Tune Tag #91 with Kristin DeMarr of All the Things She Said: Donna Summer, Pet Shop Boys, Isley Brothers, Sons of Champlin, Daughter, Pointer Sisters
We seem to have reached a "palabra plurality" on The Tag! Lots of S's dot the lexical landscape! And, I'm also noticing a familiar familial focus: Sons, Daughters, Boys, Brothers, Sisters. Hmmm.....🤔
, and I’ve been writing on Substack since 2019. I’m a mom to four teenagers and a bonus mom to two adult children. My favorite things in life (other than family) are music, friends, movies, TV shows, writing, and drinking beer.
I have an MA in English with a writing emphasis, and I have been teaching college writing courses since 2003 at a variety of community colleges between Iowa and Wisconsin. I did have a full-time position as a Humanities Instructor at a tribal community college in North Dakota for a year and a half, but then moved back to Iowa to be closer to family. I have taught college classes online part-time since 2015 and I have mostly been teaching an Intro to Film class since 2019.
In the summer of 2023, I had a local interest book published that I co-wrote with another local author; Quad Cities Beer: A History (above). That was a fun one to research! I have plans to write a couple of books on specific areas of music, but I keep waiting until life settles down to start. That’s never going to happen, so I’m starting to make some more concrete plans. In the meantime, I will continue writing about life, music, and entertainment as much as possible on my Substack, All the Things She Said.
I can’t tell you how excited and honored I was to get a message from Brad Kyle asking me to participate in a Tune Tag! Never mind the fact that when I read them, I am always amazed at how deep people go and how incredible it is when they figure out the obscure tags, and I think to myself that I would never participate in something like this because I would be so horrible at finding those tags!
So, when he messaged, I was like, “Absolutely!”
Kristin’s song #1 sent to Brad: Daughter, “Perth/Ready for the Floor”
Kristin’s rationale: I immediately went to look at the last Tune Tag, which had just come out that morning, to see who picks the first song. Of course, the guest – Brad messaged me to give me the info just as I was figuring that out. Was it too late to back out? I mean, what song would I pick?? So much pressure!
So many songs ran through my head! All of the current songs I’m obsessed with! Donna Summer’s “On the Radio,” as well as these I recently revealed:
I wanted to start with something not super popular (which ruled out most of what went through my mind initially). Not something too new, but also not something super old. I also wanted to start out with a female artist. I thought about the bands that I obsess over, and came up with Daughter. They are not super popular, but not too obscure. I recently wrote about my Daughter-love (click here).
Once I settled on Daughter, I had to figure out which song: I picked a Rhapsody Radar Session mash-up/cover song they did recently called “Perth/Ready for the Floor.”
This mash-up/cover is Bon Iver (“Perth”) and Hot Chip (“Ready for the Floor”), and it just blows me away! I hadn’t heard of Hot Chip before, and they felt like a band that I *should* have been familiar with. Had they come out in 1988 vs 2008, they would have been on my radar. I also had no idea who Bon Iver was (at the time, 2015); I had only heard this cover and a cover of “Skinny Love” by Birdy.
After hearing this, I went and listened to the originals of both songs. To me, this/these versions are so much better than the originals – so much more depth and emotion to them, and this is what Daughter does best.
My thinking in choosing this was also that I would make it easier for Brad to come up with something connected – covers, mashups, Daughter, Bon Iver, Hot Chip…etc… That was probably not the best route because, really, that would make it harder for me to guess the tag!
I had to go to their Discogs bio (as recommended by the Bureau For the New-Music-Impaired, the ole BFNMI, of which I’m a member) to unravel just who this Daughter purports to be: A London-based indie folk trio of Elena Tonra (vocals, guitar), Igor Haefeli (guitar), and Remi Aguilella (drums). Starting life in 2010 as an outlet for the musings of Elena & Igor (then fellow class-mates studying music in college), they soon gained attention with their self-released 4-track EP, His Young Heart, in April 2011.
Brad’s song #1 sent to Kristin: The Sons of Champlin, “Here is Where Your Love Belongs,” 1976
Kristin’s response: I have no clue what the tag is. I’ve gone down so many rabbit holes trying to figure it out. It’s probably something simple, and I’m overthinking. My best guesses via Wikipedia reading:
“Elton John is a huge Bon Iver fan, and Tamara Champlin (wife of Bill Champlin and member of the Sons of Champlin at one point) did background vocals on his album, The Fox. Bill Champlin was a member of Chicago as well.” With so many people involved in both The Sons of Champlin and Chicago, there’s probably a connection to Bon Iver somewhere there.
Bill and Tamara’s son, Will Champlin (above, season 5 finalist on The Voice, U.S.) looks a lot like Alexis Taylor, the lead singer of Hot Chip (below)!
It was killing me to find out the connection between the Daughter mashup/covers and the Sons of Champlin song, so after I submitted my notes to Brad, I “phoned” a friend who has a vast knowledge of music to see if he could find the tag:
Shane: What do you mean by “connection”? Like, the music, lyrics, or ANYTHING?
Kristin: ANYTHING LOL….the label, producer, band member, city they live in etc... anything goes! That was the only one I couldn’t track down the connection to lol.
Shane: Hoo, I’m stumped. My GUESS: Sons of Champlin are an OFTEN-sampled band. So, I was trying to think if maybe a Sons of Champlin song was ever sampled by Hot Chip, because that Daughter track is partially a Hot Chip cover. Or maybe Hot Chip and Sons of Champlin exist together on a famous mashup somewhere, like “Girl Talk” or something.
Kristin: Yeah, I spent hours trying to figure it out.
Shane: Okay, I’ve got one that works, but it’s messed up and multi-step! Sit down, cuz this is some serious Kevin Bacon stuff, but it works!
Shane: Yet, I don’t know how to tie my shoes. Yeah, that was fun, and, I didn’t even have to look anything up!Though it took pen and paper to keep things straight!
Kristin: Wow!!! That is impressive!! I scoured Wikipedia for hours! I had sooooo much fun doing the Tune Tag thing!
Shane: Oh wait I just realized another way: Chicago was also sampled by De La Soul in that song, “A Roller Skating Jam Named ‘Saturdays’.” De La Soul worked with Q-Tip; Q-Tip & Kanye have worked together, and Kanye has worked a ton with Bon Iver.
Kristin: That’s another great one!!
Shane: OOH, I figured out how to get from Sons of Champlin to Hot Chip, too: So we’ve already gone from Sons of Champlin -> Chicago -> De La Soul -> Q-Tip -> Kanye West. Kanye worked with Daft Punk on “Stronger,” and they even appeared together at the Grammys. LCD Soundsystem’s first single was called, “Daft Punk Are Playing At My House.”
Brad’s rationale: In the late ‘60s, for a couple albums, The Sons of Champlin shortened their name to The Sons, but just as quickly, went back to their lengthier moniker (and, the hard-to-resist offspring link to Daughter). One of a handful of “horn bands” that marked the decade transition from the ‘60s into the ‘70s, including The Sons, Chicago, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Chase, Tower of Power, Lighthouse, and others.
🎵Diane Warren and Allee Willis: Two songwriters rock fans need to know, and know more about! Read on!🎵
Kristin’s song #2: Pointer Sisters, “Power of Persuasion,” 1988
Brad’s response: Color me stunned, if not gobsmacked (oh, who are we kidding…I’m suitably gobsmacked!). Who knew The Pointers were still recording in 1988? Not I.
It’s tempting to keep with this familial track we’re on, but when I saw The Pointers’ songwriter on “Power of Persuasion” (the monumental Diane Warren), I’m afraid I was persuaded to lean into another prodigiously prolific and successful female songwriter, the late Allee Willis (1947-2019)…..comin’ up!
Kristin’s rationale: Initially, when I Googled Brad’s #1, it came up with covers of the song as well. The Pointer Sisters did a cover of The Sons of Champlin’s “Here is Where Your Love Belongs.” I hadn’t thought of The Pointer Sisters in so many years! I was a huge fan of them back in the ‘70s and early-‘80s.
I immediately thought about coming back with a Pointer Sisters song, but I wanted to dive a bit deeper into The Sons of Champlin. Also, I was trying to decide which Pointer Sisters song to come back with. While digging around, I started focusing on Bill Champlin’s wife Tamara.
Bill and Tamara on the town at a benefit function in 2017.
Brad’s song #2: Pet Shop Boys and Dusty Springfield, “What Have I Done to Deserve This,” (written in 1984, recorded in 1986, released in 1987)
Kristin’s response: SQUEAL!!! I LOVE the Pet Shop Boys and absolutely LOVE this song!! I also love that the Tune Tag I read today had a Dusty Springfield song in it— (“Baby Blue”):
Miss Springfield on Facebook, February 2022: “I’m really grateful to the Pet Shop Boys, and I feel embarrassed to say that. It sticks in my craw to be grateful. I am, because they had the faith in me that I didn’t have. They saw something in me that I was about to lose.”
Brad’s rationale: Pet Shop Boys Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe co-wrote this song with Allee. As it happens, Willis usually tended to co-write; Dianne Warren, almost exclusively, wrote solo.
Never the shrinking violet, Ms. Willis (1947-2019) was easily in the running for “Most Interesting Person in Show Biz”! Born Jewish in Detroit, as a teen, a particular love of hers was hanging out outside Motown Records and pressing her ear against the wall to hear whatever music she could! A journalism major at Madison’s U of Wisconsin, after college, she moved to New York City in 1969 and worked as a secretary at Columbia Records as a copywriter, writing album liner notes and advertising material, before turning to songwriting and performing! Her lone solo album was on that very same CBS Records (specifically its affiliate, Epic), in 1974 (Childstar), and ‘twas Columbia that housed Earth, Wind & Fire, for whom she wrote at least two massive hits!
An Allee brush with greatness: Around the turn of the century (when I was selling my 2,000 LPs and promo items on eBay), I actually sold Ms. Willis one of her rare items…a 1974 Columbia Records PlayBack 7”, 33 1/3 rpm disc with info booklet (with copy likely written by longtime FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE annual subscriber, and Substack’s own,
—of Critical Conditions—who was PlayBack Associate Editor at the time). The disc had the title track from Allee’s Childstar album, sharing vinyl space, there, with one song each by Argent, Janis Ian, and Michael Murphey:
Kristin’s song #3: Furniture, “Brilliant Mind,” 1986
Brad’s response: Well, we’re in the same mid-’80s time frame as the Pet Shop Boys/Dusty track, and, I suppose in the same general genre arena. Apparently their debut album (on Stiff Records), this wasn’t even released in the States…just UK, Italy, Belgium, and France! Kristin….
Instead, I looked at who produced The Pet Shop Boys, and it was Stephen Hague. He has produced SO MANY of my favorite bands that it’s ridiculous! I wanted to choose something from all of them! He has been a producer for OMD, New Order (sorry,
Brad sidles up: Hague also produced the 1992 single release of “Disappointed” by Electronic, the project started by Bernard Sumner (Joy Division, New Order) and The Smiths’ Johnny Marr. Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe were also involved at various points, and the band’s 1989 “Getting Away With It” (and a couple others, including “Disappointed”) were given the Audio Autopsy treatment in 2022:
Back to Kristin: These are all among my top favorites. But, one he produced the year after this Pet Shop Boys album – The Some Kind of Wonderful(1987)soundtrack! It is one of my favorite movies, and one of my favorite soundtracks. Back in 2020, when I got a cheap suitcase record player and dug my vinyl out of storage, my Some Kind of Wonderful soundtrack was one of the first albums I played. “Brilliant Mind” by Furniture is my favorite song on the soundtrack. I’m sure I played it a ridiculous number of times!
Brad’s song #3: Isley Brothers, “Hope You Feel Better Love,” 1975
Jim Irvin: Rock scribe as rocker, or rocker turned rock scribe? Some of us can relate!
Kristin’s response: Here I thought that I gave Brad one that didn’t have a whole lot going on, and I was feeling like I probably should have picked a more popular band. When he came back with The Isley Brothers, I looked at how long they have been making music – their Wikipedia page is so full of information and potential tags!
With album releases from 1959-2020, finding the tag through them didn’t seem possible. So, I went and looked at the band Furniture and how they could possibly be connected to The Isley Brothers. I think I got lucky here, because immediately, I focused on one of the founding members: Jim Irvin, who turned to music journalism after Furniture ended:
He wrote for the UK music tabloid Melody Maker under the name Jim Arundel from 1991-1994, and then under his real name for MOJO Magazine (above) starting in 1994. In 1997, he wrote a review of some reissued Isley Brothers albums.
Brad’s rationale: Jim Irvin was the lead singer for Furniture, and the “Brilliant Mind” track. For a 1997 Isley Brothers CD/Greatest Hits compilation (Epic Records, UK and Europe…shown above, just below the heading) on which this Isley track appears, Irvin wrote the liner notes (see Discogs credit list here…“Liner Notes [MOJO Magazine, 1997] – Jim Irvin”).
In 1994, he became the founding features editor for UK’s Mojo Magazine (whose first issue was published in November 1993).
Kristin’s song #4: Donna Summer, “On the Radio,” 1979
Brad’s response: On its face, I’m kinda blank on what this Donna Summer/Giorgio Moroder 1979 smash could link to with the Furniture song. I do recall making a 90-minute mix tape, in the ‘80s, of songs that had radio in its title, and/or songs that talked about radio or airplay! This song would’ve certainly been included!
Could Kristin have been winking in the direction of the Isleys’ (and Furniture’s) radio readiness with this song? The Isleys and she had their hits 4 years apart in the ‘70s, with Summer’s song being produced by Moroder, and released on Casablanca Records.
It was written for the soundtrack of the 1980 Jodie Foster film vehicle, Foxes. Hmmm….is that a clue to a song I could make as my 4th pick? Did Jodie ever record? That “What Does the Fox Say” song? Nah…I couldn’t do that to y’all!
Kristin’s rationale: It was divine intervention that this song came randomly into my mind when I was trying to figure out which song to start with, so it’s so fitting to be able to end with it! When I was looking up information on The Isley Brothers, I saw that they received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014. What took so long for this???
From the Wiki: “The Isley Brothers have sold over 18 million units in the U.S. alone. With their first major hit charting in 1959 (“Shout”), and their last one in 2001 (“Contagious”), they are among the few groups ever to have hit the Billboard Hot 100 with new music in 6 different decades and the only act in musical history to have achieved this accomplishment in consecutive decades (1950s, ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s, and 2000s).”
Brad’s song #4: Jodie Foster, “When I Looked at Your Face,” 1977
Kristin’s response: WHAT?!?!?!?!?! I had no clue Jodie Foster made an album! It took me a while to find this information on her Wikipedia page!
Donna Summer’s song “On the Radio” was written for the film Foxes (1980), which starred a young Jodie Foster in her last teenage role before taking a break and attending Yale.
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