May 13, 2020
Watch: Looking Back at Liza Minnelli's Forgotten 80s Banger 'Losing My Mind'
Jason St. Amand READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Liza Minnelli may be best known for her traditional pop music, her song "New York, New York," and her decorated acting career. But its a song from her forgotten 1989 album "Results" that seems to fit our current time.
Produced by the queer electronic act the Pet Shop Boys, "Results" only peaked at 128 on the Billboard 200 albums chart at the time. It marked a career turn of sorts for Minnelli, who decided to do a full-on pop album. But she couldn't shake her Broadway roots, making her lead single "Losing My Mind," a cover of the 1971 musical "Follies" that was written by Stephen Sondheim.
This version, however, is produced by the Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe as well as Julian Mendelsohn. It's an electro club smash that did well in the U.K., peaking at no. 6, but didn't chart in the U.S. It's accompanying music video is full of 80s pastiche and camp value that finds Minnelli driving erratically, putting her face in cold water and, of course, dancing. It's the kind of 80s schmaltz that many now appreciate.
"I dim the lights and think about you / Spend sleepless nights to think about you / You said you loved me, or were you just being kind? / Or am I losing my mind?," she dramatically sings the chorus over heavy synths and beats. The song is for the character Sally Durant Plummer in "Follies," who is a former showgirl.
Though a torch song, "Losing My Mind" oddly fits this quarantine moment when so many of us are stuck inside and want to break free.
Revisit the music video below.