Song of the Week: Umbrella

"Umbrella" (no, not that "Umbrella"!)
Bottlefly
from the album "Bottlefly" (Universal, 2000)

I've gotta hand it to myself, in that I have actually been able to avoid what's been probably the most unavoidable song of the year; I wouldn't know Rihanna's "Umbrella" from anything if I heard it on the radio ... in fact, I actually had to call up the iTunes store and play a sample of it to see what it sounded like (and I think I can safely say that I'm not eager to hear McFly's version of it, as much as I love them). It's no surprise, then, that whenever I hear mention of a song with that title, it's not her R&B single that comes to mind, but rather this infectious pop-rock ditty from British group Bottlefly, which featured Richie Wermerling, previously of the band Let Loose.

Bottlefly only put out one album, but it was a good one. I tracked it down after I heard one of its tracks, "Long Time Coming", on a budget compilation years ago. This here song reminds me a bit of McFly's "Little Joanna" in that it has somewhat silly lyrics which are easy to forgive thanks to the fine melody. Another song from the album, "Got 2 B Luv", made appearances on more than one soundtrack, but it apparently did little to boost the album's sales, and the group never released a second disc. It's a real shame, considering what an appealing mix of upbeat tracks and mellow ballads their debut was. So, give me this "Umbrella" over Rihanna's any day ... and I'd like to hear McFly's take on this one...!