This set from 1994-1995 is dominated by tracks that were popular on Adult Contemporary or Urban AC radio.
AKA:
… Songs that might play over a pharmacy P.A...
Yet even among this soft set, surprises abound.
Two black female singer-songwriters earned the biggest hits of their careers with smashes that scored on both pop and AC charts.
Standards and smooth jazz stalwart Harry Connick Jr. made a bid for the Top 40 with his track “(Could Only) Whisper Your Name.” It stopped at Number 74 pop- but, not surprisingly, went Top 20 AC.
England’s Des’ree spent 44 weeks on the Hot 100 with “You Gotta Be.” The song reached No. 5 pop, and Number 2 AC.
American Dionne Farris, who previously sang with Arrested Development, exploded on pop radio with “I Know,” hitting Number 4 pop, and Number 2 AC.
From movie soundtracks came:
Donna Allen’s to-the-rafters ballad “Real” (from The Specialist…)
Wet Wet Wet’s remake of “Love Is All Around” – a favorite of @jj-live-at-leeds 😊 ( from Four Weddings and a Funeral…)
And the out-and-proud remake of “No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)” by k.d. lang and Erasure’s Andy Bell ( from Coneheads.)
Bell and lang weren’t the only folks bringing LGBT visibility to the pop charts.
Jimmy Somerville, formerly of Bronski Beat, had a Number 1 dance hit with “Heartbeat…”
And singer-songwriter Jill Sobule hit No. 67 with her flirty “I Kissed a Girl,” more than a decade before Katy Perry topped with Hot 100 with a similar sentiment.
Rosie Gaines’ “I Want U,” co-written by Prince, is built on two Marvin Gaye tracks, his same-titled hit as well as “Inner City Blues.”
A similar old-meets-new vibe surrounds the rap track “I’ll Be Around,” which marries Rappin’ 4-Tay’s work with the music of the 1970 pop breakthrough for the Spinners, written by Stevie Wonder.
Nicki French’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” is more a straight-up remake. It did almost as well as Bonnie Tyler’s chart-topping original, hitting Number 2 on the Hot 100 and topping the mainstream radio charts.
A few tracks not available on Spotify can be found on YouTube:
- David Gates’ lovely but unsuccessful comeback bid:
“Love Is Always Seventeen…”
- Juliana Hatfield’s “Make It Home,” popularized on an episode of TV’s My So-Called Life…)
- And “That Look in Your Eyes,” a duet between Ali Campbell of UB40 and Pamela Starks.
Here’s the Spotify link for the rest of this set;
Which ones do you like? Hate?
Share your thoughts in the comments.
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Oops — I left out one of the soundtrack tunes. “You Will Know” (or, rendered Princelike, “U”), was a Top 30 pop and No. 5 R&B hit for Black Men United, a one-off conglomeration including D’Angelo, Usher, Gerald Levert, El Debarge, Boyz II Men and others. The song is included in the soundtrack to the movie “Jason’s Lyric.”
The winner here is EASILY “I Know” by Dionne Farris. I have loved that song since the moment I first heard it. I’m relieved that I at least knew a few of these.
A David Gates comeback attempt in the 2000s??? Who knew? (Well, Chuck knew, of course!)
Fairly easy trivia:
Without digital assistance: Can you name the Bread comeback song, and David Gates’ first solo hit?
No googling:
Bread’s comeback was – “Lost without your Love”
Gate’s first solo – wasn’t it something like “Goodbye Girl”?
1- Yes.
2- Close but not quite. “Goodbye Girl was his big solo hit, but he had another before that one.
Never Let You Go.
Correct!
While Des’ree’s “You Gotta Be” and Jill Sobule’s “I Kissed A Girl” are my favorites here, shout out to Little Texas. I was in a band that opened for them once and I had a long conversation with a couple of them backstage. Super nice guys.
Some surprises for me – tho not Wet Wet Wet, they’re like an old friend. An old friend that long ago wore out their welcome but no matter how hard you try to move on they just won’t let you go. Yeah, 15 weeks at #1 when you’re a teenager feels like a lifetime.
I am surprised to see a late career burst for Jimmy Sommervile. The 80s were his decade, with Bronski Beat then the Communards. His solo career started in 1989 and he had a couple of top tens in the next year but by 1995 he was about done.
Also very surprised to see 2 Unlimited with Get Ready For This. As that had been their breakout hit in 1991. They had a surprisingly strong chart run; eight top 10 singles and even two #1 albums. We loved our cheesy Euro rave in the 90s. Like Jimmy, by 1995 they were pretty much done as well. What took you so long America?
Finally, k.d. Lang and Andy Bell? I had no idea this ever happened. I didn’t see Coneheads. The reviews were not good this side of the pond.
I Know…six of the songs here. But I could only recall two of the artist names! Des’ree and Jill Sobule.
You Gotta Be better informed than I am, I’d say.
“You Gotta Be” and “I Know” still ring in my memory even though I probably haven’t heard either of them decades (I was going to say this century, but it can’t be 25 years since I last heard them, could it? Oh man, I am getting old … )
“You Gotta Be” is a 10. I get a Bill Withers vibe. Still sounds great.
One song. That’s it. All I knew. I’ll show myself out.