Unfairly Forgotten Song #12: Baby Love by Regina

Since the last entry referenced a Madonna song, perhaps it is fitting that the song highlighted in this entry was intended for Madonna.  This was written in 1986 by a lady named Regina Richards, who was convinced by her record company (Atlantic Records) to record it for herself.

(Curiosity peaked at #102 on the Billboard 200.  Album ©1986 Atlantic Records.  Photo courtesy Amazon.com.)

And so Ms. Richards went along with Atlantic's suggestion and recorded "Baby Love", along with an entire album called Curiosity (the link to buy the album is included here as well).  The song was a big success, getting a lot of airplay then (though, per the rather incomplete listings at the now-defunct yes.com, it received no airplay at all on any reporting station in the US in the week prior to my writing this).  It entered the top 40 (as determined at the time by Billboard) the week of July 19, 1986 and stayed there for twelve weeks, peaking at #10 the week of September 13.  The song stayed on the Hot 100 for 20 weeks.  It also hit #1 on what was then called the Hot Dance/Disco chart and stayed there for two weeks. Billboard ranked it the 85th biggest hit of 1986.

For some reason, despite the popularity of this hit, Regina never had another hit.  In the meantime, the always-reliable Wikipedia says that she is married with four kids and now lives in my former home of Austin.

For whatever reason, the MP3 of "Baby Love" is not available on Amazon.  You can still buy the entire album here:

Unfairly forgotten song #11: Erotica by Madonna

I can hear you now:  "Really, Snowed?  A Madonna song?  How can anything by Madonna be forgotten?"  (This may not in reality be what you are saying, but as this is my blog I get to assume that you are in fact saying these things just after reading the title to this entry, and so we'll proceed from that assumption.)

Well, if I were to consider Madonna's career in pop music, I would say that the Erotica album/era is in fact the most forgotten portion.

(Erotica peaked at #2 on the Billboard 200 and spawned four Top 40 hits.  And I don't think any of them get airplay.)

And why is this?  Perhaps it is because Madonna was at that time infamous for making a coffee table book in which she was wearing very little, if any, clothing.  (Now she's just infamous for continuing to dress like she were still that age.)  Or it may have been because the songs from this album were not as successful as singles from other albums of hers.  Wikipedia* reports that no song from the album Erotica charted any higher than number three.  Or maybe the pop-music populace didn't care as much for the songs of that era in which, as Idolator.com says (in a list of the 10 most forgotten Madonna songs--in which "Erotica" does not appear), Madonna "gabbed through tracks rather than singing on them."

In any case, regardless of the reason, I personally do not believe that I have heard the title track on any radio station since its original run on the Hot 100 in late 1992/early 1993.  And this I find rather strange, since it had such a strong debut, per Wikipedia*; it debuted at number thirteen and reached its peak position of number three the next week, lasting 18 weeks on the Hot 100.  It also reached number two on Billboard's airplay chart (debuting and peaking at that position on October 17, 1992), which makes it doubly strange to me that it now receives, as far as I can tell, absolutely no airplay now.

According to commenter "BLT" at SongMeanings.net, Madonna intended this song to serve as a fantasy of "crazy and nasty things that go through [one's] mind," but are never acted on.

The video, which may presently be found on YouTube, was banned by MTV for content reasons, which, given the high standards of MTV, should tell you a lot.  This video will not be presented here, sorry.  (No, this is not a SOPA thing, this is me not wanting to show it.)  A portion of the audio, however, is presented here for your pleasure through the courtesy of our friends at Amazon.com.

You can also buy the whole album here:

*Note:  some information on this blog comes from the always-reliable Wikipedia; as such, its veracity may be questionable.

Second note: I get a pittance from Amazon sales through links from this blog.

Unfairly forgotten song #10: Girls With Guns by Tommy Shaw

I'm not gonna lie:  what made me think of this was a comment by politician who stated, "I’m all in favor of girls with guns who know their purpose."

How could this child of the 80s not think of Tommy Shaw?

Tommy Shaw, as most students of pop music history probably know, was the lead guitarist for Styx through the late 70s and early 80s but left the group due to dissatisfaction with the direction in which other members wanted to take the band.  (Meh, go look it up on Wikipedia.*)

Mr. Shaw's first solo album, which came to mind after I heard the statement above, was called "Girls With Guns", and its title track was Mr. Shaw's only Top 40 solo appearance, spending a grand total of three weeks on the Top 40 charts and peaking at #33 on November 17, 1984, before falling completely out of the Top 40 the following week.  All in all, it spent 12 weeks in the Hot 100.

(Tommy Shaw's debut solo album, Girls With Guns, peaked at #50 on the Billboard 200.)

It should be noted that, as I and others (such as "cassiemay10" over at SongMeanings.net) understand it, Mr. Shaw was writing not necessarily about girls carrying actual guns, but about strong, independent women. (It should be noted that in a comment on the original version of this post, Cassie May commented: "I agree; this is an unfairly forgotten song. 'Girls With Guns' is a great song, and an overall pretty good album.")

An interesting trait about the video for this track is that it is all one take; there are no cuts, which is quite different from the frenetic editing seen in most videos that I've ever watched.  Last I checked, it was pretty easy to find on YouTube.

And, as usual, I have never heard this song on the radio in the past 20 years apart from "Crap From the Past".



*Note:  some information on this blog comes from the always-reliable Wikipedia; as such, its veracity may be questionable.

Unfairly Forgotten Song #9: Whirly Girl by OXO

This post has moved.  Find it here at the new Unfairly Forgotten Songs site.

Unfairly Forgotten Song #8: Shakedown by Bob Seger

You wouldn't think a popular song from the soundtrack of a movie such as Beverly Hills Cop II would be listed as a "forgotten song".  You wouldn't think that a song that hit number one on Billboard's Hot 100 would be listed as such.  You certainly wouldn't think that a song that won an Oscar as Best Song would be forgotten.  (Or, at least, I wouldn't think so.)  And yet, when the word "shakedown" hit the public discourse a couple of years ago as the result of a sitting congressman using it to discuss the government's treatment of BP after the Gulf oil spill*, at least one person (that I knew of) was not familiar at all with this song, so I figured it deserved to be dug out.

(The soundtrack to Beverly Hills Cop II spent 26 weeks on the Billboard 200, peaking at #8 and spawning several Top 40 hits.)

"Shakedown" was actually written for Glenn Frey, but Bob Seger stepped in when Mr. Frey lost his voice just before the recording session.  This was Mr. Seger's only number one single (it spent 18 weeks on the Hot 100, and, per the song's Wikipedia entry**, it also hit number one on the Album Rock Tracks chart) and his next-to-last top 40 hit overall.  And, as is usual for songs I list as "forgotten songs", I don't think I have ever heard a station in Austin play this song in many years of living here.  Actually, for that matter, I think I might have heard this song once on the radio since it hit the charts back in 1987.  I'm pretty sure that one time was a 1987 flashback feature, played the week that "Shakedown" hit number one (that being the week of August 1, 1987).

*As stated in the introductory post to this blog, I am only interested in discussing music here.  Political statements, especially those of a couple of years ago, are not a topic of discussion in this post...it only inspired the choice of this song.

**Note:  some information in "forgotten songs" entries comes from the always-reliable Wikipedia; as such, its veracity may be questionable.

Unfairly Forgotten Song #7: Piece of My Heart by Tara Kemp

A few months before my last forgotten song honoree hit the charts, a California girl named Tara Kemp hit the top ten with two songs from her eponymous and only album.  The first, "Hold You Tight", went gold and is, to my knowledge, still somewhat familiar to people.  For years, this song was the only Tara Kemp offering available for request at Austin's Bob FM.  (Since then, they now show all tracks from her album as being available.  Yeah, right.  I've never even heard them play "Hold You Tight" in eight years of operation.)  The second, "Piece of My Heart", is notable for, among other things, using the exact same rhythm track as "Hold You Tight" had.  (Seriously, listen to the two songs together sometime.  Part 2 of the October 4, 2002 Crap From the Past show actually plays the two together for comparison:  a Tara Kemp-a-thon.)  "Piece of My Heart" peaked at #7 during July 1991, spending a total of 18 weeks on the Hot 100.

(Tara Kemp's self-titled album hit #109 on the Billboard 200 in 1991.  It also hit #34 on the Top R&B Albums chart.)

In any case, for some reason, as "Hold You Tight" held on through the years, "Piece of My Heart" seemingly disappeared entirely (as did Tara Kemp, apparently after her record company went under). In more recent years, Ms. Kemp has reappeared on social media; you can find her on Facebook here, and on Twitter here.

It should be noted, though, that while the MP3 in the audio excerpt is the 7" single version (with which more people are probably familiar), the MP3 sold on Amazon's page is the album version.  You can buy the 7" single through this link:

Unfairly Forgotten Song #6: Love Me All Up by Stacy Earl

By 1991, contemporary hit radio (top 40) was splintering. There were still top 40 stations playing the full spectrum of songs that were actually on the top 40, but some stations were trending toward more of a hip-hop sound. At the same time, some stations (notably in my part of the country, 97.1 the Eagle (KEGL) in Dallas/Ft. Worth) trended toward rock, while still other formerly great stations (such as, off the top of my head, KAY-107 (KAYI) in Tulsa) turned to a format called "adult top 40", which they advertised as having "no hard rock and no rap". Basically, adult top 40 was watered-down radio.

Anyway, some of these adult top 40 stations, such as, for example, KAY-107, didn't even play some of the best dance tracks from the period, such as this one from Stacy Earl, who recorded one album and then disappeared for some reason. "Love Me All Up" was Ms. Earl's first hit and made it to the top 20 of Billboard's Hot 100 Airplay list (which "American Top 40" was using by then), peaking at #18 and spending a total of 17 weeks on the list (as well as 18 weeks on the Hot 100, where it peaked at #26) before inexplicably being dropped from the playlist of pretty much every station everywhere (though it still occasionally pops up on Ron "Boogiemonster" Gerber's "Crap From the Past").

(Stacy Earl's self-titled album apparently did not chart, but it did spawn three Top 40 hits.)

And how forgotten is "Love Me All Up"?  Amazon doesn't even offer it as an MP3 download, but you can still buy the album through the links in this post.

Incidentally, "Love Me All Up" was co-written by Richard Rudolph, who was the husband of Minnie Riperton.

As promised, you can use this link to purchase Stacy Earl's self-titled album:

Unfairly Forgotten Song #5: Here We Go by Minnie Riperton

Minnie Riperton is pretty much universally known for her #1 hit "Lovin' You", but quite honestly, I prefer some of her other, lesser-known songs. Sadly, Ms. Riperton died, way too soon, in 1979. A final album, Love Lives Forever, came out in 1980, featuring some tracks Ms. Riperton had recorded in a 1978 session, combined with vocals contributed by several other artists as a tribute to her.

(Love Lives Forever hit #35 on the Billboard 200 in 1980.)

"Here We Go" was the first single released from Love Lives Forever, and it apparently hit #14 of what was then called the Hot Soul Singles chart. In this song, you can hear that Ms. Riperton is able to enunciate "here we go" quite clearly in the "whistle register".

And as usual in this feature, no station in town has ever played this as long as I've been here, to the best of my knowledge.

Buy the entire album here:

Unfairly Forgotten Song #4: Rush Hour by Jane Wiedlin

I still don't understand why some one-hit wonders get continual airplay ("Tainted Love", anyone?), while others are never heard again. Former Go-Go Jane Wiedlin falls into the latter category with her summer 1988 hit, "Rush Hour".  "Rush Hour" debuted on the top 40 at #33 in the countdown of June 11, 1988, and peaked at #9 seven weeks later.  Three weeks after that, it had already fallen out of the top 40, though some top 40 stations were still playing it at least into September (as evidenced by the September 1988 aircheck I have from "KJ-103" in Oklahoma City).  All in all,"Rush Hour" spent 19 weeks on the Hot 100, and, as far as I know, it hasn't been heard since.

(Fur, Jane Wiedlin's second solo album, spent 20 weeks on Billboard 200, peaking at #105.  It was her last album to chart.)

I wonder if the song's lack of staying power had anything to do with its strange dolphin-heavy video.  In any case, I've certainly never heard the song on any mainstream station since then.

Unfairly Forgotten Song #3: I Can't Wait by Deniece Williams

In 1988, Deniece Williams, who had had a pretty good run of success on the pop charts with hits such as "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late", "It's Gonna Take a Miracle", and the love-it-or-hate-it "Let's Hear It For the Boy", made a final trip to the Hot 100, where it spent eight weeks and peaked at #66, and the R&B top 10 (#8) with "I Can't Wait".

(As Good As It Gets was the last charting album for Deniece Williams for 19 years.  It hit #48 on the Top R&B Albums chart.)

I truly don't know why this song wasn't a bigger hit. I know there were stations playing this at the time because I have a vintage November 1988 aircheck of Power 106 in LA playing it. Of course, you'd never, ever hear this on your current variety hits station (my local station's slogan: "we play anything"). I suppose a classic R&B station (my local one is named "Jammin") might be the likeliest candidate to play it, but since most of these stations have a very tight playlist, I guess that ship's sailed as well.

Whatever. Enjoy.

Unfairly Forgotten Song #2: Get Used to It by Roger Voudouris

Right around the same time as Randy Bachman and Ironhorse were hitting the charts with "Sweet Lui-Louise", Roger Voudouris saw his biggest hit, "Get Used to It", climb the charts as well. His song entered the top 40 the week after "Sweet Lui-Louise" (that being the week of April 28, 1979) at #40, eventually peaking at #21 the week of June 16 and holding there for two weeks.  Two weeks after that, it had disappeared from the top 40, and you've probably never heard it on the radio since then, unless you happened to come across an episode of "American Top 40: The 70s".  Overall, it spent a very respectable 19 weeks on the Hot 100.

This was Roger Voudouris's only top 40 hit; the prevailing sound of pop music was starting to change around then, and while the yacht rock into which category I, at least, would place "Get Used To It" stuck around for a little while longer, pop music as a whole was starting to transition away from music like this.  And while I like where pop music went after the 70s, I also would have liked to see more of this type of music too.

(Radio Dream, from which "Get Used To It" came, never made the album chart.)

Unfortunately, if you find this song on a compilation album, there's a good chance it's a re-recording, as was the case on the YouTube video I found when I originally wrote this post in 2008 or so.  Thankfully, the original and much better-sounding version can be found more easily now, either on YouTube or through this link. 

Unfairly Forgotten Song #1: Sweet Lui-Louise by Ironhorse

In the 1960s and 1970s, Randy Bachman was in one successful band after another (though with varying degrees of success).  He co-founded the group that eventually came to be called The Guess Who, which hit #1 with "American Woman" before Bachman left the group in 1970.  His next group was originally called Brave Belt, though most people know it better by its later name, Bachman-Turner Overdrive.  After some disagreements within the band, Randy Bachman left that band in 1977.

After Bachman-Turner Overdrive, and one solo album, Randy Bachman's next band was called Ironhorse.  Ironhorse released an eponymous album in early 1979; it was moderately successful in a year when musical tastes were rapidly evolving, and it had one charting single, "Sweet Lui-Louise", a song that I, at least, find rather catchy, possibly due to its use of similar vocal stylings to those used in BTO's Bachman-penned hit "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet".

(Ironhorse peaked at #153 on Billboard's Hot LPs and Tape chart.  Album ℗1979 Scotti Bros. Records.  Photo courtesy Amazon.com.)

"Sweet Lui-Louise" entered Billboard's Hot 100 the week ending March 17, 1979.  It managed to enter the top 40 the week ending April 21 and peaked two weeks later at #36 before falling out of the top 40 the very next week.  In total it spent ten weeks on the Hot 100.

Afterward, Ironhorse released a follow-up album, Everything is Grey, which also featured one charting hit, "What's Your Hurry Darlin'", although that song only made it to #89.  After that, the band evolved into a group called Union and released one more album; it didn't chart.

I have only ever heard "Sweet Lui-Louise" on the radio during an episode of "American Top 40: The 70s", but perhaps there might be good news on that front:  Randy Bachman has acquired the rights to both Ironhorse albums (source*) and hopes to reissue them in the future.

*Note:  some information on this blog comes from the always-reliable Wikipedia; as such, its veracity may be questionable.

An introduction

Hi.  I have a main blog elsewhere*, but I wanted to set this blog aside to spotlight songs that were once popular, but now, at least in my opinion, they are not getting the attention that they deserve.  This blog is intended to present an alternative to the same 100 songs that every mainstream classic hits radio station seems to love.  Seriously, what classic hits station (or adult contemporary station, for that matter) doesn't have "Take On Me" or "Come On Eileen" in its library?  And are those songs any more worthy of being remembered than other songs?  Not to me, they aren't.

(As an aside:  this is pretty much the idea that spawned one of my all-time favorite radio shows, "Crap From the Past", which originates from community-run KFAI 90.1 out of Minneapolis.  Only I don't have access to a community radio station, so I have to run a sixth-rate blog.  And yes, I do know that there are other shows that also spotlight such songs, but really, they're a small minority.)

My original blog* spotlighted 11 songs that I thought were unfairly forgotten, and I will bring those entries over here to start, but I hope to add more songs fairly quickly (or at least more quickly than I update the main blog).

You, dear reader, are more than welcome to suggest songs to be spotlighted.  Just be aware that my tastes are all over the place, and I may go in a completely different direction with the songs presented here.

As I state on every entry, a lot of the information in the entries here comes from Wikipedia, which is not always the most reliable source, though I have generally found it to be pretty good with regard to songs' peak chart positions and other similarly verifiable facts.

One other disclaimer:  I will, as much as possible, include links through which these songs may be purchased.  As you might expect, I get a very, very small pittance from any sales made through these links.

Enjoy the music.

* My main blog is located here.  Be warned that it is political, so if you just want to check out my musical tastes and not anything else, you might want to skip it.