This song was written by Marianne Fathfull's boyfriend, Mick Jagger, along with Keith Richards, reportedly for her (she denied that). The Stones version came after hers, and yes, was better known, but her version - her debut single in 1964 - was also a hit in the US, UK and Canada.
Marianne Faithfull passed away on January 30th, aged 78. Her voice is one that will live on in music history.
Look, I've been clear about how very cool I think The Cardigans were and are.
This song is yet another log on that fire.
A cool, slower song than was their norm, it followed "My Favourite Game" as a single and, like that song, was a big hit all over Europe and not so much in the States. That whole Gran Turismo album is a classic and more people should listen to it.
As was their style at this point, there are multiple versions of this video. In this one, the walls close in to the point of almost crushing the band, but then a door opens. It's better than a beheading, right?
This version of the video intersperses scenes from the movie The Thirteenth Floor, which featured this song prominently.
The band is still getting crushed, though.
Yes, there's a version where the band clearly gets crushed. No one wants to see that one, though, right?
I feel like a recurring theme here is songs that I could not freaking stand when they were out, and songs I actually like in hindsight.
THIS song is absolutely and firmly in that category. God, I hated this song. I thought it was drivel.
Now, I appreciate the pop pleaure of the rapid-fire lyrics and what sounds like a Fine Young Cannibals sample running throughout the whole song. (As far as I can tell, it isn't, and I hope I didn't just spark a lawsuit).
This was their debut single, and not nearly their biggest hit (although it was top 5 around the world), but it's possibly their most enduring.
This band was, of course, a bigger hit in their home country of Australia than elsewhere - and this song was a hit there first. Since this was their debut song, their original video was a little lower budget...
So, a lot of the appeal of this song is that it's a duo and the song is immaculately produced. It sounds polished.
So how would a song with that production and that energy play live?
Surprisingly and exceptionally well. If you didn't like this song already, you likely will after this performance.
I remember HATING this song when it came out. I don't know why I did. It's a great song.
It was their first single in the United States, and it made it to #1 on the Billboard pop charts. In the UK, it was the FOURTH single off their SECOND album. Annie Lennox and David Stewart - the band and songwriters - recorded the song in their attic with Stewart producing - which, for a pop hit at the time, was unheard of.
But here's something you didn't know: the song almost didn't get a US release because RCA did not like that the song didn't have a chorus. Did you even notice the lack of a chorus? No, because people don't care. They just like interesting, catchy music.
And this song is interesting and catchy.
When performing the song live, the band, and later Annie Lennox solo, performed the song in a higher key and with a lot less monotone.
When inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022, they were back to the original key, but still with a lot of emotion and inflection.
So, we're tempted to let AI write this classic post about a classic song that wasn't really a hit other than a short stint in MTV heavy rotation.
We're resisting.
The song refers to the phenomenom of the border blaster - a radio station in one country with a signal targeted towards another country but sitting where it is to subvert broadcast rules. Yes, there are a lot of Mexican border radio stations targeting the United States. Famed disc jockey Wolfman Jack built his career at a couple of border blaster stations.
Mexican radio stations have to play the Mexican national anthem twice daily and include some Spanish-language content, but for the most part, these border radio stations target the United States.
The song, written by the band, is fun but was probably a hit because of the bizarre video, which featured Stan Ridgway emerging from a bowl of beans. This song and its success allowed Ridgway to pursue a solo career soon after this single's run.
When I was a kid, I associated Simply Red with boring, overblown ballads.
But really, they made great dance music, too. Take this song from 2003 - which was something of a comeback for them in the UK and pretty much everywhere in the world that's not the US - where they had not had a hit since the late 1980 (and this song wasn't either).
The song was written by Mick Hucknall - who is the only original member of Simply Red (it's not just him, but it might as well be) and, shockingly, Sara Allen, Darryl Hall and John Oates, the writers of "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)". Paul Carrack does NOT get a credit for the obvious borrowing from "How Long"(presumably because he doesn't say "How long" in the song?). Sarah Brown provides additional vocals.
The song owes a large debt to this video, filmed near Rio de Janeiro, for its success.
Anyway, the song is fun and hot and not at all a boring, overblown ballad.
You all know by now I love including a live performance, and I chose their show in Cuba for this one. I don't think I've ever featured a Cuban performance. Well, anyway, it's a gooder.
This is a case where there is an obvious original and an obvious cover, and yet both are iconic.
But you weren't expecting THREE songs, were you?
In 1981, Falco released this song as a single in Germany and Austria. He really wanted it to be a B-side because he thought the bassline was too-"Super Freak"-y. He may have been right, but his record label insisted, and, well, they were right.
The song hir #1 in both countries.
So they all decided to release it broader. And it did really really well in Europe, and hit #11 in Canada in 1982.
It only made club hit status in the US, despite this amazing US-only video with terrific special effects. Don't worry, though - he had hits later.
We jump to early 1982, and struggling UK prog rock band After The Fire. In a last-ditch effort to stay together, they recorded a version of this song, and it was a hit everywhere Falco's version was not, except Canada, where not only were both hits, but - remember above, where I said Falco's version hit #11? ATF's version hit #12, the SAME WEEK.
Anyway, this was a more popular song in the US, but both are great.
Falco, who HATED the ATF version with a passion, would not agree with me that both are great.
ATF would break up in late 1982 - ON STAGE, during an opening gig supporting Van Halen - but they did reform in 2004, and yeah, they did perform this song live. And well.
But c'mon. Falco did live better, if just for the trenchcoats.
But wait. There's more. Around the time of ATF's breakup, Laura Branigan was recording and preparing for release her own version of the song, with a different translation and in a very different key.
Here she is lip-syncing to "Deep In The Dark" on American Bandstand. It did get a 1983 single release but went nowhere on the charts, and was quickly overshadowed by "Self Control".
