This week, pop songwriter and producer Evan âKiddâ Bogart revealed a secret hiding in plain sight on Rihannaâs 2006 hit âSOSâ: âThe whole second verse of that song is â80s song titles strung together as sentences,â he said in a viral interview snippet that mapped out the references line by line. Mk.geeâs new single âRockmanâ is sort of like that, except Michael Gordon has his sights set on classic rockâs great, flamboyant entertainers. Over a loping riff with more than a whisper of Blue Ãyster Cult, he evokes Bruce Springsteen (âI want it on fireâ), Michael Hutchence (âI need you tonightâ), and, in the song title, Sir Elton John.
Alongside these lyrical subliminals, you might catch some other sly jokesâlike the gun pointed at an overstuffed pedalboard in the single artwork, or the eagle screech perched atop the mix. How does all this irony and interpolation manage to sound so totally sincere? Gordonâs angelic, layered harmonies certainly help, but really, this man just seems to adore the idea of being a rock star. Show him a genre with a history of macho self-indulgence, and heâll close his show by playing the same song 12 times in a row. Heâs poking fun at his rockânâroll idols as only someone who loves them can.
