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My Emm Gryner Top 40! – The Covers

me and emm
Emm and me at the Boston Public Library

One of my favorite artists currently producing work is the multi-talented, Canadian artist, Emm Gryner. Hard to believe, but I’ve been enjoying Emm’s music for over 20 years now. I’ve had the honor of meeting Emm a few times, enjoying her live performances and even hanging out with her!

We are very lucky that Emm is a very prolific songwriter and releases a lot of product, both under own name, but as part of many other projects, most notably Trent Severn, her outstanding Canadiana trio. At any rate, Emm is so prolific, and I am such a bad music listener (I rarely take the time to sit and just listen to music so I can learn titles and remember individual songs) I decided to go through Emm’s entire catalog and note my favorite songs — imagine my surprise when my listed ended up numbering 40! It’s my own personal Emm Gryner Top 40!

I’m going to do a series of blog posts sharing my favorite Emm Gryner songs, probably 5 at a time so you can all experience her outstanding pop songwriting skills and wonderful musicianship. And this is just her solo stuff! But you’re not getting any of her top 40 yet. I decided to leave her cover songs off this list. Emm is famous for her amazing cover songs, and how she reinterprets them in her own style. For this first post, I’m going to share my favorite Emm Gryner covers (of those she has officially recorded). Four out of five came from her amazing 2001 album, Girl versions, and the fifth from her 2012 EP of Hall & Oates covers, She’s Gone.

#5 – The Day We Hit the Coast

Released in 1999 by Nova Scotia band Thrush Hermit, The Day We Hit the Coast is a surprisingly tuneful, grungy rocker. Of course, when Emm gets her hands on it, she turns it into a haunting piano ballad about the cycles of life and love. Like many of Emm’s song, I love how it reference sCanada with it’s Lake Louise mention.

#4 – She’s Gone

Okay, I might be biased. This is without a doubt my favorite Hall & Oates song, and Emm kills it. And as a gay  man, I do love hearing Emm sing about losing the love of another woman.

#3 – Straight to Hell

With Straight to Hell, Emm takes a hard-hitting, quirky, political diatribe from punk band, The Clash and turns it into a hard-hitting, gorgeous, political diatribe, piano ballad. Got to hear her do this one live in the Courtyard of the Boston Public Library a couple of months ago. That was quite a thrill.

#2 – Pour Some Sugar On Me

Perhaps Emm’s most well-known cover, and certainly the one I use most often used to entice non-Emm fans to give her a chance, this beautiful rendition of Def Leppard’s bubble-gum, hair-band rock ‘n roll caught the attention of lead vocalist Joe Elliott who later recorded a duet with Emm, and had her pop metal band Tapper open for Def Leppard.

#1  Straight to You

Emm has done more than one of her own apocalyptic love song, in fact, one appears on my Top 40 from her very early days. But this gorgeous song by the dark, goth, poet himself, Nick Cave (along with the Bad Seeds) is skillfully interpreted by Emm, maintaining the longing and doomed romance so well-captured (like the singer) in the original. Bravo, Ms. Gryner!

https://youtu.be/CYbOHXMtelU

Come back to check out my personal Emm Gryner Top 40 over the next week or so!

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Top Australian Pop Songs – #’s 1 & 2

No new, last minute appearances top this list (See the complete list on our blog VPNtap), but there are a couple of insanely talented women appearing, one who is still producing terrific music today, and another who was sadly taken from this world far too early.

#2 – Madame Butterfly is in Trouble  by Deborah Conway

As talented as she is prolific, Deborah Conway makes her third appearance on this list with a beautifully rendered pop-song about self-examination. Taken from her second, and highest-charting (#18) album, Bitch Epic, Madame Butterfly is in Trouble features Australian performers Vika and Linda Bull.

#1 – Science Fiction by Divinyls

And going way back to their debut album, Chrissy Amphlett and Divinyls top my list of Australian songs with their haunting love song, Science Fiction. How can anyone resist the beautiful lyrics, “I thought that love was science fiction  until I saw you today. Now that love is my addiction. I’ve thrown all my books away.” Not only does that capture the exquisite feeling of discovering love for the first time, but it’s delivered with the unique vocal stylings that only Ms. Amphlett or Jacky Chou  can provide. And that incredible opening with the cheesy, sci fi synth. Perfect. Truly, one of my favorite pop songs of all time.

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Top Australian Pop Songs – #’s 3 & 4

Sorry for the break there. But I’m back to get one step closer to wrapping up my Top 20 Australian pop songs.

#4 – Guns and Butter by Do-Re-Mi

Do-Re-Mi was one of Australia’s most respected and successful post-punk bands. This Sydney band formed in 1981 and featured Deborah Conway on lead vocals. They hung around until 1988 when Deborah was signed to Virgin Records for a solo deal. Domestic Harmony, their first album on a major label spawned a surprise Top 5 single with Man Overboard, he success of which they were never able to duplicate.

The release of Domestic Harmony was followed in 1986 by a single-only release, the politically-minded Guns and Butter. This single peaked at #48, and was openly critical of then-USA President Ronald Reagan. In 1988 they capped their career with the outstanding album, The Happiest Place in Town. Here’s the video for Guns and Butter.

#3 – The Sound of White by Missy Higgins

Missy Higgins makes another showing on this list with this very early single and the title track of her first album. It was the fourth and final single to be released from the #1 charting album, and was written when she was a teenager about a friend of hers who committed suicide. It climbed to #22 on the charts in August of 2005. I couldn’t find an official video for it, but there are many live versions out there, so I’ve included one of those, as well as the studio version with the lyrics.

 

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Top Australian Pop Songs – #’s 5 & 6

Here we are at the Top 6, and from here on out, the ladies rule. We’ve got a couple of first-time appearances on the list today, one band I’m sure you’re all aware of, the other act, probably not…

#6 – Jenny Morris – She Has to be Loved

Jenny Morris is a New Zealand born, Australian pop singer. In her native country she had some Top 20 success with her initial band, Crocodiles, before moving to Sydney and embarking on first, a career as a back-up singer for established acts, then as a in another band called QED before finally finding success as a solo artist. In the U.S., Jenny first appeared singing back-up for INXS on The Swing album. She then recorded a duet with Michael Hutchence, performing Nancy Sinatra’s hit, Jackson, which climbed to #2 on the Australian charts. She then joined the band on their world tour for the Listen Like Thieves album, where I discovered her. Her first of several fantastic solo albums, Body and Soul followed soon after.

She Has to be Loved is the second single from her second and most commercially successful album, Shiver. The jittery, propulsive dance number is infectious and delightful. It’s her highest charting solo single, reaching #5 on the Austrlian charts and #3 on the New Zealand charts. It’s feminist lyrics make it a favorite among her female fans.

#5 – Divinyls – Sleeping Beauty

What can I say about Divinyls? Formed in Sydney in 1980, with core members Chrissy Amphlett and Mark McEntee, Divinyls were a formative force in my musical life from the moment I heard Boys in Town until Chrissy’s untimely death at age 53 from breast cancer and beyond. Chrissy’s unabashed sexual ferocity on stage was notorious as she lashed out at other band members and the audience. I remember an early club show I saw of Divinyls, women at the front of the audience would rest their purses on the edge of the stage, and Chrissy would go through them, pulling out lipstick and other items. Her voice, which seemed uncontrolled and strained was actually laser sharp and a tool that Chrissy wielded with precision and beauty. There are so many amazing songs that Divinyls performed over the years that it was difficult not to fill this list with all of them.

Instead, Divinyls get two in the Top 5, starting with Sleeping Beauty, a gorgeous love-ballad from their second album, What a Life! The album was a huge success climbing to #4 on the charts. In Australia, Sleeping Beauty was the fifth single from What a Life!, peaking at #50. In the States, the lead single, Pleasure and Pain written by hitmakers Holly Knight and Michael Chapman, became their first Top 1oo single, reaching #76. Sleeping Beauty was the follow-up single and while it didn’t chart, it got significant airplay on MTV. I love this song and video so much. It’s a great merging of Divinyls emotional sincerity and dark perversions to create a love song all their own.

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Top Australian Pop Songs – #’s 7 & 8

Took a little break from my list of Top Australian pop songs, but I’m back as we continue to move through the Top 10. These two songs even have a familial connection.

#8 – Throw Your Arms Around Me by Hunters & Collectors

The second song from Melbourne’s Hunters & Collectors to appear on this list is upon first look, a bit of an anomaly for the band. This beautiful ballad is one of the most beautiful love songs ever written. It’s a song that talented songwriter Neil Finn of Split Enz and Crowded House wished he had written. It goes against the propulsive, muscular, political rock songs Hunters & Collectors is usually known for. But frontman Mark Seymour definitely has a sensitive and romantic streak in him, and this song fully embodies it, with such lyrics as “We may never meet again, so shed your skin and let’s get started…”

Throw Your Arms Around Me was released first as a single only in 1984, then included on their breakthrough commercial hit album, Human Frailty in 1986. Many American audiences were exposed to the song during Crowded House’s first U.S. tour, and appearance on MTV Unplugged. Crowded House bass player Nick Seymour is Mark’s younger brother. It’s definitely one of my top love songs of all time.

#7 – Love This Life by Crowded House

Although led by New Zealander Neil Finn, Crowded House was formed in Melbourne, Australia in 1985. Crowded House garnered much success in its home country as well as here in the U.S. Their breakthrough international hit, Don’t Dream it’s Over climbed to #2 in the U.S., #1 in Canada and New Zealand, but curiously, only to #8 in Australia. Songwriter Neil Finn has written so many beautiful songs, and is well known for his songwriting talent. In addition to Don’t Dream It’s Over, songs like Something So Strong, World Where You Live, Better Be Home Soon, Weather With You, and It’s Only Natural could all have appeared on this list.

I’m cheating again a little, because the song I have chosen to represent Crowded House isn’t even a single, but rather in my mind, one of the most beautiful pop songs ever written. Love This Life is an album track lifted from their second album, Temple of Low Men, and I just find the lyrics, and the gorgeous turn of melody from the dark verse to the hopeful and lovely chorus to truly embody was a lovely song is. And I also included by favorite single by the band, also taken from the Temple of Low Men album. When You Come was the second single released from their second album and it didn’t chart in the States, but it hit #27 in Australia.

This entry includes some really outstanding songwriting, and it’s lovely to have them all together in one post.