! You guys are in for a treat.

    Track 4: For You I Will by Monica (1997)

    This earnest ballad was written by (you guessed it) Diane Warren and wound up on the soundtrack to the Michael Jordan’s Space Jam. Monica’s one of those singers who had so much potential, and she wound up taking what was probably a too-long break from recording followed by a couple of sub-standard albums. Her last album, The Makings of Me, was a chore to get through. Here’s hoping that she ditches Jermaine Dupri and Missy Elliott and make the album her voice is capable of. I was going to say that this song was originally recorded by All-4-One, but i’d be getting my big-voiced divas confused. That song would be I Turn to You, later recorded and turned into a smash by Christina Aguilera.

    Track 5: Now I’m Here by Queen (1975)

    It’s widely acknowledged that Freddie Mercury had one of the most unique and powerful voices in all of music. I think that voice was used to best effect on hard rocking songs like this. Brian May’s guitar work is fantastic, and Freddie delivers (for him) a restrained vocal performance, complete with those stacked harmonies and a weird screaming effect (is that someone’s voice or is that a guitar?)

    Track 6: Stan by Eminem (2000)

    Stan was the song that convinced me that Marshall Mathers was a genius. I remember listening to this song on a cassette Walkman on my way home from work (I’d bought the tape the day it came out) and being completely bug-eyed by the end of the song. I rewound that tape God knows how many times after the first listen. It’s easily one of the best rap songs of all time, and worth listening to for the simple fact that it makes you remember how talented the guy was. I still get lost in this song when I hear it. Hell, this song made Dido’s career.

    Track 7: Any Foolish Thing by Michael McDonald (1985)

    We end this week’s Seven with a favorite of my buddies over at Popdose, Michael McDonald. This is also the only song in this week’s Seven without video accompaniment. Ah, well. I say this with no snark whatsoever-Michael McDonald is the fuckin’ man. Have you ever tried to sing What a Fool Believes? How does he get his voice up that high? This song’s not one of his best, but it has a pleasant midtempo bounce and a twinkly synth arrangement that makes it perfect to close up shop for the week…

    …Till next time. And as a reminder, if anyone wants to guest-write this column, just email kingdemon01@gmail.com and let me know.

  • Sunday Seven: Loving The Aliens

    Here’s a dirty little secret about what’s on my iPod:  I, almost exclusively, put singles on it.  It’s probably not the most appropriately music-snobby approach, but it serves a couple of purposes.  One:  it gives me a strict, easy-to-adhere-to criterion for editing down a library of more than 20,000 mp3s (3200 CDs, 400 LPs) to fit onto an 80 gig iPod.  The other purpose is that at the times when I’m listening to the iPod – at work, on walks, at the gym – I want some easy – meaning familar – listening.  Now, just because something was a single doesn’t mean it was popular (or if it was, that it still is today), and just because it’s familiar – easy – listening for me, doesn’t mean it is for a whole lot of others, so there’s still plenty of obscure shit to be heard.  And, of course, every rule was made to be broken.  Or bent.  For instance:
    1.  “It’s Alright” by Chicago (1986)
    Never released as an A-side in its own right, this lively Bill Champlin song about a consolatory one-nighter, which originally appeared on Chicago 18 was certainly worthy.   My first concert (actually my first three) was Chicago touring behind Chicago 18 and I remember this as one of the few new songs the band trotted out between classics like “Saturday in the Park” and “25 or 6 to 4” (which they’d recently re-recorded as 18‘s introductory single).  The song was an instant sing-along, even with the older audience, and I always felt it deserved to be a single.   Alas, it merely turned up as the b-side to Chicago 19‘s third single “You’re Not Alone”.  As further proof that this song might have been a contender for single consideration, check out this (obviously lip-synced) television performance of the song.

    2.  “Abracadabra” by The Steve Miller Band (1982)
    This was the song that introduced me to the Steve Miller Band.  It also came out right around the time that I was really starting to pay attention to the radio (as opposed to playing the hell out of my parent’s records and having my older sister make mix tapes for me from hers).  I think it was the number one song the first time I ever listened to Casey Kasem’s weekly Top 40 broadcast.  (Incidentally, Chicago was near the top at the same time with their comeback single “Hard to Say I’m Sorry”, the song that introduced me to them.)
    3. “Everlasting Love” by Robert Knight (1967)
    Not as popular as the early-disco-era version recorded by Carl Carlton (it was also covered by Gloria Estefan in the 90s), Robert Knight’s “Everlasting Love”  – a Top 20 hit in its own right – boasts punchier, more accented vocals and a fatter horn arrangement.  Otherwise, the two versions are so similar that at a quieter volume, their indistinguishable.
    4.  “I Saw the Light” by Todd Rundgren (1972)
    I like a lot of Todd Rundgren’s work as a performer, as a producer, and as the leader of the band Utopia, but I love very little of it.  I like this song.  That is all.
    5.  “No Other Love” by John Legend (2008)
    A nice reggae-tinged song from his fine third album Evolver.  Nothing mindblowing here, but the fact that John Legend not only exists, but thrives in today’s AutoTuned pop and R&B marketplace is cause for hope.  He did a bit of campaigning for Barack Obama this fall.  Maybe the President-elect could invent a cabinet post to appoint John Legend to.  Secretary of Soul?
    6.  “Another World” by Hoodoo Gurus (1989)
    One of the great, unsung bands to come out of Australia in the 80s, the Hoodoo Gurus released this adorable, and oh-so-catchy love-song to an extra-terrestrial as the second single of their fabulous 1989 album Magnum Cum Louder.  Awesome stuff.

    7.  “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” by Pat Benatar (1980)
    Last week, I picked up a new compilation from the Numero Group called It’s All Pop, chronicling the brief and disheartening history of a Kansas City indie label called Titan Records.  Formed by a couple of friends in the mid-70s, Titan’s complete discography amounted to six (beautifully packaged) 7″ singles, and a label sampler LP.   It’s a fascinating story, with some pretty good music to go with it, but one thing I noticed was that there were no women!  Where are all the girls in power-pop (besides in the song titles)?  (Actually, one of Titan’s most notable acts was a quartet from Nebraska who called themselves The Boys and dressed themselves in a – err, gender-ambiguous manner.  Courage, my friends, courage.)  But, oh yeah, Pat Benatar.  “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”.  You could never fit Pat Benatar’s work into a subgenre as narrowly defined as power-pop, but “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” is the quintessential (girl-)power pop song.
    And thank you, Paul, for taking us on a trip through your iPod! I’m jealous because you have more music than me, though. Join us next Sunday when (hopefully) we’ll have another guest take us through their music collection on the Sunday Seven!!!