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Song of the Day #5,433: ‘That’s the Way Love Goes’ – Janet Jackson

It’s a family affair this weekend. A decade after Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’ topped the Hot 100, his sister Janet did the same with ‘That’s the Way Love Goes.’ We’re throwing back to the week of May 15, 1993, when the lead single of Janet Jackson’s album Janet dominated the charts.

‘That’s the Way Love Goes’ and Janet shifted Jackson’s image in a sultry, sexually provocative new direction. The song’s video found her dancing slinkily in a sleeveless half-shirt surrounded by her backup dancers (one of whom is a then unknown Jennifer Lopez).

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Song of the Day #5,432: ‘Beat It’ – Michael Jackson

Today we throw back 40 years to the week of May 14, 1983, when a song called ‘Beat It’ by little-known pop singer Michael Jackson topped the Billboard Hot 100.

I was surprised to see I hadn’t featured ‘Beat It’ on the blog through 5,432 Songs of the Day. The closest I’ve come is a Random Weekend feature of ‘Beat It 2008,’ a bonus track on the 25th anniversary re-release of Thriller that remixed the song and added vocals by Fergie. Exhibit A of why Throwback Weekends are already better than Random Weekends.

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Song of the Day #5,431: ‘Free Money’ – Patti Smith

Continuing my look at the albums of 1975…

Sometimes I have to acknowledge that a beloved artist just isn’t for me. Such is the case with Patti Smith, whose celebrated debut album Horse was released in 1975.

Smith is praised as the first “art punk” artist, a trailblazer who fused her poetic lyrics with the aggressive, three-chord structure of punk rock. I get that, but I derive no enjoyment from listening to that particular trail get blazed.

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Song of the Day #5,430: ‘Kashmir’ – Led Zeppelin

Continuing my look at the albums of 1975…

Last week I named Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here as one of my favorite 1975 albums and noted that the band was a staple of my high school days. Well, the other band my friends and I obsessed over was, of course, Led Zeppelin. Forgive me for being a walking cliché.

Something about Floyd and Zeppelin, different as they are, made them catnip for teenage boys, at least in the late 80s.

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Song of the Day #5,429: ‘Fame’ – David Bowie

Continuing my look at the albums of 1975…

I did a deep dive into David Bowie’s catalog shortly after he died in 2016. Among the albums I covered was 1975’s Young Americans, Bowie’s ninth studio album. This record marked a shift away from his glam rock phase and into what he called “plastic soul.”

Bowie left England to record for the first time in the U.S., in both Philadelphia and New York. While the sessions resulted in plenty of material, only eight tracks ended up on the final tracklist.

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