Hot Caramel and a Codpiece – Now that’s a Party! – Hit Me Baby One More Time, Episode 3 by Carrie
First, the good news; Hit Me Baby One More Time has been extended for at least two more episodes. As it continues to gain popularity and excellent ratings, we may even get to see some more bands that bring it as well as those who performed last night. For the bad news … well, just read on.
The lineup for episode three includes Wang Chung, Sophie B. Hawkins, Cameo, Howard Jones, and Irene Cara.
Wang Chung hit the US charts in 1984 with “Dance Hall Days”, and in 1986 had their biggest chart success, reaching #2 with “Everybody Have Fun Tonight”. They actually have a decent catalog of work out there, which is absolutely worth checking out.
Out they come to perform “Everybody Have Fun Tonight”, and they’ve still got it. Jack Hues’ voice has aged for sure, but he still sounds like himself (unlike Mike Score from A Flock of Seagulls – but I digress). Fun stuff! Host Vernon Kay asks them what their name means, and they’re still not telling. They’ll be performing “Hot in Herre” by Nelly for their cover song later in the evening. Hmm, not sure about this one.
Next up is Sophie B. Hawkins, who had a hit with “Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover”. She was nominated for a Grammy award and followed up with the single “As I Lay Me Down”, which stayed on the Top 40 for an impressive 67 weeks – before fading into relative obscurity. But now, as Vernon is so fond of saying, she’s back.
Sophie hits the stage and runs around in circles a couple of times before launching into “Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover”. Either she’s been doing a little recreational imbibing, or there’s way too much free coffee backstage. She sounds okay – at the risk of sounding like an Idol judge, it’s a little pitchy – but her energy level is somewhat distracting. As she sings, she rips off her blouse exposing a tank top with “Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover” written across it. She’ll be back to perform Five for Fighting’s “100 Years”.
Cameo was formed in the early 70’s, and became very popular in funk music circles. After reworking their sound, paring down the band, and adding a healthy dose of synthesizers, they hit the big time in the mid-80’s with their smash single “Word Up”. They’ve had a string of successful albums since then, including “Anthology” in 2002.
They come out onstage, and yes – singer Larry Blackmon is donning his signature red codpiece. More importantly though, his voice is impeccable and they deliver a rousing and entertaining performance. They’re still great dancers and performers, and if the last two episodes are indicative of how the audience tends to vote, they’re looking good for a win. They’ll be back to cover something by Bowling for Soup.
And now the artist that I’ve been waiting for – Howard Jones. Jones had a string of hits in the 80’s, including “Things Can Only Get Better”, “What is Love”, “Everlasting Love”, and the song he’ll be performing for us, “No One is to Blame”. He was trained as a classical musician, but quickly turned to synthesizers and helped to define the sound of the 80’s. And man, did I ever love this guy when I was a teenager!
Jones looks like an older version of himself with a little John Lithgow thrown in for good measure. He’s absolutely adorable, and when he appears I have a massive urge to hug him. He sits at the piano and performs “No One is to Blame” flawlessly, even hitting the high notes with flair. Guess you can tell who I’m rooting for at this point, eh? He’ll be back later to cover Dido’s “White Flag”. Sounds like a good choice to me, but I can’t help but be a bit disappointed that he didn’t do “Things Can Only Get Better” first – he needed something a bit more upbeat to keep him in contention for the endgame.
The last performer of the evening is Irene Cara. She started out wanting to be an actress, but soared to fame and fortune by singing two of the best-selling movie title songs of, well, ever. “Fame” and “What a Feeling” (the theme from Flashdance) were Cara’s only big hits – for some reason, she couldn’t hit the charts unless there was a blockbuster movie backing her up.
Cara’s singing “What a Feeling” for us, and she delivers it fairly well. She looks happy and seems to be enjoying herself, and the audience obviously connects to the feel-good tune. A nice number, but not altogether memorable. She’s going to cover Anastasia’s “Out of Love” for her second performance.
Now it’s time to catch up with each artist and bring them back to do their cover songs. The guys who front Wang Chung are heavily involved in family life now, but are still recording and having fun with the music.
They come out and rip right into “Hot in Herre” – and it’s smokin’! Better than the original, no offense to Nelly. They’re tight, they’re strong, and they’ve got attitude baby! The only thing I didn’t like about this number is the camera shots of attractive female audience members singing along every time the chorus resounded “I want to take my clothes off” – obviously the cameraman isn’t getting enough action, if you know what I’m sayin’.
Sophie B. Hawkins is living in California and enjoying her life, riding her bike (which looks like it was made for a thirteen-year-old), making music, and painting. She still performs (and in the shot of her concert, she’s wearing the same outfit she had on earlier on the show, just FYI), and says that she likes to “milk it” when she’s performing. Okee dokee.
This time she’s wearing a long black evening gown with sequins, and no shoes. She’s got her hair piled high on her head. And the song? Well, let’s just say that the description of how she looks is much more interesting. Her rendition of Five For Fighting’s “100 Years” was a bit dull for my listening palate, but I’m sure the guy who she sang to in the audience enjoyed it.
Cameo is still crooning, with most of the members living in Atlanta, Georgia. Larry Blackmon is into astrology and metaphysics these days, and is doing some radio work.
Out they come in the same outfits, covering Bowling for Soup’s “1985”. They screw up the lyrics, but who cares? They have fun, they’re funky, and the electric slide is absolutely perfect. Good for them.
Howard Jones has recently made the move from London to Sommerset, England, and his son is enjoying life in the country. He’s been a practicing Buddhist for the past twelve years, and says he’s just trying to be the best Howard Jones he can be.
He comes out dressed in a black t-shirt and hoodie, with black sparkly pants. Ha – seems you can take the man out of the 80’s, but you can’t take the 80’s out of the man. Love it. Jones’ cover of Dido’s “White Flag” is pretty true to the original, and sounds great. It would have been even better though if Jones had decided to cover Coldplay’s “How Long” – that would have been a perfect match. But Howard has more talent in his big toe than, oh, say, Sophie B. Hawkins has in her entire being. He’s a classic, and he delivered.
Finally we catch up with Irene Cara. She runs a production company, and has to spend time at the beach every day. She calls it her “meditation”. She also has a new band called Hot Caramel, named because she was tired of people mispronouncing her name as “Cah-ra” rather than “Cay-ra”. Too bad she didn’t realize that some people pronounce “caramel” as “cah-ra-mel”.
Regardless, Cara is performing Anastasia’s “Out of Love” with Hot Caramel. Um, isn’t this once again bending the rules a bit? She only covers about half of the vocals, and there’s a Vonzell Solomon look-a-like in the band as well. But shouldn’t Cara be performing this as a solo act? Meh, doesn’t matter, ‘cause it’s not really all that great and there’s no way she’ll beat the likes of Wang Chung, Howard Jones, or even Cameo, right?
Right?
Wrong. The audience, who must have been handed ear plugs at the door, votes for Irene Cara as the winner. It’s a travesty! Her charity of choice is Women in the Arts. Don’t even get me started on that one. (And before the hate mail starts flowing in, I do think it’s a worthy cause. But when there are people starving in the world, the arts kinda take a back seat. I’m just sayin’.)
Next week we’ll be listening to Glass Tiger, the Baha Men, Greg Kihn, Thelma Houston, and a fifth artist which is yet to be named. And now I must go and listen to The Best of Howard Jones and ponder what the audience was thinking last night.
Give me a shout at carrie@realityshack.com with any questions or comments.
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