6 February 2024 (Special Edition) - Toby Keith - I Wanna Talk About Me

I did not know Toby Keith was sick, so when I found out he had passed away from stomach cancer, I was shocked.

Toby was known for his goofy and funny songs that also spoke plainly - "Red Solo Cup" was his best known.  This 2001 single was his 7th country #1 and it falls in the plain speaking category.  It was also nominated for several CMA and ACM awards - mostly for this fantastic video.  

And yes, he performed it live. Here he is at the American Music Awards, where he was also nominated.

6 February 2024 - Big Boss Vette - Pretty Girls Walk

During the Grammys on Sunday, we saw a commercial with this song.  I immediately clocked it as Megan Thee Stallion, so I had to look it up.

It wasn't Megan Thee Stallion.  

It was Big Boss Vette, who finally broke through with this boastful song.  I mentioned it's been in a commercial (the commerical's subject escapes me as I write this), and it's also been used in South Park.  Is it a hit song?  Not a charting one (it's probably too dirty for airplay) but people know who Big Boss Vette is now.

Seriously, the song is super funky and it's now going to be on repeat in this house.   Sorry, guys. 

By the way, when she keeps mentioning diamonds, she's talking about herself.  Her real name is Diamond Alexxis Smith. 

An official remix of this song, featuring some ad libs by Coi Leray, also exists. And it's fun.

5 February 2024 - Sam Smith & Kim Petras - Unholy

I can imagine the people losing their minds right now.

A non-binary artist and a transgender artist singing about unholy things.  

Well, this song won a couple of Grammys last year, making Kim Petras the first transgender woman to win a Grammy.  Yeah, people lost their minds.  

This song, which was a huge hit (and #11 on the 2023 year-end Billboard chart), is excellent and fun and somewhat delightful, and I'm glad it won awards. 

These two did a lot of versions of this song live, but my favorite is this one that they did with a full orchestra.  The Middle Eastern elements of the song really shine through here. 

2 February 2023 - Doja Cat - Paint The Town Red

Why yes, that is a signficant and prominent Dionne Warwick sample in this song.  

Sampling is nothing new.  Artists do this all the time.  

Because of the samples, there's a long list of songwriters, including Burt Bacharach, for this song, but Doja Cat wrote the lyrics 100% herself.

In 2023, it became her 2nd US #1 hit, and her 1st as a solo artist (she previously hit for "Say So" with Nicki Minaj).  It was and IS a huge hit worldwide.  It's constantly sung by other people in my house.   It's infectious.  

The song is nominated for Best Pop Solo Performance this Sunday, at the Grammys, and it's got a solid chance, being the only nomination for the song.  

In this performance for BBC Radio 1, Doja Cat performs the song live with a full band and clearly sings the hell out of this.

For her part, Dionne Warwick is happy about the sample.

1 February 2024 - The Rolling Stones - Angry

Who had "The Rolling Stones release an absolute banger of a single with an iconic video" on their 2023 bucket list?

I did not.

From the band's latest album, Hackney Diamonds, the song was written by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Andrew Watt (who produced the track).  It's a pretty typical Stones song - but it's lyrically and musically distinctive enough to be literally the FIRST song of theirs featured on this blog.  

The song is nominated for the Grammy this year for Best Rock Song, and it deserves it.  

The video features the band on billboards, singing and performing the song.  Clearly, they are older images of the band from throughout their career - a lot of images you will recognize - animated by AI. 

Oh, and Sydney Sweeney in black leather studded chaps makes an appearance or two in the video.  Don't sweat any objectification - she chose her own clothes and rejects any objectification calls, instead choosing to be empowered.

Of course the Stones toured to support this.  Of course they play this song.

31 January 2024 - Kylie Minogue - Padam Padam

You probably didn't even know that Kylie Minogue was making music.  

Let alone be a Grammy-nominated artist - in the Pop Dance Recording category, for this song.  

This song, from her 2023 album Tension (her 16th!), was a huge hit all over the world, and got real airplay.  Written by Ina and Lostboy (who produced it as well), the title isn't just gibberish, but rather an onomatopoeia for a heartbeat.

It's really good and my pick to win the Grammy in this category, by the way.  It will be an upset win, but still.

At 55, Kylie is still touring and performing live, which I think is just great.  Also, if anyone doubted me about it being a worldwide hit, just listen to the crowd, who are singing along.   It's a hit.

30 January 2024 - SZA - Kill Bill

SZA is an overnight success story who has been around for a decade.

Nominated for nine Grammys this year - three for this critically acclaimed song from her critically-acclaimed album SOS - SZA finally scored a #1 US hit on the pop charts (#3 on the year end chart!) with this song.  Written by SZA with Carter Lang and Rob Bisel, the song is definitely named after the Quentin Tarrantino movies - and SZA emphathized with Bill, who didn't really know why he did what he did (at first.  Clearly, it was love).  

Anyway, the song is cool and nuanced and, well, it took me a while to get into it, but it grew on me.

When you perform a song like this live - like SZA did a lot - you don't even have to sing the song.  Everyone knows the words.  I mean, she did sing the song, but everyone knew the words.

Doja Cat and SZA are frequent collaborators, so it was not a surprise when Doja Cat remixed "Kill Bill" with a new video and her own vocals....

Still, pretty cool.