Imagine a song like Klymaxx's "I Miss You", Lillo Thomas' "Wanna Make Love (All Night Long)" or TWENTY ØNE PILØTS' "Heathens" being on your mind for five to ten minutes straight. None of those songs might be your favorites, but it wouldn't be the end of the world either way because they didn't stay on your mind for long. Now imagine the equivalent of hearing the same song stuck in your brain space for nearly nine hours straight. If you tend to be on the depressed side of the game or you're not wrapped too tight, then you might look a little more at that nearby bottle of Bacardi 151 to drown your sorrows and/or even a revolver to put yourself out of your misery. While the No. 1 song in this month's "Get Out of My Brain!" Countdown didn't quite put me in that mindset, I believe you all have a better idea of what I deal with from month to month. With seven brand new culprits and three repeat offenders ranging from residual Christmas music to a few shameless plugs, let's kick off 2017 with some insanity and I don't mean Shaun T...
#10 BOYZ II MEN FEAT. BRIAN MCKNIGHT, "Let It Snow" (Christmas Interpretations, Motown, 1993). Even with Christmas in the rear view, "Let It Snow" is the first of three songs keeping the seasonal spirit going. Between DJing a Christmas party at my job, overhearing Mrs. Scribbler listening to it a few days before Christmas and including this on my last edition of the "Rave & Favorite Five", it goes without saying how this made the cut. About six years before this last party when I had no DJ equipment, our Christmas party was driven by my iPod library. Of course, "Let It Snow" was an automatic for me, but a few of my younger coworkers expressed their displeasure. Looking at them like they each had three heads, I stood in disbelief like how can anyone dislike "Let It Snow"?!?! Although I have profound respect for them as people, I question their tastes in high quality Christmas music. Nevertheless, as long as I love this song, then their opinions to which they're entitled are irrelevant--even if they're wrong...
#9 ALEXANDER O'NEAL, "Crying Overtime" (Hearsay, Tabu, 1987). Moments In Intersectionality, Part 1: don't get me wrong, I absolutely love this song and have since my uncle dropped off a worn copy of O'Neal's Hearsay cassette with Momma Scribbler back in 1993. Not ever striking me as his biggest fan, I gravitated more toward this album and "Crying Overtime" was one of those songs from arguably his best album which stuck with me the most--that and this was one of those evening and late-night staples on WHUR's The Original Quiet Storm. Specifically, I remember a day in 1994 where it was raining cats and dogs, I had to trek uptown on the Metro and this was one of several songs which got me through that extremely damp excursion. However, as much I herald "Crying Overtime", it frankly only made this list because of its soon-to-be obvious association with the No. 4 entry. Nevertheless, anything from the best parts of Alexander O'Neal's soulful catalog is always welcome on this countdown...
#8 THE BEE GEES, "How Deep Is Your Love" (Saturday Night Fever: The Original Sound Track, RSO, 1977). While the White Oak Shop Rite has probably been a more consistent contributor, the music selection at the Beltsville CVS could easily chip in more entries because there's always something dope playing overhead while purchasing prescriptions, Tums and/or vitamins. As I'm carefully selecting Christmas and gift cards for my family, "How Deep Is Your Love" comes on and concentrating becomes more difficult because all I want to do is sing along. Then, once I've made my purchases and felt the pinch of spending a large amount of money on those who I love the most, the song continues to harass me long after I leave the CVS. Then, sporadically over a matter of days that same week, I'm still hearing it in my head. Finally, I realize how this along with "Too Much Heaven" has always been among my favorite songs from The Bee Gees and how I'm not offended whatsoever by "How Deep Is Your Love" giving my brain fits...
#7 FRANCES, "Grow" (Grow, Communion/Capitol, 2015). The beauty of commercials is often how they introduce us to "new" music and, as part of TV One's regular rotation of commercials in December, the "First Day of School" spot for Amazon Prime gave me a formal introduction to Oxford, England native Frances. However, listening to this song in the context of this commercial was a bit depressing at first. Granted, being a naturally shy person who often has to get to know people before I open up, I could relate to the kid in this ad and his difficulty in adjusting to a new environment. Still, he looked so out of place and all I could hear with "Grow" as his backdrop was a scene from Netflix's The Get Down when Shaolin Fantastic (Shameik Moore) told Boo-Boo Kipling (T.J. Brown, Jr.), "Boo-Boo, you're not helping." Thank God his dad got him a Superman outfit from Amazon Prime and the kids gravitated toward him to recall the sentiment of an otherwise touching song...
#6 SHERRICK, "Just Call" (Sherrick, Warner Bros., 1987). So this is what has happened with "Just Call" since August of last year. Whenever I have my monthly top ten established the week before I publish these posts, I wipe the slate clean to prepare for the following month. Newcomers make their bids to make the next list, but out of nowhere, "Just Call" decides to enter my brain. It'll be five minutes here...three minutes there...and an occasional splash for a minute or two. When that happens, I always think, "Maybe this is the month where he finally falls off the countdown." However, out of the blue, those opening drums start playing in my head...then that slap bass comes in...then the keys follow suit and next thing you know, it's been on my mind for like 30 minutes straight. To be something I hadn't heard since I was seven or eight years old, this is one of the most relentless songs which has ever been on my mind. Maybe not more than my favorite Lillo Thomas song mentioned in the opening paragraph, Freddie Jackson's "Rock Me Tonight (For Old Times Sake)" or Playa's "Cheers 2 U", but it's going strong nonetheless and showing no signs of falling off anytime soon--perhaps much to the chagrin of the New Problem Tuesdays faithful...
#5 A.J. THROWBACK, "Granny Smith" (Legend of the Fall, THCN Music, 2009). Moments in Shameless Plugging, Part 1: I try not to make these countdowns too much about my alter ego twin A.J. Throwback or anyone else I know personally. However, I have several dear, dear friends and perfect strangers who absolutely love this song and their enthusiasm about it has fueled my most recent obsession with it. Back story: after spending years behind the scenes as a producer, fellow artists and friends encouraged my twin to make a project showcasing his lyrical talents. Hence, his debut mixtape/street album Legend of the Fall was born with a sonic platform of hip hop and R&B instrumentals as old as Johnny Pearson's "Heavy Action" (the second and most iconic theme for Monday Night Football) and as new as Jay-Z's "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)"--which was the instrumental to catalyze the project. Having an initial desire to sample "Bitter Sweet" by MFSB, he decided to go against the grain and write to a song which begins with a waltz-like rhythm before transforming into a groove synonymous with the Philly soul sound of the 1970s. The end result is arguably the strongest lyrical showing in his catalog and easily a fan favorite--including the founder of this here blog...
#3 JIDENNA, "Long Live the Chief" (Long Live the Chief (Single), Epic/Wondaland, 2015). As the second of the repeat offenders, Jidenna moves up one spot from his previous position of prominence for three primary reasons. First, as discussed in last month's edition, one of my dear, dear friends put me on to this. Second, those conversations often evolved into how epic his scene was in the "Just to Get a Rep" episode of Luke Cage--the first season which I finally finished toward the beginning of December. (If you haven't watched it yet, it's dope.) Third, my alter ego twin was so inspired by the thunderous beat of the song--which is interestingly co-produced by longtime Wale collaborators Best Kept Secret (who have been his most consistent and best producers since his entry into the industry) and explains why it's so solid--that he began writing some ferocious bars to it. Granted, he only came up with a bunch of witty lines split up, but "Long Live the Chief" is a lyrical and sonic monster capable of bringing out the boss flow in anyone...
#2 GLADIATOR FEAT. RANSOM RELLIC & A.J. THROWBACK, "The Grinch Part 2" (The Grinch Part 2 (Single), 2016). Moments in Shameless Plugging, Part 2: I promise y'all this is the last you'll hear about my alter ego twin A.J. Throwback on this edition, but I also promise y'all it's his fault why another song of which he's a part is on this countdown. Much like several previous entries, his process of writing rhymes meant listening to this instrumental inside and outside of his brain for seven-and-a-half total hours. However, his final product arose from pressure and desperation. Our dear, dear friend Gladiator and A.J. were on the same page in writing from the perspective of persnickety older men fed up with the hustle and bustle of the holidays. The problem is our other dear, dear friend Ransom Rellic recorded his verse first, decided to ditch his peacemaker ways for a more lascivious tale and forced the other two lyricists on the track to match foolish with foolish. So with only two or three hours to write his verse while at work, he came up with 16 bars to match the tomfoolery of his partners-in-rhyme. Add in an hour-long studio session requiring more takes than to which he was normally accustomed and you have the only song which realistically threatened the following top dawg...
#1 FREDDIE JACKSON, "Look Around" (Just Like the First Time, Capitol, 1986). When this month's rotation began, "Look Around" started its victory lap in the same fashion as it finished in December: I simply looked around and the song came to mind. From there, Freddie Jackson proceeded to do what he used to do on a regular basis between 1993 and 1998 and hijack my mental airwaves. I further pondered the audacity of people who take the "no one's gonna love you like me/this is the best you can do" attitude toward their relationships and came up with an idea for a blog post originally scheduled for today to be paired with this post, but time constraints due to family and other personal obligations may keep that from occurring. At any rate, because a Freddie Jackson song has finally conquered a No. 1 spot after nine editions of this seemingly-beloved series, the spirit of the "Get Out of My Brain!" Countdown is now perfectly captured. Granted, it's not the song I ever would've expected to do so, but it's Freddie Jackson nonetheless.What song(s) have been fueling or nagging you over the past month? Please feel free to share one or a few of your own culprits in the comments. Don't forget to return Tuesday, February 7th for another random edition of Scribbler's "Get Out of My Brain!" Countdown of the Month!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please feel free to enthusiastically chime in or RESPECTFULLY disagree.