FEATURE:
Too Good to Be Forgotten: Songs That Are Much More Than a Guilty Pleasure
4 Non Blondes – What’s Up?
___________
HERE is a song…
that I have definitely see divide people. I don’t think there are songs that are guilty pleasures. Everything is valid, but there are tracks that split opinion. I am going to bring in some critical reception to 4 Non Blondes’ What’s Up? It was the second single (released in 1993) from their 1992 debut album, Bigger, Better, Faster, More! Led by the incredible Linda Perry (she left the band in 1994 and the remaining members disbanded shortly thereafter), 4 Non Blondes are one of these acts that only released a single studio album. I am surprised that we did not hear more from the Californian band, as their debut spent fifty-nine weeks on the Billboard 200 and sold 1.5 million copies between 1992 and 1994. What’s Up? is a song that I heard a lot when I was in middle school. It was one of those hits that was all over music television and, because of its singalong and instant chorus, we would all sing along at the important moment! I am not sure why some people have taken against What’s Up? or see it as a song that is a guilty pleasure. Maybe it is Perry’s quite raw and rough vocal that some struggle with. Perry herself has said she was unhappy with the production sounds of the song. I think that is sounds great, though maybe it is a bit polished. Some people I know dislike the song because it is overplayed and, in their mind, overrated - though I think that What’s Up? is one of those great songs from the 1990s that everyone should get behind.
In terms of critical reception, there has definitely been some praise and fondness for the sensational 4 Non Blondes hit:
“Bill Lamb from About.com said that the song "seemingly appeared out of nowhere, becoming a neo-folkie hit first on modern rock radio stations and then on the pop charts. Although it only reached number 11, it has been a radio fixture ever since.” AllMusic editor Tom Demalon described it as a "massive, neo-hippie anthem" in his review of the Bigger, Better, Faster, More! album. Rolf Edmund Lund from Norwegian newspaper Altaposten complimented Perry's voice as "incredibly good". Larry Flick from Billboard wrote that "gymnastic vocals, leaping from a breathy, high range, to gravelly, bar-rock blues in a single passage, front this straightforward, heartfelt rocker. Treads the line between album rock and modern rock, with the piano version favoring the former." Tom Sinclair from Entertainment Weekly described the song as "funky" and added that it "is only one of the goodies in the Blondes' musical grab bag". Music & Media stated that it is a "strong composition" where the lyrics "are done more than justice by Linda Perry's impressive vocal touch.” R.S. Murthi from New Straits Times called it "anthemic" and noted that it "is probably one of the simplest and catchiest pop songs to be produced in recent times."
Carmen von Rohr from Rome News-Tribune noted "the amazingly down-to earth common sense lyrics" of "What's Up?" and added that Linda Perry "sings in her rich, soulful voice about the frustrations she feels as she tries to adjust to her place in the universe." Sunday Life wrote in their review, that the song is "naggingly memorable". Ronny Johansen from Troms Folkeblad commented, "What a wonderful use of voice and what an irresistible song!"
Some critics disliked "What's Up?" Songwriters Carl Barât and Stuart Braithwaite named the song the worst ever Dean Ween said: "It's as bad as music gets…. Everything about the song is so awful that if I sat down and tried to write the worst song ever, I couldn't even make it 10 percent of the reality of how awful that song is." Tara Dublin in The Huffington Post wrote that it is "without question, the worst song of the 1990s".
"What's Up?" ranks number 94 on VH1's 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders,[19] and ranks 86 on the MuchMore The Top 100 One Hit Wonders”.
I want to bring in a feature from God Is in the TV. They rank it as a Pop classic and were keen to go in-depth regarding the formation of 4 Non Blondes and their most-famous song:
“4 Non Blondes was formed in San Francisco in 1989 by Perry and bassist Christa Hillhouse, guitarist Shaunna Hall, and drummer Wanda Day, although just prior to the release of their first album, Hall was replaced by Roger Rocha on guitar while Dawn Richardson replaced Day on drums. They only recorded one album, ‘Bigger, Better, Faster, More!’ (1992) as they broke up during the recording of the second, in 1994, which was never titled or released.
The album did well, going platinum in the U.S. and making #1 in the charts in six countries (#4 in the UK). In total they released seven singles but after ‘What’s Up?’ (1993) the highest chart position for any of them was #18 for ‘Spaceman’, in Sweden. In contrast, ‘What’s Up?’ was #1 in seven countries (#2 in the UK) and was particularly popular in Brazil (Linda Perry’s mother is Brazilian, her father Portuguese).
It is an outwardly political female emancipation song, from a band led by an overtly LGBT writer (or who would be called one now) – Linda Perry, to whom the song is credited solely. (In fact she wrote or co-wrote all but one of the album’s 11 songs). It was the first Top 40 hit by an openly lesbian group.
While political dissatisfaction and a call for revolution are often read into the lyrics (and the title was chosen to differentiate it from Marvin Gaye’s classic 1971 track ‘What’s going on?’ – words which remain in the lyrics -) there is no evidence that Perry was trying to replicate Gaye’s angst. Gaye’s song has a story to it as well of course; it was one of the first Motown songs which attempted to make a political statement, and which came from an album which was notable for (again, possibly the first time) tackling subjects such as the environment and poverty.
Indeed, Hillhouse recounts how she lived with Perry in a small flat in San Francisco and how Perry would just sit down and start singing what she was feeling, without any method. Perry was more concerned that the song came so easily to her that she must have heard it somewhere and was plagiarising another musician.
Hillhouse said. “I was having sex and stopped when I heard it, ran down the hallway and said, “Dude, what you are playing? I like that.” She adds, “I knew right when we played it, the song made the whole room feel this thing. It’s a connection to humanity. Certain simple songs, that’s what they do. There’s an honesty there that breaks through that people can relate to. Then of course they played the song to death and a lot of people are really sick of it.”
I love the powerful lyrics and how they rally against oppression: “25 years and my life is still/trying to get up that great big hill of hope/for a destination…./I try all the time in this institution …/I pray every single day for a revolution/And so I cry sometimes when I’m lying bed/just to get it all out, what’s in my head/And I, I’m feeling a little peculiar/And so I wake in the morning and I step outside/and I take a deep breath and I get real high/and I scream from the top of my lungs, ‘What’s going on?’”. Although the Bigger, Better, Faster, More! album has other great songs like Superfly, Spaceman and Dear Mr. President, I think that What’s Up? holds this special power and place in the heart. If some feel that What’s Up? suffers from a lack of restraint on the part of Linda Perry and her vocal performance, I reckon that is one of the strong points of the song – that she has this passionate voice that is so flexible. Nearly thirty years after its release, I hear What’s Up? played quite a bit. I have also seen it feature on one or two lists of guilty pleasure songs, so I wanted to try and argue in its favour and show how good it is. Linda Perry went on to write and produce some massive hits (including Beautiful by Christina Aguilera; What You Waiting For? by Gwen Stefani; and Get the Party Started by P!nk). The short-lived Linda Perry-led 4 Non Blondes are part of '90s history; I think they deserve to be seen as more than a one-hit wonder. That said, when you have a song as incredible as What’s Up? in your locker, then maybe there is no shame in that tag! What I do know is that What’s Up? is no mere guilty pleasure. It is a stone-cold classic that still sounds amazing…
AFTER all of these years.