Viral hit ‘Rich Men North of Richmond,’ yesterday’s Song of the Day, caught the attention of English singer-songwriter Billy Bragg, who apparently had the same reservations about the lyrics as most thoughtful people.
He did recognize the germ of truth at the heart of the song, however, and wrote his own tune in response, directing his anger at the titular rich men rather than the obese welfare recipients targeted by Anthony.
I just got through a couple of weeks of recapping the Billboard Hot 100, but if I’d waited until this week to start I would have had a couple of notable milestones to cover.
First, as I predicted two weeks ago, Morgan Wallen’s ‘Last Night’ hung on to the top spot for one more week, surpassing Harry Styles’ ‘As It Was’ to become the song with the longest tenure at #1 by a solo artist (without features). Perhaps a 4-month run at #1 makes that the default Song of the Summer?
Throwing back to the week of August 25, 1973, we find the New York rock band Stories topping the Billboard Hot 100 with their cover of the song ‘Brother Louie,’ a slinky jam about an interracial couple.
This song was originally recorded by a British band called Hot Chocolate. Their funkier version, complete with spoken-word interludes by the racist parents of the song’s protagoinsts, reached #7 on the UK charts.
Throwing back to the week of August 24, 1963, we find a pre-teen Stevie Wonder (then billed as Little Stevie Wonder) atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Fingertips – Pt 2,’ the B-side of the first single from his album The 12 Year Old Genius – Recorded Live.
The full ‘Fingertips’ is an instrumental jazz track that was split across two sides for release. It was the second half of the performance, when Wonder was called back onstage for an encore after a rousing bit of harmonica playing, that rocketed up the charts, giving Wonder his first #1 hit.
My apologies for choosing to do a ‘What the Kids are Listening To’ segment the week after Travis Scott’s new album dropped. Rounding out this week’s posts is ‘Hyaena,’ the opening track of Scott’s Utopia and the fourth song of his to appear in the past two weeks. It debuted at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100.
As daily commenter Dana suggested last week, this album was not intended for me. I’m sure there are plenty of people my age who enjoy it, but I’m sure there are plenty more who don’t get it and never will.
Meet Me In Montauk 