The Definitive 1000 Songs Of All Time 1955 to 2005: Number 765

Number 765

Cinderella

"Hot & Bothered"

(1994)
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Genre:Glam Rock

Long hair, wrist bands and spandex! And today's Generation Y (Gen P, Crystal Meth,Playstation & obesity) says we should be embarrassed of our time period. Err, righto Paris Hilton freaks :p Any way back to the world of arena rock shows.

"Cinderella was founded in Philadelphia, PA, in 1983 by singer/songwriter/guitarist/keyboardist Tom Keifer (born January 26, 1961) and bassist Eric Brittingham (born May 8, 1960), who quickly added lead guitarist Jeff LaBar (born March 18, 1963). Guitarist Michael Kelly Smith and drummer Tony Destra were also early members of the band, but they left in 1985 to form Britny Fox. Cinderella then added drummer Jody Cortez and continued as a four-piece. Insisting on playing original material, they performed in clubs and bars in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and in 1985 Jon Bon Jovi caught one of their shows. He was sufficiently impressed to alert his record company, Mercury, which signed the band. Their debut album, Night Songs, was released in June 1986. Shortly after its completion, Cortez left the band and was replaced by Fred Coury (born October 20, 1964). The LP was not an immediate success, but it gained momentum gradually while the band toured extensively as an opening act to promote it. It broke into the Billboard chart in July, and the track "Shake Me," although it failed to chart as a single, got enough radio attention to turn up on Billboard's Album Rock Tracks chart in August. On October 1, the album was certified gold. That month, Mercury released a second single, "Nobody's Fool," accompanied by a music video that earned play on MTV; it broke into the charts in November and peaked at number 13 in February 1987. Its success further stimulated sales of the album, which was certified platinum in December 1986 and broke into the Top Ten by the end of the year; it peaked at number 3 in February 1987, and that same month was certified double platinum. In April, Mercury released a third single, "Somebody Save Me," which peaked at number 66 in May. (The album was certified triple platinum in May 1991.)

"Having broken through to popular success with Night Songs, Cinderella returned with their second album, Long Cold Winter, in July 1988. Radio initially focused on the track "Gypsy Road," giving it a Top 20 ranking in the Album Rock Tracks chart, but Mercury did not release it as a single at first (although in the U.K., where it was released as a single, it charted). Instead the power ballad "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)" was released as a single in August, and it peaked at number 12 in November. The album reached number ten in September, the same month it was certified gold and platinum simultaneously, with a double-platinum certification following in November. (It was certified triple platinum in January 1997.) As the group continued to tour relentlessly through 1988 and 1989, Mercury broke more singles from the LP. "The Last Mile," released in December, peaked at number 36 in March 1989; "Coming Home," released in March, hit number 20 in June; and "Gypsy Road," finally put on 45 a year after the release of Long Cold Winter in July 1989, and backed by a live version of the Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash," got to number 51 in September."

"In the meanwhile, fashions changed. Cinderella had been part of a "pop-metal" movement including Bon Jovi, Great White, and Ratt, who preceded them, as well as Poison, the enormously popular Guns N' Roses, and L.A. Guns, who followed them. But when "grunge" rockers Nirvana, boasting a neo-punk style, broke through to success in the fall of 1991 with their album Nevermind and single "Smells Like Teen Spirit," the record labels suddenly became enamored of their stripped-down approach. Suddenly, instead of the teased and blown-dry coiffures and skin-tight stage costumes of the pop-metal bands, it was the dirty-hair-falling-in-the-face, flannel-shirt-and-jeans look of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain that was all the rage. Soon, the pop-metal groups were written off with a new epithet, dismissed as "hair metal" bands. By the time Keifer & Co. finally emerged with the fourth Cinderella album, Still Climbing, in November 1994, it could only manage to spend one week at number 178 before disappearing. Mercury promptly dropped the band"
~ William Ruhlmann

Didn't Nirvana knock out a whole Genre in one album or what !

For Rolling Stones see Number 689 & Number 767
For Great White see Number 772
For Guns 'n Roses see Number 795

What does Rolling Stone Magazine think about Cinderella?
"Cinderella is no longer packing arenas, but the band's tour bus hasn't turned into a pumpkin yet. "We were dropped from Mercury after 10 years of loyal service, but we weren't ready to quit at the time," says frontman Tom Keifer. Realizing what they had once it was gone, Cinderella has trudged on in the face of other such Spinal Tap-style setbacks, including the resignation of two drummers and potentially career-ending vocal chord problems for its singer.Keifer has been pursuing a solo career during the group's hiatus."

Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number (Its a Fairy story?) and the Album ranked at Number (Like Alice in Chains innit?) (no...that was a porno)

This song has a crowbarred rating of 65.4 out of 108