Late Night Music NBA Finals Edition Part 138........"The Song Of Diane Warren"
All of you know who is
Diane Warren is, you just don't know it. Diane Warren is easily the most
under appreciated and most talented songwriter of ballads ever simply
because she's not a performer. Her songs have stretched across genres
and across decades and produced some of the biggest hits of all times
for all kinds of artists, including some of those artists only hit.
After listening to a few of them, I decided to do a "Late Night Music"
first and dedicate an entire list to a non-performing songwriter.
Also receiving votes in this category were "Reach" by Gloria Estefan, "Love Will Lead You Back" by Taylor Dayne, and "Because You Loved Me" by Celine Dion. "Solitaire" by Laura Branigan was disqualified because Warren was not the sole writer.
"Rhthym Of The Night"- DeBarge. In probably what was Warren's first major hit, and what would prove to be DeBarge's biggest hit easily, this title track from their 1985 album peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and gave us an hilariously bad hair video that would even make the Commodores look away. This song was written specifically to have this calypso sound similar to the single "All Night Long" by Lionel Richie, as Motown wanted to change the fan base and sound of DeBarge, as the label was suffering in the 80's and is seen as the song that catapulted Diane Warren's career. The popularity of the song was catapulted by its inclusion on the soundtrack of the 1985 cult classic The Last Dragon. That alone would make this song a prime candidate for the second installment of "Great Song, Horrible Movie".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAQSZhazYk8
"What Do I Do With The Love?"- Dru Hill. In 1998, Dru Hill followed up their popular self titled debut album with Enter The Dru, which peaked at #2 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart. The album was aided by the inclusion of the song "How Deep Is Your Love" being featured on the soundtrack of the surprise blockbuster film Rush Hour, and big budget video to accompany it. The Warren ballad was always one of Sisqo's better solo efforts to me, but the song was never released as a single, probably due to the previous ballad "These Are The Times" being released just after the album was released.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJtqkK7NQlA
"I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing"- Aerosmith. Talk about striking gold! In 1999, Aerosmith scored their first ever Billboard Hot 100 #1 hit with this wildly popular song from the soundtrack from the movie Armageddon. Despite it's immense popularity, the song lost the Academy Award for best Original Song to the Babyface penned "When You Believe" from The Prince Of Egypt. Ironically enough, an award Warren has never won despite being nominated six times. In what was probably Warren's most prolific time as a songwriter, this song still remains one of her most popular and breathed much needed life back into the careers of Aerosmith who reached a completely new audience with this song, which still plays the song at every live performance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo_0UXRY_rY
"I Could Not Ask For More"- Edwin McCain. Also, in 1999, recorded this song for the Kevin Costner film Message In A Bottle and also included the track on his third studio album Messenger. I think this Warren song is rare in that really only it and the previous song are songs that were recorded by prominent songwriters that usually wrote their own music. This single peaked at #37 on the Billboard Hot 100, but would peak at #35 two years later when it was covered by Sara Evans- I smell a bonus video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPXRJkla7fI
"Blame It On The Rain"- Milli Vanilli. I really went here. I did not know this until tonight. This song actually knocked another Warren song "When I See You Smile" out of the top spot for #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1989 (more on that song in a minute), and would be one of Milli Vanilli's biggest "hits" off of their eponymous debut album Girl, You Know It's True. I gotta admit though, I really wish these guys would have been really singing. That would have been so much fun!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwrL9MV6jSk
"How Do I Live"- Trisha Yearwood. In an award anomaly in 1998, this song was nominated in the same category sung by two different artists at the 1998 Grammys for Best Female Country Vocal Performance- something that still has not happened in Grammy history since- when this and the LeAnn Rimes version were both nominated. Despite the Rimes version peaking at #2 compared to #23 on the Billboard Hot 100 with a huge video for the song, Yearwood beat out Rimes for the Grammy, with her version also being included on the incredibly awesome 1997 Nicolas Cage movie Con Air, but was never included on any Yearwood album. This is one of my favorite country songs ever and is one I would definitely do karaoke if I sang girl songs. This song also lost at the Academy Awards despite a stirring performance by Yearwood, but only managed to run into a little movie called Titanic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFnD3uwKHag
"The Arms Of The One Who Loves You"- Xscape. Diane Warren proved she had no problem switching genres when this spectacular ballad which featured future reality TV Stars Tiny Cottle and Kandi Burris of Xscape off of their 1998 album Traces Of My Lipstick. This single peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100, and featured this very confusing video that I've always said jumps around too much. Xscape was an awesome girl group, I think even better than SWV and more soulful than TLC. They just had too much other stuff going on, as this would prove to be one of their last singles off of what was ultimately their last album.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5sQA6aDu2A
"Un-Break My Heart"- Toni Braxton. Leave it to Tyson Beckford to ruin a great video......anyway. When Diane Warren first wrote "Un-Break My Heart", Toni Braxton refused to record as she didn't like the song. It was only by the urging of her producer Clive Davis, that she included it on her 1996 smash album Secrets, along with this video , where it went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became one of Braxton's most famous songs. At the time, Toni Braxton was probably the hottest female singer on the planet, as her previous single "You're Making Me High" had gone to #1 just a few weeks prior making one of just a few female singers to have back to back Billboard Hot 100 #1 singles on the same album. With that being said, Toni Braxton is simply one of the hottest women to ever be in music- there's no arguing with that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2Rch6WvPJE
"Give Me You"- Mary J. Blige. I LOVE THIS SONG!!!!!!!!!!!!! This was the song that got me into Mary J. Blige in 1999. This Diane Warren ballad single was included on her megasmash album Mary, and I still for the life of me cannot get over the fact that the song wasn't even more successful, seeing the surging popularity of Mary J. Blige at the time as well as the inclusion of Eric Clapton on guitar and the appearance of Michael Jordan in the video- one of only two non-Space Jam videos he ever appeared in. This spectacular song peaked at just a surprising #68 on the Billboard Hot 100, but remains one of MJB's most famous songs with fans. However, liked I've said before- I hate Mary's look in this video. Her hair and lipstick is doing entirely too much.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PF5K6Rissc
"When I See You Smile"- Bad English. This song had the dubious honor of being knocked out of the #1 spot in 1989 when Bad English was knocked out by Milli Vanilli who hit the #1 with a Diane Warren song as well. Bad English was a fringe band at best, but this Warren hit turned out to be their one and only #1 hit, and easily their most well known song as hair bands were definitely a dying breed by the time this song fell from the charts. This single was included on Bad English's 1989 self-titled album and provided this video that was about 3 years too late. I also loved the Uncle Sam cover of this song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu6pclWsxzs
"I Turn To You"- All-4-One. I don't care what anyone says, this version by All-4-One from the soundtrack of Space Jam is better than Christina Aguilera version that became so famous in 2000. I kinda feel sorry for All-4-One just because they look so ridiculous. Find me another band, ESPECIALLY a boy band that looks more like "dang they just don't look like they can sing" more than All-4-One and I'll call you a dang liar. With that being said, they always had a great blend and I think were the perfect artists for this song. While the original version failed to chart, Aguilera's version did manage to peak at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQRu7C3UD5E
"Music Of My Heart"- N'Sync and Gloria Estefan. This unlikely duet from the movie Music Of The Heart turned out to be one of the bigger hits of 1999 peaking at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and being played to death on MTV when it still had videos. The movie was pretty good, but was always weird to me, as it was directed by Wes Craven. It is still the only movie directed by Wes Craven that was not a horror movie. Talk about a weird one to step out in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4Y1NZAs7mU
"Spanish Guitar"- Toni Braxton. I seriously don't know how this song wasn't more popular! Seriously what is not to love about this song and video? I tell ya, Toni Braxton has gotten the shaft lately and it sucks because she's an unbelievable singer. Despite having this super hot video, the song was never officially released as a single from her 2000 album The Heat (which for some reason, I remember being heavily marketed at nauseam in New York City while I was there), but still peaked at #98 on the Billboard Hot 100 just due to heavy airplay requests. The song remains a staple at Braxton live shows, and shows again Warren's diversity writing a soul ballad with a latin twist. Oh yeah, Toni Braxton gets hotters the older she gets- she sets this screen on fire!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvd3qCnsAaY
"Lately I"- Faith Evans. Leave it to P Diddy to include this track on his label's album and then not let it get anywhere near the radio. This is probably the best track on Faith Evans' second album Keep The Faith which peaked at #6 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart in 1998. This track was released as a "single" but had no video made and received little airplay, but remains my favorite Faith Evans track.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Otri-y0nP7c
"Could I Have This Kiss Forever"- Whitney Houston and Enrique Iglesias. This Diane Warren duet recorded specifically for Whitney's 2000 Greatest Hits album is definitely one of Whitney's more interesting songs, and unlike any other Diane Warren song I ever heard. This oddly had a video made for it, as the other duet single made for the album "Same Script, Different Cast" with Deborah Cox did not have one made- I never understood that one. This was a clever duet combo, as they set this track on fire, and the latin and heavy synthesizer flavor this track make it incredible. This single only peaked at #52 on the Billboard Hot 100 most likely due to the recent heavy backlash on Whitney Houston's drug problems and subsequent interview with Barbara Walters. Despite this, this song remains one of Whitney's hidden gems and one of Diane Warren's most diverse songs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCcthtVbMJM
"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now"- Starship. It doesn't get much dumber than this song and video. I still can't understand how Jefferson Airplane turned into Starship- how did that happen?????? Anyway, this Warren ballad from the 1987 romantic comedy film Mannequin earned her her first Academy Award nomination, and thankfully didn't win, because I don't think I wanna live in a world where this movie wins any awards. Plus, I have a problem with Grace Slick having an Academy Award. This song was mercifully Starship's last #1 Billboard Hot 100 hit, and we never heard from then again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBQVrCflZ_E
BONUS VIDEOS- "I Could Not Ask For More"- Sara Evans.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EVd_zghQXA
"I Turn To You"- Christina Aguilera.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4q05resEvc
"We Built This City"- Starship. See what I mean?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4q05resEvc
Aerosmith
All-4-One
Dianne Warren
Also receiving votes in this category were "Reach" by Gloria Estefan, "Love Will Lead You Back" by Taylor Dayne, and "Because You Loved Me" by Celine Dion. "Solitaire" by Laura Branigan was disqualified because Warren was not the sole writer.
"Rhthym Of The Night"- DeBarge. In probably what was Warren's first major hit, and what would prove to be DeBarge's biggest hit easily, this title track from their 1985 album peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and gave us an hilariously bad hair video that would even make the Commodores look away. This song was written specifically to have this calypso sound similar to the single "All Night Long" by Lionel Richie, as Motown wanted to change the fan base and sound of DeBarge, as the label was suffering in the 80's and is seen as the song that catapulted Diane Warren's career. The popularity of the song was catapulted by its inclusion on the soundtrack of the 1985 cult classic The Last Dragon. That alone would make this song a prime candidate for the second installment of "Great Song, Horrible Movie".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAQSZhazYk8
"What Do I Do With The Love?"- Dru Hill. In 1998, Dru Hill followed up their popular self titled debut album with Enter The Dru, which peaked at #2 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart. The album was aided by the inclusion of the song "How Deep Is Your Love" being featured on the soundtrack of the surprise blockbuster film Rush Hour, and big budget video to accompany it. The Warren ballad was always one of Sisqo's better solo efforts to me, but the song was never released as a single, probably due to the previous ballad "These Are The Times" being released just after the album was released.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJtqkK7NQlA
"I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing"- Aerosmith. Talk about striking gold! In 1999, Aerosmith scored their first ever Billboard Hot 100 #1 hit with this wildly popular song from the soundtrack from the movie Armageddon. Despite it's immense popularity, the song lost the Academy Award for best Original Song to the Babyface penned "When You Believe" from The Prince Of Egypt. Ironically enough, an award Warren has never won despite being nominated six times. In what was probably Warren's most prolific time as a songwriter, this song still remains one of her most popular and breathed much needed life back into the careers of Aerosmith who reached a completely new audience with this song, which still plays the song at every live performance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo_0UXRY_rY
"I Could Not Ask For More"- Edwin McCain. Also, in 1999, recorded this song for the Kevin Costner film Message In A Bottle and also included the track on his third studio album Messenger. I think this Warren song is rare in that really only it and the previous song are songs that were recorded by prominent songwriters that usually wrote their own music. This single peaked at #37 on the Billboard Hot 100, but would peak at #35 two years later when it was covered by Sara Evans- I smell a bonus video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPXRJkla7fI
"Blame It On The Rain"- Milli Vanilli. I really went here. I did not know this until tonight. This song actually knocked another Warren song "When I See You Smile" out of the top spot for #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1989 (more on that song in a minute), and would be one of Milli Vanilli's biggest "hits" off of their eponymous debut album Girl, You Know It's True. I gotta admit though, I really wish these guys would have been really singing. That would have been so much fun!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwrL9MV6jSk
"How Do I Live"- Trisha Yearwood. In an award anomaly in 1998, this song was nominated in the same category sung by two different artists at the 1998 Grammys for Best Female Country Vocal Performance- something that still has not happened in Grammy history since- when this and the LeAnn Rimes version were both nominated. Despite the Rimes version peaking at #2 compared to #23 on the Billboard Hot 100 with a huge video for the song, Yearwood beat out Rimes for the Grammy, with her version also being included on the incredibly awesome 1997 Nicolas Cage movie Con Air, but was never included on any Yearwood album. This is one of my favorite country songs ever and is one I would definitely do karaoke if I sang girl songs. This song also lost at the Academy Awards despite a stirring performance by Yearwood, but only managed to run into a little movie called Titanic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFnD3uwKHag
"The Arms Of The One Who Loves You"- Xscape. Diane Warren proved she had no problem switching genres when this spectacular ballad which featured future reality TV Stars Tiny Cottle and Kandi Burris of Xscape off of their 1998 album Traces Of My Lipstick. This single peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100, and featured this very confusing video that I've always said jumps around too much. Xscape was an awesome girl group, I think even better than SWV and more soulful than TLC. They just had too much other stuff going on, as this would prove to be one of their last singles off of what was ultimately their last album.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5sQA6aDu2A
"Un-Break My Heart"- Toni Braxton. Leave it to Tyson Beckford to ruin a great video......anyway. When Diane Warren first wrote "Un-Break My Heart", Toni Braxton refused to record as she didn't like the song. It was only by the urging of her producer Clive Davis, that she included it on her 1996 smash album Secrets, along with this video , where it went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became one of Braxton's most famous songs. At the time, Toni Braxton was probably the hottest female singer on the planet, as her previous single "You're Making Me High" had gone to #1 just a few weeks prior making one of just a few female singers to have back to back Billboard Hot 100 #1 singles on the same album. With that being said, Toni Braxton is simply one of the hottest women to ever be in music- there's no arguing with that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2Rch6WvPJE
"Give Me You"- Mary J. Blige. I LOVE THIS SONG!!!!!!!!!!!!! This was the song that got me into Mary J. Blige in 1999. This Diane Warren ballad single was included on her megasmash album Mary, and I still for the life of me cannot get over the fact that the song wasn't even more successful, seeing the surging popularity of Mary J. Blige at the time as well as the inclusion of Eric Clapton on guitar and the appearance of Michael Jordan in the video- one of only two non-Space Jam videos he ever appeared in. This spectacular song peaked at just a surprising #68 on the Billboard Hot 100, but remains one of MJB's most famous songs with fans. However, liked I've said before- I hate Mary's look in this video. Her hair and lipstick is doing entirely too much.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PF5K6Rissc
"When I See You Smile"- Bad English. This song had the dubious honor of being knocked out of the #1 spot in 1989 when Bad English was knocked out by Milli Vanilli who hit the #1 with a Diane Warren song as well. Bad English was a fringe band at best, but this Warren hit turned out to be their one and only #1 hit, and easily their most well known song as hair bands were definitely a dying breed by the time this song fell from the charts. This single was included on Bad English's 1989 self-titled album and provided this video that was about 3 years too late. I also loved the Uncle Sam cover of this song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu6pclWsxzs
"I Turn To You"- All-4-One. I don't care what anyone says, this version by All-4-One from the soundtrack of Space Jam is better than Christina Aguilera version that became so famous in 2000. I kinda feel sorry for All-4-One just because they look so ridiculous. Find me another band, ESPECIALLY a boy band that looks more like "dang they just don't look like they can sing" more than All-4-One and I'll call you a dang liar. With that being said, they always had a great blend and I think were the perfect artists for this song. While the original version failed to chart, Aguilera's version did manage to peak at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQRu7C3UD5E
"Music Of My Heart"- N'Sync and Gloria Estefan. This unlikely duet from the movie Music Of The Heart turned out to be one of the bigger hits of 1999 peaking at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and being played to death on MTV when it still had videos. The movie was pretty good, but was always weird to me, as it was directed by Wes Craven. It is still the only movie directed by Wes Craven that was not a horror movie. Talk about a weird one to step out in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4Y1NZAs7mU
"Spanish Guitar"- Toni Braxton. I seriously don't know how this song wasn't more popular! Seriously what is not to love about this song and video? I tell ya, Toni Braxton has gotten the shaft lately and it sucks because she's an unbelievable singer. Despite having this super hot video, the song was never officially released as a single from her 2000 album The Heat (which for some reason, I remember being heavily marketed at nauseam in New York City while I was there), but still peaked at #98 on the Billboard Hot 100 just due to heavy airplay requests. The song remains a staple at Braxton live shows, and shows again Warren's diversity writing a soul ballad with a latin twist. Oh yeah, Toni Braxton gets hotters the older she gets- she sets this screen on fire!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvd3qCnsAaY
"Lately I"- Faith Evans. Leave it to P Diddy to include this track on his label's album and then not let it get anywhere near the radio. This is probably the best track on Faith Evans' second album Keep The Faith which peaked at #6 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart in 1998. This track was released as a "single" but had no video made and received little airplay, but remains my favorite Faith Evans track.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Otri-y0nP7c
"Could I Have This Kiss Forever"- Whitney Houston and Enrique Iglesias. This Diane Warren duet recorded specifically for Whitney's 2000 Greatest Hits album is definitely one of Whitney's more interesting songs, and unlike any other Diane Warren song I ever heard. This oddly had a video made for it, as the other duet single made for the album "Same Script, Different Cast" with Deborah Cox did not have one made- I never understood that one. This was a clever duet combo, as they set this track on fire, and the latin and heavy synthesizer flavor this track make it incredible. This single only peaked at #52 on the Billboard Hot 100 most likely due to the recent heavy backlash on Whitney Houston's drug problems and subsequent interview with Barbara Walters. Despite this, this song remains one of Whitney's hidden gems and one of Diane Warren's most diverse songs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCcthtVbMJM
"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now"- Starship. It doesn't get much dumber than this song and video. I still can't understand how Jefferson Airplane turned into Starship- how did that happen?????? Anyway, this Warren ballad from the 1987 romantic comedy film Mannequin earned her her first Academy Award nomination, and thankfully didn't win, because I don't think I wanna live in a world where this movie wins any awards. Plus, I have a problem with Grace Slick having an Academy Award. This song was mercifully Starship's last #1 Billboard Hot 100 hit, and we never heard from then again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBQVrCflZ_E
BONUS VIDEOS- "I Could Not Ask For More"- Sara Evans.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EVd_zghQXA
"I Turn To You"- Christina Aguilera.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4q05resEvc
"We Built This City"- Starship. See what I mean?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4q05resEvc
AerosmithAll-4-OneDianne Warren
posted by General 5A Pigott at 1:43 AM
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