song of the day – “Let Me Tickle Your Fancy” | JERMAINE JACKSON featuring DEVO | 1982.

On June 15, 2014, Casey Kasem, host of the longtime countdown program, AMERICAN TOP 40, passed away at the age of 82.  From my first blog post (and prolly some more inbetween then and now), I explained how, in 1979, I was a geeky, lanky and somewhat lost 12-year-old living in Central Maine, had a few friends and not a lot of interest in much of anything, but at some point early that year, I discovered AMERICAN TOP 40, and was glued to it every weekend.  Not only could I hear the 40 biggest songs in the country every week, but also Casey’s cool trivia and facts about the songs and the artists, a trait I treasure to this day.  For me, the show was No. 1 with a bullet.  And still is (thanks to the re-airing of broadcasts of AT40 on iHeart Radio).

In honor of my radio hero, Casey Kasem, for the entire month of June (and now through July), I will be highlighting a song each day (some days will have two songs!) that peaked in the Top 40 of the BILLBOARD Hot 100 (including five (real) one-hit wonders of the 80s), and with every blog post, just like on AMERICAN TOP 40, the hits will get bigger with each post.  On June 1, 2017, I featured a song that peaked at No. 40.  Sometime here in July, I’ll feature a “song of the day” that went all the way to No. 1. 

As Casey used to say on AT40, “And on we go!”

I may have mentioned this before in this series, but I have to say it’s been totally fun revisiting songs that peaked at each position of the Top 40 of the BILLBOARD Hot 100 from 1979 through 1989, and interesting how, as the chart peaks get higher (or the numbers get lower, take your pick), the number of songs that peaked at each position gets higher as well (or interesting to me, anyway).

More than 50 songs peaked at No. 18 between 1979 and 1989, and strangely, only 1/5 of those were by women (a ratio that will increase I’m sure as I continue the series), included three (real) one-hit wonders of the 80s, and two songs from Daryl Hall & John Oates (although, I think maybe Hall & Oates peaked at every position in the Top 40; prolly not, but sure seems like it!).

Boy, did I really want my hair to look like that in 1983!  I couldn’t pull it off, but that didn’t stop me from bringing in my copy of LIVING IN OZ to the hair stylist and saying, “Can you make my hair look like this?”  In my youth…

Out of the 50+ choices for this blog post, it was a close contest between “Walking On A Thin Line,” the fifth and final single from the monster album, SPORTS, by Huey Lewis & The News (a song about the post-war stress for vets coming home from the Vietnam War), “Sidewalk Talk” by Jellybean (written by Madonna, who sings backing vocals) and Rick Springfield’s “Human Touch” (THE most-requested Rick Springfield song on my former radio show, STUCK IN THE 80s, even more-requested than “Jessie’s Girl”)…

…but when I saw Jermaine Jackson’s “Let Me Tickle Your Fancy” on the list, the contest was over.

When you think of Jermaine Jackson 80s solo hits, what songs come to mind first?  “Let’s Get Serious” (written by Stevie Wonder)?  “Dynamite?”  “Tell Me I’m Not Dreaming” (with his brother, Michael Jackson)?  I’m betting all of the above.  I’m also betting “Let Me Tickle Your Fancy” was not on most people’s radar, then or now. 

“Let Me Tickle Your Fantasy” was the title track of Jermaine Jackson’s 1982 album, his final album for Motown Records.  Jermaine had stayed on with Motown after his other brothers left the label in the 70s, moved over to Epic and renamed themselves The Jacksons (Jermaine would rejoin them on The Jacksons’ 1984 album and tour, VICTORY).

The most unusual and fun fact about the song “Let Me Tickle Your Fancy” is that Devo sings backing vocals on it.  It’s one of the coolest one-time collaborations out there.  Devo had come off of their big 1980 hit, “Whip It,” released NEW TRADITIONALISTS in 1981 and were about to release OH NO! IT’S DEVO in November 1982. 

Believe it or not, Jermaine Jackson actually sought Devo out for this collaboration.  In a 1984 interview, Jermaine mentioned how he was getting into what he called “Modern Music” (i.e. New Wave), and loved the creativity Devo had in their videos.  When Jermaine called them up to see if they’d sing on “Let Me Tickle Your Fancy,” they didn’t think he was serious.  But that’s what Jermaine wanted: “When it’s just off the wall like that, if it’s great, it’s gonna make it the biggest thing ever.”

They both came from Midwestern cities (Jermaine from Gary, Indiana, Devo from Akron, Ohio), and the collaboration – though not the biggest thing ever, paid off, and more curiously, they actually sounded great and natural together.

The LET ME TICKLE YOUR FANCY album was released in early July 1982, and it did not take long for the “Let Me Tickle Your Fancy” single to reach the BILLBOARD Hot 100, debuting at No. 75 only a couple weeks later.  “Let Me Tickle Your Fancy” landed in the Top 40 about a month later, on its way to a No. 18 peak for two weeks in September / October 1982.  It also reached No. 5 on BILLBOARD’s R&B chart.

I’m unsure as to why, but an entire year after “Let Me Tickle Your Fancy” left the Hot 100, Jermaine (joined by “Spud and Pud Devo” – Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale) appeared on a Dick Clark-produced Halloween special called A MAGICAL, MUSICAL HALLOWEEN.  Other musical guests included Billy Joel, Toni Basil, Eddie Money and William Shatner.  Still, the performance is interesting to watch (the sound isn’t great and it’s kinda dark, but the video link is at the end of the post).

I love it when recording artists unite for just one song, whether it turns out to be a killer hit or just a fun thing to do.  The KLF and Tammy Wynette teamed up back in 1991 for “Justified & Ancient” (a song whose origins date back to 1987).  Madonna and Prince teamed up for “Love Song” (on her 1989 LIKE A PRAYER album), and of course there’s the brilliant “Under Pressure” by Queen and David Bowie, to name a few. 

Two other No. 18 hits in the 80s had great one-time collaborations as well – “Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves” by Eurythmics & Aretha Franklin, and (real) one-hit wonder Clarence Clemons, who got some help from Jackson Browne on “You’re A Friend Of Mine.”

For most who remember the song, the quirky pairing of Jermaine Jackson and Devo is what folks remember the most about “Let Me Tickle Your Fancy.”  And while it prolly didn’t get any woman to tickle Jermaine’s fancy, I will forever remember it for being a really fun, albeit mostly-forgotten song…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0ImnOLzVBc

(real) one-hit wonder of the week – “Miami Vice Theme” | JAN HAMMER | 1985.

Between late 1979 and the end of 1989, there were nearly 500 (real) one-hit wonders of the 80s that reached the BILLBOARD Hot 100 just one time, a list that includes Soft Cell, Gary Numan, Timbuk 3, The Church, Bronski Beat, Nik Kershaw, The Buggles, The Waitresses, Ultravox and two different bands named The Silencers.  Once a week, I’ll highlight a (real) one-hit wonder for you.

In April 2004, I put together a theme show for my little 80s radio program, STUCK IN THE 80s (on WMPG community radio in Portland, Maine).  This wasn’t your ordinary theme show – it was actually about themes, TV themes to be exact.  The show was called DO NOT ATTEMPT TO ADJUST YOUR SET.  In the course of 120 minutes, I played a total of 63 80s TV themes, along with some bits from shows like WKRP IN CINCINNATI and CHEERS.  I also played a special remix on TeeVee Toons Records (later TVT Records), named after a line in one of the favorite cartoons of my youth (THE JETSONS), “Jane, Get Me Off This Crazy Thing!”  It was co-produced by Ivan Ivan (who produced Book Of Love’s wonderful debut album), and featured TV themes from the 50s and 60s. 

Fast forward 12-and-a-half years, and on tomorrow night’s show (10.23.2016), I’m going to revisit the show – DO NOT ATTEMPT TO ADJUST YOUR SET: THE SERIES FINALE.  In listening to the 2004 show this week, apparently I  concentrated more on quantity than quality, but this time I’ll bring back the coolest and most memorable themes of the 80s, and some I didn’t get to last time, including “Falling” by Julee Cruise (the vocal version of the theme from TWIN PEAKS), and an entire set dedicated to 80s TV theme show legend, Mike Post.

One song I did get to last time and will play again tomorrow night was the biggest TV theme song of the 80s, and the last instrumental to reach No. 1 on BILLBOARD’s Hot 100 singles chart until 2013 – The “Miami Vice Theme” by Jan Hammer.

MIAMI VICE, starring Don Johnson, Philip Michael Thomas and Edward James Olmos was prolly the flashiest (and grittiest?) crime drama of the decade, and was one of the biggest TV shows during the second half of the 80s.  The show debuted on NBC in September 1984, and in August 1985, the show’s theme, by the Prague-born American musician, composer and producer, was released.

While Jan Hammer will forever be best known for his Synthpop work on MIAMI VICE, his specialty has been Experimental music and Prog Rock, and over the years, he has contributed to and collaborated on several albums with the NYC Jazz / Rock Fusion group, The Mahavishnu Orchestra, legendary Rocker Jeff Beck, Jazz Fusion guitarist Al Di Meola, plus work with Carlos Santana, Joni Mitchell, Mick Jagger (on his 1985 solo album, SHE’S THE BOSS), Journey’s Neil Schon, the late, great Clarence Clemons and many more.

In August 1985, the popular theme from MIAMI VICE was released as a single, in advance of the TV soundtrack.  Another song that would appear on the soundtrack, “Smuggler’s Blues” by Glenn Frey, originally appeared on his 1984 album, THE ALLNIGHTER, but due to its inclusion on the TV show, it became a Top 15 hit in late June 1985.

Jan Hammer’s “Miami Vice Theme” debuted on the Hot 100 in early September 1985, reaching the Top 40 a couple of weeks later.  It was climbing the Top 10 this week in October, and in November 1985, it spent a week at No. 1 and a total of 22 weeks on the chart.  It was also a big multi-format hit, charting on BILLBOARD’s Adult Contemporary, Dance, Rock and even the R&B chart, where it reached No. 10.

Around the globe, the “Miami Vice Theme” reached the Top 10 in the U.K., Austria, Canada, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand and Switzerland.  And though his follow-up from the MIAMI VICE soundtrack, “Crockett’s Theme,” was a big hit in the U.K., Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, and Holland (where it spent four weeks at No. 1), the “Miami Vice Theme” was the only hit Jan Hammer had on the Hot 100.

With music from Jan Hammer, Glenn Frey (“Smuggler’s Blues” and the No. 2 hit, “You Belong To The City”), Phil Collins, Tina Turner and more, the first MIAMI VICE soundtrack spent 11 weeks at No. 1 on BILLBOARD’s album chart.  It was the biggest TV soundtrack ever until Disney Channel’s HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL in 2006.

On top of composing the theme for MIAMI VICE and music for 90 of its 112 episodes, Jan Hammer has composed and produced music for at least 14 films, and 20 episodes for a popular early 90s British television show called CHANCER, starring Academy Award nominee Clive Owen.

Jan Hammer turned 68 this year, is still working nearly 50 years after his start in the music business.  In a 2014 interview with ROLLING STONE about MIAMI VICE and the show’s 30th anniversary, Jan was asked about the show’s legacy (and that of his one American hit), and he said, “We definitely shook up the TV world.  You can still feel certain aftershocks, even at this late date.  [Musical] shades of it show up here and there, but it’s more of an intangible thing.  I get [Google News] alerts with reviews, and they’ll say, ‘There’s this synth, and it’s very much Jan Hammer-like…’  It’s really amusing.  And then I’ll go and listen to it and I’m like, ‘Yeah, they have a point’.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQDU-2qMre0

song of the day – “Sun City” | ARTISTS UNITED AGAINST APARTHEID | 1985.

This week, Bruce Springsteen announced he wouldn’t be playing a concert in Greensboro, North Carolina on Sunday, April 10, 2016, because of the recently-passed law HB2, also known as the “bathroom” law.  HB2 is actually called the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act.  This law requires transgendered people to use the bathrooms based on their biological sex rather than the sex they relate to, and also bans state lawsuits for any type of LGBT workplace discrimination.

In his detailed statement about the reason for the show cancellation, Bruce Springsteen said that the law “is an attempt by people who cannot stand the progress our country has made in recognizing the human rights of all of our citizens to overturn that progress.”  Bruce concluded with him saying, “Some things are more important than a rock show and this fight against prejudice and bigotry — which is happening as I write — is one of them. It is the strongest means I have for raising my voice in opposition to those who continue to push us backwards instead of forwards.”

Longtime E Street Band member, musician, songwriter, producer, actor and DJ Steven Van Zandt added that legislation like this has to be challenged: “This sort of thing is spreading like an evil virus around the country.  We felt we better stop this, we should try and stop this early, and hopefully other people will rise up and join us.”

Steven Van Zandt continued by saying, “ Whether it’s women, whether it’s gay, transgender, there’s no difference.  It was very important to us to take a stand early in this before it starts to spread all over the place.”

This isn’t the first time Steven Van Zandt has showed his support for a cause.  He’s been a human rights activist for more than 30 years, and in 1985, the year that gave us huge charity events like “We Are The World” and Live Aid, Little Steven focused not on Ethiopia, but instead South Africa, namely Sun City.

The Sun City resort.

Sun City is a casino resort developed in 1979 in the North West Province of South Africa, approximately a 2-hour drive from Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa.  At the time, it was located in the Bantustan (homeland) of Bophuthatswana, an independent state under South Africa’s apartheid government (not recognized by any other country).  Apartheid had been around since 1948 and is an Afrikaans word which means “separate” or “the state of being apart,” or simply put, “apart-hood.”

An apartheid notice on a beach near Capetown, denoting the area for whites only. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

The United Nations had set forth a cultural boycott condemning the segregation of apartheid.  Despite this, major recording acts were lured to performing there, including The Beach Boys, Linda Ronstadt, Cher, Frank Sinatra, Elton John, and in 1984, Queen (who claimed they only played to desegregated audiences), which may have sparked interest for Little Steven to write about Sun City and later form the protest group, Artists United Against Apartheid.

In the early stages of writing “Sun City,” Steven Van Zandt met up with journalist Danny Schechter, then working for ABC’s 20/20 news magazine, who suggested that Little Steven turn “Sun City” into a different kind of “We Are The World,” or rather, “a song about change not charity, freedom not famine.”

Little Steven and Danny Schechter got to work in recruiting performers for “Sun City,” mixing it up with Hip-Hop, R&B and Rock performers.  Nearly 50 people contributed to the song, including Run-D.M.C., Grandmaster Melle Mel, jazz legend Miles Davis, Lou Reed, Ringo Starr and his son Zak, Daryl Hall & John Oates, Bonnie Raitt, Pat Benatar, Peter Wolf, Joey Ramone, Jimmy Cliff, Peter Gabriel, Herbie Hancock, Bob Dylan, Darlene Love, Afrika Bambaataa, George Clinton, Peter Garrett of Midnight Oil, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones, Jackson Browne, Clarence Clemons and Little Steven’s E-Street “Boss,” Bruce Springsteen.  A music video was commissioned, produced by Godley & Creme and directed by Jonathan Demme.

The single for “Sun City” was banned in South Africa, but made inroads around the globe.  It reached No. 4 in Australia, No. 6 in Canada, No. 21 in the U.K., and was a big hit in Holland.

Over here in the U.S., about half of American radio stations didn’t play the song, objecting to the the criticism towards President Reagan’s policy of “constructive engagement,” or the alternative to the economic sanctions against South Africa; incentives to move South Africa away from apartheid.  “Sun City” did manage to reach the Top 40 of the BILLBOARD Hot 100, spending a week at No. 38 in December 1985 and 3 months on the chart.

Though more of a protest single than a charity single, “Sun City” did manage to raise more than a million dollars for anti-apartheid projects.  Apartheid ended in 1994, and I’d like to think that Little Steven Van Zandt and “Sun City” had something to do with that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlMdYpnVOGQ