This week #OnRepeat is Billy Ocean’s “Suddenly.” Interesting story: I actually came across this song while watching an episode of Family Guy. The character, Peter, (played by Seth McFarland) sings this song when he sees a cardboard cut-out of Cathy Ireland. Surprisingly, Seth McFarland does a great rendition of the song and this is one of the first episodes that caused me to respect McFarland not only as a comedian, but as a singer as well. The clip from the episode can be seen below.
Billy Ocean is an R&B singer-songwriter from England who was internationally popular in the 1970’s and 1980’s. He won the Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Performance in 1985. Some of his hit songs include “Caribbean Queen,” “Loverboy,” and “When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going.”
“Suddenly” is an iconic 80’s song, and Billy Ocean’s singing adds so much to the style that is considered 80’s music. His use of inflection, melismas and his clear, bright tone makes the song a unique love song to listen to. The words are simple, yet full of emotion; talking about suddenly realizing how in love the individual is with another person. Many musicians that I’ve spoken to aren’t fond of the instrumentation, but his powerful voice makes you stop and pay attention. The original version of this song can be listened to below:
Do you guys have any new musicians, groups or songs to check out? Let us know in the comments below!