I guess you can call this my "With A Little Help From My Friends" edition of the Thursday Thirteen. Many times an artist will backup a fellow artist in the studio. Since they often do this without receiving label credit, you might say to yourself, "Wow, that sounds like______". Other times there is no mistaking the singing/playing style of the person doing the cameo. Below are some of my favorites.
1. Eddie Van Halen plays the guitar solo on Michael Jackson's "Beat It" (1983)
2. Kate Pierson of the B-52s sings backup on the R.E.M. hit "Shiny Happy People" (1991)
3. Jr. Walker performs the sax solo on Foreigner's "Urgent" (1981)
4. The Sweet Inspirations sing backup on "Glory Glory" by The Rascals (1970)
5. Chaka Khan does background vocals on Stevie Winwood's #1 hit "Higher Love" (1986)
6. King Curtis plays the sax on "Charlie Brown" by the Coasters (1959)
7. Lou Rawls sings backup on "Bring It On Home To Me" by Sam Cooke (1962)
8. Andy Taylor (of Duran Duran) plays the guitar solo on "Mad About You" by Belinda Carlisle (1986)
9. Billy Preston plays the organ solo on Luther Vandross' "Til My Baby Comes Home" (1985)
10. Michael McDonald sings backup on the Christopher Cross hit "Ride Like the Wind" (1980)
11. Jerry Lee Lewis plays piano on Carl Perkins' "Put Your Cat Clothes On" (1956)
12. Stevie Wonder plays harmonica on "There Must Be An Angel" (Playing With My Heart) by Eurythmics (1985).
13. The Temptations sing backup on the Marvin Gaye hit "Try It Baby" (1964)
Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
(leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)
1. 2. Susan Helene
3. Sandee (Comedy +)
4. Denise Patrick
5. Lori (A Cowboy's Wife)
6. Silencer 76
7. Gattina
8. 2 Boys 2 Teach
9. No Nonsense Girl
10. LA Day
11. Robin
12. Lori's Old School Mix
13. Jessica the Rock Chick
14. Kathy
15. Nap Warden
16. Mo Mhile Gra
17. Jennie
18. Amazing Gracie
19. Movie Girl
20. Haley-O
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
33 comments:
What a pleasure to find an intelligent, informative and fun blog when hitting the "Next blog" button.
I'm so sick of the porno spam sites that blogger allows to come up!
Keep up the great blogging!
Wow...that is great info. I loved Van Halen...they were my all time favorite in the 80's. I hear they are going to tour again...we'll see how that works out;)
Didn't Eddie also play on Janet Jackson's Black Cat? I know someone did; that song actually got some play on my local rock station. I loved how they were willing to cross genre lines... wish they still did. Good music is good music. Period.
The rest of your list rocks, of course. But I'm a music junkie.
I lovvve #2. I also have a question: do you know which woman did backing vocals in the Stones' "Gimme Shelter"? I've always thought it was Grace Slick but never found the answer.
I just love your Thursday Thirteens. Great job. Have a great TT. :)
I KNEW there was a reason I loved that sax solo on Urgent!!!
My sister reminds me about Van Halen's guitar solo on MJ's song every time we listen to it - which is a lot. We are both MJ fans from waaaayyyy back!
Great TT!
Oohh... Great list! Happy TT! :)
You keep coming up with some great list Malcolm. Your list contained a couple of gems I did not know from some of my favorite artists. I did not know that Michael McDonald backed up Christopher Cross on "Ride Like the Wind". Believe it or not I have the album in my collection and remember when he won that bag full of Grammys back in the day. I also did not know that the Temps backed Marvin on "Try It Baby" which was one of my grandmother's favorite Marvin tunes.
Wow..what a list! You must have such an interesting life. And meeting Melissa...how neat is that! I bet you know many more celebs huh?
I appreciate the visit!! Happy TT..ing!
To me a classic, and I know it will be twisted, since Weird Al is a parody artist, but on his Beverly Hillbillies tune, Mark Knopfler wouldn't let him use "Money for Nothing" unless he was playing guitar. ;)
I am ashamed, lol ! I never pay attention who sings I only listen to the song and the music !
BTW I am also surprised that M. Jackson is approaching the 50 ! It's a pity what they had done with him. My son when he was about 12 was a big fan and I went with him and his friends here in Belgium to a life concert. It was wonderful ! what an artist !
Debra: Thanks for stopping by and leaving your positive feedback. I am glad that the "Next Blog" button led you to a place you wanted to be.
Lori: Many people are saying that the VH reunion won't survive the whole tour. Since I sometimes like to bet on longshots, I am going to say that it will.
Susan Helene: It's funny that you ask about "Black Cat" because it almost made this week's TT. To answer your question, Vernon Reid of Living Colour played lead guitar on it.
I agree that more radio stations today should cross genres. That's the goal of my weekly radio show. Although I play music from the 70s and 80s, I feature a wide variety (rap, rock, disco, R&B, new wave, etc.).
Buck Naked Politics: "Gimme Shelter"... what an awesome tune! Merry Clayton did the female vocals on it. In addition to singing backup on "Sweet Home Alabama", she also originated the role of the Acid Queen in the London stage production of "Tommy".
Sandee: Thanks! By the way, it's nice to be able to put a name and face to your blogger moniker (Comedy Plus).
Janet: As I type this, I am grooving to Jr. Walker's sax solo on "Urgent". I think I'll listen to Jr. Walker and the All Stars' "Ultimate Collection" on the way to work.
Denise: I too am an MJ fan from back in the day. I don't know if you saw it, but I posted about his 49th birthday on Wednesday.
Pjazzy: Thanks! There is an SCTV skit where Michael McDonald(played by Rick Moranis) is at the studio doing the backup vocals for "Ride Like the Wind". Here is the link:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=b9NJgACcpeo
I was listening to WOWE out of Vassar a few years ago when I learned that The Tempts did backup vocals on "Try It Baby". Out of all the Tempts, Eddie Kendricks' voice is the most prominent backup vocal on the track. This is one of my favorite songs by Marvin from the pre-What's Goin' On era.
Lori: Thanks for stopping by. Although I don't know them per se, some of the other celebs I met include: Marla Gibbs, Jerry Mathers, Chuck Woolery, Cheryl Ladd, Lisa Whelchel, and Mr. T.
Very interesting. I'll have to give those songs another listen. Thanks for stopping by. Blessings, Jenn
That's a really neat list, and a great idea for a TT! And I just love Jerry Lee Lewis's rockin' piano style. :)
Thanks for stopping by my blog!
Thats a great list! I love trivia like that :) Thanks for stopping by my blog!
Great list, Happy TT!!!
http://thenononsense.blogspot.com/2007/08/thirteen-things-i-love.html
Great List. The Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins combo did more than one if I remember correctly.
Ed
Http://edsthread.x10hosting.com
#7 and #12 really caught me, I love both songs and have listened to them a millions times.
THANK YOU so much for bringing something extra to them for me. :D
~X
Wow! What a list.
I love that sax solo on Urgent. Foreigner was one of the first concerts I attended...
Beat It, Shiny Happy People, and Mad About You...loved all of those and I didn't know about the secret background singer/musician. Very cool post.
And yes, I'm afraid I later learned what She Bop was about....maybe on VH1 or something like that. Shock....total shock.
No comment, just a quick question: Exactly how many Lori's do you know?! Just messing with ya (smile). Happy TT!
I didn't know about King Curtis playing on "Charlie Brown"!
Are you going to try to see Van Halen?
I think my favortie of these was the Chaka Khan guest appearance on "Higher Love". That is one of my all-time fave songs!
This is a great list..I had no idea about the Charlie Brown song at all!!!
Jessica
wow! I did not know any of those things. That was very interesting. You're gonna have to do this again in the future.
Also read your post on Michael Jackson; I liked him, too, and wonder if he'll ever do anything musical again.
Right there with you on number 8...Love John Taylor! Happy TT
You have some great ones listed here! I think my fave of this group is Stevie and the Eurythmics. Gotta love Stevie!
Great list! I don't think I knew any of this. The only one I even suspected was the B-52 lady doing back up singing on Shiny Happy People.
Cool! What a great TT. I'll have to go listen to those songs to see if I can spot them now!
This is my first visit and it won't be my last! How informative and diverse! And due to the fact that I'm o-l-d, I knew the older songs....Great stuff.
Silencer 76:I didn't realize that Mark Knopfler played guitar on the Weird Al parody. Thanks for the tidbit.
Gattina: It is a shame what Michael has done to himself. That's pretty cool that you and your son saw him live... I'll bet that was quite the experience.
Ed: I think you are right about Carl and Jerry Lee teaming up on other songs. Since they were both on Sun Records, that would make sense.
Mama Pajama: I remember that both Kate Pierson and Andy Taylor were in the videos for the two songs I listed on which they did guest appearances. I just thought of something. It would have been cool as hell if Eddie Van Halen appeared in the video for Beat It. If you want to take a trip down memory lane video style, here are the links to the REM and Belinda Carlisle videos, respectively.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=MwPu96ZcV_I
http://youtube.com/watch?v=KXj0QcSDVRE
As for the subject matter of "She Bop", I hadn't a clue when I was a kid. Although Casey Kasem always gave interesting trivia about the artists and the songs, he wasn't about to reveal to the listening audience that "She Bop" was all about self pleasure. However, it would have been funny as hell if a listener chose that song as their "Long Distance Dedication".
Lori (from the Old School Mix): I am starting to lose track of all the Loris who comment on my blog... just kidding. I think there is just one besides you... but I may have to take a head count, cyber-style.
The Rock Chick: I am going to have to pass on seeing VH in concert. Although I would love to see the reunion, there are some things like bills, food, and shelter that will cause me to miss it.
Kathy: This is probably a subject that I will revisit for a TT somewhere down the line. With MJ, who knows. I wonder if he is kinding lying in the weeds waiting to spring some magic on us.
Barbara (aka Layla): You can hardly go wrong with Stevie. I almost chose his guest harmonica solo from Elton John's "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" over the tune by Eurythmics.
Amazing Gracie: I am glad that you found my blog and liked what you saw. I always try to mix up my TTs with a little something for everybody. I have been referred to at times as an old soul because even as a kid, I loved music from the 50s and 60s. Like I always say, great music never goes out of style.
Ooooo... This is GOOD! This is very very GOOD! these are ALL great music moments, fo sho!
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