Posts Tagged ‘Debbie Gibson’

CHART ATTACK!: Beatles Edition

Well, Beatles covers, anyway.

As if you haven’t noticed, it’s Beatles Week here on Popdose. Hell, it’s Beatles Week all over the world. Well, far be it from me to stay away from any bandwagon, but as you know, I gotta give things a little bit of a twist. See, I could talk for days about the Beatles’ appearances on the Billboard Top 10. They hold a million records, too — “Hey Jude,” for example, was the first single in the history of the Hot 100 to enter the charts at #10, and stayed at the top for nine weeks, longer than any other Beatles single. But what can I really say about these songs that hasn’t been said before? So instead, I thought I’d present you with ten Beatles covers that appeared in (or at least hovered around) the Top 10. Okay, I’ll be stretching it a little: two of these songs were never recorded by the Beatles but were written by Paul and/or John. Still, I think it provides for a fun week. And as a little treat — every single song is available for download! (You can thank/curse me later.) Off we go with CHART ATTACK!: Beatles Edition!

10. Here Comes the Sun — Richie Havens Amazon iTunes
9. Goodbye — Mary Hopkin Amazon iTunes
8. We Can Work It Out — Stevie Wonder Amazon iTunes
7. You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away — The Silkie Amazon
6. Got to Get You into My Life — Earth, Wind & Fire Amazon iTunes
5. I Saw Him Standing There — Tiffany Amazon iTunes
4. The Fool On The Hill — Sérgio Mendes & Brasil ‘66 Amazon iTunes
3. A World Without Love — Peter and Gordon Amazon iTunes
2. Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds — Elton John Amazon iTunes
1. Medley — Stars on 45 Amazon iTunes

10. Here Comes the Sun — Richie Havens (download)
Peaked at #16 on 5/22/71

Okay, I have to admit that I’m cheating a bit here: a spot in this Top 10 legitimately belongs to Anne Murray and her cover of “You Won’t See Me,” which peaked at #8 in July of 1974. But we covered that song back in July, and I honestly couldn’t bear to talk about it again. So instead, we’ll talk about Richie Havens’ song, which is a live version taken from his album Alarm Clock and remains his only single to reach the Top 40. Havens’ version features his trademark bordering-on-frenetic rhythmic guitar work, and definitely takes the song in a different direction; sadly, the lead guitar riff that is featured so prominently in the original (both in the introduction and the chorus) is gone, but Havens’ gentle, assured voice gives this version its own kind of peace.

9. Goodbye — Mary Hopkin (download)
Peaked at #13 on 5/31/69

In 1968, an 18-year-old Welsh singer named Mary Hopkin appeared on the British talent television show Opportunity Knocks. She sang “Turn, Turn, Turn” and won the competition. Twiggy happened to be watching the show that night, and called Paul McCartney to tell him about this fabulous new singer. The next Monday, Hopkin was in the studio with McCartney, recorded eight songs in a day and ended up with a contract offer at Apple Records. Her first single “Those Were the Days” (produced by Macca and recorded in English, French, German, and Italian) reached #1 in the UK and #2 in the US. Its catalog number was APPLE 2, behind APPLE 1, “Hey Jude.”

It was her follow-up single, “Goodbye,” that gives us a somewhat more direct Beatles connection — in addition to production, Paul also wrote the song (though, as with all songs at that point in time, it was credited to Lennon/McCartney). The 10th single released on Apple, it only reached #13 here but made it to #2 in the UK — held back from the #1 spot by “Get Back.”

I think “Goodbye” is a simple, sweet and charming little ditty. Hopkin’s vocal is pure and clean, and the percussion is quite charming. Paul’s demo, however, has a charm all its own, and in many ways, I prefer it to Hopkin’s version.

Paul McCartney — Goodbye (Demo) (download)

Here’s a promotional video for “Goodbye,” featuring Hopkin and McCartney in the studio. And if all that wasn’t enough, I found an absolutely stunning cover on YouTube. Check it out!

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Mix Six: “45s, A and B Sides”

DOWNLOAD THE FULL MIX HERE

I was getting wistful for 45s the other day and went hunting through my old Grundorf cases that I used to lug from DJ gig to DJ gig back in the day.  While flipping through those “back stacks of wax” it was somewhat shocking to see the vast amount of crappy singles I bought for God knows what reason.  Some of the singles aren’t danceable, and some are so badly scratched and cue burned that I wonder why I didn’t toss the singles out years ago. But there they were: relics of an era in the music industry long since past, but also historical markers of the ’80s, when my brother and I trudged off to gig after gig with cases of 45s and LPs on the weekends.

Oh, and regarding the, um, preponderance of crappy 45s in my collection, I offer this defense:  My brother had a 10-watt pirate radio station in his bedroom in the mid to late ’80s, and during the week we’d broadcast shows in the evening to mostly middle school kids listening at home. They would call, we would put them on the air, and often times they would request the most god-awful songs.  The next day, one of us would drive down to Tower Records, plunk down a few dollars and bring home singles that would, more often than not, be stiffs on the charts.  But for a brief moment, the pirate station sounded very current.  It was all in good fun, and the FCC never came knocking on our door (probably because we broadcast so infrequently).

So, let me cue up the 45s and let’s have a listen to the good, the bad, and the ugly of it all.

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“Rock You Like a Hurricane,” Scorpions
(download)

My junior year of high school was the first time I had ever heard of the Scorpions.  To me, they were a stoner band — only because the stoners at my school listened to them — but if there was such a category as “stoner pop” back in 1982, I think the Scorps, Def Leppard and bands of that ilk would fit that bill. With their infectious hooks in the chorus, the melodic guitars and Klaus Meine’s theatrical voice, it’s a recipe for a kind of hard rock that avoids a lot of dissonant chords. Plus, the lyrics  in this tune are standard issue cock rock, or as Eddie Van Halen once explained it: “Boy meets girl. Boy inserts penis.” (more…)

Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 36

Hey! It’s Wednesday, so let’s continue taking a look at the letter G and the ass end of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Andy Gibb and Victoria Principal
“All I Have to Do Is Dream” — 1981, #51 (download)

This checks in at #24 on my bottom 80 songs of the ‘80s list. I’m a fan of the Bee Gees, and since Andy could have very well fit right in with his brothers, I can’t say I dislike him either. This shit just wasn’t necessary, though. At the time he recorded this he was dating Victoria Principal, but getting a little vajayjay shouldn’t translate into a record. I wonder whose idea this was — Andy’s, Victoria’s, or the drugs? Whichever way, someone should have spoken up and convinced them just to make this a “special” gift to each other rather than subject us to it.

Robin Gibb and Marcy Levy
“Help Me” — 1980, #50 (download)

Here’s another pretty shitty track from a Gibb brother, a duet with Marcy Levy off the Times Square soundtrack. In the ‘70s Levy sang with Bob Seger’s band, the Gap Band and then Eric Clapton’s band, among others. In 1988, she became half of Shakespeare’s Sister (under the name Marcella Detroit). Robin also recovered from this mess, releasing two decent solo records in the coming years (1983’s How Old Are You and 1984’s Secret Agent).

Terri Gibbs
“Rich Man” — 1981, #89 (download)

This has never really been on my radar before, but after listening to it again, I had to pull out the album (1981’s Somebody’s Knockin’) and give it another shot. It’s definitely a country record, but with some nice bluesy influences that make it worth a second listen. Gibbs made herself a decent career through the country charts, and then in 1987 took more of a gospel turn and began to fade away. She’s one of the few blind artists to have hits in the decade, having been so since birth. (more…)

The Cassingle Vault: Debbie Gibson, “Anything Is Possible”

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Debbie Gibson – Anything Is Possible (1990)

We hear a lot about the sophomore jinx in music, and rightly so; making the jump from hit debut release to Greatest Hits, Volume 1 is a long road, and it’s got a big ol’ pothole where Album Number Two is supposed to be. For a minute, it looked like Debbie Gibson was going to make that jump — her second album, 1989’s Electric Youth, was an even bigger hit than her debut1, and since all anyone ever talked about was how Debbie wrote, produced, arranged, and played on all her songs, she seemed to have what it took to stick around for the long haul.

And then the little-known third-album jinx snuck up behind her, said “Not so fast, bitch,” and punched Debbie Gibson right in her face.

This face-punching started with the release of this here cassingle, which was meant to lead off another season of chart success for Ms. Gibson. The title track to her third album, “Anything Is Possible” (download) found Gibbie working with Lamont Dozier in an effort to scrub the goody-two-shoes vibe from her sound. The (insufferably long) album was actually split between dance tracks and ballads, supposedly giving everyone something they could enjoy. (I said supposedly.) To his credit, Dozier did respectable work with what he was given; unfortunately, much of what he was given was as bad, or even worse, than “Anything Is Possible.” (more…)

Extreme Makeover: Bad Music Edition

The writer’s strike sucks.

You know it, I know it, and all but the most diehard aficionados of reality TV know it. We don’t watch TV for reality, we watch it for fantasy. Still, when you’re pop culture obsessives like we are, we can sometimes be swayed to get involved in one of these God-forsaken programs when they involve a cast of celebrities, and in the case of CMT’s new show, “Gone Country,” the premise is eye-catching as well: take six musicians from decidedly different genres and watch as they attempt to reinvent themselves as country music artists. After watching the first episode and finding it disconcertingly enjoyable, we found ourselves thinking about others in music history who’ve taken a stab at career re-creation, only to have it go horribly, horribly wrong.

Yes, while putting together our list, we snickered. A lot. And now it’s your turn.

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