(Picture credit to Deborah Thomas on Amazon.com)Are we ready for the extreme cheese factor today? I hope so, because Tim James's single "I'll Be Your Secret" is a cheesy ballad--but a great one. "I'll Be Your Secret" came out in 2000, I think, and was supposed to be followed up with a self-titled album, though I'm not sure if it was ever actually released (or at least released on a major scale) since the only copies of it I've ever seen for sale are advance promo versions. I suspect it's not even his real debut album, too--the back of my copy says that it's "his forthcoming C2Records debut," which could mean there was an earlier album released, possibly the one pictured here, which definitely isn't the one I own. Anyhow, the pop artist career may not have worked out for Tim, but don't feel too sorry for him; he seems to have a pretty substantial behind-the-scenes career in pop music going on, having written for a bunch of the Disney stable and even getting a song in High School Musical 2 ("Bet On It"). That's no surprise, though, considering that even before his own album, he'd done that sort of stuff--he's behind Youngstown's "I'll Be Your Everything" and, along with frequent songwriting collaborator Antonina Armato, he wrote songs for Hoku's self-titled debut album. In fact, the album even includes a duet between him and her, "I'm Scared," the music, structure, and even some of the lyrics of which really should be reused for the next High School Musical-esque movie.
I'll Be Your Secret--there a hints of country at the beginning of this, but the further we get into the song, the more the production takes it away from that direction. The lyrics are the sort of stuff that lend themselves quite easily to YouTube tribute montages to your fictional couple of choice (Power Rangers! Firefly!), but it really is a good song, with one of those choruses that builds, though primarily because of the backing instrumentation. Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi would later go on to cover it and release it as "Secret" (as well as release a Spanish version) for his failed attempt to break into the English-speaking American pop market.
To buy Tim James's album Tim James, go here (physical). It's not a must-own, but I recommend seeking out "Better Man" at least--it may have a bizarre moment where I could swear they take a female singer's voice and then meld it into Tim's, but it's really good (you can listen to a preview of it here).
Next up: maybe an American or Swedish group.
4 comments:
Yikes I'm so behind on commenting! Eep! But i love a good cheesy ballad and i have quickly put this on my mp3 player of choice so i can wallow in it on holiday next week :) Hurrah!
Fact: he co-wrote Aly & AJ's "Potential Break Up Song" and "Bullseye"!
It's extra funny that this song is a completely cheesy sentimental ballad when you know that the album also contains a song called "Why Aren't We Having Sex?".
I bought the CD single for one reason, and one reason only: THAT cove. Could he look any hotter?
His debut album was pushed twice in 2000, and after his debut single flopped, the decision was made to rework the album, which had a release date in 2001. Of course by then, the original album had already been manufactured. But the album never really surfaced, not even at Columbia House, where a bunch of canceled, unreleased albums by the SONY labels, surfaced from time to time (e.g. Lutricia McNeal's debut album, which coincidentally two different versions were canceled as well).
Thanks for all the background! I was really curious as to what happened. I wonder what that other album in the picture is, then--it's got a different tracklist--could be the reworked one (it says "advanced" on the front, if you look at the pictures on Amazon) or an earlier one or a later one...that's got to be tough for a singer, to have two of your albums canceled.
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