song of the day – “Tarzan Boy” | BALTIMORA | 1986 / 1993.

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!”

You know, as unlucky as the stigma for being unlucky the number 13 has had as long as I’ve known it, the No. 13 position on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 is something altogether different, or, lucky.  No. 13 has been the home (or treasure trove, if you prefer) to many great classics, like “Money” by Pink Floyd, Queen’s “Somebody To Love,” “Because The Night” by the Patti Smith Group, “Different Drum” by The Stone Poneys featuring Linda Ronstadt, “Radar Love” by Golden Earring, “Takin’ It To The Streets” by The Doobie Brothers, Santana’s “Oye Como Va,” “Roundabout” by Yes, “Let’s Talk About Sex” by Salt-N-Pepa, “Walking In Memphis by Marc Cohn, “Danke Schoen” by Wayne Newton (featured prominently in the John Hughes classic, FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF), “Here Comes My Baby” by The Tremeloes (which my pal Dave Wakeling and The English Beat will be covering on their upcoming album!), “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine (Anymore)” by The Walker Brothers (which was featured in the brilliant but barely-seen 2012 Steve Carell film, SEEKING A FRIEND FOR THE END OF THE WORLD), and one of the first singles I ever owned, “Theme From CLOSE ENCOUNTERS” by John Williams. 

I still have my 45 of this, and it looks just as beat up.  After holding onto it for 40 years, I’m not parting with it anytime soon though…

Between 1979 and 1989, there were nearly 60 singles that reached lucky No. 13, and it was a popular number for Bob Seger, who had two hits stop there, as did Kenny Rogers, Elton John and Natalie Cole.  Van Halen had three songs reach No. 13 – “Right Where Ya Started,” and two from the album, 1984: “Panama” and the highly underrated “I’ll Wait.”  Speaking of Van Halen, in 1983, future / former Van Halen lead singer, Sammy Hagar, reached No. 13 with his first Top 40 hit (and biggest solo hit), “Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy.”

Some of my 80s favorites stopped at No. 13 too, like “Shadows Of The Night” by Pat Benatar, “All Over The World” by Electric Light Orchestra (from XANADU), “Back In The High Life Again” by Steve Winwood,” “One Night Love Affair” by Bryan Adams and “Don’t Come Around Here No More” by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.

No. 13 must have been a favorite of mine for blog posts as well, as I’ve featured seven of them – “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” by Band Aid, “People Are People” by Depeche Mode, “Waiting On A Friend” by The Rolling Stones, “Where The Streets Have No Name” by U2, plus two of the three (real) one-hit wonders of the 80s that reached No. 13 – M|A|R|R|S (“Pump Up The Volume”) and Frida (“I Know There’s Something Going On”), and one song released in 1989, but peaked at No. 13 in March 1990 – “No Myth” by Michael Penn.

Another song that reached No. 13 on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 in the 80s came out of Italy, by way of Northern Ireland.  In the late 70s, Jimmy McShane (of Derry, Northern Ireland) was attending a stage school in London, learning how to dance and sing, when he was hired as a stage dancer and backing singer for English singer and musician, Dee D. Jackson.  He toured around Europe with Dee D. and her band, and upon a visit to Italy, he fell in love with Italy’s underground dance scene, and the country itself, and ended up moving to Milan in 1984.

In Milan, he learned the Italian language, and in 1984, met up with Maurizio Bassi, who was a music producer and a musician.  Together, they decided to form the New Wave / Dance band, Baltimora, with Jimmy McShane as the singer and the face of the band.

Baltimora’s Maurizio Bassi, left, and Jimmy McShane.

In early September 1985, they released their debut album, LIVING IN THE BACKGROUND, along with the first single from the album, “Tarzan Boy.”  The catchy song about being free and doing whatever you want in the jungle, without the hustle and bustle of living in the city, took about a month and a half to find its way to the BILLBOARD Hot 100, but did find it in mid-October 1985, when it debuted at No. 80.

“Tarzan Boy” steadily moved up the chart at first, but lost its chart “bullet” (for sales and airplay) in its sixth chart week, and stalled at No. 62 for three weeks.  By early December 1985, “Tarzan Boy” had regained its bullet and started moving back up the Hot 100, reaching the Top 40 in mid-January 1986.

By March 1, 1986, “Tarzan Boy” had been on the chart for 20 weeks (longer than some No. 1 songs), and spent a week at No. 13.  “Tarzan Boy” spent half a year on the survey and finished the year at No. 73.

Around the globe, “Tarzan Boy” was a massive hit, reaching No. 1 in Belgium, Finland, France, the Netherlands and Spain, and the Top 10 in the U.K., Austria, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland and the BILLBOARD Dance chart.

Despite the success of “Tarzan Boy,” Baltimora had a hard time duplicating that success for its other singles and second album, 1987’s SURVIVOR IN LOVE.  Following “Tarzan Boy,” the title track from their debut album, LIVING IN THE BACKGROUND, peaked at No. 87 on the Hot 100, and a few other singles reached the Top 40 singles chart in Italy, but nothing more.  Baltimora broke up after the record label (in this case, Manhattan) dropped them. 

From the 1993 commercial for Cool Mint Listerine, which used “Tarzan Boy.”

Fast forward to 1993, and a new remix of “Tarzan Boy” was used in a Cool Mint Listerine commercial (with animation by future film giant, Pixar).  Well, it didn’t stop there.  “Tarzan Boy” was also featured that year in the film, TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES III, and the combination of the two sent “Tarzan Boy” back onto the BILLBOARD Hot 100, re-entering the chart in late March 1993. 

“Tarzan Boy” climbed as high as No. 51 and spent 12 additional weeks on the Hot 100, and a total of 38 weeks combined.  With new hits by Duran Duran, R.E.M., Madonna, INXS, New Order and Boy George’s Pet Shop Boys-produced theme to THE CRYING GAME, the 80s were still sticking around in 1993.  But it was pretty cool to hear “Tarzan Boy” on the radio again.

The cover art for the 1993 reissue of “Tarzan Boy.”

Sadly, the following year, Jimmy McShane, the face of Baltimora, was diagnosed with AIDS while in Milan in 1994.  A few months later, he returned to his hometown of Derry, Northern Ireland, the place where his family had shunned him many years before for being gay.  He died in Derry in late March 1995 at the young age of 37.  And, despite his family’s earlier stance towards Jimmy’s homosexuality, after his death, a family spokesperson said, “He faced his illness with courage and died with great dignity.”

The legacy of Jimmy and “Tarzan Boy” live on today, and the song continues to be covered by other artists and has appeared in films, like Seth MacFarlane’s 2014 film, A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST.  And, “Tarzan Boy” is still heard on the radio today, as it should, because, who wouldn’t want to dance around to a fun, catchy song about being free and roaming around the jungle, removed from that city life?

“Jungle life, I’m far away from nowhere / On my own like Tarzan Boy / Hide and seek, I play along while rushing ‘cross the forest / Monkey business on a sunny afternoon…”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r0n9Dv6XnY

song of the day – “Desperate But Not Serious” | ADAM ANT | 1983.

In 1982, the London New Wave quintet, Adam And The Ants – led by the 80s’ favorite New Wave pirate, Adam Ant – split up after five quick years together.  Though they sadly didn’t have much success over here in America, in their U.K. homeland, they were incredibly popular.  Between 1980 and 1982, Adam And The Ants had quite the picnic on the U.K. singles chart, with nine Top 40 hits, with seven of those reaching the Top 10, and three of those reaching No. 1.  A very impressive haul for just a short amount of time. 

Adam And The Ants, 1981.

Despite receiving a BRIT Award (the British equivalent of the Grammys) for Best Album in early 1982 for KINGS OF THE WILD FRONTIER and a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist, in March 1982, Adam Ant felt that some of the Ants “lacked enthusiasm,” and he broke up the group. 

Adam Ant and Marco Pirroni.

A few months after Adam And The Ants split up, Adam embarked on a solo career (keeping fellow Ant, Marco Pirroni, on as guitarist and co-songwriter), and in early May 1982, his first solo single, “Goody Two Shoes,” became an international sensation.  It reached No. 1 in the U.K. and Australia, No. 2 in Canada and Ireland, No. 5 in Germany and No. 8 in Holland.  “Goody Two Shoes” arrived late in America, but did reach the BILLBOARD Hot 100 in November 1982, a month after its parent album, FRIEND OR FOE, was released.  “Goody Two Shoes” remains Adam’s highest-charting U.S. hit, spending three weeks at No. 12 in February 1983, and was ranked at No. 51 for all of 1983.

The title track from FRIEND OR FOE was the album’s second single, and though it did not chart here in U.S., it did reach No 9 in Adam’s U.K. homeland.   The album’s third single, “Desperate But Not Serious,” was released in the U.K. in mid-November 1982, just as first single, “Goody Two Shoes” was picking up steam here in America.

“Desperate But Not Serious” doesn’t waste any time getting your attention, opening, with memorable conviction, with Geoff Daly on saxophone, Martin Drover on trumpet and Bogdan Wiczling on drums, then immediately followed by Marco Pirroni on guitar and Adam Ant on bass and vocals. 

It reached a surprising (it didn’t chart higher than) No. 33 on the U.K. singles chart, while over on the Hot 100, it debuted in mid-March 1983, while “Goody Two Shoes” was still in the Top 40.  A couple of weeks after its debut, “Desperate But Not Serious” stalled at No. 66 for three weeks, and was gone from the Hot 100 after eight weeks. 

But, that’s not the last time Adam Ant would grace the Hot 100.  In March 1984, he reached No. 42 with the title track from his second solo album, STRIP, which featured Phil Collins on drums and Anni-Frid Lyngstad (Frida from ABBA), whose voice you hear on the female spoken part on “Strip.” 

Adam Ant scored his second-biggest American hit in 1990, when the very cool “Room At The Top” spent three weeks at No. 17 on the Hot 100 in May 1990 (and also reached No. 17 on BILLBOARD’s Modern Rock chart and No. 3 on BILLBOARD’s Dance chart).

He would reach the Hot 100 one more time, when the lovely (and appropriately-titled) title track from his 1995 album, WONDERFUL, spent a week at No. 39 in June of that year (and No. 7 on BILLBOARD’s Modern Rock chart).

In recent years, Adam Ant was known more for his personal life struggles than his music, but this year, he is back on tour, looking healthy and performing to his heart’s content (and the hearts of his fans, no doubt).  Earlier this year, he was in the U.S. performing the landmark Adam And The Ants album, KINGS OF THE WILD FRONTIER, in its entirety (a concert I had so hoped to see; not surprisingly, it was sold out in no time). 

In May 2017, he’ll be performing a number of shows in the U.K., promoting the tour as “The Singles Tour – Anthems 2017.”  And I bet it’ll be phenomenal.  He’s coming back to the U.S. for that tour in September.  He’s performing in NYC on September 13th.  I want to go to there, and if I do make it there, I hope he’ll sing “Desperate But Not Serious!”

To this day, I don’t know why “Desperate But Not Serious” was not a bigger hit. Sure, the video is a tad hokey (like many videos from the 80s, and sometimes my sense of humor), but it’s such an amazing and fun song.  Musically, I think it’s one of Adam Ant’s best songs.  Of course, most New Wave or Alt-Rock songs that incorporate a trumpet don’t suck.  And neither does this song.  Or Adam Ant.  I may not be desperate in trying to relay this message, but I am serious… 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVWWtqa9-7M

song of the day – “Easy Lover” | PHILIP BAILEY and PHIL COLLINS | 1985.

I know a LOT of friends who are NOT fans of Phil Collins.  I don’t think it’s anything personal against the guy – he took over as lead singer of Genesis in 1975 when Peter Gabriel left, and brought the band its biggest success (during the 1980s); he was the only one who performed in both London and Philadelphia at LIVE AID on July 13, 1985; Phil contributed to several popular 80s singles by artists like Howard Jones, Frida, Adam Ant and Robert Plant; and, between 1981 and 1989, with seven No. 1 songs, four other Top 10 hits and three additional Top 40 hits, he was the eighth-biggest recording act here in America during the 1980s.  He’s starred in his own movie, won an Academy Award for a song from another, is a member of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, and has honorary doctorates at two universities and Boston’s famed Berklee College Of Music. 

Phil’s gotten his share of bad press, sure, and other recording artists through the years have dissed his work.  David Bowie once referred to his TONIGHT and NEVER LET ME DOWN albums as his “Phil Collins years / albums.”  Oasis singer / songwriter / guitarist Noel Gallagher oft-criticized Phil Collins.  After the quick success of their 1997 album, BE HERE NOW (which sold 660,000 copies in seven days in the U.K. alone), Noel Gallagher compared the album’s success to Phil Collins: “Just because you sell lots of records, it doesn’t mean to say you’re any good.  Look at Phil Collins.”

Well, I wouldn’t say I’m Phil’s biggest fan (if I never hear “Sussudio” ever again, that would be pretty effing swell), but I would say I am a big fan of his work, and especially of the work he did with Genesis.  Their brilliant 1981 album, ABACAB, was one of the first four LPs I bought with my own money.  And it remains as one of my favorite albums to this day.

Over the years, one curious and quite interesting factoid I’ve noticed with folks I know who DON’T LIKE Phil Collins in general but actually LOVE one of his big hit singles – the 1985 hit with Earth, Wind & Fire’s Philip Bailey – “Easy Lover.” 

Between May and December 1984, Phil Collins was not only working on his third solo studio album, NO JACKET REQUIRED…, he also produced and contributed to Eric Clapton’s album, BEHIND THE SUN, played drums on the huge global Band Aid charity single, “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”, and produced CHINESE WALL, the third solo studio album for Earth, Wind & Fire vocalist, Philip Bailey. 

Phil & Phil were both 33 years old at the time, and CHINESE WALL would become Philip Bailey’s biggest solo album ever, which was certified Gold and nominated for a Grammy Award.

At the end of the sessions for the CHINESE WALL album, Philip Bailey approached Phil Collins about writing a song together.  The song they recorded was a song Phil Collins once referred to as a song that “doesn’t sound like any particular era.  It’s just fantastic.”  That one-time collaboration between Philip Bailey and Phil Collins ended up being the first single released from CHINESE WALL – “Easy Lover.”  I wonder if “Easy Lover” meant “Easy to love?”  Maybe.  It certainly was, and still is.

“Easy Lover” was released in the U.S. in November 1984, and the U.K. in late February 1985.  By the end of November 1984, it had already made its debut on the BILLBOARD Hot 100, and reached the Top 40 in three weeks.  It didn’t really explode on the Hot 100 until mid-January 1985, when it zoomed into the chart’s Top 5, headed straight for No. 1.  Or so it looked…

Another popular hit zoomed into the Top 5 that week as well – “I Want To Know What Love Is” by Foreigner, which spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in early February 1985, with “Easy Lover” situated right behind it. 

The back of the 12″ single for “Easy Lover.”

Though “Easy Lover” had enough momentum to be a No. 1 hit in the U.S. (it finished all of 1985 way up at No. 12, ahead of 16 out of 27 total No. 1 songs on the year-end chart), the song did earn a Grammy nomination, was certified Gold, and won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Overall Performance In A Video (which was, as Phil Collins mentioned at the beginning of the video, a music video about the making of a music video).

Phil & Phil trying out some dance moves in the video within a video for “Easy Lover.”

Around the globe, it was not hard for folks (Phil Collins fans and non-fans alike) to love “Easy Lover.”  It spent six weeks at No. 1 in Canada, four weeks at No. 1 in Holland, a week at No. 1 in Ireland, and reached No. 1 on Japan’s International Chart.  It also reached the Top 10 in Finland, Germany, New Zealand, Sweden and Switzerland, and BILLBOARD’s R&B and Mainstream Rock charts (a rare feat).

The cover for the U.K. single of “Easy Lover.”

Over in the U.K., it became Phil Collins’ second solo No. 1 single (after 1982’s “You Can’t Hurry Love”), spending four weeks on top.  I remember back in 2006, when STUCK IN THE 80s, my little 80s radio program on WMPG community radio for almost 21 years, was celebrating its tenth year on the air, and I did a STUCK IN THE 80s foreign exchange-of-sorts. 

At the time, there was a show in Brentwood, Essex, England (about 20 miles NE of London) called STUCK IN THE 80s, with a host by the name of Richard Nott (on Phoenix FM; like WMPG, a community station).  I contacted him about switching shows for a week, and he loved the idea.  So, for one week, he hosted my show and I hosted his.  It was pretty cool. 

In prepping for the one-time STUCK IN THE 80s exchange, I asked Richard what his favorite 80s song was.  I may have also said, “Give me a Top 10!  Give me a Top 20!  What’s your best album?”  And, he brought this up on his version of the show.  It was pretty funny (“blah-blah-blah-blah” he added).  His all-time favorite 80s tune is “Let’s Groove” by Earth, Wind & Fire, but “not far off” for Richard was “Easy Lover.”  He said, “I just enjoy it; it’s a great tune.”

And, whether or not you actually like Phil Collins, you’ve got to admit that “Easy Lover” IS a great tune, and that the teaming of Phil Bailey and Phil Collins was pure genius and truly magical.  “She’ll get a hold on you, believe it.”  Oh, I DO believe it – “Easy Lover” has had a hold on me for 32 years and counting…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkRKT6T0QLg

song of the day – “Hallelujah” | LEONARD COHEN | 1984.

It was already a rough week and then some with the end result (at least the electoral college version anyway) of the 2016 United States presidential election (more on that in my next blog post), but in the 4:00 hour this morning, I woke up from a semi-decent night’s sleep to find out we lost another music giant this year – Leonard Cohen.

I don’t believe this was from 1984, or even the 80s, but I love this shot…

Leonard Cohen died on Monday, November 7th, but the world didn’t find out about it until a message to fans was posted on Facebook on November 10th: “It is with profound sorrow we report that legendary poet, songwriter and artist, Leonard Cohen has passed away.  We have lost one of music’s most revered and prolific visionaries.”  His son, producer Adam Cohen, said his dad “passed away peacefully at his home in Los Angeles with the knowledge that he had completed what he felt was one of his greatest records [YOU WANT IT DARKER, just released on October 21st]. He was writing up until his last moments with his unique brand of humor.”

Leonard Cohen’s last album, YOU WANT IT DARKER, just released in October 2016 (and one heluva great album cover).

Born in Westmount, Quebec in September 1934, Leonard Cohen had an interest in music and poetry at a young age, and in 1967, at the age of 33, he released his debut album on Columbia Records – SONGS OF LEONARD COHEN.  The opening song on that album, “Suzanne,” ended up being recorded by folks like Judy Collins, Nina Simone, Frida (of ABBA; on her 1971 debut album), and was sampled by R.E.M. on the song “Hope,” which appeared on their 1998 album, UP.

Between SONGS OF LEONARD COHEN and YOU WANT IT DARKER (which I can’t wait to hear), Leonard Cohen released 14 studio albums, eight live albums, and at least seven compilations.  He was among an elite group of artists – including Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen – who had their entire catalog of albums on one record label – Columbia Records.

Admittedly, I wasn’t the biggest Leonard Cohen fan, but I always had a lot of respect for him, especially his songwriting, and grew to love many of his songs over the years, including “So Long, Marianne” (from SONGS OF LEONARD COHEN), “Bird On The Wire” (from 1969’s SONGS FROM A ROOM), “Famous Blue Raincoat” (from 1971’s SONGS OF LOVE AND HATE), “Chelsea Hotel” (from 1974’s NEW SKIN FOR THE OLD CEREMONY), “First We Take Manhattan,” “Tower Of Song” and “I’m Your Man” (from 1988’s I’M YOUR MAN), “Democracy” and “The Future” (from 1992’s THE FUTURE), “The Letters” (from 2004’s DEAR HEATHER), plus 1988’s “Everybody Knows” (from I’M YOUR MAN) and 1984’s “If It Be Your Will” (from VARIOUS POSITIONS; both songs were prominently featured in the excellent 1990 Christian Slater film, PUMP UP THE VOLUME).

Apart from being a big success in Scandinavia, Austria and the U.K., Leonard’s 1984 album, VARIOUS POSITIONS (his first album in five years), was not a popular album at the time, and had mixed reviews.  One of the nine songs on VARIOUS POSITIONS (and the first song on Side Two), was a song called “Hallelujah.”  It apparently took Leonard Cohen five years and 80 draft verses to write the song.

Of the song, Leonard Cohen said, “Hallelujah is a Hebrew word which means ‘Glory to the Lord.’  The song explains that many kinds of Hallelujahs do exist.  I say, ‘All the perfect and broken Hallelujahs have an equal value.  It’s a desire to affirm my faith in life, not in some formal religious way but with enthusiasm, with emotion’.” 

“Hallelujah” went relatively unnoticed for several years until Welsh singer / songwriter John Cale (a founding member of The Velvet Underground) heard Leonard Cohen sing an updated version of the song live in New York.  John Cale enjoyed the song so much that he decided to record his own version.  That version appears on the wonderful 1991 tribute album, I’M YOUR FAN: THE SONGS OF LEONARD COHEN, which features 80s and early 90s Alt-Rock royalty like R.E.M., Echo & The Bunnymen’s Ian McCulloch, Pixies, That Petrol Emotion, James, The House Of Love, Lloyd Cole, and Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds. 

John Cale’s 1991 reworked version features just vocals, piano and lyrics that Leonard Cohen had only performed live.  He asked Leonard Cohen to send him those lyrics, and Leonard did -15 pages’ worth!  According to a 2010 piece in THE DAILY TELEGRAPH, John Cale claimed he “went through and just picked out the cheeky verses.”  It is this version – used in the first SHREK film in 2001 – that has inspired most of the covers of “Hallelujah” that you know and love today, including one I’ll come onto in a moment.

Prolly the best Leonard Cohen tribute album I’ve ever heard, 1991’s I’M YOUR FAN was not purchased by many, but, according to a piece I saw online today, one person who purchased the album was a woman from Brooklyn, New York, and the person who used to house-sit for this woman was a singer named Jeff Buckley, the son of multi-genre singer / songwriter Tim Buckley, who died in 1975 at the age of 28.

He loved the version on I’M YOUR FAN, and reworking the song from John Cale’s own rework, Jeff Buckley performed “Hallelujah” in a bar in the East Village of NYC, where an executive from Columbia Records (Leonard’s Cohen’s longtime record label) was in the audience, heard the song, and signed Jeff Buckley right away.  Jeff’s studio version appeared on his 1994 album, GRACE.

GRACE would turn out to be Jeff Buckley’s only album.  In late May 1997, while in Memphis, Tennessee, Jeff Buckley went for a swim – fully clothed – in a channel of the Mississippi River and died of accidental drowning at the age of 30.  His version of “Hallelujah” took awhile to find an audience, but when it did, you couldn’t escape it.  It’s been widely used in television shows and films, and on April 20, 2013, just days after the Boston Marathon bombing, it was played at Fenway Park at the home opener for the Boston Red Sox, for a tribute honoring the victims of the bombing.  Jeff Buckley’s version has sold well over a million digital copies. 

On my little 20-year-old radio show, STUCK IN THE 80s (on WMPG community radio in Portland, Maine), in 2006, to mark the tenth anniversary of the show, I compiled a list of the 80 BEST 80s COVERS (1980-2005), and both the John Cale and Jeff Buckley versions were tied at No. 3 on the list.

A long way from Leonard Cohen’s dirge and gospel-influenced original version of  “Hallelujah,” the song has been covered over 300 times in 32 years, including covers by Rufus Wainwright, k.d. lang, Bob Dylan, Regina Spektor, Willie Nelson and Bono of U2.  In 2010, as part of the HOPE FOR HAITI NOW benefit album, Justin Timberlake, Matt Morris and Charlie Sexton took a version of “Hallelujah” to No. 12 on the BILLBOARD Hot 100, and most recently, the Texas A Cappella group Pentatonix took their version to No. 32.

Leonard Cohen has an incredible amount of accolades which spans decades, and was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2008 by Lou Reed, who said that Leonard Cohen was in the “highest and most influential echelon of songwriters.”  Of Leonard Cohen’s songs, Matt Johnson of The The said, “When I listen to his songs, it’s a simple, stripped-down naked soul.”  On Matt Johnson’s Twitter page for The The, he said, “I was lucky enough to have dinner with #LeonardCohen when I was a young songwriter of 22.  He gave some great advice. RIP x”

A photo of Leonard Cohen via Matt Johnson’s tweet tribute on The The’s Twitter page…

Leonard’s also in the Rock And Roll Songwriters Hall Of Fame, the Canadian Music Hall Of Fame, the Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame, recipient of a 2010 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2011, was named a Companion Of The Order Of Canada, which is Canada’s highest civilian honor.

Back in the early 80s, Leonard Cohen once said of himself, “I get tagged as an art-song intellectual, but I’ve always tried to have hits.”  Well, Leonard, within the next couple of weeks, you’re gonna get your wish.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see at least a half-dozen versions of “Hallelujah” flood the Top 50 of the BILLBOARD Hot 100 (including his original) and other singles charts around the globe.  Hallelujah indeed. 

R.I.P. Leonard, and many, many thanks…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttEMYvpoR-k

(real) one-hit wonder of the week – “I Know There’s Something Going On” | FRIDA | 1983.

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.

ABBA, sometime in 1982 before the end…

When the 4-member Swedish pop group ABBA disbanded at the end of 1982 (after 8 studio albums, 4 compilations, more than 40 singles and 2 failed marriages within the group), the male half of ABBA – Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus continued working together for a time, including the 1984 stage musical CHESS, and returned them to the upper realm of the pop charts worldwide, when they co-wrote and co-produced (with Tim Rice) “One Night In Bangkok,” sung by Murray Head.  “One Night In Bangkok” was a No. 1 hit in at least 7 countries worldwide, and reached No. 3 on the BILLBOARD Hot 100 in late May 1985.

The female half of ABBA – Anni-Frid Lyngstad (Frida) and Agnetha Fältskog continued on with solo careers.  Agnetha had been putting out Swedish albums and singles (and some German singles) for years by the time ABBA got its first big hit with “Waterloo” back in 1974.  After ABBA broke up, she released 5 English-language albums between 1983 and 2013. 

Frida, meanwhile, had released 2 albums in the 70s and 3 post-ABBA albums between 1982 and 1996.  The biggest of those, SOMETHING’S GOING ON, was released in September 1982.  Atlantic Records labelmate and Genesis drummer Phil Collins, who had released just 2 solo albums at that point, produced the album, provided backing vocals and played drums as well.

There was something quite special on SOMETHING’S GOING ON, especially the first single released from the album, “I Know There’s Something Going On,” written by Russ Ballard. 

If the name Russ Ballard rings a bell, it should – he was the vocalist on the 1972 Argent hit, “Hold Your Head Up.”  He also wrote music for Three Dog Night, Hot Chocolate, Roger Daltrey, the 1979 Ace Frehley hit “New York Groove,” the 1981 Santana hit “Winning,” he wrote and produced the 1983 comeback hit for America, “You Can Do Magic,” and even managed a hit of his own with 1980’s “On The Rebound,” and a 1984 MTV hit (and a personal favorite of mine), “Voices.”  Russ even wrote a song called “Can’t Shake Loose” by ABBA’s Agnetha Fältskog, which was a U.S. Top 30 hit near the end of 1983.

“I Know There’s Something Going On” must have known it was something big in most parts of the globe, reaching No. 1 in Belgium, Costa Rica, France and Switzerland, and the Top 10 in Austria, Australia, Holland, Finland, Germany, Italy, Frida’s homeland of Norway, Poland, South Africa and Sweden. 

Here in the U.S., sometimes it takes us awhile before we know there’s something going on with pop music from Europe, at least that was the case with this song.  It took more than 3 months to reach the Top 40 of the BILLBOARD Hot 100, and eventually spent 3 weeks at No. 13 in March / April 1983, with a total of 29 weeks on the chart.  Despite stopping at No. 13, because it spent so much time on the Hot 100, Frida and “I Know There’s Something Going On” finished at No. 20 for all of 1983, beating out No. 1 songs like “Africa” by Toto, “Up Where We Belong” by Joe Cocker  & Jennifer Warnes, and Toni Basil’s “Mickey.”

Though she had more success with other songs in Europe, “I Know There’s Something Going On” was Frida’s lone Hot 100 hit here in America.  But what a hit.  I know sometimes folks make fun of Phil Collins, but when he’s producing and hammering on those drums, he can sure put out a winner.  And, from the moment I heard this song in 1982 to tonight, I still know there’s something going on with this one; I always will…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p98PjtSfNWo

Frida, er, Anni-Frid in 1983…