As I promised just a few days ago, I’m doing a quick Phoebe Bridgers Deep Dive, to better appreciate the talented singer-songwriter in advance of her third solo studio album.
This week I’ll feature songs from her first two full-length albums, as well as an EP and LP she recorded with supergroup boygenius and an album she recorded with Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst under the name Better Oblivion Community Center.
The week of July 19, 1986, found a trio of songs atop the Billboard Hot 100 that I’ve already covered: Genesis’ ‘Invisible Touch,’ Peter Gabriel’s ‘Sledgehammer,’ and Janet Jackson’s ‘Nasty.’
At #4 that week was Kenny Loggins’ ‘Danger Zone,’ the first of eight singles from the blockbuster soundtrack to the blockbuster movie Top Gun. Second single ‘Take My Breath Away,’ by Berlin, ended up making the bigger splash, reaching #1 and winning the Academy Award for Best Song. But this one was no slouch, peaking at #2 later that July.
Throwing back to the week of July 18, 1976, we find R&B group The Manhattans atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Kiss and Say Goodbye,’ by far their biggest hit.
Written by the deep-voiced Winfred Lovett, who also provides the spoken word intro, the song spent two weeks atop the Hot 100 and was a worldwide hit, topping the charts in a handful of other countries. The song also topped the R&B chart and ended the year as one of 1976’s most popular singles.
In a year of notable new releases by women, I was very excited to hear that my favorite of all — Miranda Lambert — will drop her tenth solo studio album in October.
Lambert is currently riding high on the success of Ella Langley’s ‘Choosin’ Texas,’ the Billboard juggernaut that she co-wrote and produced. That song has a bit of a 70s feel, and it’s that decade Lambert is exploring on her new album, Crisco.
Nearly ten years have passed since Tift Merritt’s last album, 2017’s wonderful Stitch of the World.
Merritt stepped away from recording new music after her daughter was born, but she certainly kept busy. She has served as a Practitioner-In-Residence at Duke University, collected artist interviews on her podcast The Spark, is a board member for the Artist Rights Alliance, and has refurbished an historic boutique hotel in her hometown of Raleigh, North Carolina. The 18-room hotel, The Gables, is now booking rooms for the fall.
Meet Me In Montauk 