Track-By-Track: O/B #31
Cher has done it all. I wouldn’t count myself as a Cher stan by any measure, but every time I read something about her, see a clip of her performing, or hear one of her many hits for the umpteenth time, I’m reminded of what an all-powerful force of entertainment she has been for SIX DECADES.
Here are a handful of fun Cher facts and videos:
She was an uncredited backing singer on The Ronettes’ ‘Be My Baby’ in 1963
This from 1973
In 1978, for TV one-off Cher…Special, she played all of the parts in a one-woman medley of West Side Story
In the 80s she had a semi-secret relationship with Tom Cruise when he was just 23
In the early 90s she earned $10m doing hairspray informercials (worth looking at if only to then enjoy the SNL version)
‘Believe’, from 1998, is the biggest selling single by a woman in the UK ever – it was #1 for seven whole weeks, keeping ‘Outside’ off the top
She’s still killing it on Twitter – and her timing is immaculate
Imagine a time when ‘Believe’ and ‘Outside’ were top of the pops!
My favourite song by her is not ‘Believe’, nor is it ‘One By One’, nor is it her cover of ‘The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss)’, although all of those are bangers. In fact it’s a B side from her 1979 album for Casablanca, which saw her turn to disco – a genre she was considered unsuitable for (and of which she was sceptical) until the label got her into the studio.
‘Take Me Home’ was the first demo she tried out in those sessions and of course went on to be a massive hit for her and, later, Sophie Ellis-Bextor. Larry Levan was a fan, and it appears on the recording of him Live At The Paradise Garage in 1979.
But for me it’s the song on the flip that really seals the deal. And in fact it’s a song all about a deal sealed: if ‘Take Me Home’ was the initial sales pitch, ‘Wasn’t It Good’ is the follow-up customer satisfaction survey, except Cher already knows she’s getting 5/5:
Just remember my darling
When there's time to spare
You'll be thinking about me
And our hot affair
Saying wasn't it good
Wasn't it good so good
All of this set to buoyant orchestration, vocodered backing vocals and a squealing sax that amps up the camp even further.
As if all of that wasn’t enough, we’re also treated to a jaw-dropping portrait on the sleeve, with Cher decked out in full Valkyrie by the one and only Bob Mackie.
Cher - Wasn’t It Good (Casablanca, 1979)
(Discogs)
Note: this is an entry in the Track-By-Track series for my mix for O/B.
Track-By-Track is a series that looks back at records you will have heard in my mixes, one by one in the order they were played. Who made them, and when? How did I come across them? And what do they make me feel?