» Entries tagged with "Grammy Award"
Forget Me Nots – Patrice Rushen
You may not remember “Forget Me Nots” by Patrice Rushen from 1982. But if your ears were attached to your head and working properly in 1997, you definitely know the melody of “Forget Me Nots.” That’s because “Forget Me Nots” is the basis of “Men in Black” by Will Smith. Simply replace “Sending me forget me nots / I want you to remember” with “Here come the Men in Black / they won’t let you remember” in … Read entire article »
Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm – Crash Test Dummies
And now, dear friends, a candidate for worst one-hit wonder ever. “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm” by Crash Test Dummies is a love-it-or-hate-it ditty by beloved Canadian band, Crash Test Dummies (at least they were beloved in Canada for a few years). Hear more: Canadian one-hit wonders The lyrics focus on kids with abnormalities (white hair, birthmarks and Pentecostal parents). A bold move since the song potentially offends all people with white hair, birthmarks and “lurch and shake” religious … Read entire article »
Morning Dance – Spyro Gyra
Smooth jazz gets a bad rap. “It’s not real jazz,” people say. “It’s warmed-up elevator music,” others claim. “It’s the music that spawned Kenny G and should be outlawed,” jazz purists will say. If you don’t like the smooth jazz sounds created by artists like Dave Koz, Bob James and one-hit wonder artists like Candy Dulfer (“Lily Was Here”) and Grover Washington Jr (“Just the Two of Us”). If you think jazz should demand your attention and shock … Read entire article »
Filed under: 1970s
Closing Time – Semisonic
Last call at a bar is often a place of desperation. It’s particularly obvious if you’re standing on the stage and looking at an audience that is urgently seeking love, or at least a few hours of affection. In the early 1990s I spent lots of time in bars playing guitar in a cover band. Stone cold sober. One of the most interesting, fascinating and horrifying parts of most gigs was watching the animals at … Read entire article »
A Whole New World – Regina Belle and Peabo Bryson
If you have young kids in the house. If you have young kids in the neighborhood. If you were a young kid in the 1990s, you know this song. That’s because “A Whole New World” is the title track to Disney’s animated 1992 film, Aladdin, that has earned more than $500 million dollars worldwide. That’s half-a-billion dollars for an animated movie. That’s simply astounding. It’s also the kind of broad reach and wide appeal that can transform … Read entire article »
You Light Up My Life Songwriter Commits Suicide
“You Light Up My Life” by Debby Boone was an inspirational love song and the biggest-selling song of 1977. In fact, it’s one of the top-10 biggest-selling songs of all time according to Billboard Magazine. Sadly, the life of “You Light Up My Life” songwriter Joseph Brooks wasn’t quite as inspirational as the successful songwriter committed suicide on May 22, 2011. Brooks was facing 91 counts of rape, sexual abuse, criminal sexual act and assault … Read entire article »
Filed under: 1970s
Pump Up the Volume – M/A/R/R/S
Another instrumental one-hit wonder for you today. Well, maybe it’s not a “pure” instrumental one-hit wonder because you hear vocals in the mix. But nearly all the vocals are samples from other records. So I’m considering them “instruments” instead of “vocalists.” The people behind the Grammy Awards clearly agreed since they nominated “Pump Up the Volume” by M/A/R/R/S for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. It lost to sax player David Sanborn. Click to hear more Grammy Award … Read entire article »
Nothing Compares 2 U – Sinead O’Connor
This is a tremendous song. A tremendous performance. A striking video. This song turned Sinead O’Connor into one of the most iconic artists of the 1990s and beyond. Her later behavior transformed O’Connor from beloved to scorned to hated to misunderstood. All within a few years of the release of “Nothing Compares 2 U.” Remarkable. Originally written by Prince for one of his many side projects, The Family, “Nothing Compares 2 U” is vintage … Read entire article »