In this fourth installment of musical hand-offs from one artist to another, we’ve got some odd connections and overlooked gems, many from the ’80s and ’90s.
Here’s a closer look, along with where each track can be found on vinyl or CD.
Track 1:
B.J. Thomas and Dusty Springfield
“As Long As We Got Each Other.”
It’s funny – I don’t know that I ever made it through an episode of TV’s Growing Pains. To me, it was a weak take on the superior Family Ties. Having said that, I enjoyed the Growing Pains theme song, and when I found a full-length version, I was glad to add it to my collection.
Track 2:
Pet Shop Boys and Dusty Springfield
“What Have I Done to Deserve This?”
Hands down, one of the best collaborations of the ’80s. Springfield’s warmth plays wonderfully against the chilliness of Neil Tennant’s lead vocal. It’s truly a shame that this track from the album Actually peaked at No. 2. I would have loved to read a full segment on this song from Tom Breihan at The Number Ones.
Track 3:
Liza Minnelli and the Pet Shop Boys
“Love Pains”
I’m more of a “Barbra gay” than a “Liza gay.” But I did find Ms. Minnelli’s remake of Yvonne Elliman’s 1979 disco burner a fun update. The production from the Pet Shop Boys helped immensely. It can be found on the CD Results.
Track 4:
Liza Minnelli and Donna Summer
“Does He Love You?”
As more of a “Barbra gay,” I prefer the Streisand-Summer duet “No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)” to this 1996 collaboration: Essentially a two-decades-older version of Brandy and Monica’s “The Boy Is Mine.”
This one is not available on Spotify, but you can find it here on YouTube. (And yes, country fans, Reba McEntire and Linda Davis earned a No. 1 country hit with the same song.)
Track 5:
Donna Summer and Bruce Roberts
“Whenever There Is Love”
For every songwriter like Carole King who became known for her singing, there are dozens of songwriters who fail to make the leap. Bruce Roberts is one. He made a try in the mid-’90s. On this duet from the movie soundtrack Daylight, he joins Summer, who had success with his co-write “No More Tears.” This one missed the Hot 100 in 1996.
Track 6:
Bruce Roberts and All-4-One
“When Love Goes”
Fans of glossy singer-songwriter adult contemporary might well like Roberts’ Intimacy CD from 1995. Lots of guest performers join on backing vocals, including All-4-One on this track, also featured in the movie It’s My Party with Eric Roberts and Olivia Newton-John.
Track 7:
Kenny Rogers and All-4-One
“Write Your Name (Across My Heart)”
From Rogers’ 1997 CD Across My Heart came this country/pop ballad with the vocal quartet who had multiple successes with pop covers of country hits. This one failed to click on either chart. Interesting note: It was co-written by Randy VanWarmer of “Just When I Needed You Most” fame.
Track 8:
Kenny Rogers, Kim Carnes, and James Ingram
“What About Me?”
This 1984 single reunited 1980 collaborators Rogers and Carnes, this time pulling Ingram into the story of a three-way love affair. I know it wasn’t the artists’ intent, but ending the song with Carnes’ question always made me think the two guys hooked up and left her.
Track 9:
Quincy Jones, Barry White, James Ingram, El Debarge and Al B. Sure!
“The Secret Garden”
Quincy Jones, Barry White, James Ingram, El Debarge and Al B. Sure! Four vocalists on one seduction track could seem grossly overdone, but Jones’ expert production spotlights each singer effectively. You’ll find this on Q’s 1989 release Back on the Block.
Track 10:
Barry White and Tina Turner
“In Your Wildest Dreams”
White adds his remarkable baritone to Tina’s slow-burner from her 1996 CD Wildest Dreams. The track’s original European version originally featured vocals from actor Antonio Banderas. (Seriously!)
Track 11:
David Bowie and Tina Turner,
“Tonight”
The original duet from Bowie’s 1984 CD of the same name is a little too subtle. But this version from Turner’s Tina Live in Europe CD amps the energy up, just enough.
Track 12:
Queen and David Bowie
“Under Pressure”
It is amazing to believe this essential track of both Queen’s and Bowie’s repertoires peaked at No. 29 on the Hot 100. (But, then, Bowie’s “Changes” peaked at No. 41 seven years earlier.) What is sobering is how the lyrics are as relevant four decades later, if not more so.
Track 13:
George Michael and Queen
“Somebody to Love”
Michael’s faithful tribute to Freddie Mercury comes from the “Five Live” set at the Wembley Arena tribute concert in 1992. A strong rendition of an already powerful composition, it hit the Top 40 in 1993.
Track 14:
Mary J. Blige and George Michael
“As”
George and Mary do a fabulous job of covering this Stevie Wonder track originally from Songs in the Key of Life. An international hit, it wasn’t released in the U.S. as a single, reportedly because an MCA record executive was angry about Michael’s indecency arrest in a men’s room.
Track 15:
Mary J. Blige and U2
“One”
Mary threatens to steal this composition from the group that first made it famous in this 2005 recording from her album The Breakthrough. As much as I love the original, I find this version stunning – Blige just soars. (I love the way she sings “Have you come to play Jeee-hee-ee-sus?”)
Track 16:
U2 and B.B. King
“When Love Comes to Town”
This collaboration from U2’s Rattle and Hum CD in 1988 went to Number 2 on the rock chart, and No. 68 pop. King’s guitar and vocals provide a welcome earthiness.
Track 17:
Primitive Radio Gods and B.B. KIng
“Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand”
King doesn’t receive formal credit, but the sample of his song “How Blue Can You Get” forms the nucleus of this ’90s-rock mainstay. Yes, I bought the CD because I wanted this song that badly. Yes, I felt ripped off.
Here’s where you can find most of these on Spotify:
Which is your favorite?
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I only knew 6 of these. “When Love Comes to Town” is my favorite out of those.
Today I learned that Dusty Springfield sang on the Growing Pains theme. Although her version was only for Season 4, apparently.
I’m a bit ambivalent on the lyrics of “Under Pressure.” On one hand, a line like “people on streets” feels like a celebrity’s lazy shorthand for the struggles that make for a good “socially conscious” song content.
But Bowie’s bits in the song give it some more bite. It’s the terror of knowing what this world is about. And by the end, he busts out of the song’s formula, and dares you to care about something higher. This is our last dance, this is ourselves. That’s some serious moonlight.
I see what you did at the end there.
A connection within the relay. Pet Shop Boys covered Where The Streets Have No Name, combining it with the Boystown Gang arrangement of Can’t Take My Eyes Off You. To which Bono responded “What have we done to deserve this?”
Though any tension between the two has since been ironed out.
Liza’s one and only UK top 40 hit is another PSB production from Results; Losing My Mind. Reached #6. I prefer that over Love Pains; more theatrical and bombastic. While sounding very like PSB.
Perfect response from Bono.
Nice selection, Chuck. I’m picking “Under Pressure” as the winner here.
Stop me if I’ve told this story before but my first day job after moving to Nashville was working for Linda Davis’ husband, Lang Scott. Their daughter is Hillary Scott from Lady Antebellum. Anyway, Linda would help out around the office and sometimes would go around collecting the trash at everyone’s desk. I thought, “You have Grammys, and you’re emptying my trash can?” Super nice people all the way around.
Tanita Tikaram was briefly indie-famous in 1988, famous enough to get Liza Minnelli’s attention. She covered “Twist in My Sobriety”, the only song a casual music fan may know from Tikaram’s debut album Ancient Heart. I got it half-right. She is part-Indo-Fijian. I bought Results. “Twist in My Sobriety” wasn’t chosen as a single. The record company was smart. They knew there were people out there like me who weren’t Minnelli fans, but were indie-showtune curious. I remember “Love Pains”. I liked it.
Tikaram’s been inactive since 2016. But if Boston shoegazers Drop Nineteens(they do a mean “Mandy”) can make a comeback, albeit a brief one-shot, anybody can return.
I got to seven recognized songs this time.
Several classics here, but I think “Under Pressure” is the winner.
That said, the MJB cover of “One” is God-Tier stuff, and I’m not even the biggest MJB fan. She DESTROYS on that song.