Tune Tag #74 with Matt Madurski of "Chart Chat," Pt. 2: Lou Reed, Blackstreet, Gotye, Perry Como, Far East Movement, Sting, AWA

From Perry Como to Far East Movement, Tune Tag travels the decades, the genres, the eras, and this planet like it never has before! Needless to say, we're in for a RIDE! Hop aboard, and welcome!

Howdy, Matt! Welcome to your Part 2! TAG! YOU’RE IT!

Tune Tag welcomes back

Matt Madurski

of Substack’s Chart Chat!

Matt: I started

Chart Chat

in early 2023 following years of writing brief music posts and observations on my personal social media accounts. In real life, I’m in a second career as a pharmacist after spending more than 20 years working in newspapers and public relations. Writing is my passion.

I’ve loved music for even longer, influenced by friends, co-workers, and family, but most of all, my dad, who listened to the radio every morning in my house for years while I learned about his generation’s music by osmosis.

I love writing about music and sharing my observations, and through Substack, I’ve been lucky enough to connect with so many people who share the same passions! Post-pandemic, I’m trying to live life to the fullest and enjoy every experience! Personal mantras: “I hope I’m never too old to dive into a mosh pit,” and “If you’re not sweating when you’re having fun, you’re not having enough fun!”

This isn’t Matt’s first rodeo! Mr. Peabody, set the WayBac Machine to a full year ago:

Tune Tag #23 with Matt Madurski of "Chart Chat": Wings, Moody Blues, Lambrettas, Save Ferris, Mott the Hoople, The Vogues

Next week, help us welcome Russell Franklin of

The Pro Wrestling Exuberant

into the ring for his debut Tune Tag bout!

Matt’s song #1 sent to Brad: Blackstreet, “No Diggity,” 1996

YouTube has blocked playback of this song on other websites. Click here to see/hear the video on YouTube.

Matt’s rationale: “No Diggity” is one of those songs that just stands out from a time period in my life where music was silly and fun. Blackstreet pulled me away from my alt-rock awakening and became my gateway to R&B and rap in the ‘90s, the track that brought me to Notorious B.I.G., Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Warren G and Nate Dogg, and even some early Outkast songs.

It is also the song that dethroned Los del Rio’s “Macarena” from its perch as the Hot 100 #1 hit, a position it held for 14 weeks before “No Diggity” knocked it off. To this day, I can’t get enough of it, and still find myself listening to it and catching new things, like when Dre uses the phrase “bump like acne.” Both silly and genius, all in one package. Finally, it spawned one of my all-time favorite memes:

Nice, Matt! I, too, have something of a history with this group and their song: At karaoke, while never actually singing it, I enjoyed going up to the KJ and asking him to play “that song by Nick Carter and The Blackstreet Boys, ‘No Dignity’!”

Brad’s song #1 sent to Matt: Perry Como, “Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom),” 1956

According to the AMRC: Perry Como was born in Canonsburg, PA on May 18, 1912 (he died May 12, 2001, 6 days before his 89th birthday). He was the seventh of 13 children born to his Italian immigrant parents, and he was the first to be a citizen of the U.S. by birth. Como began as a barber in Canonsburg at the age of 14 and built a very good business earning $125 per week net profit. During his career, he hosted and performed on TV series from 1948 to 1963, hosted TV specials until 1992, and recorded dozens of albums and 147 singles (most of them for RCA Records). On May 15, 1999, for his 87th birthday, a statue of Perry Como was dedicated in his hometown of Canonsburg.

Matt’s response: There are a couple of angles I’m considering for this selection, which could not be further away from Blackstreet in terms of time (with 40 years separating them!), style, and content -- unless “dog ziggity boom” was ‘50s slang for putting on a condom, in which case both songs are in the same ballpark!

(Brad responds: Being a child of the ‘50s, Matt…born in ‘55…I think I can say with certainty that latex wasn’t in wide use at the time; condoms would’ve been composed of either flexible aluminum, some kind of concrete compound, or was a special rigging utilizing a complex series of pulleys, wires and wheels; if not practical, it was effective).

Back to Matt: The obvious connection appears to be the use of “diggity” in the titles of both songs, which is likely the right answer. I could also make a case for Brad picking a song that hit #1 on its respective Billboard magazine chart, much like “No Diggity” did on the Hot 100. Perry Como’s hit (written by Al Hoffman and Dick Manning) topped the Billboard pop music chart in 1956, two years before the Hot 100 was created. Not too shabby! Now, the “Diggity” in all its glory…live, in glorious B&W:

Thanks to SCTV (and Eugene Levy’s brilliant send-up) in 1981, “Mr. Relaxation” is back and even more relaxed than ever!👇