Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCXLIX--Helen Reddy: I Am Woman

 As I've noted a time or two (or three or four) here on Friday Night Jukebox, the tunes I feature here each week are chosen years in advance of their posting, and once again this week we have one that just happened to oddly coincide with recent news events--that being the Supreme Court's decision earlier this month to allow the Texas ban on abortions to stand while I picked perhaps the greatest women's anthem ever performed some years ago to be this week's song.  Of course, as far off the deep end as the Supreme Court has gone during the Roberts' years, I probably shouldn't be surprised....

Helen Reddy was born into a show biz family in Melbourne, Australia in 1941.  After winning a talent contest in her native Australia in 1966 with a grand prize being the chance to record a single for Mercury Records, Reddy immigrated to America only to find out the grand prize wasn't so grand--it was only to be an audition for the chance, and they eventually decided they did not want her to record for them.  Reddy--despite being a single mom--decided to stay and pursue her dream anyway.  She got her chance in 1971 when she released her first single, which was a top twenty hit in Canada, and led to her second single which kickstarted her success.  Reddy had a number of hits, won a Grammy Award, and was inducted into Australia's music hall of fame  She retired in 2002 and after her retirement earned a degree in hypnotherapy.  In 2011 she returned to performing and continued through 2017.  For her career Reddy released eighteen studio albums (with six hitting the top twenty), and 31 singles (with three hitting #1 and another three reaching the top ten).  Ms. Reddy was diagnosed with dementia in 2015, but still participated in the 2017 Women's March.  Sadly, she passed away last year at the age of seventy-eight.

"I Am Woman" was originally released on Reddy's debut album, I Don't Know How to Love Him in 1971.  It was later re-recorded with an additional verse and chorus and became a hit single on Reddy's third album, I Am Woman.  The second version reached #1 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, and its album hit #14 on the Billboard 200.

I don't think it can be overstated what an important cultural reference point "I Am Woman" was to a still relatively nascent women's movement here in America.  As a man who has never suffered the discrimination that women have in America's history, I am loathe to imagine what this song meant to the women of the time (and the women of today), but I hope it spoke to the empowerment they were (and are) seeking.  From a strictly musical standpoint, the song is incredibly catchy and Reddy's vocals capture the strength, defiance, and joy that the song's lyrics demonstrate.  In the end, what stands out most for me is not only did Reddy create an anthem (which isn't often done), but she created one that appeals to half the world's population--and spoke to their common history and their hope for the actualization of their fight to be treated as equals.

Lyric Sheet:  "I am woman hear me roar/In numbers too big to ignore/And I know too much to go back and pretend..."

Enjoy:

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Peace,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCXII--Crowded House: Don't Dream It's Over

 This week we have a wee bit of blue-eyed soul from Down Under....

Crowded House formed in 1985 in Melbourne, Australia when two members of New Zealand band Split Enz, decided to make a go of it in a new formation.  Neil Finn and Paul Hester (who sadly took his own life in 2005) and their bandmates would achieve hella success in their native countries of New Zealand and Australia as well as a few hits in both the U.S. and the U.K.  Finn and Nick Seymour have been the only two constants in Crowded House, which originally recorded from 1985-1996, before taking a ten year hiatus.  The band returned for five more years, took five years off, had a one off tour in 2016, and reunited again in 2019 and remain together today, hoping to release a new album next year after the pandemic put off their plans for this year.  For their career, they have released six studio albums (four #1's in Australia, two in New Zealand, with all others hitting no lower than #3--plus a #12 on the Billboard 200), four live albums, and four compilations.  They've also released 33 singles with two top ten hits in both Australia and the States.  They have won 13 ARIA's (Australian Grammy), three of the New Zealand equivalent of a Grammy, and one MTV Award.  The band's success has also resulted in numerous solo albums for its members, as well as a number of producing credits.  All in all, the members of Crowded House have had a damn good run over the course of the last thirty-five years.

Fun Fact:  In a survey of the greatest songs in the history of Australia and New Zealand, this week's tune finished seventh and second, respectively.  Not a bad highlight for a musical career resume....

"Don't Dream It's Over" was the fourth single from Crowded House's 1986 debut LP, entitled surprisingly enough, Crowded House.  The song would reach #2 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, and #1 in Canada and New Zealand (so many cool kids in Canada and New Zealand!), but surprisingly only #8 in Australia.  The album hit #1 in Australia, #3 in New Zealand, and would be their biggest U.S. hit, reaching #12.

As of today, my list of songs to be featured on Friday Night Jukebox each week runs through January of 2025, and I usually have a good two years worth of songs to write about at any time.  So it's a bit surprising that a couple of years back when I was jotting down tunes to be featured at the end of a year in which we faced an unprecedented pandemic, horrific economic hardship, and a  Presidential candidate who has been insufferable in his whining over soundly losing a free and fair election that the last song of the year that I'd choose would be a song about...persevering through adversity.  (If only I could be so prescient just once concerning a Mega Millions drawing....)  Anyhoo, "Don't Dream It's Over" is a wonderful slice of pop soul, featuring an inspiring vocal from Neil Finn, some tasty lyrics, and a melody that's as sweet as a baby's first smile.  And yes, it's a nice reminder that quitting isn't nearly as fulfilling as continuing that search for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  As for me, I'm just going to "Hey now, hey now" my way into the hopefully good graces of 2021....

Lyric Sheet:  "There's a battle ahead/Many battles are lost/But you'll never see the end of the road/While you're traveling with me/Hey now, hey now...

Enjoy:

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emaycee