I am feeling some comfort in the synthpop sounds from the 1980's right now and here are a few of my favorites that take me back to the seemingly simplier, calmer days of my youth:
And here are a couple of recent songs from two artists I enjoy who also happen to bring an openly queer perspective to their music; Orville Peck, the mysterious country artist does a twangy cover of Bronski Beat's 1984 gay anthem, "Smalltown Boy" that retains the original's moving power. The British nu-disco performer who goes by the inventive moniker, Bright Light, Bright Light (real name, Rod Thomas) has the song, "I Used To Be Cool" with the video offering a decidedly different take on summer romance.
This year will mark the twenty-fifth year since the release of Alanis Morissette's ground breaking album, "Jagged Little Pill". And a rock musical inspired by the record called "Jagged Little Pill" which used songs from the album and other material from Morissette was created in 2018 and opened on Broadway last December. The Canadian performer was going to embark on a world tour in celebration of that milestone and promote new music yet those plans came to a crashing halt due to the pandemic which has continued to keep the entire planet shut down.
Morissette has chosen not to let that delay her new music and has released "Such Pretty Forks in the Road", her first album in eight years. The singer has been working on this project since 2018, trying to squeeze time in between marriage (to fellow musician, Mario "Souleye" Treadway since 2010) and raising children (with three to date and the youngest was just born last year). The forty-six year old Morissette (who co-wrote "Such Pretty Forks" with Michael Farrell and features production by Alex Hope and Catherine Marks) has moved on from youthful angst in her music and is now sharing her experiences on more mature subject matters like addiction, mental illness and postpartum depression. Yet these songs are still fueled with a powerful raw energy and thoughtful, urgent lyrics.
A music video for the song, "Ablaze", which is a loving dedication to her children, was just released. It is a true family affair as the clip features Morissette's husband and their little ones at home.
While Taylor Swift had planned to spend the summer on a worldwide tour to promote her last album, "Lover" released last year, a nasty virus got in the way of her concert plans. With plenty of time on her hands (much like the rest of us), the singer spent the last few months creating new music and what came out of that is her eighth studio album, "Folklore". This collection does not feature the inflated, synth-pop production of her previous records. Yet it is also not a clear return to her early country music roots.
The album offers something a little different; low-key and mature songs that look at our complicated, turbulent times that plays best to her strengths which is vivid songwriting. Swift uses classic folklore, which are stories that blur the lines between truth and fiction, to create songs that are far less self-referential than her music in the past. I must admit I've never been a huge fan of Swift's (more of an admirer) but I must say that I really enjoyed "Folklore" and think this is the thirty-year old superstar's strongest album to date.
And clearly many others seem to agree. "Folklore" has broken streaming records with Swift having the biggest opening day for an album by a female artist on Spotify and the album has sold 1.3 million copies globally on its first day on July 24th. Swift has stated that the album "started with imagery" so the videos are just as important to express her ideas as the music for "Folklore". She even got behind the camera to direct the clip for the first single, "Cardigan".
KYLIE MINOGUE
After dipping her toes in to some down-home, country-pop with her last album, "Golden" in 2018, Kylie Minogue seems ready to get back to what she's best known for; dance-flavored, pop music. And the title of her upcoming fifteenth studio album says it all: "Disco". The fifty-two year old, down-under pop diva has just dropped the first single, "Say Something" and it is definitely a shimmering dance floor banger. The song (co-written by Minogue with Ash Howes and producers, Jonathan Green and Richard "Biff" Stannard) is about the never-ending quest for love and is just what we need to hear right now. Minogue worked on the album (due out on November 6th) while in quarantine and even learned how to record and engineer her vocals on her own using music software in order to help get the record completed.
And here are a few videos of new music I'm enjoying right now:
The number one during this week back in 1970 was "War" by Edwin Starr. This soulful protest song held this spot for three weeks in the US and had struck a chord with the American public due to the growing opposition to the war in Vietnam.
While this would become Starr's signature song, "War" was not originally recorded by this Motown artist. The Temptations had first recorded a version, written by the label's staff writers, Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong, for their 1970 album, "Psychedelic Shack". The title track had been the only single released (which made it to number seven on the US pop chart and number two on the soul chart) and many fans had requested "War" to be released as well. However, Motown did not want one of their top-tier artists associated with a potentially controversial song and the group was also apprehensive to the idea of this song as a single. Whitfield, who had produced the track, decided that another artist should re-record the song.
Whitfield approached Starr (born Charles Edwin Hatcher), a less prominent performer with the label who had one significant hit, "Twenty-Five Miles" (which reached number six on the pop chart in 1968) and then decided to go with a bigger, more explosive production than the Temptations' version. Starr's take was an immediate hit and would be one of the first protest songs to find major pop success with Billboard ranking it at number five of the songs of 1970.
While Starr would not enjoy another big hit, he would continue to record and perform. Starr moved to England in 1973 and later had a couple of disco hits, "(Eye To Eye) Contact" in 1978 and "H.A.P.P.Y. Radio" in 1979 with both reaching the top-ten in Britain. Starr would long be admired in England's Northern soul circuit before he passed away there in 2003 at the age of sixty-one. Have a listen to the still timely song of "War" by Edwin Starr:
I had never previously heard the Temptations' version of "War" and so as a bonus, here is that group's take of this classic song:
Melissa Manchester has achieved great success as a pop vocalist with several hits songs over the years but it is her tremendous gift as a songwriter that will be her enduring legacy.
She was born and raised in the Bronx with music in her blood as her father was a bassoonist for the NY Metropolitan Opera. Manchester began singing as a child and learned how to play the piano while attending the Manhattan School of Music. By fifteen, she was singing on commercial jingles. Manchester began performing in clubs around the city which lead to a chance encounter with Barry Manilow, who was Bette Midler's producer and musical director at the time. She would be asked to become one of the original members of The Harlettes, Midler's bawdy back-up singers in 1971. Manchester stayed for a year before moving on to pursue a solo recording career.
Manchester was signed to Arista Records and released her debut, "Home To Myself" in 1973. But it would be her third album, "Melissa" when the singer had her breakthrough with the single, "Midnight Blue" (which she co-wrote with her long-time collaborator, Carole Bayer Sager) with this ballad reaching number six on the US pop chart in 1975. It would be a few more years before Manchester reached the charts in a major way again with her version of Peter Allen and Carole Bayer Sager's ballad, "Don't Cry Out Loud" from her album of the same name in 1978. This single reached number ten on the charts and would earn Manchester her first Grammy nomination for Best Pop Female Vocal Performance.
By 1980, Manchester was unhappy with the label and sued to get out of her recording contract. But Arista and the singer would come to terms and she teamed with producer, Arif Mardin for her tenth album, "Hey Ricky" in 1982. With a radical makeover of her image and sound, Manchester had a smash hit with the synth-pop song, "You Should Hear How She Talks About You". This dance track would become the highest charting of her career (reaching number five) and would win Manchester a Grammy for Best Pop Female Vocal Performance that year.
Manchester would write and perform many songs for film soundtracks throughout her career which includes "Ice Castles" (1979), "Out of Africa" (1986), "The Great Mouse Detective" (1986) and "For Colored Girls" (2007). She would co-write with Kenny Loggins the song, "Whenever I Call You Friend". This would be big hit for him and Stevie Nicks in 1978 and Manchester would record her own version the following year. Another song written by Manchester and Bayer Sager in 1976, "Come In From The Rain" went on to become a popular ballad which has been covered by countless artists over the years.
The now sixty-nine year old Manchester continues to perform and record with her last album in 2017, "The Fellas", a collection that pays musical tribute to some iconic male vocalists. She also released a single, "A Better Rainbow" in 2018. Listen to two of my favorite songs from Melissa Manchester:
Lianne La Havas is a British singer/songwriter who hasn't really broken through on these shores but her latest release might change that. After a five year hiatus, her self-titled third album is now out and leans more heavily in to r&b than her previous work.
A native of South London from Greek and Jamaican heritage, La Havas taught herself how to play the piano and write songs at the very young age of seven. And because of her family’s diverse musical tastes, this would help influence and shape her distinctive sound.
With "Lianne La Havas", this thrilling neo-soul collection was inspired in part by her unhappiness with her last album, "Blood", which she felt did not best represent her as an artist since she did not have as much creative control, as well the end of a romantic relationship. The basic theme of the record is best represented by the life cycle of nature which follows the journey of a seasonal flower that will bloom, then dry up and die in order to be reborn again. The songs take us on a journey from the beginning of a relationship, then the sad ending before finding empowerment in new found independence. There is also an unexpected cover of a 2007 Radiohead track, "Weird Fishes" which fits perfectly with the album and La Havas delivers a slightly more soulful vibe.
Everything that has been going on over the last few months has certainly proven to be difficult with so much upheaval and complicated challenges all occurring at the same time. We will get through this but what will happen down the road remains the big question. After all of the protests and activism, will there be real change for African-Americans and other marginalized people in this country? I am hopeful and optimistic as this feels different this time with people from across the entire globe standing in support of the idea that Black lives matter. Yet I also remain skeptical. Movements have come and gone in the past with minimal change and a continuing lack of meaningful conversation regarding the history and on-going plight of African-Americans in this nation.
One thing that comes from any movement is an inspiration to create art. This work comes in all forms to speak on the times, express motivating objectives and provoke serious discussion. Here are a few recent songs that will help uplift, energize and empower in this fight towards justice:
