My friend Ken and I decided to listen to an album every day this year. Each week is themed. At the end of each week, we rank what we listened to. To be clear, we aren’t ranking every album that fits the theme. We are only ranking what we chose to listen to during the last seven days.
This week’s theme is “not that guy,” meaning albums by artists that share a name with a much more famous artist. Let me give you an example: Nirvana. Of course, the name is associated with the grunge legends. But the Seattle trio was predated by a 1960s group of the same name. We’re listening to those other artists today. (Shout out to friend of the newsletter Catherine Sinow for suggesting this topic.)
#7 Oasis by Oasis (1973 - Compare to Britpop legends Oasis)
In the early 1970s, David Crosby recommended Atlantic Records sign a buzzy psychedelic folk group from the Bay Area. The label’s legendary founder Ahmet Ertegun offered them a contract. The soon-to-be legendary David Geffen took them on as a client. An album was quickly produced but shelved. Though most of the group disbanded, two members forged forth and recorded a self-titled electric record. It is horrendous.
We’ve heard a lot of bad records this year. But the badness of Oasis is special. It was bad in a way that made me feel like I needed to throw up. Maybe the best illustration of this is the yeah-yeah-yeahs that open “We are People.” It’s like the vocal is actively fighting against the rhythm guitar.
#6 Gets On by Rhianna (2002 - Compare to Barbadian pop star Rihanna)
In 2002, the aspiring British pop star Rhianna Elizabeth Kenny released an album under her first name. That album, Get On, sounds exactly like an album by an aspiring pop star from that era. The programmed percussion is very dry. The verses are short and punchy. The choruses try to soar as high as they can. The record’s only fault is that it’s got too much fluff. It would have been a better EP.
If things went differently—maybe Rhianna got paired up with better writers and producers—she might have been a star. But there was a problem. A few years later, a charismatic Barbadian of the same name released her debut single, “Pon de Replay.” When “SOS” came out the year after, no one else was going to be able to use the name Rihanna, independent of spelling.
The British Rhianna never really released much more music. And she was cursed by bad name selection. In 2010, she founded a duo name Little Fix, only a few years before the girl group Little Mix would take over the British charts. Sometimes the universe is working against you.
#5 Something Special for Young Lovers by The Ray Charles Singers (1964 - Compare to piano-playing Ray Charles)
Not long before my ex-girlfriend and I broke up, her father gave me a stack of 78s that belonged to his father. Buried in that stack was a Ray Charles record. I was excited to put it on my turntable. But that excitement quickly disappeared. This was not the Ray Charles I was expecting. In fact, this Ray Charles was White.
Charles Raymond Offenberg, who later swapped his first and middle names, got his start in the music business before the legendary Ray Charles. And for sharing his name with such a generational artist, he carved out a nice career for himself.
He was a sought after vocal arranger, known for his collaborations with Perry Como
He sang the theme song to Three’s Company
He spent decades as a consultant for the Kennedy Center
He wrote the elementary school choral anthem “Fifty Nifty United States”
Charles also released some popular recordings, scoring six hits on the Hot 100. His Something Special for Young Lovers got to number 11 and spawned “Love Me With All Your Heart,” a song that peaked at number three behind The Dixie Cups’ “Chapel Of Love” and Peter and Gordon’s “A World Without Love.”
Something Special for Young Lovers is one of the most uncool records I’ve ever heard. It’s something you’d hear whispering in the background at your grandparents’ house. But the arrangements, especially on “This Could Be the Start of Something Big,” are vivacious for easy listening. Something Special for Young Lovers is also an interesting time capsule because it is filled with covers popular in 1963 and 1964, none of which are by The Beatles. I guess this Ray Charles wasn’t a Beatlemaniac.
#4 The Warrior by Scandal and Patty Smyth (1984 - Compare to punk poet Patti Smith)
After David Lee Roth ditched Van Halen, Eddie Van Halen asked Patty Smyth if she wanted to front his band. Smyth, pregnant at the time, declined the offer. But I think she would have made a great frontwoman for the 1980s hitmakers. “The Warrior,” cowritten by Holly Knight, is evidence of that. It’s a powerful vocal over a thumping riff.
“The Warrior” comes from an album with the identical name. It’s a serviceable rock record. The problem is most of the other tracks are trying and failing to capture the energy of the title track. Having the Van Halen brothers behind some of those tracks might have been beneficial.
#3 The Album by The Firm (1997 - Compare to rock supergroup The Firm)
After the Jonas Brothers released their 2023 album called The Album, friend of the newsletter Zach Schonfeld ranked every (notable) album called The Album for Vulture. Schonfeld rightly placed The Firm’s The Album at number three. His description was exquisite:
Has any high-profile rap supergroup been memory-holed faster than the Firm, the mid-’90s grouping of Nas, Foxy Brown, AZ, and Cormega? (Sit back down, Kids See Ghosts.) On their first and only album, the highs are high, and Foxy Brown injects some saucy bravado into the titillating “Fuck Somebody Else,” even if Nas seems to be on autopilot following the one-two punch of Illmatic and It Was Written. As on the best mafioso rap albums, the production is wound tight and funky, with Dr. Dre behind the boards.
The Firm’s The Album is a decent album, especially as far as supergroups go. Its fun, mafioso concept almost feels cinematic. But given the complaints the involved parties had with the making of the record, it’s not a surprise that it is also a bit disjointed.
#2 Mission Impossible by James Taylor Quartet (1987 - Compare to singer-songwriter James Taylor)
I often turn heads when I tell people that I don’t like the singer-songwriter James Taylor. Sure, he has written some nice songs (e.g., “Carolina on My Mind”). And his fingerstyle guitar work is worth studying (e.g., “Millworker”). But his voice is so plain that it leaves me wanting more. (I have a similar issue with John Mayer.) The James Taylor Quartet, by contrast, did not leave me wanting more.
For nearly every artist in today’s newsletter, the artist I am writing about started their career before the more famous artist of the same name. That’s not the case here. The singer-songwriter James Taylor had already reached the peak of his fame when the James Taylor Quartet put out their first album. And that album couldn’t be more different than something by the singer-songwriter. It’s jazzy. It’s funky. It’s all instrumental. And nothing has ever made me feel cooler.
#1 How Glad I Am by Nancy Wilson (1964 - Compare to Heart guitarist Nancy Wilson)
I was a bit thrown off when I turned on Nancy Wilson’s How Glad I Am. Wilson’s vocals on the opening number are beyond precise, as if she were a singing metronome. But I’m glad I didn’t form my opinion after those opening lines. Wilson has a dynamic voice—one that can handle jazz, pop, and soul with ease. You get all of that on How Glad I Am.
“The Grass is Greener” moves with verve. “West Coast Blues” has more personality than almost anything else from the 1960s. “The Show Goes On” plods along with a slow burn. On this record, Wilson is in complete control but also dynamic.
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Now I want to hear all the songs on 5150 sung by Patty Smith, just to see what could have been.
I’m reasonably confident Tom Hanks used the Ray Charles Singers as the template for the Norm Wooster Singers’ No. 1 smash in the world of “That Thing You Do,” “Lovin’ You Lots and Lots.”