Radio Roulette

With so many thoughts and possible subjects for the next blog entry swirling around in my head, all competing for attention and focus, I decided to go with the stupidest. On goes the TV, point the remote, select the “90s” digital music channel, and write about the first full song to pop up.

As “Whatta Man” – a song I’d thought maybe I’d write about someday, anyway, trails off, I prepare. Here it comes. “I Can’t Help Falling In Love,” UB40. In the 90s, pop music had this on-again, off-again flirtation with reggae-derived hits, where we got anything from Canadian artist Snow’s “Informer” to Big Mountain’s hits and Ini Kamoze’s “Hotstepper” along the way. If you really want to learn more about UB40, Wikipedia and other sites have plenty of info, but what really stands out to me about them is that as much music as they’ve released, as long as they’ve been around (over 30 years at this point), as big as they are in the U.K., most of us in the U.S. will really only know them for their cover songs: Neil Diamond’s “Red Red Wine” (back in the 80s); The Temptations’ “The Way You Do The Things You Do” (1990),” and of course their version of our aforementioned Elvis hit as the completion of their trifecta.

Musically, this song keeps it pretty bland, fitting for its placement as a “soundtrack single” (as you may recall, countless top hits from the 90s gained their popularity by appearing on soundtracks). Gone was the edge that infused the band’s early music – keep in mind that they formed in the late 1970s, when reggae and punk shaped so much of the UK musical landscape. Even the horns, which should always add some element of excitement to a pop song, seem mechanical. That’s what makes it different from so many of the reggae-tinged hits from the 90s. Whereas Snow, Shaggy, Ini Kamoze, and even Big Mountain exuded a danger, an exotic sexuality that fit well on a mixtape in between gangster rap songs, this bland cover of an Elvis ballad became an instant adult contemporary staple alongside Richard Marx and Michael Bolton. Wander around in a grocery store or office building long enough and you’ll hear it, then instantly forget it.