Alone in his house, surrounded by friends. That’s the contradictory state presented in John Morgan’s first radio single, a collaboration with Jason Aldean titled “Friends Like That.” The two singers are pals at a professional level, for sure, since Morgan wrote three of Aldean’s recent hits and is signed to Aldean’s record label, Night Train, affiliated with BBR Music Group. But the buddies in “Friends Like That” are a little more figurative: vices and voices telling the protagonist he’s better off alone than to be weighed down by the woman who just walked out on him. Broken hearts aren’t typically pleasurable, although the breezy melody and pulsing guitars on “Friends Like That” make loneliness sound attractive. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “That was kind of the point,” Morgan says, “to make light of a heavy subject.” Trending on Billboard Mission accomplished — with a little help from some friends. Morgan wrote “Friends Like That” during September 2020 – the height of the pandemic – at Cornman Music in Nashville, where songwriter Will Bundy (“Half Of Me,” “Brown Eyes Baby”) maintains an office. They were joined by Lydia Vaughan (“If I Didn’t Love You,” “Out Of That Truck”) and Brent Anderson (“Cab In A Solo,” “Lonely Tonight”), ostensibly a group of writers who’ve been interacting with each other in different combinations for several years. The day started – as it did for so many Americans in that window of time – fairly directionless. No one had any ideas they were passionate about, so they chatted, puttered and brainstormed a bit until something caught their attention. That something was a mysterious-sounding guitar riff that sounded like it was leading somewhere. It was ideal for an intro, and interesting enough that Vaughan insisted they make it part of the melody later in the song. It became the basis for the pre-chorus, setting up the sound of the chorus, which they attacked before they even knew where they were going. “A lot of times the pre-chorus is just a transitional piece to get from A to B,” Anderson says. “Having, to the best of my knowledge, started this song with that part is probably the reason that it stands out.” His co-writers are convinced that Anderson spit out the “Friends Like That” title, though none of them know how they got there. It was apparent, however, that they were writing a breakup song, with the singer listening to his friends’ advice about pulling himself together and moving on. The song’s conversations, though, took place in front of a fire at home. The friends were music (Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings) and alcohol (Jack Daniel’s), and staying home with them spoke volumes. “When something like that happens to you, a lot of people write about the bar,” Morgan says. But having the character stay home “was more real to me, because when I get pissed off, or whenever something happens, I just don’t want to talk to anybody.” Buoyed by “Willie,” “Jack” and “Waylon,” the singer addresses his ex in absentia with a dismissive payoff at the end of the chorus: “Who needs you when I got friends like that?” [embedded content] As self-sufficient as the guy tries to sound at that point, he evinced a brooding outlook when the writers started filling in the blank spaces in the first verse. They established the setting with much of that opening stanza – it’s after sundown, with the ex’s keys on the table. When they reached that transitional pre-chorus, the lyrics refocused on his “friends,” changing the feel from lonely atmosphere to party central. In verse two, the singer recalled the couple’s better days, reiterated that he no longer needed her, and – when the pre-chorus returned – boasted that he’s “got buds to get me through it.” It may take several listens to realize that while “buds” is short-hand for “buddies,” it might also simply be “buds.” “It rides a nice line to me where it’s not like completely hidden,” Bundy says of the weed reference. “It’s sort of camouflaged in a cool way.” The bridge gets ultra-cheery, with a call-and-answer component while the vices actually start talking to the protagonist, “telling me I don’t need you no more.” “It’s a great singalong moment,” Vaughan notes. “I just thought it was really catchy. I don’t know that it necessarily revealed anything new about the story that wasn’t already there, but we all just liked it.” Aldean and two of his band members, bassist Tully Kennedy and guitarist Kurt Allison, produced “Friends Like That” at Nashville’s Sound Emporium with Kennedy’s adventuresome bass and Mike Johnson’s haunting steel adding some sonic burn to the track. Morgan played the opening riff and the guitar solo, but he was particularly impressed with the crew. He referenced a driving rhythm element on Tom Petty’s “Running Down A Dream” when they got to the bridge, and guitarist Rob McNelly locked onto it right away. “Seeing how pro those guys are is pretty unbelievable,” Morgan says. Bundy produced Morgan’s final vocal session at Ocean Way. Morgan didn’t need much direction – the song had been written to fit his voice – but he definitely paid attention when Bundy gave him notes. “It’s sort of like getting to drive a Mercedes when you record John’s vocal,” Bundy says. “The great thing about John is we’re also such good buddies that I can criticize him and be tough on him, and he takes that and runs with it. You know he’s going to improve on it.” Morgan’s solo version of “Friends Like That” became his most played song, racking up 23 million streams on Spotify following its Sept. 30, 2022, release. Aldean thought they should take it to radio. He also suggested that maybe he should add his voice to it, providing a little extra promotional incentive for programmers to add it. Originally, Aldean wanted to just sing the second verse. Ultimately, Morgan persuaded him to do more – including the call-and-answer part on the bridge and a background vamp in the closing moments. Aldean also makes subtle melodic changes, adding a blue note here or there that creates a little extra grit. “That’s what’s so badass about him,” Anderson says. “He’s done that since the beginning.” Night Train and Broken Bow released the Morgan/Aldean remix to country radio via PlayMPE on April 8 and set April 22 as its official impact date. “The song itself being called ‘Friends Like That’ — how fun is it now that it’s two friends singing on it together?” Vaughan asks. In the end, “Friends Like That” will sink or swim on the lead voices, the breezy outlaw references and the self-deception that’s hiding just beneath the surface of the song’s relentless pulse. The freshly rejected guy in the song is a character everybody knows. “There’s some bitterness in there, but also some sarcasm,” Morgan says. “Also, you know, [he’s] lying through his teeth.”

04/24/2024 The two rap titans started as friends before the relationship soured. 04/24/2024

This week, Billboard is publishing a series of lists and articles celebrating the music of 20 years ago. Our 2004 Week continues here with the story behind Bowling for Soup’s “1985,” a ruefully nostalgic top 40 hit that has taken on a different meaning for its creators now that it’s been longer since its release than it was since the mid-’80s at the time. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Like many songs, “1985” started with nothing but a wordless hook. It first came to former SR-71 frontman Mitch Allan while he was driving, after which he temporarily added in some filler to start with: “She’s a, she’s a, she’s a roller coaster.” His decision to later swap it out for “19, 19, 1985” was just as random. The reason it stuck? “Honestly, it sang fantastic,” he recalls to Billboard over 20 years later. Trending on Billboard Later, the world would agree. Bowling for Soup had a No. 23 hit with the nostalgic earworm on the Billboard Hot 100 and a No. 10 peak on the Pop Airplay chart, propelling the band’s record A Hangover You Don’t Deserve to a career high of No. 37 on the Billboard 200. In the two decades since, the track has amassed over 372.7 million on-demand official U.S. streams, according to Luminate, and folks who weren’t even alive in the title year continue to gleefully sing along when it comes on the radio or plays at a party, as it still frequently does. But before it was an era-defining legacy hit for BFS, Allan had buried his original version on SR-71’s final album Here We Go Again, which was only released in Japan (until 2010, when it was finally made available in the U.S.). He’d pieced together the rest of the track on a trip to Machu Picchu, asking fellow tourists in his hiking group to shout out their favorite ‘80s references — “Springsteen!” “Madonna!” — and weaving them into an admittedly cynical takedown of a Prozac-dependent suburban housewife named Debbie with some help from his drummer, John Allen. If not for producer Butch Walker, “1985” would’ve never been widely heard in the U.S., much less become an enduring smash for generations. But Walker had worked with Allan and SR-71 in the past, and at the suggestion of his manager, Jonathan Daniel, he decided that the track deserved a second life – something the guys of Bowling for Soup, fresh off their first Grammy nomination for pop-punk radio hit “Girl All the Bad Guys Want” in 2003, could give it. [embedded content] “The song was good, but it wasn’t great yet,” Walker recalls. “It’s all about who’s presenting it. I think we realized that maybe the presentation of it originally was wrong.” First things came first. Led by frontman Jaret Reddick and bandmates Chris Burney, Gary Wiseman, and Rob Felicetti, the tongue-wagging Bowling for Soup had made a name off not taking itself too seriously, specializing in the creation of meme songs before memes were even a thing. That meant that some of the more sardonic lines about condoms breaking and George Michael’s sexuality needed to go. “That’s the difference between the humor in SR-71 and us,” says Reddick. “Their songs had that grit in their comedy – it’s more snarky. Our stuff is just blatantly funny.” He and Walker sat in a room together dissecting “1985” line by line, subbing in lyrics about Duran Duran and Ozzy Osbourne to coincide more with the personal tastes of Reddick, who was a teenager during the titular time period. The frontman gave the tune a peppier delivery, and Walker made it so that the song’s sunny “woo-hoo-hoo” hook was the very first thing listeners heard when pressing “play.” “It was a collaborative effort,” Reddick says. “Had I heard the song by SR-71, I’m certain I would’ve liked it, ’cause I’m a fan of that band. But I don’t think it gives me the same visual at all.” Allan, now an L.A.-based writer-producer who’s worked with Bebe Rexha and Demi Lovato, agrees. “[Reddick] took this sad woman who we were making fun of and turned her into the hero of the story,” he marvels. “She’s suddenly celebrating that she got to live in 1985 and that we, the listener, didn’t. Life was so much better then, and she got to experience it. “[The original] version in my brain has been replaced by Bowling for Soup’s,” he concludes. Released as the lead single off Hangover, “1985” made BFS a staple of the early 2000s pop-punk movement. The band cosplayed as Robert Palmer, Run-DMC and Limp Bizkit in the track’s music video (which Reddick says he’s especially proud of), complete with a Tawny Kitaen lookalike and a cameo from Allan. [embedded content] They embarked on a tour, and then another one and another one, discovering that their fans across the world never tired of mocking Debbie night after night – because, let’s face it: “The song’s kind of mean,” Reddick admits. “We made it nicer, for sure. But there’s still a bit of hopelessness to it.” The guys didn’t get sick of playing it, either. “The fact that it’s something our band does that makes people happy – that’s the thing that never gets old,” Reddick continues. “Right from the first two chords, they know what it is. Every phone comes up during that song. People still laugh at ‘When did Mötley Crüe become classic rock?’” But something peculiar happened right around the time Bowling for Soup’s version of the song came out – Reddick became a parent. So did Allan. Their first-born kids are now 21 and 20, respectively, almost the exact number of years between 1985 and 2004 as 2004 and 2024. As time went by, a song about nostalgia became nostalgic in and of itself, and its creators realized that they were beginning to identify more with Debbie than her proverbial two kids in high school. In 2021, Bowling for Soup put out a track titled “Getting Old Sucks (But Everybody’s Doing It).” [embedded content] “I started to see it really quickly,” remembers Reddick, now a father of three. “It wasn’t lost on me that that was actually happening in my life. When they’re really little, they still think all your jokes are funny. Then they go through this time where they don’t think you’re funny, then they think you’re funny again but roll their eyes. My kids’ teachers tell them, ‘I heard your dad on the radio today,’ and they’re just like, ‘Okay, great. He also mowed the lawn today, and there’s a heap of dishes to get done.’” Allan relates: “I’m Dad – I’m not cool.” Luckily for them both, as well as all the former cool kids-turned-Debbies, things have a way of coming back into fashion. Debbie herself — who, as Reddick points out, is probably a grandma now — would be overjoyed that her precious Springsteen and Madonna are both on arena tours in 2024, while U2 is on the heels of a successful Las Vegas residency. And modern pop stars have been in the midst of a pop-punk renaissance for most of the decade now, replicating the sounds popularized by Bowling for Soup and their peers. “Everybody’s trying to make records sound like [“1985”] now,” Walker says with a chuckle. “It’s ironic that that’s where we’re at. I guess I’ve been alive that f–king long … I can’t believe we’re already back at recycling the emo era and the pop punk era, sound-wise.” “All my kids went through a pop-punk phase,” adds Allan. “It takes them a minute. They discover bands, and then they discover my band. I get texts from my oldest who’s at UCSB, and she’ll be at a party and there’s a band playing, and they’ll be playing ‘1985.’ She’s like, ‘Oh my god, my dad wrote that!’” Meanwhile, “1985” has demonstrated an impressive longevity. It was certified double platinum in 2019, and Reddick and Allan still enjoy sending each other young musicians’ updated covers of the song with references to the early ’00s and 2010s – which, ironically, sometimes go over the now-52-year-old Reddick’s head. “I’m Debbie!” he proclaims, mystified. “People come up to us like, ‘I am Debbie.’ She’s probably now looking back at her kids, and they’re the Debbies of the world. And she’s like, ‘You see?’” But just as Debbie gets the last laugh in her story, so does he: Reddick remembers a time when his daughter called him from science class in disbelief, asking if he knew just how many Spotify listeners his band had. “I was like, ‘I don’t know, 2 million monthly?’ She goes, ‘Dad, that’s a lot!’ I go ‘Yeah, I’ve been trying to tell you that.’” (For the record, BFS has nearly 4 million monthly listeners on the platform at press time.) Reddick, Allan and Walker are all living in real time the reason they believe “1985” has had such a lasting resonance across generations. Aging and nostalgia are some of the only truly universal human experiences, which means that the song, unlike some of the dated ‘80s tropes it pokes fun at, will probably never go out of style. But “1985” also speaks to the power of leaving egos at the door in service of collaboration. The project wouldn’t have been a success story without Allan being open to having his creation improved upon, or Bowling for Soup’s willingness to stand behind a song that they hadn’t written originally. “I’m super glad this song has had such a good run,” Reddick says. “I’m not sure that we wouldn’t be where we are today [without it], but I certainly am thankful we are.” “You hope a song goes on the charts, let alone enters the top 10, let alone is around a year later,” Allan remarks. “It takes a village. But I’m so happy to live in that village, you know?”

Radiohead has officially entered YouTube‘s Billion Views Club, as the video for their 1992 classic, “Creep,” surpassed a billion views on the platform. The milestone marks the UK rockers’ first video to accomplish the feat. The clip is simple but effective, featuring the band — comprised of Thom Yorke; brothers Jonny Greenwood and Colin Greenwood; Ed O’Brien and Philip Selway […]

HipHopWired Featured Video Source: MICHAEL TRAN / Getty It is clear celebrity does not shield you from bullying. Jelly Roll’s wife has confirmed he has quit Instagram due to fat-shaming. As reported on TMZ, the popular country music talent has been noticeably absent from social media over the last couple of weeks. While high profile musicians are known to take breaks online, his better half has revealed his lack of posts has been intentional. Bunnie XO explained why Jelly Roll has taken a step back from social apps on her Dumb Blonde podcast. “My husband got off the internet because he is so tired of being bullied about his f***ing weight. And that makes me want to cry, because he is the sweetest angel baby,” she said. “My husband doesn’t show it to you guys, but I’m gonna have a very vulnerable moment here—it hurts him.” She went on to point to the hypocrisy that comes along with fame and fortune. “The internet can say whatever the f*** they want about you, and they say, ‘Well, you’re a celebrity, you’re supposed to be able to handle it.’ No the f*** we’re not. … Enough is enough,” she explained. Bunnie also urged the public to be more sensitive to everyone’s feelings. “Don’t bully people, because you never know where they are mentally,” she added. “There are a lot of people who are not as strong as me, that are on the internet, and they don’t deserve to f***ing be bullied.” In 2023, Jelly Roll won the New Artist of the Year at the CMA Awards. Earlier this year, he took home three awards at the CMT Music Awards. Prior to singing country music he was a rapper and released multiple projects under the same moniker. The couple wed back in 2016. You can see Bunnie XO discuss things below.