Welcome back to Part 2!
The tracks on this set show the influence that John Garabedian’s weekend radio show, Open House Party, had on my buying, listening and charting habits.
Of the 20 songs in this Part 2, half are songs I can remember hearing on Open House Party.
C&C Music Factory’s “Gonna Make You Sweat” marks the third time in three volumes that Martha Wash provides the lead vocals for a studio group.
In 1989, she sang lead on Seduction’s “(You’re My One and Only) True Love.”
The following year, Black Box’s “Everybody, Everybody” featured Wash.
Unfortunately, in each of these cases, Wash had to take legal action to get the producers involved to properly credit her work.
There was no such drama surrounding “Tom’s Diner,” the offbeat dance hit for DNA featuring Suzanne Vega. But there could have been.
Originally, the producers took the track from Vega’s 1987 LP Solitude Standing (the same album that produced “Luka”), and remixed and released it without her permission (though crediting her vocals).
However, Vega liked the remix, and her label agreed to provide a proper release.
It, like Luka, became a Top 5 hit.
Vega’s track wasn’t the only odd base for a dance-pop hit in 1991.
Enigma made a dance hit out of Gregorian chant, of all things, and took “Sadeness, Part 1,” to No. 5.
Austria’s Bingoboys took an old instructional dance record and played off rapper Princessa’s takedowns on “(Show Me) How to Dance,” hitting No. 25 pop.
Several songs sampled or remade hits to create something new.
Troop, Levert and Queen Latifah all contributed to the New Jack City soundtrack remake medley of Stevie Wonder’s “Livin’ for the City” and The O’Jays’ “For the Love of Money.”
Father M.C. built “I’ll Do for You” from a sample of Cheryl Lynn’s “Got to Be Real…”
…While Heavy D and the Boyz remade “Now That We Found Love,” previously recorded by The O’Jays and Third World.
Rapper Monie Love teamed up with vocal group True Image to turn a Spinners hit written by Stevie Wonder into “It’s a Shame (My Sister).”
And 3rd Bass’ sneering Vanilla Ice takedown, “Pop Goes the Weasel,” ironically samples multiple hits including Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer,” Stevie Wonder’s “You Haven’t Done Nothin’,” and the Who’s “Eminence Front.”
Let’s look at a few songs that weren’t dance hits.
Chris Isaak earned his only major pop hit with his spare midtempo “Wicked Game…”
…While actress Jasmine Guy broke into the pop top 40 with “I Just Want to Hold You,” an R&B ballad akin to Janet Jackson’s “Let’s Wait Awhile.”
From the world of rock:
England’s Jesus Jones soared to No. 2 with “Right Here, Right Now,…”
…While The Black Crowes, originally from Georgia, took “She Talks to Angels” to No. 30.
While Eurythmics partner Annie Lennox racked up solo hits, Dave Stewart earned his own, teaming up with Dutch sax player Candy Dulfer for “Lily Was Here,” a No. 11 instrumental in July.
The only song unavailable on Spotify this time is the Peace Choir’s remake of John Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance,” available here on YouTube. (A great recording? No. But definitely a sonic time capsule of 1991.)
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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Good selection. I knew 13 of these, and I don’t dislike any of them. Like the last batch, a bunch of them are on the playlists I made of house music from ’90 and ’91, culled from the comment section and Tom’s column. Of the non-dance tracks, Wicked Game is an all-time fave of mine and a karaoke go-to. I’ve never gotten tired of hearing it.
This post is clearly stretching the series title a bit because anyone who knows “She Talks to Angels” at all knows that the Black Crowes sang it
I beg to differ. As more of a Top 40 fan than a rock radio devotee, I could just as easily answer “Counting Crows” as “Black Crowes” to this one. One of the points of this series is that what some listeners take as obvious might earn a look of befuddlement or moment of head-scratching from others recalling an artist. It’s not just the one-hit wonders.
In other news, I just woke up from a dream in which I was with a group of people brainstorming on who should record a cover of Islands in the Stream.
We came up with Miley Cyrus and Luke Bryan. You’ve done a few articles featuring duets, Chuck. What do you think? Did my dream pick a decent pair to record that song? I have no idea, as I barely know what Luke Bryan sounds like.
That sounds about right. I will admit I’m not as fully up-to-date on contemporary country artists, but that song was so pop-country that Cyrus makes sense.
Thanks, Chuck. I feel reassured that my subconscious has things handled while I’m asleep.
I’m glad to know that I’m not the only man in his 30s who was listening to John Garabedian’s Open House Party on the radio Saturday nights in the 1990s. These are all quirky hits showing to me how much more diversified the pop playlist was then as opposed to now. My favorite is “Sadeness, Part I” just because it was so out there then (and now) to be in the top 5. And I’m glad that Martha Wash finally got recognition and hopefully a lot of money for how badly and frequently producers used her vocals without credit.
The biggest surprise here for me is finding out that Candy Dulfer is Dutch. She’s been a part of the American Jazz and Rock scenes for so long I assumed she was from New York or something. My bad.
Some of these names don’t ring a bell at all. Father M.C.? Lisette Melendez? Peace Choir? I’ll have to give them a chance.
That Lisette Melendez song on the list is a banger. You should listen to it.
My advice for the day.
And so for today’s edition of “Sentences I Didn’t Think I’d Be Typing,“ I may or may not have an article upcoming that features Bingoboys.
You have been warned.
Well this is a surprise. An appalling Eurodance hit that made in the US but sank without trace here? I have never heard of the Bingoboys and I don’t intend finding out what I’ve been missing.
Chris Isaak, Monie Love, Vega/DNA were big favourites for me. Enigma started off as something new and unusual but I got bored with them after Sadeness. That was a #1, a position their first two albums reached as well.
Heavy D And The Boyz was a big song of the summer. It’s entwined in my memory with days out at the beach.
That Bingoboys track is not appalling to me at all. It’s fun.
I’m happy to take you at your word.
The title track off Monie Love’s Down to Earth was remixed and released as a single. It didn’t chart. I think the original version stood a better chance. I’m not familiar with “It’s a Shame(My Sister)”. I like it. But in my opinion, Monie Love shines the brightest on her guest MC spot on Queen Latifah’s “Ladies First”. I was so ready for Love’s debut. (Did you see Saroise Ronan in The Outrun? Wow. It’s not your standard recovering blackout drunk film. Have you visited the Orkney Islands?)
I’m out of touch, I’d not heard of The Outrun let alone seen it. In my younger days I’d have been all over it. Life gets in the way.
I haven’t visited the Orkney’s either. Though they are on a list of places I’d love to get to. Scotland has a range of windswept but ruggedly beautiful island chains to visit; Shetland Islands and Western Isles are strong contenders too.
Candy Dulfer is one saxy lady