Monthly Archives: November 2009

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Rihanna – Rated R

What a fascinating career Rihanna has already had.

By 2008, she had sold more than 12 million albums worldwide and notched more #1 singles than any other woman this decade (or century, or millennium). And she was just 19 years old, having gone from an unknown schoolgirl in a small town in Barbados to an international megastar.

And then, on the night of the 2009 Grammys, she became the most famous victim of domestic violence since Tina Turner when her boyfriend, singer Chris Brown, viciously beat her during an argument in his car. The pictures of Rihanna following the incident were horrific, as was the prospect of her returning to Brown’s side — which she did, briefly, before thinking better of it and leaving him for good.

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Song of the Day #494: ‘Buddy X’ – Neneh Cherry

Now here’s a song that takes me back.

When I worked in a movie theater during college, we used to play these MovieTunes CDs on repeat all day. They still use them today, at least until ‘The Twenty’ starts. The CDs are about 45 minutes long and feature a dozen or so songs from new and upcoming releases, as well as some promotional banter between tracks.

They are harmless enough for patrons of the theater, who likely hear each song once, if that. But working an 8 hour shift means hearing each of those songs about a dozen times per day, four or five days per week. Lots of potential for hair-pulling.

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Song of the Day #493: ‘I’m a Loser’ – The Beatles

imaloserAfter ‘What You’re Doing,’ my favorite song on Beatles For Sale is John Lennon’s ‘I’m a Loser.’ Lennon dressed up his famously low self esteem in a song about a failed relationship but really about his own insecurities.

Lennon was paying a lot of attention to Bob Dylan at the time, and this is the first of his songs that makes that influence clear (it would become more clear with ‘You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away’ on the band’s next album).

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Song of the Day #492: ‘Eight Days a Week’ – The Beatles

eighdaysThe Beatles’ fourth album, Beatles For Sale, has the dubious honor of being my least favorite of the band’s releases. Nestled between A Hard Day’s Night and Help! with half of its tracklist dedicated to covers, it never really stood a chance.

But, as the saying goes, the worst Beatles album is still better than most of what’s out there. And Beatles For Sale certainly has its share of great songs.

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Song of the Day #491: ‘Medicine Wheel’ – Aimee Mann

smilersAimee Mann’s sixth album of original material, 2008’s @#%&*! Smilers, is her best work yet. It’s the first since Bachelor No. 2 to work as a simple collection of songs and not a concept album and perhaps it was that freedom that allowed her to produce such a consistently great record.

This is one of those albums that feels like it’s always one step ahead of you, taking unexpected turns that seem perfectly obvious in retrospect. It’s the rare album about which you can say “There isn’t a moment on this record I don’t love.”

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