🌎Singer/songwriter, Ryan Egan, lives the sweet and lush life in The City of Lights; he does Tune Tag battle with a resident of The Live Music Capital of the World, Austin, TX!
Thank you for stepping into the TT arena, Ryan! It was certainly fun, and I know I heard songs and artists I wasn't aware of before! I hope our readers will find new things, too, including your trove of tune treasures! Come autumn, keep a Part 2 in mind!
Slowly catching up on my Substack reading so I’m a little late to this TT party! Another great installment, thanks guys!
When Ryan selected Magnet my mind immediately went to the Walter Egan track. I never knew that Matthew Sweet had covered the song with a really nice version too!
I loved that Part Time Lover cover, quite different!
So many lovely musical connections in the last two tracks. I never realized Minnie Riperton and Deniece Williams were backup singers for Stevie Wonder.
I very well remember the Deniece Williams/Johnny Mathis duet “Too Much, Too Little, Too Late”. When I was a kid my family would be down at the sports club every weekend afternoon with my dad either playing or watching rugby on both Saturday and Sunday. That Williams/Mathis duet happened to be on the jukebox in the sports club bar and it was a track that seven year old Mark just couldn’t get enough of (much to the chagrin of the grizzled old men holding up the bar). I must’ve played that song a half dozen times each weekend until they eventually replaced it with Queen’s “Another One Bites The Dust”. A good song for sure but my little heart was broken.
A very interesting tidbit about Michael Sembello as I’d only ever known him as the one hit wonder behind “Maniac” and never knew he worked so closely with Stevie Wonder or MJ!
I also enjoyed the inclusion of Ryan’s original song and am listening to the album now. Lovely, and very much in my wheelhouse.
Once again I’ve learned so much. It feels like class is always in session when I tune in to Tune Tag!
Late schmate....Happy to have you anytime, Mark! I'm glad you found a new fave in Ryan! It's cool you found some new-new, too! That's a fun'n'sweet story on that early Niecy/Johnny song! Got another Tune Tag banger comin' this Tuesday, too, with Jared the Curator!
Thanks, Nick! Better Nate than lever, as the punch line to an old joke goes! It's cool to get some international flavor into a Tune Tag, and Ryan did a marvelous job (along with his song)!
This was amazing. Many of my favourites here (Stevie, Michael, Minnie, Deniece). As a soul/R&B full-time lover 😉, I was in for a treat.
But a special mention goes to Ryan’s original track. I loved the beat and the subtle “dark” aura (it gave me real 80s sophisti-pop/rock vibes), and I liked Ryan’s vocals (his control is admirable, especially with that quick phrasing/rhythm pattern). Since Argentina was mentioned, it reminded me of the band Soda Stereo and its lead singer, Gustavo Cerati, arguably one of the best and most influential musicians from my native Argentina.
Thanks, Andy! With the artists featured, I knew this would be in your musical sweet spot (or, as my dad used to say, "down your street, around your corner, and right up your block!"😱).
I'm glad you like Ryan's track as I do. Maybe for our Part 2, he'll use his entire catalog as possible Tag-able Tunes....I'd be all for it!
As for Minnie, Andy (and I meant to bring it up earlier, but forgot, and edited it out of the ever-expanding TT), I had the debut, self-titled album Minnie was in during the late '60s, Rotary Connection, and remember it distinctly (thanks, Dad!) from when I was 13 in '68! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary_Connection_(album) I bet you could find it somewhere on the 'web! Charles Stepney (eventual Earth, Wind & Fire) co-produced and played keys.
Thanks for mentioning Cerati/Soda Stereo, and your Argentine connection! We Tag into the comments!😁👍🎵
I’ll need to dive deeper into that Rotary Connection album you mention! A living encyclopedia of music, you are!
Yes, Soda Stereo and Cerati’s solo work are among the best that Argentina’s modern music repertoire has to offer!
I’ve lost count how many times, back in Argentina, when pronouncing my surname quickly (for those who don’t know, identical to Cerati save for one letter!), people freeze for a second or two before they ask if I’m related! 🤩 “ahh, if only!”, I tell them 😆
There are quite a few RC videos on YT (including the entire debut album), but be prepared....they're more experimental rock (remember, it's '68, and she was 21!) than anything resembling soul. For Minnie watchers, it's more of a curiosity, to see what she was up to.
It's odd, too, because she does use her whistle tone, but it's almost like she came to the band and said, "Look what I can do!", only because it looks like they're trying really hard to use that element (and, that's fine), but it's just not that easy to fit it into their psychedelic rock!
As far as I know, Minnie was, if not the only one, the only one who got any press using the whistle tone. Niecy comes close to at least sounding like it's in that register, but I've never heard anyone say, or anything in the press mention that in her regard.
In other words, that's mentioned in Minnie's Wiki, but I don't believe any similar mention is made on Niecy's behalf. Not that THAT's the be-all and end-all, but Niecy's people would be quick to make that change in Wiki if, indeed, she had that tone, I gotta think!
Yes, that’s a fair point. Interesting how artists who came later and who used it (MC obvs comes to mind) would usually cite Minnie as an influence but no word about Niece (as far as I’m aware).
With Ryan's song I was saying "you got that right" as I listened to the lyrics, been there and felt that. (I loved the yacht rock vibe as well, and the album cover.)
It was so much fun from that point onwards with the back and forth female and male points of view. I'd never heard that wonderful version of "Part-time Lover" or Lush Life, so want to explore them more.
"Ordinary Pain" is such a brilliant song and love the story it tells, as well as Stevie flipping our expectations on their head (this guy is a two-timing player!) and letting the wronged and vengeful lady explain where she's coming from. I did not know that Maya is Minnie's daughter!
I'm a Michael fan too and had never heard "Carousel," so another great Brad find.
Thanks for all, Ellen! Credit Ryan for the Stevie track (and, picking one of my favorite of his own songs), which led me to peruse the session players for the Stevie album! I recognized Sembello's name, but was surprised to discover he also played on MJ sessions! Can you imagine THOSE artists on your resume? And, Sembello's done so much more!
Knowing Maya has such talented parents reveals how and why she's so versatile with her singing in her comedy portrayals! And, knowing all I know (and love) about Minnie and Niecy....I just had to give them a focused spotlight!
Keep it under your chapeau, Ellen (and I didn't mention it in the TT), but I met Niecy in early fall '76, on the release of her debut album. I had just started working at Houston's Cactus Records (at 21), and we had her in for an in-store appearance. I got the back of my album autographed! And, of course, she was a sweetheart!
In re-listening to some of her songs for this piece, I noticed how she has quite a range...I don't think she's got quite the "whistle register" Minnie was known for, Niecy could certainly give her a run for her top-o'-the-scale extremes!
BTW, while thinking about Columbia Records, as Niecy was on (and Minnie on CBS affiliate, Epic), are you familiar with Jane Olivor? She was far from rock, but had a wonderful tone to her voice, and to some, was a bit of an acquired taste...see what you think: https://www.discogs.com/artist/652106-Jane-Olivor
Jane's debut, like Niecy's, was also released in '76.
I remember Minnie and Niecy well -- how great that you got to meet her! -- but was not familiar with Jane Olivor. Just listened to one of her songs and she would have been perfect for musical theater if not for the stage fright she apparently had. But then Carole and Carly both had it, and Barbara. They just need James Taylor easing them into it as he did with Carole. Looks like Jane has had quite a career.
I didn't know about Sembello, but I'm still writing about the 60s and early 70s (seeing Danny Kortchmar everywhere lately), so I'll probably see his name when I hit the 80s (if I ever get there at the pace I'm going).
I noticed Maya's singing chops -- big fan of Bridesmaids.
Yes, "Bridesmaids" was hilarious! Jane was more in the cabaret circuit lane; I'd have to look, but I don't think she was an actress to the point of appearing on B'way. Yes, a ubiquitous James Taylor would've been a help for many in show-biz over the decades: "You've Got a Friend (to help push you out onto the stage)"!
I love it! I've been a fan of Matthew Sweet's for over 30 years and never knew he did this cover of Magnet and Steel! It doesn't appear to be on Apple Music so I may have to download it from Youtube. Thanks!
And, I'll join you in that fun homework!---I just noticed he's got THREE cover albums with Susanna Hoffs; I just thought they had 2. You've got no better pure pop progenitors than Matthew and Susanna. They've both got past rock-hit cache, plus they are both all about the best of melodic pop and power pop, so they're effectively flying that flag, as well. Have fun!
Yes, I was a big fan of those cover albums (at least one of those covers may appear in an upcoming Top Ten...) I will also be mentioning the first time I met Sweet in my '95 post.
Wow, color me looking forward to that! FR&B readers, do yourself a favor, and do as I do...subscribe and enjoy Dan's PalCinema, TV & Music Substack: https://danpal.substack.com/ His Top Ten Memoirs are fun, funny, musical, and filled with Dan's personal photos and videos from across the years! Truly one of a kind!
As for Matthew and Susanna's covers albums, I don't know how I got so behind on their output! I can't wait to hear about your meeting with Matthew! And, somehow, I always knew you were a..........uh, Sweet fan!😉
Thanks again for having me this week! 'Twas a pleasure.
Thank you for stepping into the TT arena, Ryan! It was certainly fun, and I know I heard songs and artists I wasn't aware of before! I hope our readers will find new things, too, including your trove of tune treasures! Come autumn, keep a Part 2 in mind!
Slowly catching up on my Substack reading so I’m a little late to this TT party! Another great installment, thanks guys!
When Ryan selected Magnet my mind immediately went to the Walter Egan track. I never knew that Matthew Sweet had covered the song with a really nice version too!
I loved that Part Time Lover cover, quite different!
So many lovely musical connections in the last two tracks. I never realized Minnie Riperton and Deniece Williams were backup singers for Stevie Wonder.
I very well remember the Deniece Williams/Johnny Mathis duet “Too Much, Too Little, Too Late”. When I was a kid my family would be down at the sports club every weekend afternoon with my dad either playing or watching rugby on both Saturday and Sunday. That Williams/Mathis duet happened to be on the jukebox in the sports club bar and it was a track that seven year old Mark just couldn’t get enough of (much to the chagrin of the grizzled old men holding up the bar). I must’ve played that song a half dozen times each weekend until they eventually replaced it with Queen’s “Another One Bites The Dust”. A good song for sure but my little heart was broken.
A very interesting tidbit about Michael Sembello as I’d only ever known him as the one hit wonder behind “Maniac” and never knew he worked so closely with Stevie Wonder or MJ!
I also enjoyed the inclusion of Ryan’s original song and am listening to the album now. Lovely, and very much in my wheelhouse.
Once again I’ve learned so much. It feels like class is always in session when I tune in to Tune Tag!
Thanks for checking out the album! Means a lot.
Late schmate....Happy to have you anytime, Mark! I'm glad you found a new fave in Ryan! It's cool you found some new-new, too! That's a fun'n'sweet story on that early Niecy/Johnny song! Got another Tune Tag banger comin' this Tuesday, too, with Jared the Curator!
A belated comment, the whole Tune Tag is great, but I particularly appreciated the Caetano Veloso track Ryan opened with. Gorgeous.
Truly the best.
Thanks, Nick! Better Nate than lever, as the punch line to an old joke goes! It's cool to get some international flavor into a Tune Tag, and Ryan did a marvelous job (along with his song)!
This was amazing. Many of my favourites here (Stevie, Michael, Minnie, Deniece). As a soul/R&B full-time lover 😉, I was in for a treat.
But a special mention goes to Ryan’s original track. I loved the beat and the subtle “dark” aura (it gave me real 80s sophisti-pop/rock vibes), and I liked Ryan’s vocals (his control is admirable, especially with that quick phrasing/rhythm pattern). Since Argentina was mentioned, it reminded me of the band Soda Stereo and its lead singer, Gustavo Cerati, arguably one of the best and most influential musicians from my native Argentina.
Thank you for the kind words!
Thanks, Andy! With the artists featured, I knew this would be in your musical sweet spot (or, as my dad used to say, "down your street, around your corner, and right up your block!"😱).
I'm glad you like Ryan's track as I do. Maybe for our Part 2, he'll use his entire catalog as possible Tag-able Tunes....I'd be all for it!
As for Minnie, Andy (and I meant to bring it up earlier, but forgot, and edited it out of the ever-expanding TT), I had the debut, self-titled album Minnie was in during the late '60s, Rotary Connection, and remember it distinctly (thanks, Dad!) from when I was 13 in '68! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary_Connection_(album) I bet you could find it somewhere on the 'web! Charles Stepney (eventual Earth, Wind & Fire) co-produced and played keys.
Thanks for mentioning Cerati/Soda Stereo, and your Argentine connection! We Tag into the comments!😁👍🎵
I’m looking forward to Ryan’s round 2!
I’ll need to dive deeper into that Rotary Connection album you mention! A living encyclopedia of music, you are!
Yes, Soda Stereo and Cerati’s solo work are among the best that Argentina’s modern music repertoire has to offer!
I’ve lost count how many times, back in Argentina, when pronouncing my surname quickly (for those who don’t know, identical to Cerati save for one letter!), people freeze for a second or two before they ask if I’m related! 🤩 “ahh, if only!”, I tell them 😆
There are quite a few RC videos on YT (including the entire debut album), but be prepared....they're more experimental rock (remember, it's '68, and she was 21!) than anything resembling soul. For Minnie watchers, it's more of a curiosity, to see what she was up to.
It's odd, too, because she does use her whistle tone, but it's almost like she came to the band and said, "Look what I can do!", only because it looks like they're trying really hard to use that element (and, that's fine), but it's just not that easy to fit it into their psychedelic rock!
Yes I saw it’s more experimental rock, so I’ll need to listen with an open mind 😂
So funny she does the whistle in that context too 🤣 I don’t think I’ve ever heard it being used outside the soul/R&B/pop arena except of course opera.
As far as I know, Minnie was, if not the only one, the only one who got any press using the whistle tone. Niecy comes close to at least sounding like it's in that register, but I've never heard anyone say, or anything in the press mention that in her regard.
In other words, that's mentioned in Minnie's Wiki, but I don't believe any similar mention is made on Niecy's behalf. Not that THAT's the be-all and end-all, but Niecy's people would be quick to make that change in Wiki if, indeed, she had that tone, I gotta think!
Yes, that’s a fair point. Interesting how artists who came later and who used it (MC obvs comes to mind) would usually cite Minnie as an influence but no word about Niece (as far as I’m aware).
With Ryan's song I was saying "you got that right" as I listened to the lyrics, been there and felt that. (I loved the yacht rock vibe as well, and the album cover.)
It was so much fun from that point onwards with the back and forth female and male points of view. I'd never heard that wonderful version of "Part-time Lover" or Lush Life, so want to explore them more.
"Ordinary Pain" is such a brilliant song and love the story it tells, as well as Stevie flipping our expectations on their head (this guy is a two-timing player!) and letting the wronged and vengeful lady explain where she's coming from. I did not know that Maya is Minnie's daughter!
I'm a Michael fan too and had never heard "Carousel," so another great Brad find.
Great tune tag, as usual.
Thank you, Ellen!
Thanks for all, Ellen! Credit Ryan for the Stevie track (and, picking one of my favorite of his own songs), which led me to peruse the session players for the Stevie album! I recognized Sembello's name, but was surprised to discover he also played on MJ sessions! Can you imagine THOSE artists on your resume? And, Sembello's done so much more!
Knowing Maya has such talented parents reveals how and why she's so versatile with her singing in her comedy portrayals! And, knowing all I know (and love) about Minnie and Niecy....I just had to give them a focused spotlight!
Keep it under your chapeau, Ellen (and I didn't mention it in the TT), but I met Niecy in early fall '76, on the release of her debut album. I had just started working at Houston's Cactus Records (at 21), and we had her in for an in-store appearance. I got the back of my album autographed! And, of course, she was a sweetheart!
In re-listening to some of her songs for this piece, I noticed how she has quite a range...I don't think she's got quite the "whistle register" Minnie was known for, Niecy could certainly give her a run for her top-o'-the-scale extremes!
BTW, while thinking about Columbia Records, as Niecy was on (and Minnie on CBS affiliate, Epic), are you familiar with Jane Olivor? She was far from rock, but had a wonderful tone to her voice, and to some, was a bit of an acquired taste...see what you think: https://www.discogs.com/artist/652106-Jane-Olivor
Jane's debut, like Niecy's, was also released in '76.
I remember Minnie and Niecy well -- how great that you got to meet her! -- but was not familiar with Jane Olivor. Just listened to one of her songs and she would have been perfect for musical theater if not for the stage fright she apparently had. But then Carole and Carly both had it, and Barbara. They just need James Taylor easing them into it as he did with Carole. Looks like Jane has had quite a career.
I didn't know about Sembello, but I'm still writing about the 60s and early 70s (seeing Danny Kortchmar everywhere lately), so I'll probably see his name when I hit the 80s (if I ever get there at the pace I'm going).
I noticed Maya's singing chops -- big fan of Bridesmaids.
Yes, "Bridesmaids" was hilarious! Jane was more in the cabaret circuit lane; I'd have to look, but I don't think she was an actress to the point of appearing on B'way. Yes, a ubiquitous James Taylor would've been a help for many in show-biz over the decades: "You've Got a Friend (to help push you out onto the stage)"!
I love it! I've been a fan of Matthew Sweet's for over 30 years and never knew he did this cover of Magnet and Steel! It doesn't appear to be on Apple Music so I may have to download it from Youtube. Thanks!
Thanks, Dan! I'm so appreciative of Ryan bringing the unknown/lesser-known international artists along with treasured superstars, Michael and Stevie!
As for Sweet....you make sure you peruse his discography: https://www.discogs.com/artist/27892-Matthew-Sweet
And, I'll join you in that fun homework!---I just noticed he's got THREE cover albums with Susanna Hoffs; I just thought they had 2. You've got no better pure pop progenitors than Matthew and Susanna. They've both got past rock-hit cache, plus they are both all about the best of melodic pop and power pop, so they're effectively flying that flag, as well. Have fun!
Yes, I was a big fan of those cover albums (at least one of those covers may appear in an upcoming Top Ten...) I will also be mentioning the first time I met Sweet in my '95 post.
Wow, color me looking forward to that! FR&B readers, do yourself a favor, and do as I do...subscribe and enjoy Dan's PalCinema, TV & Music Substack: https://danpal.substack.com/ His Top Ten Memoirs are fun, funny, musical, and filled with Dan's personal photos and videos from across the years! Truly one of a kind!
As for Matthew and Susanna's covers albums, I don't know how I got so behind on their output! I can't wait to hear about your meeting with Matthew! And, somehow, I always knew you were a..........uh, Sweet fan!😉
Thanks Brad!
You betcha! We Sweet fans gotta stick together!