Monday, May 21, 2012

Josie Cotton - "Jimmy Loves Maryann"

Jimmy Loves Maryann - From the Hip

(Debuted April 7, 1984, Peaked #52, 4 Weeks on the Chart)

In the 1980s, it seemed that nothing was quite so uncool as the 1970s. Disco was sneered at, the more intimate singer/songwriter material was disregarded in favor of power chords and "bigger" production. Synthesizers were there to replace the need for strings and brass. However, the occasional nugget from that much-maligned decade was tossed out to fans in the new one, and few complained when it happened.

I say that because I actually fell for that midset back then. In my own defense, I'll point out that I was young and quite impressionable. Around 1987, I grew tired of a lot of the material played on Top 40 stations and began looking through the old records of my parents, as well as those of my friends' older siblings. I began to find out that the era wasn't as bad as advertised...but I had to wait until the next decade before I could admit it in mixed company.

That brings us to Josie Cotton's second Hot 100 entry. I didn't know it at the time, but it was a remake of a 1973 Looking Glass hit that peaked at #33. It was likely familiar to those who grew up in the era, but enough time had passed that a new generation of listeners raised on MTV had little idea that it wasn't original. Of course, being done in a New Wave style (1984's version of New Wave, that is) didn't hurt either.

The song featured guitar work by Lindsey Buckingham, who was free because Fleetwood Mac was on a five-year hiatus at the time. However, his work is underrated on the track. As for Josie Cotton, the promise she showed with her first LP didn't hold up, and "Jimmy Loves Maryann" was her final chart single.




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