14 September 2023 - Meredith Brooks - Bitch

Did you expect us to end this clearly themed week on this song?

We do not roll like that.

This song was Meredith Brooks's debut SOLO single (she previously had a hit with the band The Graces) and her biggest hit by far, becoming a worldwide sensation and a #2 song on the US pop charts.   She was 38 when the song was released - which, in a youth-centered industry like the music industry, is incredible.  

The song's single word title is frequently used as an insult, but Brooks, who co-wrote the song, was looking to reclaim the word as a term of endearment.  She certainly did not feel ashamed to release this as her debut single, although Capitol Records was hesitant, as, well, "bitch" is a naughty word.  She was right and they were wrong - and they did eventually relent.   

The video, by the way, is super-flowery.

"Bitch" was released in a time when Lilith Fair was a thing.  That probably helped the song's popularity, and definitely gave her a place to be to promote the song on tour.

The 1997 crowd loved it, by the way.

I appreciate an artist that doesn't make a crowd wait.  In this 2022 performance - when she's 64 and still freaking rocks - she performed the hell out of this song as the OPENING of her set.  By the way, stick around and watch the whole video - because she's got more than one song.

13 September 2023 - Megan Thee Stallion - B.I.T.C.H.

Megan Thee Stallion is an artist who is pretty tough.  Her lyrics are empowering and sometimes angry.  This song, when she takes ownership of the word "bitch" and uses it in response to a not-so-great suitor.  The song is very much inspired by 2Pac's "Rather Be Ya Nigga", which she heavily samples.

This song also predates the time that she was shot by Tory Lanez.  Yes, that is a thing that happened.  

I have to tell you, it took me a while to get Megan Thee Stallion - I didn't like her much at first - but I'm on board now.   The more music she makes, the better she gets - and she's only 28.   She's got a lot of years go great music ahead of her.  We are here for it.

Anyway, back to the song.  It was a top 40 hit, even with the coarse language.  

12 September 2023 - Prodigy - Smack My Bitch Up

 The story here is about the video, and we have to warn you, it's explicit.

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.