Remembering the songs radio has forgotten.
I can hear you now: “Really? A Madonna song? How can anything by Madonna be forgotten?” (This may not in reality be what you are saying, but as this is my blog I get to assume that you are in fact saying these things just after reading the title to this entry, and so we’ll proceed from that assumption.)
Well, if I were to consider Madonna’s career in pop music, I would say that the Erotica album/era is in fact the most forgotten portion.
I’m not gonna lie: what made me think of this song originally was a comment by a politician who stated, “I’m all in favor of girls with guns who know their purpose.” How could this child of the 80s not think of Tommy Shaw?
Hands up: who remembers OXO? Hardly anyone reading this blog, that’s who. But, then, that’s why this page exists.
You wouldn’t think a popular song from the soundtrack of a movie such
as Beverly Hills Cop II would be listed as a “forgotten song”. You wouldn’t think that a song that hit number one on Billboard’s Hot 100 would be listed as such. You certainly wouldn’t think that a song that won an Oscar as Best Song would be forgotten. (Or, at least, I wouldn’t think so.) And yet, when the word “shakedown” hit the public discourse a couple of years ago as the result of a sitting congressman using it to discuss the government’s treatment of BP after the Gulf oil spill*, at least one person (that I knew of) was not familiar at all with this song, so I figured it deserved to be dug out.
“Shakedown” was actually written for Glenn Frey, but Bob Seger stepped in when Mr. Frey lost his voice just before the recording session. This was Mr. Seger’s only number one single (it spent 18 weeks on the Hot 100, and, per the song’s Wikipedia entry, it also hit number one on the Album Rock Tracks chart) and his next-to-last top 40 hit overall. And, as is usual for songs I list as “forgotten songs”, I don’t think I have ever heard a station where I have lived play this song in many years. Actually, for that matter, I think I might have heard this song once on the radio since it hit the charts back in 1987. I’m pretty sure that one time was a 1987 flashback feature, played the week that “Shakedown” hit number one (that being the week of August 1, 1987 (chart)).
Like these songs? Buy me a coffee!
*As I have stated before, I am only interested in discussing music here. Political statements, especially those of a couple of years ago, are not a topic of discussion in this post…it only inspired the choice of this song.
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A few months before my last forgotten song honoree hit the charts, a California girl named Tara Kemp hit the top ten with two songs from her eponymous and only album. You probably remember the first one; do you remember a second hit? One that sounds…well…kinda a lot like the first one?
Continue reading “Piece of My Heart by Tara Kemp”
