Hey everyone! Life be lifin’, and I hope you’re doing great!
Seriously, though, if this is the first you’ve heard from me since my last post, I salute you because I feel like I’ve been all over Barack Obama’s internet lately.
Anyway, I wanna take a sec and share substacks by people I know/like/love/care about!
My new friend Dann writes about everything from tech to…apples? Do different kinds of apples really have unique tastes? I don’t think I’ve bit into an apple since I got false teeth. Anyway, follow Dann’s musings here.
My buddy T-Gob is Tyler, a gentleman I had the good fortune of connecting with on the internet something like two years or so ago? We’ve become good friends without actually meeting in person, which I’m sure will happen soon. He’s a former Detoxpod guest, and his Substack contains everything from frank discussion about mental health to poetry to lots of NBA chatter! Find him here.
I met Tara at a baby shower (I guess that’s what it was?) for my baby brother Mike Duquette. We had an interesting conversation that started at Will Smith and ended up getting strangely deep for a lighthearted karaoke hang. Her weekly wrap ups are highly entertaining! Find Tara here!
Finally, Josh Gondelman is an Emmy-winning writer and comedian that has also been a Detoxpod guest. We’re in the same fantasy basketball league (he took home money this season, I did not) and his “nice guy” comedy persona matches the sweetness he’s shown every time we meet in person. Read more about Josh here.
Most of these folks have a way more consistent/regimented writing schedule than I have, so if you like order, they’ll all be a much better bet than I will!
Now, let’s talk about some songs!
“All This Time” by Tiffany (1988)
There’s a spareness to “All This Time” that gets me right in the teenage hormonal feels. There’s nothing but a cheap synthesizer and Tiffany’s broken heart. The song projects an air of melancholy that still brings me chills 35 years later.
For those too young to remember, Tiffany was a teenage pop singer who broke through in the late ‘80s thanks to her label (or management’s) great idea to have her perform in shopping malls were…shock, horror!…tons of teenage girls were! Her heyday was fairly quick (it lasted all of a year and change), and the tide had already begun to turn when “All This Time” was released as the leadoff single from her sophomore album. In an era that’s much kinder to female singers, pop singers and young singers, this could’ve been a bigger hit and Tiffany could’ve had a longer career. She certainly had the chops.
“Alone” by Heart (1987)
I don’t think anyone’s ever questioned Ann Wilson’s chops. That lady can belt! And while plenty of folks give it up for her when she’s in Rock Goddess mode, I kinda like Heart better when Ann is digging into a meaty, cheesy ballad. “Alone” is the meatiest, cheesiest of power ballads.
“Alone” was the biggest hit of Heart’s second wave of success, and it’s their only chart-topper. Not even the perennially scenery-chewing Celine Dion’s 2000s remake can hold a candle to the O.G.’s heady mix of hair metal and easy listening.
And…I just did some quick research and found out that Heart’s version was also a cover. Written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly (the same guys who penned “Like a Virgin”), their original version came out in 1983 under the band name I-Ten.
Thanks, Wikipedia!
“Alphabet St.” by Prince (1988)
I feel like Lovesexy is when Prince started to run out of ideas. He’d fired The Revolution, and I think from that point, no one that he worked with (with the possible exception of Sheila E.) seemed to have been treated like an equal, whereas at the very least, Wendy & Lisa were respected for the fresh ideas they brought to the table.
Average Prince albums, however, are generally more interesting than most artists’ good albums, and Lovesexy has its moments. “Alphabet St.” is its best moment; a playful funk romp that calls to mind the soul psychedelia of Sly & the Family Stone. The album version even points towards Prince’s later excursions into hip-hop, with a loose, goofy section of rhyming by Cat Glover. Prince often gave the impression of being too serious for his own good. “Alphabet St.” was one of the few moments where you felt he was letting his guard down.
“Alright” by Janet Jackson (1989) | “Alright” by Kendrick Lamar (2015)
I didn’t fully become a part of the CD-buying public until the mid ‘90s, mainly because I was poor and CDs were (relatively) expensive. So, “Alright” will always be the first song on Side 2 of Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814. Janet’s voice is a bit buried in the mix during the verses, but the chorus is cotton candy sweet. It’s juxtaposed nicely with Jam & Lewis’s slamming groove, which is significantly more rugged and bass-heavy than most of what was getting played on pop radio at the time (barring maybe Bobby Brown).
Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright” is definitely not a Janet Jackson cover. It is what millennials grabbed onto as the anthem of the Black Lives Matter movement. It’s insistent and passionate and everything synonymous with peak-era K. Dot. Leading up to (and after) the 2016 election, I made it a point to play “Alright” before going into work each day, sometimes multiple times. Hip-hop serves as a motivator for a lot of Black folks who have to throw on the Superhero outfit every day to deal with White America. Music itself provides context for so many emotions we feel…I mean, why would I even be doing this writing exercise if listening to music wasn’t a highly emotional experience for me?
Janet gives me groove (and “Alright”’s sunny message of undying friendship is a nice mood-lifter). Kendrick gives me strength.
“Always” by James Ingram (1986) | “Always” by Erasure (1994)
James Ingram’s voice is golden. It’s way more adaptable than it’s given credit for. So while you may primarily think of him as a singer of somewhat saccharine ballads (there’ll be at least one of those coming up fairly shortly), the truth is he could sing anything. “Always” turns up the tempo a smidge and gives James a smooth, pumping groove to croon to. It wasn’t a hit, but not for lack of quality or star power. James’ background vocalists are Howard Hewett (a frequent Ingram collaborator best known as 1/3 of Shalamar) and El DeBarge.
Andy Bell holds a special place in my heart as the first openly queer singer I was aware of that was actually openly queer (I’ll leave an asterisk for Sylvester since he was slightly before my time) . Reading an article about Erasure in my high school paper and finding out Andy was unapologetically gay and proud was a revelation. “Always” is a touch quieter than the dance-pop that Erasure was primarily known for, and to me, it feels like a cozy sweater. There’s a warmth that must’ve resonated with quite a few listeners, as it became the duo’s biggest American hit in half a decade. Andy is a vocal marvel (something he doesn’t get enough credit for) and there’s a near-operatic feel to “Always” that somehow doesn’t feel show-offy. You wouldn’t necessarily put “Erasure” and “wedding song” in the same sentence, but…if pigs were to fly and I ever found myself putting a ring on it, “Always” just might make the playlist.
Running tally-type shit because I like stats:
Total songs: 50
4 songs from the 1960s
10 songs from the 1970s
25 songs from the 1980s
6 songs from the 1990s
1 song from the aughts
4 songs from the 2010s
15 songs by male solo artists, 22 songs by duos/groups/bands, 10 songs by female solo artists, 2 collaborative performance by two (or more) solo artists, 1 collaborative performance between two groups (although what did Cult Jam actually do?)
Michael Jackson appears on five songs on this list so far (one as a solo artist, three as a member of the Jackson Five, one as a background vocalist.) Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell (as a duo), Prince, and Stevie Wonder appear twice so far.
Next up: my favorite Scottish band, a visit from the godfathers of pop-punk, and the slow jam that I’ll forever associate with blue light parties I was never old enough to attend.