16 July 2021 - The Bangles - Manic Monday

So, let's get the things I know I'm going to hear out of the way.  

"Why are you posting THIS SONG on a Friday!?"   Because it's a great song any day of the week.  I won't fit inside your box.   

"Wait, didn't Apollonia 6 record this first?"  Well, yes, they did, with Prince - the songwriter - but he pulled the song from their album - that version would not be released until 2019.  So, this was the first released version of the song.  And it's amazing - showcasing the harmonies of which the Bangles are capable, as well as giving Susanna Hoffs a chance to shine on lead vocal, as opposed to Debbi Peterson.  

"But wait. Their VERY NEXT SINGLE 'If She Knew What She Wants' was essentially the same situation, except Jules Shear wrote that, and that was on Totally Covered, so why not put this there?"  Jules Shear released his version a year before the Bangles did.  Come on, now.  We do our research.  

"But wait. Their IMMEDIATE PRIOR SINGLE was 'Going Down To Liverpool' by Katrina and the Waves.  I read Totally Covered.  I know the score."  Again, Katrina and the Waves recorded and released that song years before - and RERELEASED it after this as the B side to "Walking on Sunshine". 

"You've called songs covers for a lot less.  Did you think we'd forget the whole 'One of Us' debate?"  Yes.  You may remember the agony over that decision.  

Great.  Now I'm out of time.  Let's just get to the song.

"But wait.  Don't you traditionally include a live version of these songs?"  Well, yeah.  We do like to do that.   Here's one from 1986.  

15 July 2021 - Amy Grant - Baby, Baby

As many of you know, Amy Grant is a Christian music superstar. Her first seven studio albums, plus the compilation The Collection, which was something of a crossover breakthrough, were quite overtly Christian in themes, with some of her songs taking lyrics right from the Bible.  And they were hits - many of them went gold or platinum, despite primarily being sold in Christian bookstores.  

Her eight studio album, Lead Me On, was the one that really started the wiggle to secular music, but it was still pretty Christian.  

On March 5, 1991, Amy Grant's ninth studio album, Heart In Motion, was released. It was a very strong secular turn - but still did well on Christian charts. This song remains her biggest hit to date -it's a standard, cheerful pop song that will make you smile.  

14 July 2021 - Cibo Matto - Know Your Chicken

By now, you probably think you see a pattern.  However, despite what you might think, Cibo Matto was an AMERICAN band.... formed by Japanese expatriates.  They tended to be avant garde in their musical style, mostly singing about food.  

This song is from their debut album, Viva! La Woman.  It's about knowing your chicken.   

This version of the song was recorded live in 1996.  This iteration of the band featured Sean Lennon - son of John and Yoko - on bass.  It's glorious.

13 July 2021 - Shonen Knife - Like A Cat

Yesterday, I talked about BABYMETAL.  There would be no BABYMETAL without Shonen Knife, the three Japanese housewives who decided to form a Beach Boys/Ramones influenced band in the early 1980's.  Their songs tended to address pretty mundane subjects, like how much fun cycling is and riding on rockets.  

They still rock today.  From their 2014 album Overdrive, this song does a pretty good job of explaining itself.  For a song about spending your days like a cat, it has a Ramones-esque feel.

Yes, a Japanese version of this musical cat video exists. They are, after all, Japanese.  It also does an excellent job of explaining itself. 

Here is the band performing the song live in 2014.  I can tell you they are still going strong.

12 July 2021 - BABYMETAL - ギミチョコ!! (Gimme chocolate!!)

Like most of you, my initial reaction when hearing BABYMETAL was "What the hell did I just watch?"

The group is really the women singing and dancing in front.  The backing band is session musicians - consistent, known ones, but they aren't the focus.  The focus is the women that you are expecting to sing light pop music, and who instead blow your expectations out of the water.  

The music is metal.  It's metal that's a throwback to early 1990's bands that rocked this hard.  They got their start in 2010 as a subunit of the Japanese idol group Sakura Gakuin,, but broke away and became so so much bigger than that.  

The concept was originally a traditional idol fusion with metal music - but it has evolved into something of a reverent metal tribute.  This song, which was something of a worldwide breakthrough for them in 2015, deals with a woman's desire to... well, eat chocolate, along with the pressures of maintaining one's figure.  I'm not kidding.   Enjoy.  

9 July 2021 - Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson - Relator

Today, I'm phoning it in.   

You see, today is the day that the Marvel Cinematic Universe returns from its forced pandemic hiatus, with the movie Black Widow.  The title character is, of course, played by actress Scarlett Johansson, and it is a movie everyone wanted for YEARS.

What you didn't know you wanted was to hear her musical collaboration with Pete Yorn.  Recorded in 2006, the album was not released until 2009 - the year before Iron Man 2 was released.   Their collaboration was seriously good - and as much as I am making more Black Widow jokes than Captain Marvel jokes that I made yesterday, Scarlett Johansson is an excellent, nuanced vocalist.

Their album didn't do great in the States, but was certified gold in France.  Here they are performing the song for French television in 2009. 

8 July 2021 - Metric - Black Sheep

In 2010, the movie Scott Pilgrim vs. The World was released.  With it came a pretty epic soundtrack.  At the center of the film was a song called was "Black Sheep", by Toronto band Metric.  This wasn't a new song of theirs - they had performed it live for years.  The song, belted by Metric lead vocalist Emily Haines, was included on the soundtrack.

Here is the original version from the soundtrack.  It's a great song in its own right.

This live performance of what is possibly their best known song from 2015 is absolutely amazing.  Right?

If you have seen the movie, you know where this post is about to go.  

You see, Emily Haines didn't sing the song in the movie.  The song in the movie was performed by fictional band Clash at Demonhead - who were admittedly based on Metric - fronted by Envy Adams, who was played by real-life actress who can sing and future Captain Marvel, Brie Larson.

In 2010, Metric insisted that the original version, with Haines on vocal, be included on the soundtrack.  As they should.  It's their song.  However, this made a lot of fans of the movie - and the Brie Larson vocal - very unhappy.  

Fast forward to December 24, 2020.  After much fan encouragement, Brie Larson released this video on her YouTube channel...  I won't make you sit through the first 6 1/2 minutes....

Also, yes, those are sheep on her sweater..

Finally, in June 2021, Metric released the song as a single, accompanying an extended version of the film's soundtrack.  There was much rejoicing and something of a resurgence in interest in the movie.... and it's still on the US Rock charts as I write this.