American Music Reinterpretation
This new category is for music that was covered by other American artists. Or “cover music,” as they now call it. Interesting how cover music seems to be a very serious thing now, and I think YouTube is largely responsible for that.
Song: The Air That I Breath
Artist: Simply Red
Album: Blue [Expanded] (1998)
Genre: Slow Pop
I absolutely love me some Simply Red. In my opinion, this is a really talented group, and lead singer Mick Hucknull is a true blue “blue eyed soulster.” I mean, based on his look, when you see Mick, you’d never think such power and feeling would come out of his mouth. I’ve always been a huge fan ever since they came out with “Holding Back The Years (1986),” and “Money$ Too Tight (To Mention) (1986).” The first time I discovered them was when I was watching MTV late one night. At that time, I was hypnotized because I just never heard any other White guy sing like that (other than Tom Jones, but his music was totally different). “The Air That I Breath” is a 1974 cover song from a group called the “Hollies.” I feel that Mick has done such a wonderful job, I didn’t even realize it was him, because it sounded just like I was listening to a remix of the Hollies and their song. Check it out.
I thought to myself, one day I’d give this guy another chance. When I first heard Robert Palmer’s music, I was not impressed to say the least. The first time I discovered him, was when I heard his #2 hit song from 1986 called, “I Didn’t Mean To Turn You On.” I absolutely hated this song! He performed this song as tho he was bored, and he was forced to sing it. His vocals were incredibly flat and monotone. Even the music video was kind of boring. The song was written by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (the very same men that produced Janet Jackson’s Control album), for an artist named Cherrelle. Cherrelle released her version of “I Didn’t Mean To Turn You On” in 1984 without major success. However, I did note it ranked #6 on the dance category; but in terms of the Top 100s, it was only at #79.
To be honest, I didn’t like his 1986 song “Addicted To Love” either. It was one of those songs you just tolerated listening to on the radio, ’cause none of the other stations were playing anything interesting. I also check out his quote “Greatest Hits;” but didn’t hear anything I liked either. However, not too long ago I was listening to an Ohio radio station (I think it was), and I heard a great song, and I didn’t even know it was Robert Palmer. The song was called, “Every Kinda People,” from his 1976 album called “Double Fun.” This song peaked at #16 on the Top 100. This song should have been #1 if you ask me. I’m really feelin’ this song. In essence the song is about doin’ the best you can in life. This song is entirely different from anything I’ve heard from him.
Thanks to Spotify, I can now easily look up his other original old albums. I was absolutely stunned, to find out he did a cover of Toots & the Maytals’ “Pressure Drop,” on his 1975 album “Pressure Drop.” I was stunned because even when I was growing up, and when my mom was playing this kind of music, very few people knew who the hell Toots & the Maytals were. I’m no going to lie, Palmer did a very good job on this song. Lastly, I like his 1976 song called “Keep In Touch,” from his album “Some People Can Do What They Like.” It has a strong funk that hits hard, yet some hints of that Blaxploitation sound. So, I guess I had to really dig for his older stuff to find what I liked from Robert. This is one of the reasons streaming services are important. No way would I find this music from solely looking at YouTube (unless I already knew what I was looking for (and sometimes not even then)).