Tag Archives: Aimee Mann

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Song of the Day #482: ‘I’ve Had It’ – Aimee Mann

whateverDue to a dispute with her ‘Til Tuesday label, it took five years for Aimee Mann to release her first solo album, Whatever. Her new label, Imago, then promptly fell into financial crisis and dissolved. As a result, Whatever received very little promotion and sold very few copies.

That’s a shame because it’s a fine album, a big step up from her work with ‘Til Tuesday. I included one of its songs, ‘Fourth of July,’ on the blog more than a year ago and it remains one of the best songs I’ve featured here.

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Song of the Day #480: ‘Voices Carry’ – ‘Til Tuesday

voicescarryI’ve wondered sometimes about the reasons behind the fate of one-hit wonders. Presuming there’s some level of talent involved in producing a quality song that strikes a nerve with the listening public, what keeps an artist from leveraging that talent into a sustainable career?

Is it bad luck? Or perhaps that one song is all he or she had in the creative bank to begin with? Might, say, a-ha have gone on to have the career of Duran Duran under different circumstances?

I mention this as a way to back into the start of a 2-week Aimee Mann theme, because it seems that back in 1985, when ‘Til Tuesday released ‘Voices Carry,’ they (and she) could very well have ended up as one-hit wonders.

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Song of the Day #280: ‘Two of Us’ – Aimee Mann and Michael Penn

mannpennMy second Beatles cover of the week comes courtesy of the I Am Sam soundtrack. I never saw that film but apparently the whole thing was scored with Beatles songs performed by other artists, including Ben Folds, Rufus Wainwright, The Wallflowers, Sarah McLachlan and plenty more.

I Am Sam, of course, is also the film in which Sean Penn made the mistake of going “full retard,” something no actor should do according to Robert Downey Jr.’s character in Tropic Thunder. God, that was a funny movie.

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Song of the Day #179: ‘It’s Over’ – Aimee Mann

aimeemann2Ten Best Songs of 2008 – #3

It occurs to me as I reach number three on this list that Alex’s comment about me being drawn to the melancholy is certainly borne out by this top ten list. Many of the songs I’ve already featured are downbeat and now we arrive at Aimee Mann, the queen of melancholy, with a song titled ‘It’s Over.’

Well, fine. I won’t hide from the facts. I like sad songs, for whatever reason, and here’s another one.

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Song of the Day #150: ‘Winter Wonderland’ – Aimee Mann & John Krasinski

mankrasI’m straying a bit from my usual pattern and going with two theme weeks in a row. I’m also running this week’s theme posts from Sunday through Thursday rather than Monday through Friday.

Why? Because this week’s theme is Christmas! From today through the holiday I will feature a Christmas song of one sort or another, starting today with an unlikely duet.

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