From the first time I heard it, "Losing My Religion" sounded like someone arguing with either themselves or their lover over whether or not to come out publicly.
The bigger issues were The Turtles lawsuit against De La Soul and Gilbert O'Sullivan's suit against Biz Markie. Those actually went to court and produced legal judgements, and for much less recognizable samples than Ice Ice Baby. Those lawsuits are what really killed the Prince Paul and Bomb Squad style sample collages that gave us albums like Three Feet High and Rising, and Paul's Boutique, and reduced most songs to using a single sample.
James Brown must have done it some time in the late '60s. Or maybe if Catfish Collins was his guitarist at the time, he just yelled "Catfish!" because that is even funkier than yelling "Guitar!" or "Take it to the bridge!"
It took me a long time to warm up to this album, and I'm still a lot less likely to put it on than I am Graceland, but I certainly see its genius these days.
In my D&D group, one of the players likes to start singing Thunderstruck before he casts Thunderwave. (Though it's not quite as good as the one who sings Careless Whisper when casting Dissonant Whispers.)
Asking what is the best version of I Heard It Through the Grape Vine is like asking what is the best version of Ave Maria. You can declare an answer, but it's only going to be true for yourself in that moment. Some day you may hear another version that just strikes you at that moment, and it becomes the best ever.
I won't say "there is no wrong answer" because obviously, "The California Raisins" would be the wrong answer.
Like a lot of things on Chuck, Jeffster was a well they went to a few times too many, but the early appearances were among the best things the show ever did.
It's probably too soon for a reboot of Chuck, but I wouldn't be mad if they tried it.
That Fleetwood Mac video looks like kind of a lost classic for the era. It also looks like none of the band members was willing to be on set with the others.
Thanks for posting this - I have many friends who will want to read it.
I was listening to I.G.Y. last week and thinking it may have been among the very first expressions of Neo-Futurism. I can't think of anything that comes before it in just about any medium that has that kind of ironic longing for '50s sci-fi tropes and self-reflective knowledge that that kind of optimism is gone. (The Rocketeer comics came out at almost exactly the same time, and is of a similar strain of thought. Zot came out 2 years later.)
Alright - the song is an 8, but damn, that video is an 11. One of the greatest dance numbers filmed in the last 50 years. (And filmed like a dance number - you can see the dancers' full bodies, and while there's some music-video quick-cutting, there's plenty of shots that last long enough to actually see the dancing.
Twist of Fate - those synths are 1984 distilled. 7
Cum on Feel the Noize - I was a 13 year old boy in 1983. I can not give this less than a 10. (Though the Slade version is also a 10.)
At first I thought "Poor Heart, having to go up against Prince and Madonna the same week." But then I saw what Madonna song they were up against, and I felt better for them.
My Eurythmics theory - all of their later hits get overshadowed in popular memory by Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This.) It was just so unique at the time, and such a breath of fresh air, that everything else they ever did can seem to pale in comparison. It announces itself as synth-based '80s pop in a way few other songs do, especially songs that were that successful.
Also, later songs may get misremembered as Annie Lenox solo hits rather than Eurhythmics.
Plus several phrases that would be fine on primetime TV. (And maybe one or two that wouldn't.) Maybe they were trying to keep it eligible for YouTube Kids?
My wife once bought me a blue canary nightlight. It broke, but I still have the fixture.
I think the late, lamented ThinkGeek sold it, and it no longer appears to be available.
It was coming off of a big blues revival that started in the late-80s - Robert Cray was probably the biggest charter from that cohort, but Bonnie Raitt's resurgence was part of it as well.
You also had a lot of early blues being reissued on CD, including Robert Johnson, King of the Delta Blues in 1990.
Comments