Trollheart's Chart Fifty

Trollheart · 03-29-2023, 06:44 PM

Falling back into the twentieth century, when words like Al Quaeda. social distancing and Donald Trump were all but unknown... Ah! Good times!

Title: “Black or White”
Artist: Michael Jackson
Nationality: American
Genre: Pop Rock/Hip-hop
Written by: Michael Jackson, Bill Bottrell
Original release date: November 11 1991
Progress to the top: Came straight in but had a pretty rapid drop. Gone from the top 10 by Christmas and out of the chart by the end of January.
Weeks spent at number one: 2
From the album: Dangerous
What do I know about this artist? You jest! You jape!
What do I think of this single? I was never a huge fan of Jackson, but even I have to admit he had some great songs. This wasn’t quite up there with “Billy Jean”, “Earth Song”, “Thriller” or “Bad”, but it’s certainly better than some of the dross he would come out with towards the end of his career/life. Has a great message in it, even if he was kind of stymying that message by his determination to change his skin pigment, and no I don’t believe it was some complaint he had.
What have I learned about this single? Not really all that much. More about the need or desire for Jackson to leave the Quincy Jones days behind and move into a rockier idea, and about the controversy with his video, the seemingly wanton violence at the end which he addressed by turning it against racial slurs. Talk about turning a negative into a positive.
My rating: A+

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTFE8cirkdQ

something_or_other · 04-07-2023, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

My first random spin gave me number 33, so what's there this week and what was there this week up to fifty years ago? Well, this week (or as close to it as I can get anyway) we have this:

Title: “Super Freaky Girl”
Artist: Nicki Minaj
Nationality: Trinidadian
Genre: Hip-hop, Pop Rap
Written by: Rick James, Alonzo Miller, Lukasz Gottwald, Aaron Joseph, Lauren Miller, Vaughan Oliver (Lyrics by Onilka Maraj/Nicki Minaj and Gamal Lewis/LunchMoney Lewis)
Original release date: August 22 2022
Highest chart position (at time of writing): 10 (1 in the USA)
Chart position (at time of writing): 33
Progress, if any, at time of writing: Descending
From the album: N/A
What do I know about this artist? Very little; I know her name and that she’s a rapper/pop artist and usually has pink hair, but other than that, nada.
What do I think of this single? Okay, hands up anyone who thought I liked it? Huh? Oh, right. You just joined today. Well, you’ll learn once you get to know me. Look, it wasn’t as terrible as I had expected it to be, but let’s be honest here: the main thrust (ooer) or if you prefer the meat (double ooer) of the song is in the original: that instantly recognisable keyboard riff, the beat, it’s all James and then she’s spouting sexual not-quite-innuendos all over it. Yeah it’s okay and I can see how it was so popular, and you can’t fault the video (not that that should really factor into my decision, but this is the age of MTV, sort of). But really the only thing this song showed me was that I do actually know “Super Freak”, and it’s a cool song. This is okay but you know, meh.
What have I learned about this single? Seems to have been very successful, taking her to number one in the US, in fact debuting at number one, though it didn’t do quite as well over here, as you can see. Still made the top ten. Just. It’s not from any album, as seems to be increasingly the norm these days with pop artists - probably due to the popularity of streaming sites: indeed, this was the highest-charting debut for a female solo rap singer (well, it says biggest debut, but I assume that’s what it means) on Spotify. It liberally samples Rick James’s 1981 hit “Super Freak” (which then proves she didn’t exactly go outof her way to title it, just adding a “y” and “girl” to the song) but I’m no fan of James so could not tell you how, if at all, it compares to the original.

Some controversy apparently, if you care, about her being annoyed it was chosen as a pop rather than a rap single, which kind of seems like splitting hairs to me, but there you go. Then some sort of “Twitter battle” between her and some other rapper, Latte or Ladder or, no, Latto, that’s the one. As if I care.
My rating: A-

I find this song kinda silly. The first part of the chorus sounds like a sexual as seen on tv ad.

Trollheart · 04-16-2023, 12:30 PM

Back another ten years, and this was at the top.

Title: “Under Pressure”
Artist: Queen and David Bowie
Nationality: English
Genre: Pop, Rock
Written by: Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor, Brian May, David Bowie, John Deacon
Original release date: October 25 1981
Progress to the top: Two weeks after release it entered the top 10 at number 8 and hit number one the next week, spending two weeks there before sliding fairly quickly down. By January it was out of the top forty, and fell off the chart two weeks later.
Weeks spent at number one: 2
From the album: Hot Space (Queen)
What do I know about this artist? Know both of them very well; who doesn’t? This was the first and only time Bowie duetted with Queen and the only time Queen teamed up with another star, so far as I know.
What do I think of this single? Always liked this one, both as a Bowie fan and as a Queen one. Hypnotic bassline, both singers at the very top of their game, a powerful and poignant song, the more now that its two vocalists have both passed on.
What have I learned about this single? Not much I didn’t already know. Bowie and Queen were recording at the same studio, met up and decided to work a few songs together, this being the best of them. Sampled later, without permission from either, by Vanilla Ice, which put him in the spotlight for probably the only time in his life due to a major lawsuit which he lost. Well how could he not? Sandwiched in between two of Bowie’s last great albums, Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) and Let’s Dance, after which he virtually vanished from the charts, and bridging an uncomfortable gap for Queen after the somewhat embarrassing soundtrack to the movie Flash Gordon (which nevertheless gave them a big hit) and their comeback in 1984 with A Kind of Magic.
My rating: A+++

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a01QQZyl-_I[/youtube]

03-29-2023, 06:44 PM	#31 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	Falling back into the twentieth century, when words like Al Quaeda. social distancing and Donald Trump were all but unknown... Ah! Good times! Title: “Black or White” Artist: Michael Jackson Nationality: American Genre: Pop Rock/Hip-hop Written by: Michael Jackson, Bill Bottrell Original release date: November 11 1991 Progress to the top: Came straight in but had a pretty rapid drop. Gone from the top 10 by Christmas and out of the chart by the end of January. Weeks spent at number one: 2 From the album: Dangerous What do I know about this artist? You jest! You jape! What do I think of this single? I was never a huge fan of Jackson, but even I have to admit he had some great songs. This wasn’t quite up there with “Billy Jean”, “Earth Song”, “Thriller” or “Bad”, but it’s certainly better than some of the dross he would come out with towards the end of his career/life. Has a great message in it, even if he was kind of stymying that message by his determination to change his skin pigment, and no I don’t believe it was some complaint he had. What have I learned about this single? Not really all that much. More about the need or desire for Jackson to leave the Quincy Jones days behind and move into a rockier idea, and about the controversy with his video, the seemingly wanton violence at the end which he addressed by turning it against racial slurs. Talk about turning a negative into a positive. My rating: A+ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTFE8cirkdQ __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

04-16-2023, 12:30 PM	#33 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	Back another ten years, and this was at the top. Title: “Under Pressure” Artist: Queen and David Bowie Nationality: English Genre: Pop, Rock Written by: Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor, Brian May, David Bowie, John Deacon Original release date: October 25 1981 Progress to the top: Two weeks after release it entered the top 10 at number 8 and hit number one the next week, spending two weeks there before sliding fairly quickly down. By January it was out of the top forty, and fell off the chart two weeks later. Weeks spent at number one: 2 From the album: Hot Space (Queen) What do I know about this artist? Know both of them very well; who doesn’t? This was the first and only time Bowie duetted with Queen and the only time Queen teamed up with another star, so far as I know. What do I think of this single? Always liked this one, both as a Bowie fan and as a Queen one. Hypnotic bassline, both singers at the very top of their game, a powerful and poignant song, the more now that its two vocalists have both passed on. What have I learned about this single? Not much I didn’t already know. Bowie and Queen were recording at the same studio, met up and decided to work a few songs together, this being the best of them. Sampled later, without permission from either, by Vanilla Ice, which put him in the spotlight for probably the only time in his life due to a major lawsuit which he lost. Well how could he not? Sandwiched in between two of Bowie’s last great albums, Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) and Let’s Dance, after which he virtually vanished from the charts, and bridging an uncomfortable gap for Queen after the somewhat embarrassing soundtrack to the movie Flash Gordon (which nevertheless gave them a big hit) and their comeback in 1984 with A Kind of Magic. My rating: A+++ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a01QQZyl-_I[/youtube] __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018