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Influential Albums: 1290-1296
Fri., Nov. 24. 2023 8:30pm EST
J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX here again.
Here are the latest entries in the "albums that influenced me" series I started writing in May 2020.
Note: Just because an album appears on this list doesn't mean I give it a blanket endorsement. Many of the secular albums on this list are mainly there because they wound up being spoofed by ApologetiX.
1290. Their Greatest Hits: The Record - The Bee Gees
With 40 tracks spanning 35 years, Their Greatest Hits: The Record eclipsed previous Bee Gees collections. It featured all nine of their U.S. #1 hits: "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart," "Jive Talkin'," "You Should Be Dancing," "How Deep Is Your Love," "Stayin' Alive," "Night Fever," "Too Much Heaven," "Tragedy," and "Love You Inside Out). It also included three tunes that were #1 U.K. hits: "(The Lights Went Out in Massachusetts)" (#11 U.S.), "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" (#8 U.S.), and "You Win Again" (#75 U.S.). Moreover, it had the group's other U.S. Top 10 hits: "Lonely Days" (#3 Billboard, #1 Cash Box, #1 Record World), "Love So Right" (#3), "I Started a Joke" (#6), "Nights on Broadway" (#7), and "One" (#7, #1 adult contemporary). In fact, Their Greatest Hits: The Record had 23 of their 24 songs that the U.S. Top 20, the only exception being "Boogie Child" (#12). On top of that, it included "Guilty" (#3), Barry Gibb's Top 10 hit duet with Barbra Streisand, plus new recordings by The Bee Gees of four hit songs they wrote for others: "Islands in the Stream" by Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton (#1), "Emotion" by Samantha Sang (#3) and Destiny's Child (#10), Heartbreaker" by Dionne Warwick (#10 pop, #1 AC), and "Immortality" by Celine Dion (#5 U.K.). Released on November 20, 2001, Their Greatest Hits: The Record only made it to #49 on the Billboard 200, but it sold half a million copies in the States and over two million worldwide. I bought one of them myself. ApologetiX has spoofed two of the songs on this album: "Stayin' Alive" and "Islands in the Stream." My favorite Bee Gees song remains "To Love Somebody" (#17 pop), although there are plenty of others I really like. My favorite one of their hits not on this album is "Edge of the Universe" (#26), a live recording released in 1977.
1291. Hits - The Four Seasons Featuring Frankie Valli
I picked up this one on cassette in the mid-1990s after the remix of "December 1963 (Oh What a Night)" turned that tune into a hit again in '94. It had first gone to #1 in '76. I still remember my classmate Mark Carrick singing it in homeroom, and my neighborhood pal Dave Rhodes owned the 45. A Dutch DJ/producer remixed the song in '88, but it didn't get released in the United States until '93, eventually peaking at #14 on the Hot 100 in October '94. Combining the time "December 1963" spent on the charts in the '70s and in the '90s, it was on the Hot 100 for a total of 54 weeks. I felt the multi-generational appeal made it a good candidate for a parody, and ApologetiX eventually recorded the spoof I wrote, although not until 2001. There were 11 tracks total on Hits. The Four Seasons had many more hits than that — 31 Top 40 singles, 15 of which reached the Top 10 — but only eight of them appeared here. Technically, only six of them did, because two of them were the "long dance versions" of "December 1963" and "Big Girls Don't Cry" (#1), which also appeared in their original forms, along with the big hits "Sherry" (#1) and "Who Loves You" (#3) and the lesser hits "Stay" (#16) and "Marlena" (#36). The other three songs were all non-charting cover versions of songs that were hits for other artists: "Book of Love" (The Monotones), "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" (Frankie Lymon, Gale Storm, The Diamonds, and Diana Ross) and "Gypsy Woman" (The Impressions and Brian Hyland). Well, depending on how you read the cover, I guess the title just said Hits ... it didn't necessarily specify whose hits.
1292. Have Yourself a Parody Little Christmas - ApologetiX
In December 2001, just three months after we released our Keep the Change CD, ApologetiX put out a six-song EP CD titled Have Yourself a Parody Little Christmas. The main attractions were three all-new parodies: "Micah No. 5," "December 5 or 6 B.C.," and "Santa Claus," plus a new recording of our popular 1998 spoof "Hotel Can't Afford Ya." To further stuff the stocking, we included the two Christmas-themed parodies from Keep the Change — "Christmasnite" and "Manger." Although we also made the EP CD available to fans, our primary goal was to get it to both Christian and secular radio stations, with the following rationale: Christmas is an excellent time to get Christian music played on non-religious stations, because people turn their thoughts more toward God, and they seem to feel a lot less-threatened by baby Jesus than they do by grown-up Jesus. If you don't believe me, just ask NASCAR driver Ricky Bobby of Talladega Nights fame. Incidentally, that movie came out in August 2006, and ApologetiX played a concert in Talladega (yes, the one in Alabama, like the movie) six months later, in February 2007. In December 2007, we'd release three more Christmas parodies, but that's for another entry.
1293. Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits (1991-2001) - Barenaked Ladies
This Barenaked Ladies "best of" arrived in stores on November 13, 2001. I remember picking up a copy at Ross Park Mall in Pittsburgh that December while Christmas shopping. I'd previously purchased their Stunt LP in 1998. Erudite and irreverent, those cut-ups from Canada crammed 19 cuts (73 minutes of music) onto Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits (1991-2001). There were at least two tracks each from their six previous albums, plus a couple new tunes, "It's Only Me (The Wizard of Magicland)" and "Thanks That Was Fun," and two others that had originally appeared on non-BNL LPs — "Get In Line" (#18 Canadian pop) from the King of the Hill soundtrack, and "Lovers in a Dangerous Time" (#16 Canada pop) from the Bruce Cockburn tribute album Kick at the Darkness. That last one was my favorite track on All Their Greatest Hits. If you thought Barenaked Ladies never did anything serious, check it out; their performance is breathtakingly beautiful. I already knew and loved the three tracks taken from Stunt: "One Week" (#1 U.S. pop, #3 Canadian pop), "It's All Been Done" (#44 U.S. pop, #1 Canadian pop), and "Call and Answer" (#10 Canadian pop, #6 Canadian adult contemporary). As far as the songs from other albums, my top-tier tunes are "Falling for the First Time" (#11 U.S. adult contemporary), "If I Had $1,000,000" (#13 Canadian pop, #37 U.S. AC), "Brian Wilson (Live)" (#37 U.S. AC), and "Be My Yoko Ono" (#77 Canadian pop). The next tier would probably include "It's Only Me" (not released as a single), "Alternative Girlfriend" (#22 Canada, #4 Canadian AC), "Jane" (#3 Canadian pop, #1 Canadian AC), "The Old Apartment (Live)" (#88 U.S. pop, #14 Canadian pop), "Pinch Me" (#15 U.S. pop, #4 Canadian pop) and "Shoebox" (#10 Canadian pop). All Their Greatest Hits also featured the group's second highest-charting hit in their homeland, "Enid" (#2 Canadian pop), another catchy confection. The album itself went to #38 on the Billboard 200 and sold half a million copies. My oldest daughter, Janna, and I saw BNL in concert at Stage AE in Pittsburgh PA on June 20, 2016, just eight days after our hometown hockey team, the Penguins, won the Stanley Cup. As Toronto Maple Leafs fans, the longsuffering Ladies had a few things to say about that ... especially since former Maple Leaf Phil Kessel, who hadn't met expectations in Toronto, played such a key role in the Pens' Cup run. The opening acts for that show were Howard Jones and Orchestra Manoeuvres in the Dark. ApologetiX had already spoofed BNL in 1999, and we went on to spoof the other two in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
1294. Greatest Hits - Journey
As renowned poet T.S. Elliott famously said, "The journey, Not the destination matters." Apparently a lot of Americans agreed, because Journey's Greatest Hits album sold over 15 million copies in the United States and spent 785 weeks on the Billboard 200. First released in November 1988, it got as high as #10, thanks to the Top 10 pop hits "Open Arms" (#2 for six weeks), "Who's Crying Now" (#4), "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) (#8 pop, #1 mainstream rock for four weeks), "Only the Young" (#9 pop, #3 mainstream), "Be Good to Yourself" (#9 pop, #2 mainstream), and, of course, the ubiquitous "Don't Stop Believin'" (#9). But that's not all; there was also "Faithfully" (#12), "I'll Be Alright Without You" (#14), "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" (#16 pop, #11 mainstream), "Girl Can't Help It" (#17 pop, #9 mainstream), "Any Way You Want It" (#23), "Send Her My Love" (#23), "Wheel in the Sky" (#57), and "Lights" (#68). The 2006 edition added the group's 1996 comeback single, "When You Love a Woman" (#12 pop, #1 adult contemporary for three weeks). The only song on Greatest Hits never to hit the Hot 100 was "Ask the Lonely," which wasn't released to pop radio but did hit #3 on the mainstream rock chart and may be my favorite Journey song of all. ApologetiX has released parodies of "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'," "Don't Stop Believin'," "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)," and "Faithfully." We've also spoofed "Stone in Love" (#13 mainstream rock), which made it onto Greatest Hits 2 in 2011, along with other biggies such as "Suzanne" (#17), "Still They Ride" (#19), "After the Fall" (#23), "Walks Like a Lady" (#32), "The Party's Over (Hopelessly in Love)" (#34 pop, #2 mainstream), "Good Morning Girl/Stay Awhile" (#55), "Just the Same Way" (#58), and "Anytime" (#83). Unfortunately, the album itself didn't chart as high as any of those songs, stalling at #93. But, as renowned poet T.S. Elliott famously said ...
1295. Super Hits - Toto
The name of this compilation seems rather generic for a posse of polished professionals like Toto. Released in June 2001, Super Hits only had 10 tracks, but it did deliver the band's big five: "Africa" (#1), "Rosanna" (#2 for five weeks), "Hold the Line" (#5), "I Won't Hold Back" (#10 pop, #1 adult contemporary for three weeks), and "I'll Be Over You" (#11 pop, #1 AC for two weeks). Most importantly, it contained my favorite Toto song, "99" (#26 pop, #19 AC). It also had the Top 10 AC hit "Without Your Love" (#38 pop, #7 AC). However, it was missing their three other Top 40 hits — "Pamela" (#22 pop, #9 AC), "Make Believe" (#30 pop), and "Stranger in Town" (#30 pop) — which were apparently not super enough to make the cut. Neither was their rockin' second single, "I'll Supply the Love" (#45 pop), which I remember fondly from the winter of 1978-79. Curiously, their third single, "Georgy Porgy" (#48 pop), was included on Super Hits, even though it charted lower. ApologetiX spoofed "Hold the Line" in 2009 and "Rosanna" in 2011. We released a parody of "Lido Shuffle," too, in 2021. Although originally sung by Boz Scaggs, that song featured three Toto members — drummer Jeff Porcaro, bassist David Hungate, and keyboardist David Paich, who co-wrote it. I also read Toto lead guitarist Steve Lukather's autobiography, The Gospel According to Luke, in early 2019. While it could never compare with the original Bible book, I did find Steve's story very interesting and entertaining.
1296. The Hits - REO Speedwagon
REO Speedwagon originated in Champaign IL, a place I remember fondly from 1981. My parents took a two-week train trip across the United States that summer, leaving me in the care of my youngest older sister, Gayle, who was in grad school at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. I had just finished my junior year in high school, but I'm sure I still found a way to put the "annoy" in Illinois for her. Meanwhile, REO's landmark LP Hi Infidelity held the top spot on the Billboard 200 for 15 non-consecutive weeks in '81. By the time The Hits came out in May '88, I was about the same age Gayle had been back then. It opened up with two new songs, the rock-oriented "I Don't Want to Lose You" and the softer-sounding "Here With Me" (#20 pop, #9 adult contemporary), which turned out to be one of the band's best ballads. The headliners on The Hits were "Keep On Loving You" (#1 pop, #9 mainstream rock), "Can't Fight This Feeling" (#1 pop, #3 AC, #5 mainstream), and "Take It On the Run (#5 pop, #6 mainstream), but they had a strong supporting cast: "That Ain't Love" (#16 pop, #5 mainstream rock), "In My Dreams" (#19 pop, #6 AC), "One Lonely Night" (#19 pop, #17 mainstream, #10 AC), "Don't Let Him Go" (#24 pop, #11 mainstream), "Time for Me to Fly" (#56 pop), "Roll With the Changes" (#58 pop), "Ridin' the Storm Out (LIve)" (#94 pop), "Keep Pushin'," and "Back on the Road Again." In case you're wondering, those last five tracks came out before Billboard magazine introduced its mainstream rock chart, another major thing that happened in '81. Otherwise, they probably would have done decently there. The Hits is a pretty good collection, but it was missing some significant hits: "Keep the Fire Burnin'" (#7 pop, #2 mainstream), "In Your Letter" (#20 pop, #26 AC), "Sweet Time" (#26 pop), "I Do'wanna Know" (#29 pop, #5 mainstream), "Live Every Moment" (#34 pop), and a few other FM favorites of mine, "Only the Strong Survive," "Out of Season" (#59 mainstream), and "Tough Guys" (#25 mainstream). The album itself only went to #56 on the Billboard 200 but sold over four million copies in the United States alone. ApologetiX went on to spoof four of its 14 tracks: "Time for Me to Fly," "Keep On Loving You," "Roll With the Changes," and "Can't Fight This Feeling."
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