The Pop Zeal Project (Track 84): Gwen Stefani: “The Real Thing”
When Gwen Stefani of No Doubt ventured out to make her first solo album, 2004’s Love. Angel. Music. Baby., the singer used it as a creative outlet to pursue other forms of music besides the ska/post-punk sound, for which the band was already famous. While on The Harajuku Lovers Tour to support the solo effort, Stefani, during an interaction with the crowd after “Crash,” offered insight as to the intention behind L. A. M. B.:
Stefani’s creative direction for L. A. M. B. pointed towards psychedelic pop-punk.
“I was on tour with No Doubt… and I said to Tony… wouldn’t it be fun to make a dance record? Very, very clean, easy, simple idea… I was never gonna tour the record, but then you guys keep buying the record, you keep bringing me out, you keep tempting me. And I’m on this big ol’ wave and I just wanna crash right down on top of you, and I just wanna hear you guys sing the songs back to me.”
The song in the setlist before “Crash,” entitled “The Real Thing” was cowritten by Stefani, Linda Perry, and Stefani’s then-husband, Gavin Rossdale, and co-produced by Nellee Hooper (No Doubt’s “Hella Good”; “Running”; their cover of Talk Talk’s “It’s My Life”). Lyrically, the love song expresses how much one, after being with another for some time, still wants, and needs, the other around. Presumably, Stefani and Rossdale, each with their own rock-star careers and busy schedules, were writing about each other at the time, with the following lyrics a reflection of their relationship: “And we’re together most days/But I still love to have you around”. However, in 2016, after 14 years of marriage, Stefani and Rossdale divorced, making one of the track’s later verses a bit prophetic: “Heaven knows what will come next/So emotional, you’re so complex/A rollercoaster, built to crash/But I still love to have you around.” (Note another reference to the word, crash.)
Musically, “The Real Thing” was heavily (and intentionally) inspired by New Order’s 1986 track, “Bizarre Love Triangle.” Stefani would have been 17 years old when the synth-pop song was first released, and indicates another musical style that Stefani was interested in besides the ska/post-punk sound that a budding No Doubt was embracing. (One can almost imagine Stefani staying up late on a Sunday night to watch MTV’s “!20 Minutes” to catch the video for “Bizarre,” or sliding a cassette tape into a boombox during lunch at Anaheim’s Loara High School.) Into adulthood, Stefani remained a fan of the English alternative-pop band, and reached out to collaborate with them. After initially declining, the band’s singer, Bernard Sumner ended up contributing backing vocals, while Peter Hook played bass on Stefani’s musical homage.
Listening to “The Real Thing,” one may not necessarily hear the direct influence of “Bizarre.” But in listening to “Bizarre,” and then returning back to “The Real Thing,” the similarities become more evident. For example:
The guitar riff in the outro of “Bizarre”; the intro to “The Real Thing.”
Melody: In “Bizarre” at the lyrics: “There’s no sense in telling me/The wisdom of the fool won’t set you free.” In “The Real Thing” at the aforementioned: “Heaven knows what will come next/So emotional, you’re so complex.”
Gwen Stefani’s “The Real Thing,” and essentially the Love. Angel. Music. Baby. period as a whole, marks one of the most important moments in Stefani’s career: Sonically, it’s a purposeful step from ska to synth pop and other sounds; visually, as seen on The Harajuku Lovers Tour, it’s a shift from rugged rock star to polished platinum-Marilyn pop star, complete with what would become Stefani’s signature: the retro red lip. “The Real Thing” serves as another way Stefani solidified herself as the real deal.
Red Lip Photo by John Shearer.
The Pop Zeal Project: Sheryl Crow: “Safe and Sound”
In 1997, pop/rock musician, Sheryl Crow sang the theme song to the James Bond film, Tomorrow Never Dies. Unfortunately, the song and the film, separately and as a pairing, failed to create any lasting memories, unlike many that had come before. However, five years later, Crow released her cool, Southern-California-inspired album, C’mon, C’mon, which featured a song entitled, “Safe and Sound.” Now THAT was what “Tomorrow Never Dies” should’ve been.
Granted Bond-film theme songs have varied in style, but there are some core elements that tend to be incorporated, giving the tracks immediate recognition, and, in many cases, help contribute to their longevity. Here’s why “Safe and Sound,” at least musically speaking, works as the Bond theme that never was:
Quieter verses with hints of piano harken to Sheena Easton’s “For Your Eyes Only.” (In a live capacity, Crow has been known to play piano when performing “Safe and Sound.”)
Those pop-ballad verses erupt to a rock-inspired chorus, not unlike Paul McCartney and Wings’ “Live and Let Die.”
As showcased on “Tomorrow Never Dies,” Crow’s vocal range still lends to that impassioned, big-voice quality reminiscent of Shirley Bassey’s work on “Goldfinger” and “Diamonds Are Forever,” and Lulu’s “The Man with the Golden Gun.”
Take a listen, and as the track plays, it’s easy to imagine the classic silhouettes and other artistic imagery featured in Bond-film opening credits. In particular, take note of the climactic crescendo and Crow’s vocal run; both cement the song as soundtrack worthy.
Pop Playlist: The Cars: “Shake It Up”
Listen to The Cars’ 1981 hit, “Shake It Up,” in comparison to their late-70s material, and one can hear how the band did just that. With a sound that at first was more rock-oriented with tracks like “Just What I Needed,” “Good Times Roll,” You’re All I’ve Got Tonight” and “Moving In Stereo” (yes, the song that played over that Phoebe Cates scene from Fast Times at Ridgemont High), “Shake It Up” is pure pop-new-wave. With the birth of the MTV/music-video generation beginning in 1981, Ric Ocasek and the band embraced this sound through the new decade, with pop-ballad, “Since You’re Gone,” and later with 1984’s Heartbeat City (“You Might Think”; “Hello Again”; “Magic”; “Drive”).
Space Jam: Jack White’s “Connected by Love”
The musician, Jack White recently released the powerful single and video for “Connected by Love.” Haunting synth evokes a sci-fi Kubrick film, or a Blade Runner score that would make Vangelis proud. Quick to follow are hints of the Stones in the ‘60s: the gospel feel of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”; soulful backing vocals reminiscent of Merry Clayton’s on “Sympathy for the Devil.” The experimental sound of the ’70s courses through too (passionate rock-opera-inspired vocals by Mercury and Daltrey come to mind). As already noted, “Connected” feels sci-fi cinematic; its accompanying video similar in part to the 2011 Lars Von Trier film, Melancholia, about the complex relationship between two sisters, as a planet sets out on a collision course with Earth.
With White threading together various musical styles, he blends the past with the present, and the (futuristic) video highlighting the unconditional bond between parents and children from all walks of life, while White’s character sits alone in a hotel room with his regrets (”What have I done?/I have pushed away everyone”), the importance of connection, plays a starring role.
Pop Playlist: Garbage: “Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)”
A blend of rock and synth, with touches of mid-century pop, the 2001 song, “Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)” by Garbage surely makes for an interesting listen. Although the band’s familiar, no-holds-barred rock-guitar riffs tear through, there are sweet-sounding production elements (handclaps; church bells) and Shirley Manson’s (girl-group) vocal delivery that allow the track to feel reminiscent of a bubble-gum song from the ‘60s… gone wild.