Guess what? We’re spinning off a new series in the Blerd Radio family.
The Jheri Curl Chronicles finds Blerd Radio founder Mike Joseph and pop culture writer Thomas Inskeep (proprietor of the Rock Me Tonight blog) discussing every song to hit #1 on Billboard’s Hot Soul Singles (later Hot Black Singles) chart during the 1980s. Each episode will feature five songs, in chronological order of when they hit pole position.
This pilot episode (featuring a few audio hiccups that will not be present in future installments) starts off with a tribute to Prince, who will not be discussed in earnest for a while yet.
The songs discussed are:
-Rock With You by Michael Jackson (#1 for 6 weeks)
-The Second Time Around by Shalamar (1 week)
-Special Lady by Ray, Goodman and Brown (1 week)
-And The Beat Goes On by The Whispers (5 weeks)
-Stomp! by The Brothers Johnson (1 week)
Peripheral topics discussed include:
Shalamar’s “This Is For The Lover In You”, Babyface’s remake, and the remix of Babyface’s version featuring Ghostface Killah
Ray, Goodman & Brown’s previous incarnation as The Moments, which produced the #1 hits “Love On A Two Way Street” and “Look At Me (I’m In Love)”
“Do They Turn You On”– a classic album cut from The Whispers
The re-purposing of “Stomp” (featuring Shaq, Coolio and Luniz!) and The Brothers Johnson classics “I’ll Be Good To You”, “Tomorrow” and “Strawberry Letter 23” by Quincy Jones
Tevin Campbell’s “Safer On The Ground”, his first new single in a decade and a half…
…and much, much more! Stay tuned for future episodes in this series as well as a continuation of the OG Blerd Radio podcast and the Constant Conversations spin-off.
Listen in the player below, or download directly from Liberated Syndication. You can also stream us on LibSyn, or subscribe to the Blerd Radio family of podcasts on iTunes.
3 comments
John says:
May 6, 2016
1996…the period when a 99 cent cassingle made Boyz II Men #1 with “4 Seasons of Loneliness”.
I had to actually stop the podcast to check out the Babyface remix because it’s been a LONG time since I’ve heard it.
I like Tevin, and the new song’s pretty decent. To me it sounds like an American Idol coronation song, but it would be high on that list compared to some of the dogs they’ve produced.
GREAT start to the series. I’m a sucker for this type of conversation, so I’ll be back!
MJ says:
May 8, 2016
Thanks for your comment, John!
Believe it or not–“4 Seasons Of Loneliness” is my favorite BIIM song. Trickery or not, I’m happy it topped the charts (and has to be one of the most melodically complex songs to top the charts in the past 20 years.)
The Tevin song has a very Narada Michael Walden vibe to it. I’d actually be curious to know who wrote/produced it!
And we hope you come back!
When the chips are down: The best R&B #1 songs of the 1980s | Humanizing The Vacuum says:
Apr 19, 2018
[…] slushier hits, or so they would have sounded to a white audience. Mike Joseph and Inskeep’s “The Jheri Curl Chronicles” add context and jokes; you need to hear every episode. Believe me, Stephanie Mills and Melba Moore […]