11 September 2023 - Ludacris - Move Bitch

I know.  It's a sacred day for a lot of people.  Some people are going to think it is wholly inappropriate for us to start this week like this.  

I promise you there's a tie-in to what happened on this date in 2001.   

This single was released in 2002, the fourth single from Ludacris's 2001 album, Word of Mouf. The crass title - a reference to a common pejorative that either refers to a loud mouth woman or, more likely, just someone who was pissing Ludacris off that day - was frequently changed to "Move" to get it some radio airplay.  

Which it got.  The song was Ludacris's first Top 10 hit.  

Now, the song is at least potentially misogynistic, and is absolutely violent.  You can't sugarcoat that.

In 2004, the song was adopted by Democrats, with the titular pejorative changed to "Bush" - which made it the perfect song for people who were opposed to the Patriot Act and other slights to our liberties, as well as our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan regime change wards, that happened in the wake of the September 11th attacks.

Move, Bush, get out the way.

In 2017, with Ludacris's support, the lyrics were changed AGAIN to target someone different.

The song, steeped in violence, became a non-violent way to protest a president who declined to denounce the racists in Charlottesville, VA. and fostered division in our courtry.  

8 September 2023 - Nelly ft. Kelly Rowland - Dilemma

This duet was a bigger deal than you remember.

It spent ten weeks on the tops of the charts - replacing another Nelly song, by the way.  

The songwriting team behind the song was the same team that defined the Philadelphia Soul sound in the 1970s.

It won a Grammy.  

It brought the term "boo" into the vernacular.   

It gave Kelly Rowland her biggest post-Destiny's Child hit and made people remember that the group was a lot more than just Beyoncé. 

This single caused Beyoncé to delay HER album release, in order to get out of Kelly's way.  

It sparked a SEQUEL!  Yes, there's a sequel song.  

So yeah.  It was a big deal.    

But none of that matters, really.  It's a good song that tells the story of two people infatuated with each other, and does so in a smooth way.  

When you have two huge stars like Nelly and Kelly Rowland involved, it's not easy to get them together live, but it does happen occasionally.  

And when it does, it is spectacular.  

7 September 2023 - R.E.M. - What's The Frequency, Kenneth?

In 1986, TV journalist Dan Rather was assaulted by 2 men in New York City - and these assailants kept repeating the phrase, "Kenneth, What's the frequency?"   

This phrase translated into a 1994 single, the first from R.E.M.'s 9th album, Monster. According to lead singer Michael Stipe, the lyrics are from the point of view an old guy who knows everything about Generation X based solely on what he's reading in the media, which, of course, is utter and complete bullshit.  

The song is a cautionary tale, people.  

It's also a complex song, with a lot of fuzzy guitar... but you might notice the pace slows down at the end, almost as if they are running out of breath. Well, that's partly true - as they were recording the song, bassist Mike Mills slowed down his pace... and the rest of the band followed along.  Well, it turns out that Mike Mills had appendicitis and was in a lot of freaking pain.  Rather than rerecord the song at full speed, the band chose to rush him to the hospital.

See if you can find the point where Mike's appendix started to burst.

Normally, I try to sprinkle in a live performance, but in this case, they all sound like the studio.  R.E.M. is funny that way. 

I figured you'd like to see what it looks like when Dan Rather tries to sing with the band.  Seriously.  This is Dan Rather, singing with R.E.M. He would go on to tour with R.E.M. keep his day job.

6 September 2023 - Haddaway - What Is Love

What, indeed, is love?

Baby, don't hurt me..

This infectious song was #11 pop hit in the US in 1993, and again was a hit in 2008.   Written by a couple of producers, they drafted a guy named Nestor to sing the song.

Nestor Haddaway.  His name was Nestor Haddaway.   

It would be Haddaway's only significant hit, but if you;'re only going to have one hit, this is the one to have. Of German and Trinidadian descent, Haddaway created a hell of a Europop club classic that endures to this day.

You knew we had to get there, right?

That's right.  Haddaway performing his hit live in 2022.  And the crowd loves it!

No, no, you wanted Chris Kattan and Will Ferrell, didn't you?

Indeed, the two of them created a popular Saturday Night Live sketch about a couple of idiot club rats from Boston who had their own head-bobbing dance style when it came to this song.

They turned their characters into a terrible 1998 movie, A Night at the Roxbury, that ended up making about $30 million at the box office.  It also brought this song back into prominence again, as it featured on their briskly-selling soundtrack.

So, here you go.  A compilation of Chris Kattan and Wll Ferrell dancing like morons.

5 September 2023 - Smash Mouth - Walkin' On The Sun

I have to be honest.

Going into the weekend, I had no plans to post Smash Mouth songs.  I mean, I did post ther biggest hit a couple of years ago.   

Then, on Sunday, news broke that Steve Harwell was in hospice care and near death.  I didn't read that news until Monday morning, and that news was quickly followed by news of Harwell's passing.  

So, that changed some plans for the week.

I saw Smash Mouth live several years ago, with Steve Harwell on vocals.  This song was, of course, a highlight of that show - it being their first single and a pretty big hit.  From San Jose, California, this song was written by guitarist Greg Camp and heavily influenced by the then-recent Rodney King verdict in Los Angeles - I have to imagine that hit differently in California, even in San Jose, which isn't all that close to LA.  

Of course, record labels will push songs with a little social consciousness with an organ accompanyment as a party song.  Even though it wasn't - the lyrics are a little darker than the music lets on - Steve Harwell sold it and made it a top-tapping classic.  His live performance of the song was always a highlight, and it was a highlight on this 1997 Tonight Show clip.  

1 September 2023 - Willow - Whip My Hair

Willow was billed as Willow, but her name is Willow Smith,  She is the daughter of Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith.  This single was released in October 2010.   She was born on Halloween, in the year 2000. 

So, do the math.  She recorded and released this single when she was 9.  

Nine.

Nine.  

I was still playing with my Hot Wheels at age 9.

Willow Smith was recording a top 20 song.  

And not just any song.  "Whip My Hair" was her debut single, and it not only was a hit, the song is absolutely a bop.  It was a club hit.  It was a kid's radio hit.  It was everywhere.  The song was, and is, iconic.  

And she did this at 9.

In this live performance five years later, I think it is clearer than in the original video just how talented a hip-hop artist Willow Smith is. She's got stage presence, and a command of the microphone.  

As of 2022, she wasn't really playing the song live with her band anymore - she's gone in a more rock direction - but does do it acapella on request at her shows, like this one at the iHeart Radio festival.

One thing Willow always wanted to do was shave her hair during a performance of this song, and, with her full band playing, she did just that.

Also, this version really really rocks. Willow is a hell of a frontwoman and should still have a long career ahead of her. 

31 August 2023 - Deadboy & the Elephantmen - Stop, I'm Already Dead

Deadboy & the Elephantmen were a band from Louisiana until 2007, when they broke up.  And then, no one really thought about them. 

Until 2015.  On The CW.  Tuesday, March 17th, 2015, at 9PM ET - or, really, probably about three minutes after that.  That's when this happened.

That, you see, was the night of the debut of a new series on The CW called iZombie.  It lasted five seasons and it's on Netflix - and it's better than the title makes it sound.  Highly recommended.  

Immediately, this became the best known song by Deadboy & the Elephantmen.  

It's not quite a zombie song, but it works as such.  The song is very simply constructed - just guitar and drums.  The band was, at this point in 2005 when the song was released, a 2-piece.   

It's worth noting that Henry Rollins was a fan of Deadboy & the Elephantmen, so he used his radio and TV platforms to promote the band.  You can see the 2-piece at work on Rollins's IFC show.