4 December 2018 - Grimes (ft. Hana) - We Appreciate Power

It is extraordinarily uncommon for me to make a post based on a lyric video, even one featuring Metroid cosplay.

However, this isn't a typical lyric video.  This is the first new Grimes in three years. And it's a banger!  Well worth the wait!  Is it about AI taking over?  Is it another alien song?  Is it a tribute to Elon Musk?  I'll let you decide that for yourself! 

3 December 2018 - DNCE - Cake By The Ocean

Look closely at that lead vocalist.

Yep.  That's a Jonas brother. 

And a newly married one at that.  Congratulations to Joe Jonas and Priyanka Chopra on their wedding this last weekend.  I wish them both much cake by the ocean, and like this song, I ain't talkin' about baked goods.

29 November 2018 - Tubeway Army - Are 'Friends' Electric?

We're back!

And we return with the first synth-based song to hit #1 in the UK.   Tubeway Army was a three-piece led by Gary Numan which lasted for one album.  After that, he "went solo", and by that I mean he dropped the band's name but kept them as his backup group.

The song itself is a very paranoid, very lonely song, with no real hook or standard song structure, and yet it's infinitely catchy.  Enjoy!

16 August 2018 - Aretha Franklin - Think

This feminist anthem was originally released in 1968 and went to #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the R&B chart.  It had a resurgence twelve years later, when it was featured in the film The Blues Brothers.  It's a feisty song....

By a woman who has passed within the last few hours.  Her voice will be missed - but she left behind a large number of songs, hits and otherwise.

15 August 2018 - Sonic Youth - Bull In The Heather

Something of a feminist anthem, I guess, by NYC noise band and friends of Mike Watt, Sonic Youth, this was an indie radio hit in the 90's.

But that's not why we're posting this.

Frequently asked question: who the hell is the young woman with the pigtails?



It's the original Riot Grrrl and founder of Bikini Kill, and friend of Mike Watt, Kathleen Hanna.

14 August 2018 - Dire Straits - The Bug

As a Dire Straits song, this isn't as well known as I would like. Which is a shame, because it's a fun song, with a bit of a country-rock feel. And a double shame, because it was their last single.



Of course, it became a hit when it was covered by Mary Chapin Carpenter, who somehow made a song about failure even MORE upbeat, in 1992.  Perhaps we will feature that on Totally Covered someday.  For now, let's listen to Mark Knopfler, who was the lead singer and face of Dire Straits, performing the song in the style of Mary Chapin Carpenter.

13 August 2018 - Sophie B. Hawkins - Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover

It's hard to believe that this song once had a video banned from MTV.  And YouTube.

This is not that video.  THAT video has been successfully squashed by Sony Music.  This is just a performance piece that was mid-90's sexy. And that's objectively OK.  Because the song itself is slow and sexy and cool, much like Ms. B. Hawkins herself.

And it was this song and video, her FIRST, that became her biggest hit, and a song that still endures more than a quarter century later.  Doesn't THAT make you feel old?!

30 July 2018 - Hoodoo Gurus - Leilani | Game Theory - Leilani

True story - I named my cat after these songs.

My name is Leilani.

3 July 2018 - Chicago - 25 or 6 to 4

To answer yesterday's question, it's 3:35 or 3:34



Yes, "25 or 6 to 4" is a time reference.  And it was probably not ACTUALLY intended to answer the question, "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" although Robert Lamm wrote both of them. From their 2nd album, Chicago, this was a triumph of middle-of-the-night songwriting.

When Peter Cetera left Chicago in the 1980's for a solo career, the band got a new vocalist and decided to remake the song for Chicago 18.  It was significantly less horny (but NOT horn-free) and less successful.  It was cleanly performed.  It just didn't have the same charm.

2 July 2018 - Chicago - Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?

From their first album Chicago Transit Authority, this song wasn't released as a single until after the success of "25 or 6 to 4" from their SECOND album. 

At any rate, it's a great song that asks a great questions.  We will answer that question tomorrow.

 

28 June 2018 - Seven Mary Three - Cumbersome

Few songs scream "90's" more than this one. This song, from 1995, was a big hit for them early in their career.....

Unfortunately, this great song, brilliantly constructed with alternating conventional and muted chords (that's right - we notice these things) was their only major commercial success.  And, as with a lot of one-hit wonders, the song was a monkey on their back - there was a lot of pressure to recreate that, and it's really hard to do that.



Here's a little bonus for you.  I said this song was from 1995.  So why is the band performing it in 1993?  Seven Mary Three were a local grunge band from Florida, and this song caught fire on Central Florida radio in 1993, catching the attention of Atlantic Records.



Here is that original recorded version.  Notice that 1. it's a little quieter and 2. it's got an extended bridge. Is it better?  We can't decide that for you.  It's good, though.

27 June 2018 - Camila Cabello - Havana

Look, we love this song, she's touring with Taylor Swift, used to be in Fifth Harmony, X Factor, blah blah blah

I'm sorry.  I can't do this right now.  I'm just too excited.  We have a domain name now.  We're at wickedguilty.com!  Now it's going to be easier to find us!!!!



OK, so now I feel bad giving Taylor Swift's new bestie the short end of the stick.  Really, that was a fun video, and it's a fun, Latin-tinged song. 

So here, enjoy this acoustic version that somewhat proves that Ms. Cabello is really singing this one.



Aquí, para nuestros lectores en español, hay una versión en español ... ok, en spanglish de esta canción. Por qué no pudo traducir "la mitad de mi corazón está en Habana" está más allá de mí, pero una vez más, no soy una gran estrella del pop.

21 June 2018 - Public Enemy - Fight The Power

From the 1989 Spike Lee joint Do The Right Thing, this song transcends the movie, which itself ends in a race riot.

This version of the video (which, yes, Spike Lee was involved with) isn't a real riot or even a rally, but it looks like one.  It IS a pretty clear demonstration of the group's political stances in the day.  Flavor Flav has moved on to a less political stance where he doesn't say "motherf*** him" about Elvis or John Wayne.  The video also featured Tawana Brawley in a cameo appearance - I won't go into her story here except to say that it was a very polarizing one in this community.

It's a great, powerful song - I'd almost say manifesto - that just happens to have been featured in a movie.

20 June 2018 - Aimee Mann - Save Me

Few movie songs come with a better story than this one.

This song, along with the rest of the mostly-Aimee-Mann performed soundtrack, is from the P.T. Anderson movie Magnolia. I recommend this odd but delightful movie, just for the frog scene.  Trust me.  Right before she was approached by Anderson to do this movie, Mann had been dropped from her record label, and didn't have an easy future ahead of her in the music industry - and this is despite the huge "Voices Carry" in her past.

This song ended up being nominated for an Oscar (losing, somehow, to perhaps the worst ever Oscar-winning song, "You'll Be In My Heart" by Phil Collins, to whom she now dedicates this song when performing it live) and a Grammy (which she lost to a deserving Macy Gray).  She went on to found her own music imprint and remains a successful artist to this day.

The video - featuring Mann inserted into scenes from the movie - is even more interesting.  Perhaps the most star-studded music video of all time, this effect didn't happen by digital manipulation.  That's really Tom Cruise sitting in the same scene with Aimee Mann.  P.T. Anderson directed the video and asked the actors to stay in place at the end of shooting days while they shot this.

The song itself is a work of art.  Nearly two decades old, it sounds like it could have been written yesterday.

 

19 June 2018 - Kasey Cisyk - You Light Up My Life

If you read this blog yesterday, you probably saw this coming a mile away. This is the song that denied "Nobody Does It Better" an Academy Award and a #1 spot on the Billboard charts.

If you didn't read this blog yesterday, you're probably wondering who Kasey Cisyk looks like Didi Conn (she doesn't - Cisyk sang, Conn lipsynced in a brilliant movie performance) and, more importantly, why this isn't Debbie Boone (her immense hit was a cover).

Either way, yesterday's blog got me to listening to this song, and I remembered how well-constructed it was.  Give it a listen and a chance.

18 June 2018 - Carly Simon - Nobody Does It Better

James Bond movie themes are a different animal than most other movie songs.

Before this one, they all shared the name of the movie. In this case, although the Marvin Hamlisch-penned song referenced the movie's title, it wasn't called The Spy Who Loved Me.

This song, although fondly remembered today, only made it to #2 on the Billboard charts... because the biggest hit of all time pre-Whitney was Debbie Boone's version of "You Light Up My Life", which spent 13 weeks at #1, in front of this song for three of them. "Nobody Does It Better" went on to also lose the Academy Award to Kasey Cisyk's version of "You Light Up My Life". AAAARRRGGGGGHH!

But enough about THAT song.  This song is great.  We should enjoy it today.  Tomorrow is another day.

15 June 2018 - Coolio feat. L.V. - Gangsta's Paradise

From the 1995 movie Dangerous Minds, this was Coolio's biggest hit by far, and one that he took very seriously.  I'm sure you've heard it, but I always want to give you a fact about these songs you didn't know.

This song doesn't have a clean version - because it doesn't need one.  There's no profanities in it, at all.  This is because the song leans heavily on a sample of the song "Pasttime Paradise" by Stevie Wonder, who wouldn't approve the sample unless there was no profanity used in the song (which, by the way, was loved by Stevie in its last version).

So, feel confident that Stevie Wonder is keeping your kids safe.

14 June 2018 - Bee Gees - Stayin' Alive

It's a little hard to believe it's taken us THIS LONG to post The Bee Gees, arguably the most underrated group in history. Because of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack that they put together, and largely because of this song, the group is remembered for their dated disco work. However, they were producers and hitmakers long BEFORE and long AFTER this song.

Unfortunately, they also did that ill-advised Sgt. Pepper movie, which probably hasn't helped with their reputation.

Back to this song, though.  It set the mood for the whole movie and, really, the entire disco era.  It's now remembered fondly, although Barry Gibb's extreme falsetto was frequently ridiculed in the years immediately following the death of disco.  Now, I wish I had his voice.

 

The song is so awesome, they did a 2nd video for it, in a pre-MTV era where a video wasn't a foregone conclusion.

13 June 2018 - B.J. Thomas - Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head

If you've seen Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, you know this song comes as a jarring and unexpected but pleasant surprise in that movie.  If you haven't, you might be surprised to learn that this song was written for a movie, by the famed songwriting team Burt Bacharach and Hal David. It would be the first of many Number 1 hits for B.J. Thomas as well.

It's justifiably considered one of the greatest movie songs of all time, even winning the Academy Award for Best Song in 1970.

12 June 2018 - Dolly Parton - 9 To 5

This song (and movie) was the first that a lot of people outside of country music fans had heard of the well-established Dolly Parton. The movie itself was the brainchild of co-star Jane Fonda, but Dolly's song (and acting) propelled the working-class movie to another level.  It was a huge crossover hit - one of the biggest of 1980 - and remains a pop-country classic to this day.

11 June 2018 - Olivia Newton John - Twist Of Fate

This was ONJ's last US Top 10 hit, and it was a doozy.....

 A synth-pop classic to accompany a movie she did with the-fading-star John Travolta, in kind of a Grease reunion. Two of a Kind was a terrible film - and everyone knows it - but this soundtrack, which was a bigger hit than the film, saved it.

8 June 2018 - Lea Thompson and Cherry Bomb ｰ Howard The Duck

Yes.

That is REALLY Lea Thompson singing this song. The "band" is mostly Thomas Dolby in a studio.

And it was nominated for a Razzie. Which is pretty much the exact opposite of the Oscars.  The movie itself was a critical and commercial flop.  The movie itself did win the Razzie for Worst Picture - its abysmal reception led Thompson to accept a role in the movie Some Kind of Wonderful, which she had initially rejected, just to get the stink of Howard the Duck off her career.  (I like both movies.  I liked Howard the Duck more).  The movie has gained a greater cult following now, but not off the evenness of story or quality of Tim Robbins' acting.

Is it a great song?  Hell, no.  But it's fun, and you can just look at the title bar on this blog to see that we don't really care about greatness here. 

7 June 2018 - Irene Cara - Fame & Flashdance (What A Feeling)

Fame was a 1980 movie about a high school for the performing arts in New York City. While this song - Irene Cara's first hit - won an Academy Award for Best Song, that's a songwriter's award, so Irene Cara didn't win this one.



She DID win one for this song, which she performed and wrote for the movie Flashdance. Cara, however, did not ACT in this movie, despite a rumor that she was the lead actress. Jennifer Beals (the actual lead actress in that movie) was not thrilled with that rumor. No matter - the movie, while critically panned, was a huge hit. And so was this song.

6 June 2018 - Joe Esposito - You're The Best

Most people think this song is called "You're The Best AROUND", but it isn't.  It was originally written for Rocky III (which you learned yesterday) and was also rejected for the movie Flashdance, in favor of Michael Sembello's "Maniac".

That's OK.  It suits Daniel-san better anyway. It makes for the perfect fight montage theme song (even if it doesn't completely work in this case lyrically.  Just don't listen too closely).



Magically, it also works in this It's Always Sunny In Philadephia montage, where the gang takes a LOT of steroids.

5 June 2018 - Survivor - Eye Of The Tiger

The famed song for the theme from Rocky III, now in video format.

While not the first choice of song for this movie (Joe Esposito's "You're The Best"), it ended up being a huge hit for the fledgling band.  And it was all because Sylvester Stallone liked their early stuff.  That's quite the endorsement!

It's a reasonably standard straight-ahead rock-and-roll song, but it kick-started the band's career, as they went on to have a number of hits after this initial burst of great.

4 June 2018 - Simple Minds - Don't You (Forget About Me)

It probably won't surprise you that Simple Minds wasn't the first choice to perform this song. The Fixx and Billy Idol both turned it down.... and so did Simple Minds! They didn't like performing songs they did not write, and they did NOT write this.

It ended up being their biggest hit by far, propelled by, of course, The Breakfast Club. So, at the end of the day, it ended up being a good thing they changed their minds.

21 May 2018 - Lindsey Buckingham - Holiday Road

You know all that Fleetwood Mac we just posted a couple of months back?

That all started because I was looking for this video. It was worth the search - it really has nothing to do with the National Lampoon's Vacation movie that made it famous. 

17 May 2018 - BIGBANG - Fantastic Baby

Wow.

Honestly, after watching this video, I'm not sure there's much more to say.

But there is so much more to say.  This is arguably the biggest K-Pop hit of all time.  It was released in 2012, and was on the US World Digital Singles year-end charts - so, charts for the whole year - in 2012, 2013, and 2014.  No song has charted on that chart (which is a weekly) longer than this one.

The song is a pretty standard dance-club banger, with a Sly and the Family Stone tribute mixed in for good measure.  Or did you think the boom shakalaka was just there because it sounded good?  The beats draw you in - it's a catchy song lyrically as well, especially if you know Korean.   

But this video.  My God.  It's a bit much.  And amazing. And a bit much.

 

16 May 2018 - BTS (방탄소년단) - MIC Drop (Steve Aoki Remix)

I was going to try to ignore BTS. I mean, they're really good for a seven-piece boy band.

This song is popular because an American of Japanese descent remixed it.  And let's be clear - this song was a big hit.  It made mainstream pop radio Top 30, which is rare for a song with very few English words.  However, BTS is pretty front-and-center in this very visually-interesting video.  At the end of the day, Steve Aoki's remix gives the song some polish, but their singing and dancing skills carry the day.

Also, no, guys, I have not seen your bag.

 

Incidentally, this song does exist in a version without remix. This Japanese version of the video shows a side without Aoki.

15 May 2018 - BLACKPINK - '붐바야'(Boombayah)

Today, let's talk about Korean girl groups.  Specifically, let's start with the new kids on the block.

BLACKPINK are a somewhat manufactured band that debuted in 2016 with this video.  From a Global chart standpoint, few Korean acts have done nearly as well, and they've done all this in a very short time.  With names like Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa, very easily translated to English, it's my suspicion that this was always the plan.They were always meant to take over the world.

Mission accomplished. Their songs historically perform stronger on the US Global Chart - with all five of their singles thus far making the top 5 on that chart, with 3 #1 hits - than even in Korea. But let's be fair - they're big stars back home. too. 

This song is catchy, even in Korean.  I mean, there's a fair amount of English in here.  You'll be singing about BLACKPINK in your area before you know it!

 

14 May 2018 - HYUN-A (현아) - '빨개요 (RED)

Let's start our K-Pop week with Hyun-a, Korea's Madonna - the big diva of their music scene. We've featured her here in the past.

In pop star terms, she's been around forever.  Really, it's only been about 10 years, but in the K-Pop world, that's a long time.  As someone who appeared in the video for PSY's worldwide hit "Gangnam Style" (and, if you are a long time reader of this blog, you know she recorded her OWN version), she's also arguably the first female Korean artist to have worldwide recognition.

This song isn't "Gangnam Style" and not even "Bubble Pop".  It's a more mature pop song from a serious artist.  Who likes to shock people in her native country (this video is borderline risque and Korean broadcasters refused to air what Rolling Stone called one of the ten best videos of 2014).

All in all, it's a great tune with both electronic and Middle Eastern influence.  Give it a listen.

9 May 2018 - Meat Puppets - Backwater

In 1980, the Meat Puppets formed.  They were indie rock darlings for a decade, attracting the attention of a lot of other musicians, but not really growing their audience.  In the 1990s, they decided to give major label music a try.

And then Nirvana invited them to participate in their Unplugged performance and covered three of their songs in 1993.

Which led to this 1994 hit, the biggest of their career.   And while the video hits all the 90's grunge cliches, the song itself doesn't.  It's rich and deep and has great harmonized vocals. 

6 May 2018 - The Darling Buds - Sure Thing

Admit it. You thought this was a one year joke. You thought I'd run out of material.

No. It's a real thing. And Darling Buds Day is actually noticed.  We'd like to think we are responsible for their new material.  I'm not sure that's true, but we're happy to take credit.

18 April 2018 - Eddie Rabbitt - Drivin' My Life Away

It's no secret that I grew up listening to a lot of country/rock fusion in the 1970's.  My mother was a big fan.

Eddie Rabbitt was one of the leaders in that genre.  This was one of his biggest crossover hits, hitting #1 on the Country charts and #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1980.  But this ode to long-haul truckers  wasn't just a hit in the moment, though - it remains one of the most recognizable songs of the era.

11 April 2018 - The Knife - Heartbeats

This song has been called a "great opening to a creepy movie".

Accurate. But this song from the Swedish duo in 2003 also throws back with a synth-heavy 80's sound. 

3 April 2018 - Olivia Newton-John - Physical

This was by far Olivia Newton-John's biggest US hit. Heck, Billboard ranked it the 6th biggest hit of ALL TIME.   All for a trendy song and video made possible by the early 80's aerobics craze. A great song, to be sure.  A song full of double entendre and, well, suggestive lyrics and an accompanying video (let's just say ONJ wasn't talking about the latest Jane Fonda video when she was talking about a "suggestive movie"). A cultural phenomenon, which is still fondly remembered today.



It was such a cultural phenomenon, it was featured thirty years later on an episode of Glee, where Olivia did a duet of the song with Jane Lynch, somewhat parodying the video, and EVERYONE GOT THE REFERENCE.



Of course Juliana Hatfield covered this song, too.  Go over to Totally Covered and check that out!

26 March 2018 - Tove Lo - Disco Tits

I've got to be honest.  I've been hesitant to write a post about this song.

13 March 2018 - Lilly Wood & The Prick - Prayer In C (Robin Schulz Remix)

Fun story: I always thought that "Sugar", the song I posted about on Friday and which sampled "Suga Suga", sampled a song of similar tempo that I could not identify.  In fact, I started my post on Friday trying to identify THAT song, because that was a song I absolutely loved.

Mission accomplished.  And, since both songs are Robin Schulz mixes, hence the similarity.  This remix ended up being a huge hit worldwide, because, you know, apparently Robin Schulz can steal anything and turn it into gold.



Lest you think I'm kidding about the stealing part - Schulz remixed the song without authorization, just because he had a Lilly Wood & The Prick CD.  The original, by a French-Israeli duo who are relatively well-known in France, is a much more somber, much folkier song with a lot more flute.

12 March 2018 - Britney Spears - Womanizer

When Scott Colvin used to co-edit this blog, he used to make it a point to post Britney every March 12th....

I felt like he should get this gift today.  I guarantee you're getting "If U Seek Amy" next year.

9 March 2018 - Baby Bash ft. Frankie J - Suga Suga & Robin Schulz ft. Francesco Yates - Sugar

It's rare that we feature two different songs by two different artists in one post. In this case, we've got two songs so inextricably connected that we had no choice.

In 2003, "Suga Suga" was a rather big hit by hip hop group Baby Bash.  The song itself is kind of sweet, in a early-2000s sexist sort of way. At any rate, the woman referenced in this song, which is kind of a slow jam, is featured in a positive light.


This song was a big hit, making top 10 charts worldwide.

Fast forward to 2014".  German DJ Robin Schulz hears "Suga Suga" and loves both the chorus and the hook (itself somewhat lifted from Barry White).  So he hires Canadian vocalist to perform new verses and introduce the chorus, completely lifted from "Suga Suga".  Heck, the "Sugar" video even lampoons the "Suga Suga" video somewhat - the cop has a Baby Bash costume in his suitcase.

But it's a very different song.  The woman referenced here is very much not a positive influence.  The song is less slow jam and more dance floor smash. It was, however, an equally big hit.



Yes, mashups exist.  No, we're not sharing them. 

1 March 2018 - Lissie - Wild West

Like most of America, I first discovered Lissie during the Twin Peaks revival.  Most episodes of that show ended with a musical guest.  This one stood out from most of the rest. Whereas most of them fit the Julee Cruise airy, ethereal motif, or were just audibly interesting. Lissie brought straight-ahead rock to the Bang Bang Bar.

The performance was worthy of the show, and a star-making performance. (Update: The video is gone, but the audio still exists)

Yes, I put her Twin Peaks performance on top of this post, but let's be clear - there's a real music video for this song. Even that's interesting - she handed cameras to children and let them make it themselves.  Her appearance at the end, to take them for ice cream, is raw emotion in itself.

22 January 2018 - Fleetwood Mac - The Chain

I really intended to keep it to just a week. But there was too much good material.

Like this song.  This song was a bit of a happy accident, made by splicing together a bunch of stuff from the cutting room floor.  Little of the original song's instruments were recorded together, nor the vocals.  It was a spliced-up mess, right down to the seemingly nonsequetor closing baseline.  I've talked pretty extensively about how fractured the band was during the recording of the Rumours album. What a better allegory for that than a song that the players couldn't even get together to record!

And it STILL worked!

19 January 2018 - Fleetwood Mac - Hold Me

So many good Fleetwood Mac songs, right?  We're not done yet!

Released as the first single from the Mirage album in 1982, this is one of Fleetwood Mac's biggest hits, and yet it is often forgotten when discussing their best songs.  And, indeed, the band was a mirage at the time.  Notice how very little they are on screen together during this video.  That's because none of them were getting along.  At all.  Stevie Nicks was broken up with TWO of her bandmates, neither of whom were really fond of her.  Neither was the video producer, who complained about her diva behavior.  John McVie was largely drunk throughout the shoot, and Christine McVie was just sick of all the drama.... which didn't endear her to her bandmates, either.

Did you get all that?  I had to draw it all out.  But the Magrite-inspired video that ensured from the chaotic drama sure turned out pretty, and the song itself is a sweet Christine McVie-Lindsey Buckingham duet, written by McVie.

18 January 2018 - Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way

If you think Stevie Nicks looks pissed when Lindsey Buckingham sings "Loving you isn't the right thing to do", it's with good reason.  She is the "you" being referenced here.

That look could melt ice.

17 January 2018 - Fleetwood Mac - Landslide

This is perhaps one of Fleetwood Mac's most recognized songs.   Written by Stevie Nicks before she and Lindsey Buckingham joined Fleetwood Mac, it's really a collaboration between both of them and an extension of the Buckingham Nicks project they did prior to joining the band.  The story goes that the two of them were recording their second album together in the same studio that Fleetwood Mac was recording in during the winter of 1974-1975.  The band heard them and asked them to join, an offer that the commercially unsuccessful duo could not refuse.

This song ended up on the band's 1975 self-titled album, an album getting a reissue this Friday, January 19th, 2017.  "Landslide" was a song about the uncertainty of Nicks's life after the failure of the first Buckingham Nicks album - she was at a crossroads as to whether or not she was going to continue a career in music, her world figuratively crashing around her.  It wasn't a hit song at the time, but did get some radio play as a popular tune, and did eventually chart in a live version in 1998. 

The song itself is sparse yet hauntingly beautiful, with little accompaniment besides a guitar. 

16 January 2018 - Fleetwood Mac - Don't Stop

Yesterday, we featured a Christine McVie-penned song about a woman struggling in her marriage  Here, we have another Christine McVie-penned song, written after the marriage crumbled and her search for hope for the future which struggling with the depression of the lost relationship.  From the classic 1997 album Rumors, this song was sung by Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie, and is genuinely filled with such hope that it has become an anthem for sunny outlooks. 

This particular song was a big enough deal to get the band together on stage after a decade of acrimony - they recorded some together, but never toured or performed completely - at President Clinton's inaugural celebration.  And it's a great performance!



I promise I'll post a Stevie Nicks song at some point!!!

15 January 2018 - Fleetwood Mac - Say You Love Me

This is one of Fleetwood Mac's best known songs, and as one with a Christine McVie lead vocal (she wrote the song as well), you know there's a story.

Christine was married to John McVie, the bassist (and frankly the Mac) in the band.  In 1975, their marriage was on the rocks, and she was feeling troubled.  So she wrote a very happy-sounding, sweet-sounding song that was basically begging her husband to tell her that he loved her.

Which might be why she absolutely doesn't look like she's having fun performing the song.



The song didn't work.  They divorced in 1976.  Nevertheless, she stayed with the band until 1998.... their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.   She still didn't look like she enjoyed performing the song (although Lindsey Buckingham sure was enjoying the banjo).  One other noteworthy aspect of this performance: John McVie is singing backup vocals.



Christine rejoined the band in 2014.  She finally looks like she enjoys her cheerful little ditty.