Back in the mid-nineties, when alternative and grunge were dying out and gangsta rap was starting to get stale (how that sub-genre is still popular is disturbing) VH1 one came out with a new video show called Crossroads that featured up and coming rock artists as well as some well season vets all of which had a more classic, organic sound to it. Some artists featured on the show when onto bigger and better things (see the Dave Matthews Band) while some whet back into obscurity after being featured on the show (anyone remember Deep Blue Something?). If you can find it, I recommend the accompanying CD that came out with the show.
One song that has stuck with me from this era was Bad Reputation by Freedy Johnson. The song is a brisk acoustic number with a melody that will have you singing along after the first listen. The song did slip out of my conscious for a little while, it was even erroneously emitted from my five disk, Ninety Best Songs of the Nineties mix tape that I made at the turn of the century. But a couple years ago I actual heard the song at the grocery store of all places (I guess they were getting tired of playing Matchbox Twenty and The Temptations constantly) and rushed home to see that that the song was in fact actually on my iPod already.
The lyrics are great and on occasion I have been know to tell people that “I now I have a bad reputation and it isn’t just talk, talk, talk.” And once I even quoted the whole song to a girl who insinuated she liked bad boys. I think it worked for the first verse, but as I went on I think I moved out of sensitive bad boy territory into eccentric. And I am not the only one who loves the song as Death Cab for Cutie and John Mayer have both put their stamp on the song in concert. So give it a listen below and if you like it, go ahead and download it and come one song closer to filling up your iPod.:
Got a song you think everyone should feed their iPods? Send me an e-mail (see sidebar) along with a short paragraph why people should download it and/or what it means to you and maybe I will feature it in a future post. This segment is meant to highlight songs that may have slipped thought the cracks when released or maybe album tracks that you think should have been released as a single. So no Stairway to Heaven, Nuthin But a G Thang, or Umbrella needed.
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