Is it just me, or do weekends fly by inordinately fast? As usual, it went by in a blur of fun, particularly the puppy love kind of fun.

Meanwhile it’s Monday, and Monday of course means music! One of my all-time favorite bloggy buddies happens to be our Spotlight Dancer this week, Claire from Incognitus Scriptor selected this week’s theme – 80’s/90’s Tunes. I was like “Cool! Those are my two favorite decades!” and neglected to read that “our Spotlight Dancer would like you to take your favorite Artists from this era and pick their least known tunes (not a hit tune)”.

Oops. I messed up (sorry Claire!), but in the interest of time and sanity, I’m going with the selections I went with because I know you’ll most likely enjoy them. I did try to find some not-hits from my favorite artists, but man that’s hard to do, when every time you google the artists, you get a plethora of biggest hits instead. You’d think those that are they want those non-hits to stay hidden. Heh.

Let’s start off with a song that is an angry message from a scorned ex-girlfriend directed at her former lover. The artist has said it is about a specific person, but that person has not contacted her, and probably doesn’t know it’s about him. The artist claims she will never say who this is about, just as Carly Simon has done with “You’re So Vain.”

AlanisMorissette

Give a listen to Alanis Morisette with “You Oughta Know”:

Next up is a song that was written by someone who’d written a slew of hits for other artists such as NSYNC, Britney Spears and Celine Dion. This was the first single for this group’s third album, the fastest selling album ever.

The band did not think this should be the first single because it sounded too much like their previous album, but their record company convinced them otherwise. I bet they were happy about that, because it was voted the best boyband single since 1998 in a 2013 survey conducted by UK’s Amazepop magazine.

BackstreetBoys

Give a listen to Backstreet Boys with “I Want It That Way”:

Next up is another duo I loved from those decades. They were followers of American psychologist Arthur Janov’s school of Primal Therapy. This song was inspired by his primal therapy treatment, which worked by getting people to confront their fears by shouting and screaming.

The song was written by the group’s frontman and keyboard player, and became a huge international hit, especially in the US, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland and the UK.

TearsForFears

Give a listen to Tears for Fears with “Shout”:

The 90’s had me listening to many of this repeat artist’s songs from this particular album, as many songs on it are very Zen. This is one of them – it finds the artist staying composed and relaxed in a maddening world, all the while railing against conformity.

AlanisMorissette2

Here’s the mega talented Alanis Morissette again with “Hand In My Pocket”:

Next up is an artist I’ve always enjoyed, whose songs bring back so many wonderful memories. The artist got the idea for this song when he dozed off in a backup singer’s pink Edsel after an exhausting all-night recording session. The lyrics came to him in bits and pieces during this and other catnaps. Eventually he was able to finish it without sleeping.

The song is about sex, but it’s just ambiguous enough not to offend most listeners. This happens to be this artist’s first Top 10 US hit. It helped propel him to superstar status, a title he lived up to with electrifying live shows and a startlingly prolific output of material, including music, movies and videos.

We mourn the loss of this great artist.

Here’s the inimitable Prince with “Little Red Corvette”:

Another of my favorites of Prince is this next song. He wrote it for his movie Purple Rain. In the film, the song plays under a montage after his character loses his girl (Apollonia) to his rival (Morris – Morris Day of The Time). We see Prince riding his motorcycle along with shots of intimate moments with Apollonia. In the movie, Prince has a difficult relationship with his father, who beats his mom. Scenes of his father come in on the lyrics where Prince calls him “demanding.”

The film is semi-autobiographical, but how much is based on real life remains a mystery, as Prince rarely gave interviews and didn’t talk about his personal life. In the movie, the song expresses his fear of becoming like his parents. When the doves cry, that’s his musical refuge – the barrage of keyboards in the chorus represents the doves crying.

Besides writing and composing the track, Prince played all the instruments on the song. There is no bass on this song. Prince took out the bass track at the last minute to get a different sound, though he hated to see it go.

Here’s Prince again with “When Doves Cry”:

Last, but definitely not least, Prince has inspired so many musicians, including Adam Levine. After Prince passed away on April 21, 2016, Levine was quoted as saying,

”[I’ll remember] just the great times that we had and just constantly being inspired by how he did things his way [and] never let anybody deter what he wanted to accomplish creatively and musically. As a musician, I can’t tell you how much that’s rubbed off on me.”

Tons of celebrities and performers showed up to Howard Stern’s 60th Birthday Bash in 2014. But perhaps the most talked-about moment of the night was when Adam Levine took the stage to perform an epic rendition of “Purple Rain.” In the days following Prince’s death, the folks at “The Howard Stern Show” decided to release Levine’s performance online, in tribute to the legendary singer.

Joined by the rock band Train, it’s Levine who stole the show and blew everyone away. Most people know the Maroon 5 frontman for his silky smooth pop vocals, but did you know he’s also an incredible guitarist? Pulling off the guitar solo in “Purple Rain” is no easy feat, even for a seasoned guitar player, yet Levine destroyed it in the best way possible. He played it with such confidence and ease, and it’s amazing to watch him take complete control over such a widely celebrated song.

AdamLevineTrain

Here’s the multi-talented Adam Levine and Train with “Purple Rain”:

That’s a wrap for this week – have a great Monday!

Now on to the particulars of Monday’s Music Move’s Me:   PhotobucketI have the supreme honor and privilege of being a co-host with the inimitable Xmas Dolly and our musical cohorts, Callie from JAmericanSpice, and Naila Moon from Just the Stuff Ya Know. 

Want to join in the fun? It’s easy – just find a tune that rocks your boat, post it and link up – don’t forget to grab Xmas Dolly…er, um, I mean her button…over at her place here. Check out Xmas Dolly’s sidebar for the random themes we sport each week – and you can always ask for a specific theme of music you like, too. Check out the other music lovahs and let’s jam!

INTRODUCING OUR “SPOTLIGHT DANCER”:
APPLAUSE! APPLAUSE!



10 Comments

  1. I always liked Alanis Morisette she had a very unique style, and another you posted… cool. Did you know the theme was not the recorders hits, but their songs that weren’t hits. I figure if I never heard them before they weren’t hits. I heard all these lots of times. So either you got confused or I am. bwahahaha let’s be confused together!!!! love ya gal!!!!! ROCK ON!!!

    1. Yes, Alanis definitely has a unique style – love her! Yeah, I didn’t read the full description of the theme for the week – I mentioned it in my post…heh!! I’d already picked out songs and couldn’t find any (that I liked) in the last minute quickie search I did, so I went with what I’d already picked. I figure Claire would forgive the faux pas. 😉 No worries – you weren’t confused, I had a Blonde Moment! LOL!

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