Piano in the Dark

Piano in the Dark
Date Aired	November 20, 2025
Running Time	28:01
Previous Review	The Fate of Ophelia
Next Review	The Top Ten Worst Hit Songs of 2025
Website	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTS9A4aPau8

Todd plays "Piano in the Dark" on the piano.

BRENDA RUSSELL - PIANO IN THE DARK
A one-hit wonder retrospective

Todd: Welcome back to One Hit Wonderland, where we take a look at bands and artists known for only one song. You know, viewers, I've been meaning to do more R&B stuff on here. As I listen to the radio on my... morning commute... downstairs to this piano. [shrugs] I don't know. When I listen to the radio, I find [logo for 95-7 R&B FM] myself tuning more and more to the R&B stations. Mostly because R&B was not a genre I was into as a kid, so it's the only station playing shit I haven't heard a billion times.

Todd cycles through various stations on his car radio, which are respectively playing Stone Temple Pilots - "Creep"...

Scott Weiland: Makes me wanna st...

...Journey - "Don't Stop Believin'"...

Steve Perry: Don't stop believin'

...Queen - "Don't Stop Me Now"...

Queen: ...time, havin' a good time

Freddie Mercury: I'm a shootin' star

...Wham! - "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"...

George Michael: ...before you go-go, take...

...and Brandy - "Baby"

Brandy: ...keep my cool, baby, baby

Todd (VO): [sighs] Good enough.

Todd: Maybe it'll be the Christian stations next. Who knows? But even though I had a pretty [image of a child dressed like a stereotypical country singer] soul-deprived childhood, today we cover a song that I'm very familiar with.

Clip of Brenda Russell - "Piano in the Dark"

Todd (VO): I don't know how well remembered it is now. Actually, I don't know if I've actually heard it on the radio stations; I-I probably need to listen more.

Todd: But I do know that, back in the late Eighties, it was a pretty big deal.

Brenda Russell: Just as I walk...

Joe Esposito: Just a little more time

Brenda: ...to the door

Todd (VO): The song I am talking about is, of course, Brenda Russell's "Piano in the Dark". A Top 10 hit in the year 1988.

Todd: Several Grammy nominations, including one of the really big ones.

Brenda: I know I'm caught up in the middle

I cry just a little

Todd (VO): Like I said, I don't know how much longevity it's had. If you do know it, there's probably a strong chance that you only recognize it from the EDM song that sampled it....

Clips of Bingo Players - "Cry (Just a Little)"...

Kelli-Leigh: Oh no, caught up in the middle

I cry just a little

Todd: ...or the Flo Rida song song that sampled that.

...and Flo Rida - "I Cry"

Flo Rida and Kelli-Leigh: I cry, just a little

When I think of letting go

Todd lip-syncs to the repetitions of "Go" while pumping his fist

Kelli-Leigh: I know...

Todd (VO): Yeah, say what you want about Flo Rida - he had pretty good taste in beats.

Todd: But it was a big deal even before Flo Rida started spitting his unintelligible flow over it.

Back to "Piano in the Dark"

Todd (VO): And if you don't know it, let me explain. It's about a woman who just can't leave her man because she finds him just so completely irresistible...

Todd: ...when he plays piano... in the dark.

Brenda: When he plays piano in the dark

Todd: [beat] I fucking love this song!

Todd (VO): I, I really do. You know, it's a real damn shame we don't have more songs about how hot it is when guys play piano in the darkness. Yeah, can we get some songwriters on this? People need to know.

Todd: But what of the woman behind it?

Brenda: This is when I'm gonna make my move

Todd (VO): Brenda Russell was one of the great unsung talents of R&B; a woman who never quite got her due as an artist. It looked like 1988 might finally be her year to break out, but she never quite managed to drag her piano out of the dark and into the spotlight.

Todd: Well, as an enthusiast of both pianos and darkness, I felt like it was finally time for...

Todd (VO): ...me to step up and dig some more into her surprisingly long and successful career. So, let's give her just a little more time...

Todd: ...and find out why she cries just a little.

Brenda: When he plays piano in the dark

Todd: [in time with Brenda's vocals] In the dark. [back to normal] Let's go!

Brenda: Cry just a little

Mmh, I cry, I cry

BEFORE THE HIT

Back cover of Brenda's 1979 self-titled album

Todd (VO): Brenda Gordon was born in Flatbush, Brooklyn in 1949, and she moved to [postcard of...] Hamilton, Ontario in the Sixties, which I say qualifies her for [logo of...] the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Get on that, Canada.

Todd: From a young age, she was very musical. As a child, she opened for some major acts, and...

Image of Brenda with...

Todd (VO): ...in the early Seventies, she met and married the musician Brian Russell, [album cover for Word Called Love by Brian and Brenda Russell] whose last name she would keep for the rest of her life. [publicity photo of...] Now, they were briefly in the jazz band Dr. Music. Great name.

Todd: But Canada would not really discover black music until the mid 2000s, so they left for better opportunities in LA.

Clip of Rufus featuring Chaka Khan - "Please Pardon Me (You Remind Me of a Friend)"

Todd (VO): And they were really getting somewhere. They were writing songs for Chaka Khan. [image of an Elton John performance, with a red arrow pointing at Brian and Brenda in the background] They were singing backup for Elton John and a few other big stars.

Clip of Neil Sedaka - "Laughter in the Rain"

Todd (VO): Ah, love this song.

The video cuts to a shot in which Brian and Brenda are visible in the background

Neil, Brian and Brenda: Oh, I hear laugh...

Todd (VO): And there they are! Awesome, I can't believe I found that. [album cover for Supersonic Lover by Brian and Brenda Russell] Unfortunately, they had no success with their own material.

Clip of Brian and Brenda Russell - "Gonna Do My Best to Love You"

Brian and Brenda: Oh, gonna do my best to love you 'til the end of time

Todd (VO): And Brenda says she heard way later that racism may have been a factor.

Todd: [sarcastic] Interracial couple. Can't have that.

Todd (VO): And regardless, the marriage didn't last. So, after the breakup, Brenda thought she might be able to step into the limelight herself.

Todd: And she was right!

Clip of Brenda Russell - "So Good So Right"

Brenda: Feels so good, so right

To be with you tonight

So good

Todd (VO): This is her first single from 1979, "So Good So Right", which was actually, like, a near hit. It did crack the Top 40 at least, making her one-hit wonder status kind of borderline.

Todd: But I really wanted to do this video, so, you know.

Brenda: So good, so right

To be with you

Todd (VO): Anyway, like I said, it was a mid-chart hit, and boy does it sound like a mid-chart hit from the late Seventies. One of those kind of R&B, kind of soft rock songs. Actually, can we get some Vaseline on the lens here?

A clip of the video is shown with the requested effect added

Brenda: So good

Todd (VO): There we go. Perfect. And there are a lot of other highlights on that album, too.

Todd: You might notice that this sounds familiar.

Clip of Brenda Russell - "A Little Bit of Love"

Brenda: A little bit of love can go a long, long way

Todd: Right. You know it from this...

Clips of Big Pun featuring Joe - "Still Not a Player"...

Joe: I don't wanna be a player no more

Big Pun I'm not a player, I just crush a lot

Todd: ...or this.

...and Ariana Grande featuring Mac Miller - "The Way", which both sample the piano riff from "A Little Bit of Love"

Ariana: I love the way you make me feel

I love it, I love it

Todd (VO): So that's, you know, that's a good start.

Todd: Unfortunately, bad times were brewing. By the [image of and audio from Disco Demolition Night] end of 1979, disco had collapsed, and it took down all of black music with it. so up until Thriller, this is what popular music sounded like...

Clip of The Oak Ridge Boys - "Elvira"

The Oak Ridge Boys: Elvira (yeah)

Elvira

Todd: Right. So [covers of Brenda's albums Love Life and Two Eyes] Brenda Russell's next two albums did nothing for her career, unfortunately. Just total bombs. But there are reasons to recommend them. For example, the second album is important because it introduces her to the yacht rock cinematic universe. [Clip of The Doobie Brothers - "You Belong to Me"] Yeah, she hooked up with Michael McDonald and the members of Toto for that one. In fact, she is in the yacht rock documentary.

Clip of Brenda being interviewed for Music Box: Yacht Rock: A DOCKumentary

Brenda: So Michael starts to sing it for us.

Clip of Michael hitting a high note during a live performance of "You Belong to Me"

Brenda: We just froze, like "Oh my God, what is that coming out of his mouth?"

Todd (VO): They go into this; apparently, since yacht rock was [album cover for Michael McDonald's If That's What It Takes] bearded white guys who loved jazz and R&B, when [clip of George Benson - "Turn Your Love Around"] R&B wasn't selling, a lot of black singers started moving towards yacht rock too.

Brenda: I remember walking into a record company and I said, "Okay, I'm not, I'm not R&B." And he said, "Honey, you black, you R&B." [laughs] I went, "Oh, excuse me. I didn't know."

Todd (VO): In fact, one of her songs, "Lucky", has a million streams on Spotify.

Clip of Brenda Russell - "Lucky"

Brenda: Lucky I fell in love with you.

Todd (VO): I don't know why, and I think it might be entirely because of the documentary. But I don't know.

Todd: But Brenda had no way of knowing that her association with Michael McDonald would [clips from the Yacht Rock webseries] pay dividends decades later because of a stupid comedy show on the internet.

Clip of Brenda Russell - "Two Eyes"

Brenda: I'll never get away from...

Todd (VO): In the meantime, she was looking at her career stalling out with two flop albums. And I don't mean just on the pop charts, on the R&B charts, too. She did nothing.

Todd: I think she may have been just, like, a little too jazzy for the post disco audience.

Clip of Brenda Russell - "Jarreau"

Brenda: Going down to see Jarreau

Todd (VO): After that, her contract expired and also she moved to Sweden for some reason. So, it looked like her career had hit the skids.

Todd: And that's just more bad timing on her part because, right after that, smooth R&B had a big comeback.

Clip of Anita Baker - "Caught Up in the Rapture"

Anita: I’m caught up in the rapture

Todd (VO): Yeah, the quiet storm started rolling back in. [clip of "The Sweetest Taboo by...] You had, like, Sade and Luther Vandross who even [clip of Luther Vandross - "If Only for One Night"] covered one of her songs.

Luther: If only for one night

Todd (VO): Yep, that one's hers.

Todd: At that point, another jazz man had entered her life. [album cover for What Now My Love by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass] The legendary trumpet player Herb Alpert. If you don't know who that is, yes you do.

Clips of Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass - "Spanish Flea"...

Todd (VO): Like Brenda, he stretched across [...and Herb Alpert - "Rise"] jazz, pop, and R&B. Was a legendary hitmaker for decades.

"Rise" enters into a section which was sampled in The Notorious B.I.G. - "Hypnotize"

Todd (VO): [imitating Biggie's vocals] Uh, uh. [back to normal] So even though her career as a lead artist was on hold, [single cover for Herb Alpert featuring Brenda Russell - "You Are The One"] she was on one of his albums, [clip of Donna Summer - "Dinner with Gershwin"] and she also sold a song to Donna Summer, a very curious little song called [single cover for...] "Dinner with Gershwin".

Donna: I wanna have dinner with Gershwin

I wanna watch Rembrandt sketch

Todd (VO): About wanting to meet great people in history, I guess.

Donna: I wanna fly double with Earhart

Todd (VO): [concerned] Do you? I'm, I'm not sure [image of Daily News headline: "Earhart Plane Lost at Sea"] that's something you actually want.

Todd: So Herb saw potential in her.

Clip of Herb Alpert - "Diamonds"

Todd (VO): And I forgot to mention but, on top of playing the trumpet, he also owned [logo of...] A&M records. So he was like "come to our label, we're going to make you a star, baby" or something like that, I imagine.

Todd: And he kind of did.

THE BIG HIT

Clips of Brenda being introduced on Robert Townsend and His Partners in Crime...

Robert Townsend: I heard the song on the radio and, I mean, it's a hot song. Uh, you know, it's, it's a hot song, it's sung by a hot lady. And you guys are gonna be in for a real special treat. Ladies and gentlemen, here's Miss Brenda Russell.

...and the original music video for "Piano in the Dark"

Todd (VO): Brenda Russell appears to be a [live footage of Brenda playing piano] pretty talented piano player in her own right, but...

Todd: ...she does not play piano on "Piano in the Dark".

Todd (VO): That track was recorded by a couple of [labelled images of Jeff Hull and Scott Cutler] friends of hers, and they turned to her to write some lyrics for it.

Todd: Now, she says she always writes titles first. So...

Illustration of a piece of paper with "Piano in the Dark", "Marimba in the Moonlight", "Tom-Toms at Dawn", "Harmonica Twilight", "Accordion in a Cramped, Enclosed Location", "I Want Your Fuck" and "Hotel California II" written on it

Todd (VO): ...she picked out "Piano in the Dark" from her list of ideas. The other guys were like, "Huh...

Todd: ..."Piano in the Dark". What's that about?" And she was like, "I don't know. Let's find out."

Brenda: When I find myself watching the time

Todd (VO): Once the full album was recorded, there was originally gonna be a different lead single, but Alpert called an audible at the last second and switched it to "Piano in the Dark".

Brenda: Feeling stronger, but oh

Todd (VO): This is why Herb Alpert is one of the most successful [image of Herb and Jerry Moss being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame] record executives in history.

Todd: Because that was absolutely the right call. [screenshot of a Billboard Hot 100 chart from 1988, with "Piano in the Dark" highlighted at #9] Within a few short months, "Piano in the Dark" would become her first Top 10 hit.

Brenda: Oh no, gave up on the riddle

Todd (VO): But even though it was the right call, I wouldn't be surprised if the label was caught by surprise by how right that call was. [clips of several earlier performances from Brenda] Like, this woman has been at it for more than a decade with not that much to show for it. And the video they made is not very good. In fact, they actually had to make a second, better video.

The song rewinds to the beginning before restarting with the second video

Todd (VO): I assume after they realized they actually had something special here. Color, we love it.

Brenda: The silence is broken

Todd (VO): So why was Brenda Russell finally able to break through when clearly she had the talent and songs to do it before then?

Todd: Might just be timing.

Clip of MTV's Year in Rock 1988

Todd (VO): Between 1987 and 1991, maybe the most popular music in America was...

Todd: ...gloop.

Clips of Richard Marx - "Right Here Waiting"...

Todd (VO): Some people call it soft rock, adult contemporary. I call it gloop.[...and Atlantic Starr - "Always"] Now, gloop also included a lot of R&B. Like, people think of like Janet or Bobby Brown in the late Eighties, but, you know, a lot of R&B was gloop.

Wayne Lewis and Barbara Weathers: For always

Todd: That said, the [clip of Luther Vandross - "Here and Now"] R&B inflected gloop has generally aged way better than the soft rock gloop. It's definitely more respectable both then and now. And "Piano in the Dark" is just the absolute top tier of this genre.

Brenda: Pulling me back

Joe Esposito: Just a little more time

Brenda and Joe Esposito: Back to love you

Todd (VO): This song is just the best. Like, unequivocally. Just, just compositionally if nothing else. Like a lot of Brenda's stuff, you can call it soft rock more than anything, but it does have that jazz influence. I especially love the switch from minor to major right when we hit the pre-chorus.

Brenda: Can't wait any longer

Text appears: "minor to major shift happens around here"

And I'm feeling stronger, but oh

Text appears: "i don't do much music theory but trust me this shift is amazing"

Just as I walk

Todd (VO): I mean, that just sells the whole story of the song. That switch from minor key to major key is the whole emotional shift.

Todd: You see, the song is about a bad relationship.

Brenda: I feel like it's dead

Todd (VO): Or, a dead one at least. It's over. The sparks are gone. She knows it. They both know it.

Todd: But every time she's about to leave, just when she walks to the door, something happens.

Brenda: Just as I walk...

Joe Esposito: Just a little more time

Brenda: ...through the door

I can feel your emotion

Joe Esposito: Can't you feel my emotion?

Todd: This dude sits down at the piano...

Brenda: He plays a melody

Born to tear me all apart

Todd (VO): ...and he starts playing, and, all of a sudden, she just can't leave.

Brenda: It's pulling me back

Joe Esposito: Just a little more time

Brenda and Joe Esposito: Back to love you

Todd (VO): The power of music. Like a goddamn snake charmer. I mean, that's a pretty neat trick.

Todd: Wish I knew the secret chord that prevented all of my breakups.

As he says this, Todd presses random keys on his piano

Brenda: When he plays piano in the dark

Todd (VO): Now, I had assumed this was, like, a seduction song, because the song is sexy as hell. But according to Brenda, it's not exactly that [image of someone (who isn't Todd) playing piano in silhouette] playing piano in the dark is super hot. [text appears: "sexiest thing ever"] Although it is...

Todd: ...and I know this for a fact because I saw the fucking shit you [Tumblr meme written by someone who is very attracted to Todd] horny freaks were writing about me on Tumblr back in the day. Don't think I fucking didn't. And I certainly have never gotten that response in real life, so let's hear it for the power of [gestures towards...] this set.

Todd (VO): But that's not quite what the song's about.

Brenda: He holds me close like a thief of the heart

Todd (VO): Brenda says it's about a guy who can't communicate and it's just killing the relationship. But it's only when she's about to leave can he actually say how much she means to him.

Todd: But not with his words, no. No, only when he plays that beautiful melody.

Todd badly plays "Chopsticks" on his piano

Todd: Yeah, I might not be talented enough to pull off this move.

Todd (VO): But when he does it, it just breaks her heart and it moves her so much that she just can't leave him.

Brenda: I cry, just a little

When I think of letting go

Todd (VO): So, that's the story, right? It's, it's basically about gaslighting someone through song. I mean, we've all been in that kind of relationship, right? Where it should end. You both know it should end.

Todd: But either you or the other person starts begging...

Clip of a live performance of "Piano in the Dark"

Joe Esposito: Just a little more time

Brenda and Joe Esposito: Back to love you

Todd (VO): Then and only then does all that stuff that you weren't saying or doing to preserve the relationship finally come out. All the promises, all the romantic stuff. "I want you", "I need you", "I'll do anything."

Todd: On one level, it sucks, but it also works.

Todd (VO): And Brenda is here to show why. Like, she hears that song and suddenly the thought of leaving just becomes unbearable. She can't do it. And if this is the song the dude is playing...

Todd: ...[sighs] who could resist staying just a little longer to hear it?

Todd (VO): Like, I, I couldn't even really tell that this was a song about angst or mixed emotions. Like, I don't know if I ever actually clocked that this song is about being, you know, caught in the middle and crying just a little and... giving up on the riddle and all that.

Todd: I did not get that he was killing her softly with his song. I thought it was just all catharsis. Everything's better now because the song is just that good.

Clip of another live performance of "Piano in the Dark"

Joe Esposito: Just a little more time

Brenda and Joe Esposito: Back to love you

Todd (VO): This is a hard task to give yourself when you're writing a song about a song. The song you're performing has to be as good as the song you're describing in the lyrics. And and she pulls it off. So he pulls it off.

Brenda: When he plays piano in the dark

Todd: Sucks that this move only works in the dark, though!

Brenda: In the dark

Todd (VO): That seems kind of harsh, honestly.

Todd: It's a real "you look better with the lights off" kind of backhanded compliment there.

Brenda: Just as I walk...

Joe Esposito: Just a little more time

Brenda: ...through the door

Todd (VO): By the way, you might notice you can actually hear the guy that's pulling her back...

Todd: ... begging for [imitates the vocals] just a little more time.

Joe Esposito: Oh, baby

Brenda: Oh, baby

Todd (VO): Uh that man is actually [single cover for "Down in Your Soul" by...] Joe "Bean" Esposito.

Todd: Uh, I don't know if it ruins it for you that the guy she can't resist is named [image of Mr. Bean] Bean, but Joe is a really interesting guy.

Clips of Donna Summer featuring Brooklyn Dreams - "Heaven Knows"...

Joe Esposito: Love is all I need

Todd (VO): Like Brenda, he's another major talent who hovered in the background of the record industry without ever [..and Joe "Bean" Esposito - "Lady, Lady, Lady"] quite getting his big break. Did a lot of, like, soundtrack and backup singer work.

Todd: Also, you might recognize him from this little number.

Joe Esposito - "You're the Best" plays over a scene from The Karate Kid

Joe Esposito: You're the best around

Nothing's gonna ever keep you down

Todd (VO): [imitating the vocals] Gonna ever keep you down. [back to normal] God, what a positive contribution to the world this man has made. I'm, I'm glad to have the opportunity to give him his due.

Todd: And I also want to shout out the actual guy playing piano in the dark.

Clip of the piano solo from "Piano in the Dark"

Todd (VO): That heartbreakingly delicate solo is from [clip of Yellowjackets - "Wildlife"] jazz keyboardist Russell Ferrante from the band Yellowjackets, which had a really good first season but fell off in season 2. Now, I don't know if that's him in the video. I mean, that's almost certainly [clip from...] not him in the first video. It's like a member of Whitesnake if he [clip from the Patterson–Gimlin film appears on screen] was being shot like Bigfoot. [clip of...] And also, for what it's worth, I found a later version she did live where her backup singers were James Ingram and Michael McDonald.

James and Michael: Just a little more time

Todd (VO): Imagine getting the [clip of...] "Yah Mo B There" duo to sing backup for you. That's incredible. That's how you know you've made it.

Todd: And for the record, this wasn't just a hit song. It was an acclaimed song.

Montage of relevant clips from the 1989 Grammy awards

Todd (VO): At the start of 1989, Brenda Russell went to the Grammys because she got a couple nominations, including Song of the Year.

Olivia Newton-John: "Piano in the Dark".

Todd (VO): Yeah, one of the big ones. That's incredible, right? Unfortunately, she did not win because, you know, that was Tracy Chapman's year. She was up against "Fast Car".

Todd: No one's beating that.

Henry Mancini: And the song of the year is... come back, Bobby. "Don't Worry, Be Happy", Bobby McFerrin!

Todd (VO): [laughs] I was lying. We don't live in a world that makes sense.

Bobby McFerrin holds up his Grammy award

Todd (VO): Oh, I can't believe that happened. When the industry respects "Don't Worry, Be Happy" more than you...

Todd: ...I feel like that's not a good sign for the rest of your career.

THE FAILED FOLLOW-UP

Clip of Brenda Russell - "Gravity"

Todd (VO): Okay, like I said, "Piano in the Dark" was a last minute change as the lead single.

Todd: Before Herb made that call, the planned single was called "Gravity". Here it is.

Brenda: Everything hangin' just right

Baby, It's gravity

Todd (VO): Alright, funky. And, uh, Joe Esposito makes a return appearance on this by the way, along with his vocal group, The Jam Squad. Who knew Brenda Russell's music had some jam in it?

Brenda: If it's love that brought us together

Todd (VO): And, um, superficially, I guess you could tell why this was meant to be a single. It sounds like 1988. You could play this next to New Edition and Paula Abdul. Sure.

Todd: Whether that's a good thing or not depends on your opinion of 1988.

Todd (VO): But regardless, this was a complete dud on the charts. Did not touch the Hot 100. [screenshot of a Billboard R&B chart from 1988, with "Gravity" highlighted at #49] Didn't even do really well on the R&B charts. [Todd scrolls through several other songs listed on the same chart] Like, I've never heard of any of these songs. [Todd highlights the chart placement for "That Girl Wants to Dance with Me" by...] Like, Gregory Hines had an R&B career? [image of Gregory appears on screen] The tap dancer? Yeah. Well...

Todd: ...all of these songs outdid "Gravity".

Brenda: What else do you want love to do

Todd (VO): I mean, I guess it is kind of a left turn from "Piano in the Dark". [sighs] I don't know. It might have been too funky for the white audiences. Or not funky enough for the black audiences. I don't know.

Todd: I will say it didn't really do much for me either.

Brenda: Oh, you got mass appeal

Todd (VO): "You got mass appeal" is a weird thing to say in a love song. Oh baby, you hit all four quadrants.

Todd: Like that, that's not what you want for a love song. I don't want mass appeal, I want you appeal.

Brenda: It's gravity, yeah

Todd (VO): Also, it just doesn't really capture who Brenda is as an artist. I don't think this served her very well. Which is why no one really thinks of it as a highlight, I don't think.

Todd: Certainly not compared to her next single, which, ooh boy, this is the one people remember.

Clip of Brenda Russell - "Get Here"

Brenda: You can reach me by railway

You can reach me by trailway

You can reach me on an airplane

You can reach me with your mind

Todd (VO): Aw yeah, you know this one. [clip of someone performing "Get Here" in...] Or at least you do if you've been in a piano bar at any point in the last 30 years.

Brenda: I don't care how you get here

Just get here if you can

Todd (VO): This is of course [single cover appears on screen for...] "Get Here". I'm hoping most of you recognize it. If you don't, go familiarize yourself with it.

Todd: Like, who doesn't love "Get Here"?

Brenda: You can jump on a speedy colt

Cross the border in a blaze of hope

Todd: [soulfully, in time with Brenda's vocals] I don't care how you get here. Just get here if you can. [back to normal] Oh man, how have I never done that when I karaoke? I'm going to add that to my repertoire.

Brenda: You can reach me by caravan

Cross the desert like an Arab man

Todd (VO): What a great song. The trick to singing it is that you have to belt out [the lyrics for the previous passage appear on screen] "Arab man" with your full chest like it's not weird.

Brenda: Cross the desert like an Arab man

Todd (VO): You know, I never noticed how odd these lyrics are. [the lyrics Todd describes appear on screen alongside relevant imagery] Like, you can wind surf into my heart. You can sled to me. You can swing on vines like George of the Jungle.

Todd: [to the melody of "Get Here"] You can ride your [image of someone riding a...] snowboard to me. Do a kickflip into my heart.

Brenda: But if I had my way

Surely you would be closer

Todd (VO): Now, I hear you saying, "Wait, this wasn't a hit? How could this not have been a hit? [clip of a performance of "Get Here" on...] They do "Get Here" on The Voice like every season." Or if you're old enough, you're like...

Todd: ..."Hold on, no...

Todd (VO): ...I heard this song all the time back in the day. This was absolutely a giant monster hit."

Todd: No. No, you are wrong. This was not a hit. This was a hit.

Clip of Oleta Adams - "Get Here"

Oleta: I don't care how you get here

Just get here

Todd (VO): The version you know is probably [single cover for...] this cover version by Oleta Adams back in 1991, just a couple years later.

Todd: I should do a One Hit Wonderland on her, honestly.

Todd (VO): And her version is not very different at all, but it is still kind of the better version. Because, you know, it's got a real piano. Not gloop. Plus, it just suits Oleta's voice better.

Oleta: I need you right here, right now

Todd (VO): Like, I think I read Brenda Russell say that [live footage of Brenda's version of the song] she wasn't ever really comfortable being a lead artist. So maybe that's what happened with the song, because clearly the song had the juice. But it just didn't work for her, and she had a couple other singles off that album that didn't really go anywhere either. So by 1989, it was starting to look like [poster appears on screen listing Brenda as a special guest at a concert by...] opening for Billy Ocean was gonna be her career peak.

Todd: Where would she go from here? And would she get there by railway, trailway, wind surf and so on?

DID SHE EVER DO ANYTHING ELSE?

Todd: Yes. That is a yes.

Clip of Brenda Russell - "Kiss Me With the Wind"

Todd (VO): Not so much with her pop career, which didn't really go anywhere.

Brenda: Kiss me with the wind

Todd (VO): Uh, this is "Kiss Me With the Wind", the lead single off her next album. The whole yacht rock doc suggested she fit in more with the white boy R&B, which I guess is why this sounds like a Rick Astley song.

Clip of Rick Astley - "Together Forever"

Rick: Together forever and never to part

Clip of Brenda Russell - "Stop Running Away"

Todd (VO): I kind of think she never quite found her niche between soft rock and R&B. She might've done better if she'd leaned more towards gloop, which had a bit more shelf life in R&B, even after the death of soft rock. But, you know, she was never really one to chase chart success anyway. [clip of Brenda Russell - "No Time for Time"] After two more flops with the adult contemporary genre, she more or less gave up on seeing a hit single ever again. [clip of Brenda Russell - "Walkin' in New York"] Her only two other albums after 1993 are jazz and world music bass, so that's pretty all right. But, you probably wouldn't have heard any of these songs after the big hit. [clip of Howard Hewett and Brenda Russell - "Christmas Will Return"] Except, I guess, the song that plays over the end credits in Tim Allen's The Santa Clause. Hah, remember that? He killed Santa. Happy holidays, everyone!

Todd: However, I would be remiss if I did not share her biggest project after 1988. [image of the street of...] Now, if you know anything about Broadway, [posters for Kinky Boots (written by Cyndi Lauper)...] you'll notice that a lot of the Broadway musicals are [...and Waitress (written by Sara Bareilles)] written by former pop singers these days. Well, Brenda is one of them.

Clip of a later interview with Brenda

Todd (VO): In the mid-2000s, she was hired on to write the music for a new musical adaptation of [poster for...] The Color Purple.

Montage of clips from various productions of The Color Purple

Todd (VO): Yeah, I'm not kidding. She wrote all the songs for The Color Purple. Yeah, uh, even if you don't know a single thing about Broadway, and really, why should you? Even then, you should already know that The Color Purple was, like, a gigantic smash hit. It was a big hit in the mid-2000s, and it was an even bigger hit when it was revived in the mid-2010s. It was the launching pad to stardom for a lot of famous actors, [clip of a performance of the musical featuring...] including being the launching pad for Cynthia Erivo.

Clip of Cynthia performing "I'm Here" at the 2016 Tony Awards

Todd (VO): Yes, [clip of an interview with...] we might not have Cynthia Erivo to introduce [image of Cynthia dressed in...] weird outfits into our life [image of the sheet music for...] if not for "Piano in the Dark". [Clip of a later interview with Brenda] Isn't that crazy?

Todd: I bet you didn't know that.

Clip of an interview with Cynthia

Cynthia: I didn't know that that was happening.

Interviewer: I've seen it, yeah.

Cynthia: That's really powerful.

Clip of Brenda on stage at the 2017 Grammy Awards

Todd (VO): And yes, this did finally get Brenda her Grammy. So, you know what? Eat that, "Don't Worry, Be Happy"!

DID SHE DESERVE BETTER?

Todd: [angrily] Did she deserve better? Like, oh, were you not paying attention? Did you not see the Grammy? She did great!

Clip of Brenda Russell - "Piano in the Dark"

Brenda: I know I'm caught up...

Todd (VO): This is my favorite kind of episode to do. I love the song and the story is actually really cool to find out about. I've had to do a couple really boring and depressing ones this year, so I'm really happy with this one. This one is cool all the way around. And "Piano in the Dark" is so good that I am completely unsurprised to find out she has a long list of other accomplishments. But let's be real, there was no chance I was going to say anything negative about this woman anyway. Like, she wrote my theme song. Now, if only I were talented enough to actually play it.

Todd tries (and fails) to play "Piano in the Dark" on his piano

Todd: Mhm. Stupid ham hands! Why didn't anyone ever teach me to play soft and delicate like that?

Video for "Piano in the Dark" ends

Todd: Oh god. You see a real talent like Brenda and it, it just reminds me how lazy and untalented I am. But I do at least know other talented people, including one [Nebula page fades in for...] Patrick Williams. And apparently he knows talented people too because he just made a film. An honest to God film...

Montage of clips from The Dinner Plan

Todd (VO): ...starring Griffin Newman and John Hodgman and Zach Cherry about trying not to have a humiliating allergic reaction to the food at his boss's dinner party. It's called [logo for...] The Dinner Plan, and if you want to see that, you can check out the trailer below before it premieres on November 26th [promo for...] exclusively on Nebula, the creator built platform that's home to smart, weird, one-of-a-kind shows you won't find anywhere else. You'll also find exclusives from Maggie May Fish and F.D Signifier and other people more talented than I am.

Todd: But you'd also be helping me out, which, you know, I'd appreciate. Especially if you use my link. Because if you do that, check this out...

Infographics fade in about...

Todd (VO): See, they also give out lifetime subscriptions that last for literally as long as both you and Nebula exist. Usually it's $500, but, if you use my code, you get it for only $300, so that's literally a 40% discount. Or if you just wanna do the yearly subscription, you can get 40% off of that too, using my code. So that'd only be $36 a year or $3 a month. And hey, it's the holidays. Maybe you know someone who'd enjoy Nebula too, for all the reasons I just said. So, you can get them a gift card. Give everyone you know Nebula gift cards. Why not? There's no ads, no algorithm, just high quality stuff made by great non-slop artists and video makers. So if you wanna watch The Dinner Plan and a ton of other amazing Nebula originals, use my link to get 40% off. Again, that's just $36 a year or $3 a month. Click the link, scan the QR code...

Todd (VO): ...and start watching now. Thank you and good night.

Closing Tag Song: John Tesh - "Piano in the Dark"

"Piano in the Dark" is owned by A&M Records

This video is owned by me

THANK YOU TO THE LOYAL PATRONS!!