Kansas City Playlist: Kay Barnes Era Redux

Found it!!!

We did a half-hearted search for this "cabaret Kay" image in our archives and we were unsuccessful until early this evening. 

In the 75-year-history of TKC, the Kay Barnes era doesn't really stand out but here's a highlight form our coverage . . . 

A dedicated reader sent this silly bit of political Photoshop parody as encouragement of our early efforts and as evidence that there are more than a few people who "get" our dumb bloggy sense of humor. 

So many years later . . . 

Former Kansas City mayor Kay Barnes returns to the local political stage to serve as Interim Exec in the aftermath of the Jackson County Frank White recall. 

The mainstream opinion seems to recognize her steady hand even at 87-years-old and commends her dedication to community service after all these years . . . 

The opinion that we noticed which hasn't been allowed via MSM and mostly exists on social media: 

Many locals are disappointed in the pick that signals a return to the Kansas City status quo and local leadership that's guided mostly by corporate interests. 

From our vantage . . . 

The triumphant return of Kay Barnes inspires more than a bit of 90s nostalgia that's perfect for our www.TonysKansasCity.com playlist . . . Given that we're just about finished with Chappell Roan week . . . We'll use this playlist to celebrate the bygone era of 90s divas who still resonate in this "sausage-fest" political era. 

To start: "...Baby One More Time" is the debut single by American singer Britney Spears from her debut studio album of the same name (1999). It doesn't hold up over time even if the track has been seared in to the brain of just about everyone over 45-years-old. The politics of the video are incorrect and more than a bit "cringe" even as the tune still plays on the last remaining terrestrial radio stations and on box store sound systems across the nation.

Old heads might remember that Mariah Carey was more than a Christmas season musician and she dominated the 90s with a string of billboard hits. There are too many Mariah songs from which to choose and so we picked a worthwhile remix featuring Old Dirty Bastard from Wu Tang Clan which speaks to the lost era of forty-ounce malt liquor and the company of women with too much hair spray who refused to stop smoking and indulged in Boone's Farm strawberry flavored garbage.

For some reason, this track from Céline Dion still sounds like shopping malls and is just a bit more haunting now that most of the stores are vacant. Beyond her Titanic hit . . . "That's The Way It Is" was another #1 for the French-Canadian singer in 1999 when Gen-X women around the nation were finding their way back to the dating scene after their first divorce.

For the bridge . . . An enduring 90s anthem that now powers mean-spirited memes of people getting hit in the head BUT at the time signaled one of the greatest "achievements" of the pop music era . . .

Finally, our constant TKC tribute to ALMOST alternative music and our peak nostalgia at the outset of Autumn 2025 . . . "It's Oh So Quiet" is a song by American singer Betty Hutton, released in 1951 . . . It's a cover of the German song "Und jetzt ist es still", performed by Horst Winter in 1948, with music written by Austrian composer Hans Lang and German lyrics by Erich Meder. The English lyrics were written by Bert Reisfeld. 

Icelandic musician Björk covered the song as the third single from her second album Post (1995): it remains her biggest hit, reaching number 4 in the UK and spending 15 weeks on the UK Singles Chart. 

Old school Americans know the track because they were still watching MTV far too late into the night and remember that Spike Jonze directed the iconic 1995 music video which is a homage to classic Hollywood musicals and features Björk dancing in and around a tire store. 

As always, thanks for reading this week and have a safe & fun Saturday night.