❌Monthly Song Challenge: Archived🎵

Day 8: A song you'd put on to clean

When I was married, my wife could always tell when I was cleaning because Pepe and Bottle Blondes' first, best album, Late Night Betty would be blasting. They sang in a wonderful mixture of English and Spanish, mostly salsa, driven by Pepe Raphael (also a singer with Pink Martini, but who in Portland hasn't been?). The album is just pure energy, and I need that when I have a duster in my hand. But they play in many genres, and this song is one of my favorites, led by Jessica Hollyfield, with support by Nadine Stanton -- these are your The Bottle Blondes, ladies and gentlemen! And I love the history on this. @morelikeasong, I am going to violate Rule One for this, but it is necessary. If this means I burn my Second Song Pass, so be it. Or, you know, spanking...

In 1953, Georgia Gibbs released a song called "I Want To Be Your Baby," a Jump Blues song that did well enough to get her on the Ed Sullivan Show. It got the attention of Grace Chang, an actress and singer from China who had the stage name Lo Kan. Grace had been raised in China and trained as a member of the Beijing Opera until her family moved to Hong Kong when she was in her teens. There she became famous for both her voice and her comic films with some 30 movie credits. She covered "I Want to be Your Baby" in a mixture between Mandarin and English as "我要你的愛," or "Wo Yao Ni de Ai," meaning "I Want Your Love." And that is the version the Bottle Blondes sing here. It is unique, and it is lovely. I always stopped the vacuum when this one was on and just danced...

"我要你的愛," Pepe and the Bottle Blondes.

 
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Day 7: A song that deserves more credit

I've used this space before to lament how I didn't get into Sleater-Kinney earlier in life, and listening to their earlier work just sort of reaffirms that. Dig Me Out deserved to be a bigger hit, and earlier live recordings have the urgency of a younger band, but the sound quality is bootleg as hell on those, so we'll go with this one, which still hits, especially b/c Janet Weiss if a beast.

 
Day 8: A song you’d put on to clean

The first song that came up when I shuffled my all-purpose playlist. It's nearly time to start cleaning so no reason not to let it all play out.

Fleur East - Like That
Never heard this song before... But it got me moving. Great choice. Thanks for sharing.
 
Day 8: A song you’d put on to clean

The biggest cleaning job is the bathroom here. Think of me in all my sexyness: trashy cleaning clothes, bucket, giant sponge, and some mid-tempo kick drum to keep me going.
Before you know it I'm a hot spent mess that smells of lemon-scented cleaner. Irresistible, no?

Falling hard
 
Day 9: A song that reminds you of someone

Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel: Make me smile (come up and see me)

This was always on the juke box in our local pub so always reminds me of my friends back then

 
Day 9: A song that reminds you of someone
I have seen a ton of concerts with my brother but none more memorable than Van Halen. David Lee Roth was so wasted he didn't remember the words to most of the songs except for this one...and it was great. I think of my brother and I laughing our asses off every time I hear this song
 
A old friend who died at a very young age. He was city police who was shot while on duty. I see him dancing to this song with a girl from the Catholic High School.


Am I just Another Dancing Partner
 
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