Inside Tracks #20: Mick Jones & Foreigner, "I Want to Know What Love Is" 1984 w/Covers by NJ Mass Choir, Wynonna Judd (w/Jeff Beck), Kenny Chesney, Nate Ruess
Inside Tracks #20: Mick Jones & Foreigner, "I Want to Know What Love Is" 1984 w/Covers by NJ Mass Choir, Wynonna Judd (w/Jeff Beck), Kenny Chesney, Nate Ruess
It got some blowback from at least one band member, but through the years, it's garnered some fascinating covers (totaling an exact gross aka 12 dozen aka 144!), some from surprising corners.
Great content, as always! I know this song primarily courtesy of Mariah’s cover (as you can probably guess), and while I had of course heard the original, what I didn’t know is how many artists had covered it throughout the years. What I didn’t know either was the producer’s reaction when he first heard it, which was a pleasure to read. It’s one of those songs that will immediately make you stop whatever it is you’re doing and just... listen. Interestingly, while Mariah saves “the best for last” and does a full-on climax with gospel choir, high notes and pyrotechnics (obvs!! 😅), I remember what moved me the most (still does to this day) was the first chorus. There is something there, a longing, some sort of “melancholic hope” (as contradictory as this may sound) that really spoke to me.
Love it! Wynonna’s version is real nice. Never heard any other than Foreigner's. If I wore a hat, I'd tip it for ya Brad.
Aww- thanks for remembering that I wrote about that particular song almost a year ago now! It was one of the first earworm stories I penned.
It truly is a great song and has a pure-heartedness that is rare in the rock sphere. Seeing it used in a Swedish teen romance made perfect sense.
I learned a lot more than my piddling research revealed at the time.
So good!
Great content, as always! I know this song primarily courtesy of Mariah’s cover (as you can probably guess), and while I had of course heard the original, what I didn’t know is how many artists had covered it throughout the years. What I didn’t know either was the producer’s reaction when he first heard it, which was a pleasure to read. It’s one of those songs that will immediately make you stop whatever it is you’re doing and just... listen. Interestingly, while Mariah saves “the best for last” and does a full-on climax with gospel choir, high notes and pyrotechnics (obvs!! 😅), I remember what moved me the most (still does to this day) was the first chorus. There is something there, a longing, some sort of “melancholic hope” (as contradictory as this may sound) that really spoke to me.