Good morning, afternoon, or evening, Dialophiles! (Feel free to choose the greeting that applies best to your current time!)
The Dial is back with another classic track from the distant past to stir those memories in the jukebox of your mind. Head on back to 1989 as we listen to Mr. Michael Penn and his top 20 hit “No Myth”!
“So, she says its time she goes… but wanted to be sure I know… she hopes we can be friends.”
Peaking at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100, and scoring an impressive #4 position on the Modern Rock chart, No Myth was Penn’s first, final, and ONLY major hit. Pulled from his debut LP March, Penn charted four additional singles on the US Modern Rock chart (1992’s “Seen the Doctor” charted the highest of these at #5, one notch below No Myth’s peak), before turning his focus toward scoring motion pictures such as Boogie Nights, The Anniversary Party, and Sunshine Cleaning, among many other films.
A very poetic and intellectual slice of folk inspired alt-pop, the track is perhaps best remembered among casual radio listeners by the chorus that mentions literary figures Romeo and Heathcliff. Of course, we all get the Shakespeare nod, but not all of us would know that the Heathcliff mentioned here is no cartoon cat, but instead the main character in Bronte’s Wuthering Heights.
It would seem Penn is a bookworm, perhaps drawing from the same school of songwriting as Sting, who was quite fond of literary references of his own. Consider the Greek monsters, The Scylla and Charybdis, named checked in “Wrapped around Your Finger”, and the line “that old man in that book by Nabakov” (the book being the controversial Lolita) contained in “Don’t Stand So Close To Me”, during his hit making days with The Police.
Penn scatters other esoteric reference points throughout the track, as well. Listen for mentions of Chinese junk boats, Soho, and Fred Astaire.
“I think yeah, I guess we can say I… but didn’t think to ask her why. She blocked her eyes and drew the curtains with knots I’ve got yet to untie…”
The brother of actors Sean and Chris Penn, and husband of ‘Til Tuesday’s chief songwriter and lead vocalist Aimee Mann (“Voices Carry”), Michael won the 1990 MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist… but like many who have won a similar award (MTV issued, Grammy or otherwise), their follow ups cannot match the popularity of their debuts, often causing the artist to unfairly disappear into obscurity. Consider Debby Boone, Rickie Lee Jones, Hootie & the Blowfish, Paula Cole, and of course, the debacle surrounding Milli Vanilli.
The parent LP March and the No Myth single contains some heavy hitters. Prince & The Revolution’s Wendy (Melvoin) & Lisa (Coleman) on bass and keyboards, and session drummers Jim Keltner (Carly Simon, Gary Wright, Steely Dan, and three ex-Beatles solo work, but not McCartney), and Kenny Aronoff (John Mellencamp, Elton John, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and The Smashing Pumpkins) on drums.
Aronoff’s involvement explains why I always thought No Myth’s final drum fill sounded like Mellencamp’s smash “Jack & Diane”. I wonder if Kenny was unintentionally borrowing from his earlier performance?
“I’m between the poles and the equator, don’t send no private investigator to find me please… Unless he speaks Chinese, and can dance like Astaire overseas… okay.”
It’s a shame we didn’t hear more of Michael’s brand of smart alt-folk-pop at Top 40 radio, but sometimes mainstream success eludes even the most noteworthy artists. Given its virtual abandonment by current radio, one would be forgiven for thinking they imagined the song altogether. But as shown by the Dial’s latest transmission, it’s clearly no myth.
“What if I were Romeo in black jeans? What if I was Heathcliff, it’s no myth… maybe she’s just looking for… someone to dance with.”
