Hello music lovers! I’m back, ready to accept your challenge, and come up with a brand new Friday Flash Review!
You all know the drill: mt58 randomly selects a genre, category, or some other musical common denominator for you all to think on… and then I talk about the song that you choose.
OK, mt, what’s up for this Friday?
“Well… It’s another wide-ranging category! It’s:“
“Songs About Deceased mephitis mephitis !”
Please direct all questions to my legal counsel.
“Too limiting? Sorry. Let’s try that again. How about:“
Underappreciated Billboard Number Ones!
OK, we have a category!
Which Number One do you think deserves higher praise than the critics gave it?”
In the comments below: nominate ONE favorite that you’d like to see in a Flash Review. Definitely chat and reply with each other about the choices, but remember:
The comment with the most upvotes get the nod.
See you Friday!
13
Thank You For Your Vote!
Sorry You have Already Voted!
As much as I’m tempted to go with a few songs I’ve defended on the mothership, how about something less obvious? Let’s see what you think of the Fifth Dimension’s “Wedding Bell Blues.”
You have my vote. I like Laura Nyro.
I’ll co-sign that choice!
Justice for My Dingaling!
no
Yes! Or ‘Disco Duck.’
Oops. I see Cappie mentioned ‘DD.’ Uh, ‘Judy in Disguise (With Glasses?’
No question my nomination is “Didn’t We Almost Have it All” by Whitney Houston. I have stood nearly alone on this hill, but I will die on it. I would be very intrigued to see what a thorough breakdown would lead you to conclude, Jon.
Have a nice time, rollerboogie! We will enjoy being with you again after you get off your hill. 😉
The answer is clearly “Hey Jude.”
I kid, but I’m posting this comment just to remind everybody to upthumb the song that you think is most deserving of this week’s FFR category.
And remember one cool thing: you can always vote for someone’s nomination, but go back and change your vote (by “unclicking” the thumb) if you find that something more worthy comes up, as the week goes by.
Lastly, because we love each other: if someone makes a funny or a rejoinder comment, feel free to upvote.
Well, now I need a nap. That is all.
It feels weird not upvoting everything. There are some really good suggestions here!
While I may end up voting for “My Ding-a-ling,” I nominate Roy Orbison’s “Running Scared.” Yes, Tom Breihan gave it a 10 and it got a 7.6 in the TNOCS poll, but you never hear it anywhere. Its relatable story, beautiful soaring melody, and gradual build to an epic climax deserve much more love than it gets.
Looking at the TNOCS spreadsheet, I go with these 3 as representative of being under appreciated in my point of view by both Tom and TNOCSers.
The 1960s: Joey Dee and the Starlighters-Peppermint Twist (Tom 5, TNOCS 6.1)
The 1970s: John Denver-Thank God I’m a Country Boy (Tom 3, TNOCS 5.4)
The 1980s: Cheap Trick-The Flame (Tom 4, TNOCS 5.5)
I’ll agree with you that “Thank God I’m A Country Boy” deserves better, but only by a couple points. It might be due to overplay but I really can’t give it more than a 6. Maybe a 7 on a good day.
The other two seem about right to me, but that’s only one dog’s opinion.
I’d give a vote up for “Peppermint Twist”. That song rocks.
Now that I’m post-hipster, John Denver has shot up to my top 15 of favorite male singer-songwriters. I would have voted for “Take Me Home, Country Roads” and “Annie’s Song”. Denver also wrote this fascinating spoken word piece called “The Box”. Nick Cave could have written it.
Most of the chips on my shoulder of underappreciated #1 hits are of the lighter, adult-contemporary variety. Songs that don’t rock enough to be given cool votes. Stuff like Paul Mauriat’s “Love Is Blue”, or “Truly” by Lionel Richie. Or it could be one of my all time favorites like “Bad Blood”, which can’t possibly be appreciated enough.
BUT I think that I’ll put in my official vote for “Angie Baby” by Helen Reddy. It ended the year of 1974’s #1’s and is a song a love. A lot. I love the surreal storyline, and I like the production of the song, too.
I’m probably on my own mountain here (yodel-ay-ee-hoo, rollerboogie!), but I’ll stick with “Angie Baby”.
I upvote this one. Helen Reddy told me that song really needed no promotion to become a hit and I can believe it.
Hang on…you had conversations with Helen Reddy?
Yes, I have, LC. Guess I need to expand on that on my next blog here to explain the whole story, so look for that soon!
“You’re Havin’ My Baby” by Paul Anka.
Too interesting to outright dismiss, just like Bobby Goldsboro’s “Honey”, and Charlene’s “I’ve Never Been to Me”. And “Disco Duck”. Isn’t it Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis set in Studio 54?
Ooh, this could be good. Hmmm…..
I can’t renege on Laura Nyro. A 3? The Roches did a nice job covering it. I’m glad Nyro was alive to hear it. Came for the Lisa Germano track on the tribute album, stayed for her entire discography. I especially like her cover of “Up on the Roof”.
When I hear “Angie Baby”, I’m interpreting the song as avant garde because of that animated short. That human face in the radio is Cronenberg’s The Fly.
“You’re Havin’ My Baby” is post-, I don’t know, it’s post-something.
I’m gonna go with “partum.”
How this comment doesn’t have more upvotes…
In retrospect, how did I not see that coming?
“Dammit, Jim, I’m a dog, not an obstetrician!”
The one positive thing I can say about Anka’s hit is that it introduced most of the world to Odia Coates. I still don’t understand how a solo career eluded her when she elevated every single of Anka’s for 18 months just through her presence.
I would upvote “You’re Birthing My Child” as well. The lyrics just can’t win, but I totally am ok with the music, since I like that 70s soft-rock vibe.
Other possible alternate titles: ‘You’re Bearing My Offspring;’ ‘You’re Delivering My Descendant;’ ‘You’re Bringing Forth My Kid;’ ‘You’re Issuing My Issue.’
Hi all – great convos. But I think we need more votes!
And soon…because voting closes at 6PM EDT today (Wednesday)!
I think we have a clear winner but yes, more votes are needed to knock it off the top!
#justiceformydingaling
Ha ha ha! (Not upvoting this only because I loathe that song and don’t need to read any more about it!) 🙂