Late Night Music Brexit Edition Part 195...."This Is Dedicated To The One I Love"
You always wonder about an artists inspiration, but what about when the inspiration is another famous person? So many of these songs became known worldwide, but the story behind them makes them that much more interesting and complex.
In order to qualify for this list, the song had to be about another famous person that the recording artist actually knew. This would disqualify “Candle In The Wind” by Elton John, “Photograph” by Def Leppard, “Man In The Moon” by R.E.M., “Midnight In Montgomery” by Alan Jackson, and “American Pie” by Don McLean. The person does not have to be specifically referenced in the song.
All songs receiving votes were included in this list.
“In Your Eyes”- Peter Gabriel. (Rosanna Arquette). Former Genesis front man Peter Gabriel was quite hurt over the recent breakup with American actress Rosanna Arquette (who is also rumored to be the subject of Toto’s “Rosanna”- which the band denies), when this 1986 single from his album So hit the airwaves peaking at #26 on the Billboard Hot 100. Due to the very interesting video, this song became quite popular in the United States due to its heavy MTV video rotation. In typical Peter Gabriel fashion, this video is filled with metaphors that make more sense now since the perspective is revealed. I think Peter Gabriel made some of the best videos of the 1980’s and was really before his time before the peak of the video age in the 1990s.
“Our House”- Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. (Joni Mitchell). CSNY went seriously out of character when Graham Nash was so in love with Canadian songstress Joni Mitchell that he wrote a song about their presumptive future together. Included on their 1970 smash album Deja Vu, this single became one of CSNY’s biggest hit while it peaked at #30 on the Billboard Hot 100. The craziest thing about this song is that CSNY was known as hippies who pushed the envelope politically calling out President Nixon and other political figures in the 1970’s. This move against the grain really showed their diversity as musicians. Needless to say, the “future” with Nash and Mitchell never materialized, but at least they gave us a great song!
“Mirrors”- Justin Timberlake. (Jessica Biel). Everyone knew that “Cry Me A River” was Britney Spears, so that one was too easy. However, this song written by JT for his now wife Jessica Biel, really showed JT’s talent and personal life in a whole new light. This single from his 2012 album The 20/20 Experience peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and featured this quite creative video. According to Timberlake, this song was written for Biel shortly after the couple took a short break only to realize that they were really meant for each other. If you really listen to the lyrics, you can easily see how that could be taken from this song. This song went on to be nominated for Best Male Pop Performance at the 2013 Grammy Awards.
“Dude Looks Like A Lady”- Aerosmith. (Vince Neil). In what is quite possibly the funniest story on this list. Steven Tyler and Joe Perry wrote this 1987 Aerosmith hit from their album Permanent Vacation about their experiences with Motley Crue’s lead singer Vince Neil. According to Tyler, everyone in Motley Crue always said “dude” to the point that it was annoying. While in New York City, Neil and Tyler were drinking when Neil became interested in what he thought was a woman in a bar they were in. However, much to Neil’s embarassment, it was a male dressed in drag. What we got from that was one of the best rock songs of the 1980’s that helped resurge Aerosmith’s waning career. This song went on to peak at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains one of the band’s most well known and requested songs also being featured on the Rockin’ Roller Coaster at Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Studios.
“Paper Doll”- John Mayer. (Taylor Swift). Taylor Swift picked the wrong guy to write a break up song about. Furious about being made the subject of Taylor Swift’s song “Dear John”, calling it “humiliating”, Mayer fired one back with this blatant shot at the country songstress. This single from his 2013 album Paradise Valley peaked at #77 on the Billboard Hot 100 and he made no secret that the song was completely about Swift. This amazing live performance from the “The Late Show with David Letterman” shows the raw emotion he felt while writing and singing this song. It was kind of nice to see someone get back at the ultimate exploiter. Despite her immense talent, I have to say I get joy in hearing this song. As usual, the guitar riff and lyrics in this song from Mayer are seriously on another level.
“Hey Jude”- The Beatles. (Julian Lennon). The ultimate nice guy, Paul McCartney wrote this song for the depressed son of John Lennon when it was announced that John and his mother were splitting because John Lennon had fallen in love with the now infamous Yoko Ono. The original title of the song was “Hey Jules” and Julian Lennon even stated that he felt rejected by his father and that Paul was always the one who was around. This mega single was released ahead of their self titled White Album in the summer of 1968 featuring this video which was their first live performance of any kind in over a year. This was by far the longest Beatle single ever and remains a staple at Paul McCartney shows to this day. This single, like so many other Beatles singles, shot to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was one of the first Beatle songs to feature an orchestra.
“Hearts and Bones”- Paul Simon. (Carrie Fisher). This title track to Paul Simon’s 1983 album was written by Paul Simon while traveling with future ex-wife and Star Wars princess herself, Carrie Fisher. It was also rumored that the song “Graceland” was about her as well, but Simon did not confirm this. While the song was never a single, it remains a fan favorite, and one that Simon doesn’t hesistate to play despite being divorced just a year after this song was recorded and released.
“You’re So Vain”- Carly Simon. (Warren Beatty). This song known as the “ultimate break up song” was released by Carly Simon in 1972 for her album No Secrets just prior to her marriage to James Taylor while she was still fresh off of her break up with actor Warren Beatty. This single (which featured Mick Jagger on background vocals) shot to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains one of Simon’s most famous songs, as seen from this concert DVD clip here. Warren Beatty has always struck me as kind of a douche anyway, so when I listen to this song, it’s actually quite easy to picture him as the subject.
“Sweet Caroline”- Neil Diamond. (Caroline Kennedy). Now for the creepiest one of all. Neil Diamond wrote this song after he saw FOUR year old, yes FOUR year old daughter of the late John F. Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy riding a horse on the cover of Time Magazine. To make the pedophilia worse, it took Diamond 42 years to admit that this song was actually about the now US Ambassador to Japan. Despite all of this, this single peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 as a non-album single in 1969. It remains to this day, one of the most popular songs ever nearing the top of all platforms as one of the most downloaded songs of all time, and remains still Diamond’s signature song being featured in numerous movies and TV shows. This song is also the 8th inning song of the Boston Red Sox for every home game at Fenway Park.
“Uptown Girl”- Billy Joel. (Elle Macpherson). You can think whatever you want. Christie Brinkley was, in fact, married to Billy Joel at the time of this single’s release in 1983. She is even featured in the video. However, Joel said that he wrote this song for his ex girlfriend and fellow super model Elle Macpherson. I guess when you have a ton of money and play the piano you can get any girl you want. This single from his groundbreaking concept album An Innocent Man shot to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains one of Joel’s most popular songs. The song was written as a tribute to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, as every song on the album was written in the style of one of Joel’s favorite artists as a child.
“Wonderful Tonight” and “Layla”- Eric Clapton. (Patti Boyd). In the late 1960’s, Eric Clapton became great friends with the Beatles. In particular George Harrison. In fact, Clapton famously played the guitar on the Beatles 1968 song from The White Album, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”. During this time, Clapton fell in love with Harrison’s wife, Patti Boyd. Clapton wrote “Layla” first as a member of Derek and the Dominoes in 1971 as his proclamation of his love for her thought she was still married to Harrison. The single peaked at #10, but it wasn’t enough for Boyd, who would continue to reject him for 1976 when they started an affair which would eventually lead to Boyd leaving Harrison for Clapton. They married in 1979 and divorced in 1989. While they were dating, Clapton wrote “Wonderful Tonight” for Boyd in 1976 while waiting on her to get ready to go to Paul and Linda McCartney’s house for a party. The single was included on his 1977 album Slowhand and peaked at #16 on the Billboard Hot 100. The Patti Boyd love triangle remains one of the most weird stories in music history. I have to admit though, she was pretty freaking hot.
“You Oughta Know”- Alanis Morissette. (Dave Coulier). I have to admit, I will never look at Joey from “Full House” the same again. Coulier and his “Full House” co-star Bog Saget as well as Morissette have all admitted that the song is about Coulier’s relationship with the Canadian rock starlet. Released as the lead single to her breakthrough album and MCA/American debut Jagged Little Pill, this girl power anthem is without a doubt one of the most graphic and acid spewing break up songs ever. I would even go on to say that no male has ever done this song karaoke and been sober while doing it. Nonetheless, Morissette used her venom spewing to shoot to #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and jumpstart a career of a lifetime.
“I’ll Stick Around”- Foo Fighters. (Courtney Love). After the tragic death of Kurt Cobain in 1994, the remaining members of Nirvana were almost immediately caught up in an ugly legal battle with Cobain’s widow, Courtney Love. Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl formed his band, The Foo Fighters, and released his debut self-titled album in 1995, on which Grohl played and performed every instrument on every track. In response to Love’s battle for Cobain’s royalties and Nirvana’s catalog, Grohl wrote this song as a direct response to Love and included this dark video. This single set the standard for future Foo Fighter songs and gained heavy airplay in the US where it peaked at #8 on the Billboard Alternative Rock Tracks Chart.
“Hollaback Girl”- Gwen Stefani. (Courtney Love). In another shot at Courtney Love, former No Doubt lead singer recorded this song as a direct response to Love’s comment about Stefani in a magazine interview with Seventeen in which she called Stefani a “cheerleader”. Infuriated by this statement, Stefani recorded this response and this vengeful video openly mocking Love in the process. This introduced Stefani’s solo career with a bang when this debut single from her smash debut solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. shot to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Hilariously, Stefani was able to predict the future, because I am gonna go ahead and say she had a slightly bigger solo career than Courtney Love. Just saying.
“Philadelphia Freedom”- Elton John. (Billie Jean King). Despite what we would like to think, Elton John wrote this 1975 single with Bernie Taupin as a personal favor to his friend, tennis star Billie Jean King. With the upstart World Team Tennis just starting up, King was looking for promotional material for her team, the Philadelphia Freedom. So, Elton obliged his friend and this American anthem was born. Like almost everything EJ touched in the 70’s, this single shot to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains a patriotic anthem used by numerous marketing outlets every summer. Featured here is a rarely seen performance by Elton John on a 1975 episode of “Soul Train”. While being one of the few white performers in the history of the show, he is also one of the very few artists to actually sing live and not lip sync on the show.
“Girl on TV”- LFO. (Jennifer Love Hewitt). LFO or the “Lyte Funky Ones” as they were called, had a pretty cool 15 minutes of fame in late 1999/early 2000. Their debut album featured front man Rich Cronin babbling about all kinds of stuff just to make the lyrics rhyme. As lame as they were, Lou Pearlman simply could not give up his dream of producing boy bands, and LFO was his last project. As seen in the video, the subject of this song was the then girlfriend of lead singer, the late Rich Cronin. Having met her backstage at the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, they quickly became a couple, but faded about as fast as LFO’s career. Despite that, this song was super catchy and peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and gave us some great looks at the beautiful Jennifer Love Hewitt.
“It Ain’t Over Til It’s Over”- Lenny Kravitz. (Lisa Bonet). As hot as she was and is, it is hard to find a bigger jerk in Hollywood in Lisa Bonet. In addition to her very public with TV dad Bill Cosby, her very public relationship and subsequent break up with Lenny Kravitz was brought to a head with this single from Kravitz from his 1991 album Mama Said where it peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Kravitz and Bonet had very similar back stories, but that couldn’t save their relationship, nor could this song. Kravitz went on to have several more successful albums and appeared in several movies including “The Hunger Games” trilogy, while Bonet kinda faded off into oblivion.
“Brown Sugar”- The Rolling Stones (Marsha Hunt). Mick Jagger never made it a secret that he was down with the brown. I mean seriously, just watch him on stage now with background singer Lisa Fischer. However, when he met dancer and actress Marsha Hunt in 1971, it was too much for old Mick. We got this #1 single from the Stones album Sticky Fingers and Jagger’s first child from the short lived relationship with Hunt.
“Athena”- The Who. (Theresa Russell). Pete Townshend always struck me as a creepy guy. The fact is, Pete Townshend wrote this song for American actress Theresa Russell after just meeting her a few times. He was attempting to woo her, but she continued to reject the frontman of the band. Despite its creepy origin, the song went on to peak at #40 on the Billboard Hot 100 from the band’s 1982 album It’s Hard. That’s what she said.
“Oh Sherrie”- Steve Perry. (Sherrie Swafford). In 1984, Steve Perry couldn’t decide if he wanted to be a solo artist or the front man of Journey. This song is a perfect example. Despite being on his debut solo album Street Talk, this song featured basically the whole band of Journey on the track. Written for his model girlfriend Sherrie Swafford, who also appears in the video, Steve Perry went on to ultimate 80’s cheeziness with this song horrible video. Perry was a great front man, but why did he have to sound so whiny? I guess that’s what it took in the 80’s, as Perry did something right with this single peaking at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 becoming his biggest hit as a solo artist.
“Burn”- Usher. (Rozanda Thomas). Usher was the hero of young men everywhere when he scored TLC’s Chili at age 23 when she was 33. After pursuing the cougar for many years, she finally took him in and they had a very public relationship. The result of the media frenzied breakup was Usher’s 2004 album Confessions, which featured many hints as to the reason for the breakup and the nature of the relationship. None more so than this single which peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Unfortunately for Chili, after the death of Lisa Lopes, the reunion of TLC never happened, and she has been stuck with shows like “What Chili Wants”.
“Hey There, Delilah”- Plain White Tees (Delilah DeCrescenzo). We’ll end this list with one of my favorite music stories of all time. Plain White Tee’s lead singer Tom Higgenson met nationally ranked and Olympic hopeful distance runner Delilah DeCrescenzo in New York City while she was in school at Columbia University in 2006 and was so impressed with her, that he wrote this song to help inspire her quest for the Olympics in 2008 and 2012, though both proved unsuccessful. However, the chart run of this song proved to be successful while being included on the band’s album All That We Needed, it shot to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 establishing the mainstream success of the Plain White Tees. Despite never being in a relationship, the two accompanied each other to the Grammys in 2008 when this song was nominated for Song Of The Year.
BONUS VIDEOS
“Rosanna”- Toto. Also supposedly about Rosanna Arquette.
“Something”- The Beatles. Also about Patti Boyd.
“Cry Me A River”- Justin Timberlake. About Britney Spears.
“Dear John”- Taylor Swift. About John Mayer.
“This Is Dedicated To The One I Love”- The Shirelles.
“This Is Dedicated To The One I Love”- The Mamas and The Papas.
This Is Dedicated To The One I Love”- The Temprees.
He couldn't get enough of Patti Boyd
The dudes definitely don't look like ladies
yeah, looks like a pedophile
I'll never look at Dave Coulier the same again
She ain't no holla back girl
posted by General 5A Pigott at 4:17 PM
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