My apologies to anyone who’s been waiting with bated breath for me to wrap up this series – is there any such person out there? I left off in early August, with my review of songs that failed to wriggle their way past Mariah Carey and/or Boyz II Men to reach the top of Billboard’s Hot 100 during the ’90s. Since then I’ve faced the same trepidation I had last year while surveying the Worst Number One Songs of the ’00s – namely, the fact that I feel less than eminently qualified to pass judgment on the Auto-Tune Era. Finally, though, as Woody Harrelson puts it so eloquently in Zombieland, I decided it was time to “nut up or shut up,” so here we are.
Fortunately, I’ve got the artist kicking off our countdown to push me forward, and remind me why I took up this six-part (so far) endeavor in the first place. As always, I’ll conclude with a list of some other #2s from the decade.
11. “Work It,” Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott. I don’t particularly care for this track, but there are a couple reasons why it’s a perfect launching pad for this column. For one, it represents a key step in the evolution of hip-hop toward raunchy themes and racy lyrics. Because Missy was as nasty as the boyz of her era, she absolved the trend of any misogynist stigma, and it was a quick step from “Work It” to the strip-club hip-hop soul that’s become so prevalent lately. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, necessarily … though when even Jordin Sparks is singing about “the club,” maybe the moment is over, huh? Anyway, the other key accomplishment of “Work It” was its 10-week stay at #2 — tied with Foreigner’s “Waiting for a Girl Like You” (which we celebrated here) for the longest runner-up run in chart history. And here’s where we’ve gotta give Missy her props, because she’s got the stones to admit that only reaching #2 with her biggest hit kinda sucked. “I just wanted to die those ten weeks,” she said of being blocked by Eminem’s smash “Lose Yourself” through the winter of ’03. “I mean, it wasn’t cool.” (more…)
Casual observers of this series have probably wondered, more than once, why I’m bothering to track those rock-era singles that, like a dolphin rejected from Sea World, couldn’t quite jump through the brass ring. After all, who really cares about chart placements? And isn’t Number Two practically as good as Number One, particularly when everybody’s making so much money? But if there’s one decade that proves why this stuff is vitally important … to somebody, at least … it’s the ’90s.
To put it simply, the Billboard Hot 100 charts of that decade were messed up. (I put it somewhat less than simply in a long-winded column last year.) The pop radio format split in two, resulting in charts that rarely reflected anybody’s actual listening experience. Major labels stopped manufacturing singles for many artists (mostly white ones) in an effort to sell more albums, which resulted in huge radio hits that never qualified for the Hot 100. The advent of precise technology for measuring retail sales and radio airplay resulted in singles topping the charts and staying … and staying … and staying. And as I discussed last week, superstars like Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and Boyz II Men were so desperate to top the charts, and keep up with the competition, that they conspired with their labels to withhold the retail releases of their new singles until the songs peaked at radio, then flooded the marketplace with discounted product to ensure #1 chart debuts.
As a result of these and other, more random developments, the #2 singles of the ’90s were a fascinating bunch. There were huge hits that were simply blocked by huger ones, and great songs that stalled behind ones whose popularity now leaves us scratching our heads. There were oldies that re-emerged after decades, and the two longest-running chart hits of all time (for the moment). So away we go – and, as always, at the end of the column I’ll list some additional singles that were stranded at third base so we can argue which ones most deserved to score.
11. (tie) “Right Here, Right Now,”Jesus Jones; “P.A.S.S.I.O.N.,” Rhythm Syndicate; “Every Heartbeat,” Amy Grant; “It Ain’t Over Til It’s Over,” Lenny Kravitz; and “Fading Like a Flower (Every Time You Leave),”Roxette. What do these wildly disparate singles have in common? They all were blocked from the top spot during the summer of ’91 by the same song, Bryan Adams’ treacly Robin Hood anthem “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You.” (It was the first of three Adams soundtrack singles – all of them god-awful, in my opinion – to top the charts during the ’90s.) Adams spent seven weeks at #1 while holding off five different competitors – the highest number of second-place finishers thwarted by the same single since Percy Faith’s “Theme from A Summer Place” was #1 in 1960. The only one of the five to earn a second week at #2 was – surprise – “P.A.S.S.I.O.N.” In honor of that fact – and because its video is the only one of the five to feature fire (fire! fire!), scantily clad dancers and an atrocious white-boy rap — I’m happy to showcase it here. (more…)
So, I hope you enjoyed last week’s guest post by the lovely Scott Malchus. I also hope that you missed me and are delighted by my return. If you’re not, well, fuck you — I never liked you anyway.
I had considered writing about a space-related film this week in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission since I’m a giant space nerd. (If you follow me on Twitter, you are well aware of my geekiness and are likely totally sick of my NASA-related tweets.) But I changed my mind once I managed to finally piece together a fairly complete soundtrack for one of my favorite music-related films from the ’80s, Light of Day (1987).
I’ve wanted to write about this Michael J. Fox movie for several months now, after finding a near-mint-condition vinyl copy of the soundtrack album at Half-Price Books earlier this year. That led me to purchasing a used VHS copy of the movie, which is, tragically, not on DVD yet. But since (1) the soundtrack is out of print, (2) I don’t have a turntable I can use to rip my vinyl to digital, and (3) I’ve had a hell of a time finding MP3s of most of the songs elsewhere, I’ve been putting off writing about it, hoping to get it together one day soon. Finally, I have.
It’s amazing, the things a guy can learn even at my advanced age. The real treat for me, in slapping together this (too)-long-running series – which already has examined hits from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s that ran out of gas just one block short of the Texaco – has been the opportunity to put into context some of the music-geek trivia that’s been crowding out more important information in my head for the last 30 years.
I’m embarrassed to say I was able to sit down at my laptop and reel off the names of about three dozen #2 hits from the grand and glorious ’80s without even cracking open my ever-present Joel Whitburn or Fred Bronson singles bibles. (The fact that I could do that, but can’t tie a Windsor knot, may explain why my career on Wall Street never took off. It also made narrowing down to 10 songs for this list a painful experience.) But it’s one thing to keep song titles and chart placements in your memory; it’s another to marvel at the tricks of fate, poor taste, or record-biz manipulation that launch one single over another on the way to Top 40 glory. Take this first juxtaposition, for example:
11. “Hazy Shade of Winter,” the Bangles. Here’s the hit that slaps some sense into those who mistake the Bangles for a novelty act, or stubbornly cling to the notion that Susanna, Vicki, Debbi and Michael didn’t really rock. They took a 20-year-old, twee-as-all-get-out Simon & Garfunkel tune and turned it into a fuzz-guitar anthem of ’80s excess, the perfect theme for what should have been a much better movie based on Bret Easton Ellis’ Hollywood-druggies novel Less than Zero. (Funny how the movie biz managed to mangle both Ellis’ book and Jay McInerney’s New York equivalent, Bright Lights, Big City. Of course, casting pretty boys Andrew McCarthy and Michael J. Fox as jaded protagonists didn’t help.) Anyway, how were the Bangles rewarded for their maturity and brilliance in transforming “Hazy Shade of Winter”? They were left in the dust by the god-awful ballad “Could’ve Been,” which might have been less terrible had it not been butchered by that caterwauling, flavor-of-the-month, shopping-mall princess Tiffany. A slightly interesting fact about “Could’ve Been”: Its composer, Lois Blaisch, was “discovered” while singing for her supper at a recently-shuttered restaurant a few miles from my house, called the Hungry Hunter. I knew there had to be a reason why I never considered going into that place … besides, of course, the goofiness of its name, particularly considering that it sat in the middle of a SoCal strip mall… (more…)
March 18, 1978, is a Saturday. Deposed Pakistani prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Before their annual banquet, members of the fire department in Frostburg, Maryland, ring the firebell 111 times to honor the members who have died fighting fires since the department was founded 100 years ago today. In the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, Kentucky wins the Mideast Regional final over Michigan State, 52-48. Leon Spinks, who upset Muhammad Ali to win the heavyweight boxing championship in February, is stripped of the title for refusing to fight Ken Norton, who is declared champion. Future NBA player Brian Scalabrine and future NHL player Jan Bulis are born; author Leigh Brackett dies, shortly after turning in a script for The Empire Strikes Back. Although she will receive a writing credit, practically none of her words or ideas will make it onto the screen.
Lindsey Wagner of The Bionic Woman is on the cover of TV Guide. This morning, CBS broadcasts the final original episodes of the Robonic Stooges, an animated kids’ show reimagining Larry, Moe, and Curly as crime-fighting robots of the future. Tonight, it’s the final episode of Kojak. On NBC, Jill Clayburgh hosts Saturday Night Live with musical guest Eddie Money, whose debut single “Baby Hold On” has been on the radio for about a month.
A 15-year-old girl in Illinois buys a copy of the Bee Gees’ Children of the World; looking at the cover, her father declares that the Bee Gees look “like long-haired hippie gangsters.” On the latest Billboard Hot 100, the long-haired hippie gangsters hold down the top two spots with “Night Fever” and “Stayin’ Alive.” Samantha Sang is next with “Emotion,” a song the Bee Gees wrote, produced, and sing on; Andy Gibb’s “(Love Is) Thicker Than Water,” a former Number-One song, is at Number Five. The lone interloper at the family reunion is Eric Clapton, whose “Lay Down Sally” has sneaked up to Number Four.
The Jerry Garcia Band plays Washington, D.C., U2 plays Limerick, Ireland, and Yes plays Los Angeles. The second California Jam concert is held in Ontario, California. Headliners include Ted Nugent, Aerosmith, Heart, Foreigner, Santana, Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush, Dave Mason, Rubicon, and Bob Welch, who brings out surprise guests Stevie Nicks and Mick Fleetwood. Nearly 300,000 fans show up, but critics focus on the generally substandard quality of the performances and the extravagance of the backstage amenities some performers demand, from pinball machines for amusement to plates of M&Ms with the yellow ones removed.
In Wisconsin, a young music geek misses all of this. He’s gone to the state basketball tournament to watch the Class A finals, although not before catching hell from his parents when they discover him trying to sneak a bottle of his favorite liquor along. For some reason, they let him go anyway.
Big things were planned for Boston’s Face To Face in 1984. Signed to Epic, the New Wave group was pushed heavily by the label as the next big music sensation. The band was featured as the backing group in the movie musical Streets of Fire, with lead singer Laurie Sargent providing the singing voice for Diane Lane’s character. Meantime, the band’s self-titled debut and first single, “10-9-8″ (download) began climbing the charts, complete with a video in heavy rotation on MTV:
A funny thing happened on the way to multi-platinum superstardom, though – their big hit single peaked at a puny #38, despite the promotional push. Things could have looked up as a second single, “Under the Gun,” (download) was released. A dancier number complete with a rap, “Under the Gun” was a personal favorite and once again MTV picked up on the video:
But despite a 12″ remix that charted fairly high in the clubs, “Under the Gun” failed to cross over and soon Face To Face were facing a tough time on the charts. Undaunted, the band forged ahead with a second album, Confrontation, in 1985, but that performed even more poorly, failing to chart any singles. Soon after, Epic dropped the group. They recovered a few years later with a new deal on PolyGram and a third album, One Big Day, in 1988, but again, nothing failed to catch fire and Face To Face disbanded.
As a few more years passed, another Face To Face appeared, this one a punk rock group having nothing in common with the original save the name. The original Face To Face’s first two albums were recently reissued on Wounded Bird Records and are both available on iTunes and Amazon – you just have to dig a bit to find the right ones. They’re both worth checking out if you liked the singles … Sargent’s voice is great and the hooks are strong.
“10-9-8″ peaked at #38 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1984. “Under The Gun” peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart that same year.
Oh, some things just write themselves, don’t they?
I kid, I kid. “So Bad” is an overlooked little gem from the Paul catalog, released in the States as the follow-up to “Say Say Say,” his megahit duet with Michael Jackson. (Sorry to put that one in your head. Let’s get back to today’s subject, shall we?)
“So Bad” (download) was taken from Paul’s Pipes of Peace LP (1983), which was mostly made up of leftover tracks from his previous effort, Tug of War (1982). As a result, it shares many traits with Tug, such as producer George Martin and some studio drummer named Ringo, of all things. Oh yeah, and Linda’s on it. Surprise!
Okay, sorry again. That’s two cheap shots in one post about a song I actually quite like. I must be grumpy. The video for “So Bad” is sort of melancholy in light of Linda’s passing. She did the photography for all the posed shots surrounding the band, and that little freeze-frame of Mrs. McCartney winking and smiling near the end of the clip is heartbreaking.
Step off, Heather Mills. You never stood (ha!) a chance. “So Bad” is a cute, if lightweight, ballad (from Paul? Ya don’t say!) that put McCartney’s falsetto to good use. Unfortunately, despite its decent charting, it always seems to get the short shrift when it comes time to package those greatest-hits compilations or retrospectives. Heck, it didn’t even make it onto Wingspan (2001), for Linda’s sake — an unfair snub for a legitimate McCartney hit. You never seem to hear this one on AC or ’80s radio stations either, but boy, you’ll certainly hear “Say Say Say.” Ugh. Which was worse — “Say Say Say” or “The Girl Is Mine”? It’s a Sophie’s Choice of crap!
God, I am grumpy.
“So Bad” peaked at #23 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1984.
Charlie’s Angels chanteuse Cheryl Ladd was known for two spectacular things: her acting and her singing.
What? What’d you think I was gonna say?
Anyhoo, Ladd got her start as a singer in the early ’70s, back when she was still known as Cheryl Stoppelmoor. In fact, after her first stage-name change to Cherie Moor, she sang as one of Josie’s Pussycats (covered previously in this column) on the Josie and the Pussycats album. A few lean years followed before she was cast as Kris Munroe (Jill’s little sister, of course!) on Charlie’s Angels in 1977, replacing Farrah Fawcett, who left after the first season. The show was wildly popular, so why shouldn’t Ladd try her hand at singing again?
Capitol Records bit (the same label that released Josie and the Pussycats, actually), and the creatively titled Cheryl Ladd was unleashed upon the world in 1978. Lead single “Think It Over” (download) was one of those songs I only heard on the radio during the first hour of American Top 40, aka the Most Awesome Hour of Radio as a Child, since it was the only place I could hear many songs my local Top 40 station wouldn’t play, like “Turning Japanese” by the Vapors or “Island of Lost Souls” by Blondie. “Think It Over” may have been a bigger hit elsewhere, but in Ohio Ladd’s singing career wasn’t greeted with the same enthusiasm as, say, the 3,000th play of Journey’s “Wheel in the Sky.” It did well enough to scrape the Top 40, though, and Ladd set out to flog the single on various variety shows.
Woo! All that hair flipping’s made me lightheaded. And hey, a Brenda Russell cameo! See ya in a few years when you write “Piano in the Dark” and “Get Here,” Brenda!
Cheryl Ladd failed to produce any more hits, but Ladd continued to release albums — one more for Capitol called Dance Forever in 1979, and two Japan-only releases in the early ’80s. Capitol put out a Best of Cheryl Ladd CD in Japan in ‘93, but really, why?
“Think It Over” peaked at #34 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978.
My apologies to anyone who’s been waiting with bated breath for me to wrap up this series – is there any such person out there? I left off in early August, with my review of songs that failed to wriggle their way past Mariah Carey and/or Boyz II Men to reach the top of Billboard’s Hot 100 during the ’90s. Since then I’ve faced the same trepidation I had last year while surveying the Worst Number One Songs of the ’00s – namely, the fact that I feel less than eminently qualified to pass judgment on the Auto-Tune Era. Finally, though, as Woody Harrelson puts it so eloquently in Zombieland, I decided it was time to “nut up or shut up,” so here we are.
So, I hope you enjoyed last week’s 
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Big things were planned for Boston’s Face To Face in 1984. Signed to Epic, the New Wave group was pushed heavily by the label as the next big music sensation. The band was featured as the backing group in the movie musical Streets of Fire, with lead singer Laurie Sargent providing the singing voice for Diane Lane’s character. Meantime, the band’s self-titled debut and first single, “10-9-8″ 
or on 
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Oh, some things just write themselves, don’t they?![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=f8e99132-eda5-4595-b637-f5459656860f)
Charlie’s Angels chanteuse Cheryl Ladd was known for two spectacular things: her acting and her singing.![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=78c62eb8-a559-40fd-9910-6c20e4053278)
