There are always songs that are liked by most people but not by you. In some cases, you might find the song so annoying that if it happens to be played on the radio, you change the station immediately. There may not actually be anything wrong with the song. You just don’t like it.
Among the songs that yours truly has never liked are “Daddy Could Swear, I Declare” (I love Gladys Knight & the Pips, but I thought this song was silly), “Brick House” (I may be the only person who doesn’t care for this Commodores smash), “Giving Him Something He Can Feel” (the En Vogue version is far inferior to Aretha Franklin’s powerful original), “State of Shock” (the Jacksons featuring Mick Jagger; surely Michael could have written better lyrics than these).
Also, “Alphabet Street” (compared to Prince’s best work, this song sounds trite), “My Guy” (there was no reason whatsoever for Sister Sledge to remake the Mary Wells classic), “Speedo” (the Cadillacs; what a dumb line: “They often call me Speedo but my real name is Mr. Earl”), “Lady Marmalade” (Labelle’s original was a thousand times better than this ill-conceived remake by Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mya and Pink).
Then there’s “Sugar, Sugar” (Wilson Pickett ruined the lightweight pop smash by the Archies by trying to “soulify” it), ditto for Aretha Franklin attempting to transform the Rolling Stones’ rock classic “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” into an R&B opus; and “My Daddy Knows Best” (a lowering of the Marvelettes’ standards that deserved its poor chart showing).
BEYONCE KNOWLES, the mother-to-be who just turned 30, has accumulated more hit songs than most artists even dare to dream of. Between her solo records and those with Destiny’s Child, the figures are almost staggering.
Her Top 10 hits, including Destiny Child releases, are 1) “Independent Women,” 2) “Irreplaceable,” 3) “Baby Boy,” 4) “Crazy In Love,” 5) “Check On It,” 6) “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It),” 7) “Jumpin’ Jumpin’,” 8) “Say My Name,” 9) “Lose My Breath” and 10) “Survivor.”
As if that weren’t enough, she wrote nearly all of them. (Such talent!).
Mary Wilson was asked how she felt about other ladies (usually the Andantes) doing the background on latter-day Supremes records such as “Love Child” and “Reflections” rather than she and Cindy Birdsong. (It was Motown’s decision, made to expedite the recording process.)
“I was hurt,” said Wilson. “I knew I couldn’t change it, so I had to live with it. To have blurted out that we weren’t on the records wouldn’t have done anything but alienate me from everybody. And why spoil the dream?”
OUTKAST has the distinction of having the biggest selling rap album of all time with “Speakerboxx/The Love Below.” First runner-up: MC Hammer’s “Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt ’Em.” Others in the Top 10, in no particular order, are Eminem, 2Pac, Will Smith, the Beastie Boys, the Notorious B.I.G. and Nelly.
The first rap album to be certified Gold by the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA) was “Run-D.M.C.” The groundbreaking trio also had the first certified Platinum album, “Raising Hell.” Gold is 500,000 copies sold, Platinum is one million.
SINCE HE had not made an album in 29 years, it is nice that the legendary and enigmatic Sly Stone has finally returned. However, in all that time surely he could have come up with enough songs for an album of all new material.
Instead, “I’m Back! Friends & Family” features nine remakes — eleven considering the fact that there are three remixes of one song — of Sly & the Family Stone’s greatest hits.uld prefer hearing the original versions of classics such as “I Want to Take You Higher,” “Dance to the Music,” “Everyday People” and “Hot Fun in the Summertime,” rather than new versions. (Plus the painting on the cover is from an old picture.)
Interestingly, one of the new songs is a very different interpretation of the standard gospel hymn “His Eye Is On The Sparrow.”
BETCHA DIDN’T KNOW…that the multifaceted Jay-Z (real name: Shawn Corey Carter) had a net worth of $450 million last year. (No one could ever accuse him of marrying Beyoncé for her money!)
MEMORIES: “Turn Your Love Around” (George Benson), “Closer Than Close” (Jean Carne), “I Wanna Be Loved” (Dinah Washington), “New Attitude” (Patti LaBelle), “Stop to Love” (Luther Vandross), “Push It” (Salt-N-Pepa), “I Love Your Smile” (Shanice), “I Gotcha” (Joe Tex), “A Little Bit of Soap” (the Jarmels), “Ooh Child” (the 5 Stairsteps).
BLESSINGS to Robert Bateman, Larry Demps, Monica Morgan, Andre Smith, Barbara Orto, Jim Campbell, Liza Walton, Carl Walton, Leni Sinclair and Chris Campbell.
WORDS OF THE WEEK, from Solomon Burke: “I don’t believe in organized religion. Just believe in what’s real and makes you feel good. Whatever moves you, go there.”
Let the music play!
(Steve Holsey may be reached at Svh517@aol.com and PO Box 02843, Detroit, MI 48202.)
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