YET ANOTHER 5 songs you probably forgot about until you read this article

Yet Another 5 Songs you completely forgot about until you read this post

By: Brian Cotnoir

     Wow, my last post—and third in this edition—got such positive feedback that I just had to write another one, where I attempt to remind you songs that you—may have—completely forgot about.  Now, one thing I often overlook to when I compile these lists is artists who were semi-popular in the US, but were huge in their home countries.  So for some of these artists, you may be saying “Who the hell is that”?, but I do distinctly remember them having moderate—at best—success in the US.  So let’s not waste any more time, and let’s just have some fun memberin’.

1.) Southside by Moby ft. Gwen Stefani

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Many things come to mind when you think of Gwen Stefani.  Some people remember her as the bada$$ lead singer of the band No Doubt, other people are more familiar with her pop songs and solo career, while other’s know her as one of the co-Hosts on the popular American reality show “The Voice”.  There’s no doubt (pun TOTALLY intended) that Gwen Stefani is one of the best and most influential female singers of all-time, and I believe that one of her most underappreciated works she has done was her collaboration on the song “Southside” with Moby.  I have no idea what genre of music Moby qualifies under.  I’ve heard some people say he’s a DJ, other people tell me he’s a producer, while others say he’s an experimental artist, but one thing is for certain, his song “Southside” is probably his greatest contribution to music, and including Gwen Stefani on the song was a brilliant move on his part. 

2.) Are you Jimmy Ray?- Jimmy Ray

It’s so weird to see how musicians today like Mark Ronson, Bruno Mars, Meghan Trainor, and the late Amy Whinehouse all seem to have that Retro-Inspired Sound in some of their music.  You know that sound that’s hybrid of pop-music and old 50’s and 60’s rock music?  Well, it’s amazing that everyone talks about how influential these artists are in creating and developing that sound, and yet never hear anyone talk about Jimmy Ray!  Now, you’re probably asking yourself, “Who the hell is Jimmy Ray?”.  Jimmy Ray is in English Pop/Rock Musician (so that’s probably the biggest reason you never heard of him, but what’s cool and interesting about Jimmy Ray was that he was creating Pop Music with a Retro sound style all the way back in 1998!  Jimmy Ray’s one and only hit “Are you Jimmy Ray” got some popular airplay (largely thanks to his music video) in early 1998.  The best way I can describe Jimmy Ray’s look and sound is early Elvis Presley meets Johnny Cash’s Man in Black, meets Buddy Holly, and meets George Michael’s “Faith” years.

3.) Blue- LeAnn Rimes

I grew up in a household with parents who loved country music.  Two country musicians I remember listening to a lot as a kid are Billy Ray Cyrus and LeAnn Rimes.  And you would think with the popularity of Female country singers like Miranda Lambert, Gretchen Wilson, Carrie Underwood Faith Hill, and ladies from Little Big Town, and Lady Antebellum that someone in music world would say “Hey, what about LeAnn Rimes?”.  You rarely hear people mention her name today, but “Blue”—a cover song she sang and recorded—when she was only 13 years old, blew up all over the radio in the 1990’s.  My parents had this album, all my aunts and uncles had this album and played it, and she was good.  She has a lot better voice than a lot of other women in country music today, so I just want to know why we don’t hear anything about LeAnn Rimes anymore, especially her early work on the radio.

4.) Gotta Tell You–Samantha Mumba

Another Irish Pop-Star that just couldn’t find a lot of success in the U.S. was Samantha Mumba.  Her only real success musically in the U.S. was her song “Gotta Tell You”, which I remember got a heavy rotation down at the roller rink the music video was featured a lot of Disney Channel in the 1990’s back when they used to play music videos for songs that were featured in some of their upcoming movies.  Samantha Mumba may not have found a lot of success in the U.S. as a musician, but she has found some success in her native Ireland...as an actress!  She’s appeared in a few films, and I actually saw her in a zombie horror-comedy film called “Boy Eats Girl” (believe me, the title is not as erotic as it sounds).  I couldn’t believe it was her when I saw it, but I’m glad to hear she is having some success.

5.) Sunny Came Home- Shawn Colvin

Originally, I was going to put “Where have all the cowboy’s gone” by Paula Cole on this list, but after consulting a few friends of mine, who told me that they still remember this song, and can actually sing the chorus to the song, proves to me that it’s a song that isn’t too far removed from people’s memories, but another song that I mentioned, from the same year that “Where have all the cowboy’s gone” didn’t ring a bell for any of them.  The other song I mentioned was “Sunny Came Home” by Shawn Colvin.  What’s crazy is this song one two Grammy’s for Song of the Year and Record of the Year—it actually beat out “where have all the cowboy’s gone” for both awards, and yet less people remember it.  When Shawn Colvin, I hope Sunny Come’s Home, and more people begin to remember your one hit song.

Well there you have it again, I hope once again that these songs brought back some good memories for you, and be sure to click the links below to check out the other songs we’ve talked about in the past.

ANOTHER 5 SONGS THAT YOU PROBABLY FORGOT ABOUT UNTIL YOU READ THIS ARTICLE

ANOTHER 5 songs that you've probably forgot about until you read this article

Another 5 Songs that you’ve probably forgot about until you read this article

By: Brian Cotnoir

Hello friends, how have you been?  Continuing my series I attempt to retrigger the memories of certain songs and musical acts from not too long ago, so I can bring on a feeling nostalgic euphoria.  Now, I’ve talked multiple times in the past about One-Hit Wonders on the blog, and attempt to figure out why makes them one-hit wonders, and discuss how it is possible we can actually forget some of these tracks for so long, and one day randomly think about it, and wait for the flood of memories to come back.   Well I’m hoping once again to attempt to help you recapture some of those feelings right now. 

1.) C’est la vie by B*Witched

This is the song that actually inspired this list.  You see the other day I was having a co-worker, and at the end they just through their hands up in the air and said the term “C’est la vie” (French for “such is life”) and then the next thing you know I’m walking through the halls singing “say you will/say you won’t/say you’ll do what I don’t/say you’re true/say to me c’est la vie”.  Yes “C’est la vie” the one hit song from the Irish girl group B*Witched.  You probably remember this song from the Disney Chanel original TV movie “Smart House”, you know the one where the boy wins the robotic house, that’s voiced by Katy Segal, and then he reprograms it, and she goes all Hal-9000 on them?  See a double Nostalgia Whammy for you, you’re welcome.  It’s clear that B*Witched was trying to be like the Irish equivalent of the Spice Girls, but they came way up short, and I think they have more in common with the A-Teens then they do the Spice Girls.  Still not a bad song though.

2.) Crazy for this Girl by Evan and Jaron

Before the airwaves were dominated with faux-sensitive, soft sing, piano playing whiny babies like Lukas Graham and Charlie Puth, there faux-sensitive soft singing, guitar playing fools like Evan and Jaron.  I will give these twin brothers some credit, this was a really catch song, and you got the feeling that they actually were trying to write a good song and not just some commercial pandering love ballad.  I haven’t really heard much about them as of late, but I had a friend in college who told me that Jaron has since gone solo and now performs as a Country act.  I’m not really into country music, but I can only hope that for those who go to see him perform live that he breaks out this song he wrote and performed with his brother at the end of his set.

3.) If you’re not the one by Daniel Bedingfield

     For the longest time I—along with many other people—thought that this was a song by Savage Garden, but years later I learned that it was not Savage Garden who wrote and performed this song, but rather a British singer/songwriter by the name of Daniel Bedingfield who is the brother of Brit-Pop Singer, Natasha Bedinfield.   Well, when you have a more famous sibling, and a majority of people think that a song you wrote and performed was played by another group, you can’t really expect to have much of a music career, and I think Daniel Bedingfield should be happy that his career made it this far.

4.) Handlebars by Flobots

I know people who absolutely despise Rap and Hip-Hop music, but still thoroughly enjoy and will sing the lyrics to the song “Handlebars” by Flobots.  I can’t really blame them, the song starts off simple guitar riff, and just gets louder and more bombastic as it gets on.  It’s a song that tells the story of two different paths taken by friends to become somebody in the world, and you know what it’s super catchy, enjoyable, relatable, has message that I think we all can understand, and you know what: if you don’t like this song, I think there’s something really wrong with you.

5.) Together Again by Janet Jackson

I feel like a lot people forget that Janet Jackson was an accomplished singer in her career.  You don’t really hear a lot of people talk about her musical career, when compared to her famous brother Michael, and her other brothers in the Jackson 5.  Even when people do talk about Janet Jackson, it’s mostly about her early tracks, but she was still making good music even in the late 90’s.  One such example of her great songwriting comes from the song “Together Again”, a ballad that was transformed into a Pop song.  It’s a song she—supposedly—wrote to deal with the grief after losing a good friend of hers to AIDS, but surprisingly has an optimistic beat and melody to it.  I feel like when some people are sad their first instinct is to play out their emotions with something sad and somber like Adele to help them get through whatever it is they are dealing with, but I honestly think Janet Jackson’s “Together Again” would be a much better choice, because you could not only sing along to it, but you can also dance your bad feelings out to it as well.

So there you have it Another 5 songs that you’ve probably forgot about until you read this article.  Did this list bring back any fond memories for you?  What are some other songs that you feel like people forget about too often?  Let me know in the comment section, and as always thanks for reading and be sure to check out some of our other articles on Asylum for Nerds

5 MORE songs you've probably forgot about until you read this article