Although I'm not someone who vehemently resists change, my subconscious somehow didn't get that memo. Out of the ten songs from last month's countdown, five of them have returned for this month's list in their original form while another one has haunted me in an alternative form. Out of those six songs, the beginning of this month's cycle began with a three-horse race between Ralph Tresvant, Silk and Sherrick for pole position, but if Simone Manuel's historic accomplishment taught us nothing, the initial leaders or favorites don't always win in the end. (I know...hella dramatic.) Of course, we always have to talk about the losers. Mariah Carey's "Vision of Love" greeted me ferociously one morning as I reminisced about the summer of 1990, but she didn't make it past noon. Even with Jermaine Jackson's "Two Ships" hitting me at two different points of the month, perhaps the waves from the passing ships didn't make enough of a splash in my mind. "The Love I Lost" by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes harassed me at work for a day or two, but my brain may have lost love for it. Finally, discussing Babyface's brilliance on the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack immediately brought Mary J. Blige's "Not Gon' Cry" to mind. However, her awkward rendition of Bruce Springsteen's "American Skin (41 Shots)" to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in a promo for her upcoming series on Apple TV, The 411, may have quickly unseated one of my faves from the Queen of Hip Hop Soul from the rotation. So enough of the rambling about nonentities and on with the cut makers...
Ever since I first saw "Sweet Love" on Music Video Connection as a youngster, Anita Baker has been in my top 10 favorite R&B singers of all time. However, in the tradition of greats like Michael Jackson, James Brown and Michael McDonald, she has one "drawback" to her delivery: when she gets excited, her ability to enunciate suffers a bit. Exhibit A: in the verse following the bridge on her 1990 single "Talk to Me", it always sounded like she was saying "hacienda"; in actuality, she says "across your face". Right before going into the last round of chorus repetition, I always thought she said "you avoid my rush, you avoid my race, baby" when the factually correct translation is "you avoid my advice, you avoid my embrace, baby". In all fairness, I don't have the best hearing in the world due to years of listening to music in my headphones nearly at full blast and only grasping the concept of protecting one of my greatest assets within the last decade. Nevertheless, I know I'm not the only one who has looked at her like, "What the heck did you just say, lady?" Now that I've graduated summa cum laude from The Big Dadi Scribbler School of Lyric Translation, let's roll with the rest of the nonsense--and trust, I do mean nonsense...
You never know how a month's worth of random songs being lodged in the corners of your mind will work. Once the last batch of brain invaders left the scene of the crime, the first culprit looking to raid was "In My House" by the Mary Jane Girls. Truth be told, I can't even tell you what made me think of that song recently because as much as I've always liked it, I don't think about it very often. Hence, I had a feeling neither "In My House" would make the cut nor "Put It In Your Mouth" by Akinyele, "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love" by Peabo Bryson and Roberta Flack", "My Dad's Gone Crazy" by Eminem nor "The Lovers" by Alexander O'Neal. Guy's "Goodbye Love" had three opportunities to make the list--twice on its own and once via sampling on Mary J. Blige's "Don't Go"--but still didn't make it despite a strong resurgence. Of all people, Rihanna nearly made "Get Out of My Brain!" history with three entries including "Sex With Me" and "Needed Me", but you will soon see which one endured. Now that the losers have been accounted for, let's talk about the winners...
