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Post by evansabove on Oct 15, 2011 13:38:42 GMT 1
Ah that explains it thanks
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Oct 16, 2011 11:20:57 GMT 1
4TH SEPTEMBER- IT KEEPS RAININ' (TEARS FROM MY EYES)- Bitty McLean (2 weeks)
In a year of Shaggy, Shabba Ranks, UB40, Apache Indian, and Chaka Demus & Pliers, i've already made my point about it being a great year for the reggae chart wise, and here's further proof. Birmingham born Mclean launched his UK career with this cover of a 1961 Fats Domino track, and whilst it isn't awful (like in the way "Tease Me" is- the WORST record of the decade) it was never a record I liked let alone loved. It has enough pop music injected into it notto make it "pure" reggae and I suppose that salvages it from my wrath but it's just a dull record that fails to grip you from the off and lies under the umbrella of benality just enough to escape any real strong opinion being held on it.
Mclean also produced a string of similar reggae lite tracks until 1995 when the game was finally up for him, and rightly so. 1993 is really a year looking for character, holding its breath waiting for the next great pop movement, and would you believe it that movement was just getting going and it would demonstrate that music with passion was about to make this kind of thing rather redundant, for a while at least...
Nephew Mclean also had a top 10 hit in 2009 with "My Name"
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Oct 16, 2011 11:21:45 GMT 1
18TH SEPTEMBER- GO WEST- Pet Shop Boys (2 weeks)"Go West" is an important single in the career of PSB's. Not only was it the last time they came anwhere near the top spot, but it marks the point at which the band emerge from "smash hits" territory and into "attitude" where Tennant came out in a 1994 interview. In short the message becomes unambiguous, and well, if you're going come out of the closest why not burst out? Covering a 1979 Village People single should do it, and with a video stuffed with very muscular men few were surprised by that "revelation" the following year, but again the price paid was sales. As a song it's based around the famous Horace Greeley quote from 1865 "Washington is not a place to live in. The rents are high, the food is bad, the dust is disgusting and the morals are deplorable. Go West, young man, go West and grow up with the country.", and was a call to arms for civil war veterans to claim land and start their own communities and businesses. However the Village people hit of 1979 re-interpreted this to be a clarrion call for the homosexuality community to come to San Francisco as some haven of tolerance, and it's this meaning that the PSB's are toying with here, but as with the 1979 message, it isn't that clear, whilst the Village people introduced a new subtext to the existing meaning of the phrase and did play on the Greeley message so the Pet Shop Boys played on the Village people whilst introducing a new subtext of soviet relations. Originally performed at a AIDS benefit at the Hacienda nightclub in Manchester by the boys at the behest of Derek Jarman, the organiser, "Go West" marks the beginning of "Gay" Pet Shop Boys if we compare videos- the videos that stem from this period (just look at "Paninero 95" or Se A Vida E" for examples) are clearly the male gaze observing men. Even their 80s homo- erotic videos such as "Domino Dancing" or "Rent" attempt to blur the message by portraying the female gaze. It is therefore a coming out record for the group. Of course putting the song to a Hi-NRG beat perfectly suits the purpose and the song, it has a kind of honesty that is hard not to love, withthemes of inspiration, aspiration, and solidarity it is a song with heart and soul, incidentally the album that it comes from "Very" is in my opinion their finest post 80s album. It's a track which has a lot to offer under its glossy exterior, all the best dance music does, but primarily it's fun....
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Post by evansabove on Oct 16, 2011 11:50:07 GMT 1
Great track from Bitty McLean. It's a real shame that reggae seems to have disappeared from mainstream success for a number of years now
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Post by Earl Purple on Oct 16, 2011 13:01:22 GMT 1
I would say the most memorable reggae song of 1993 was "Sweat" by Inner Circle. That was a re-issue having failed to do well in the chart when first released then re-released on the reggae wave and peaked at #3. But it was in the chart for absolutely ages.
I am actually quite a big fan of some kinds of reggae and I did really like "Sweat". "Mysterious Girl" by Peter Andre sounded a bit like a "copy" of that song. And I actually liked "Tease Me" too - certainly the song they are known for (an instance of Trogg syndrome then) rather than a lame cover of Twist And Shout (did that really get to number one?). Of course my favourite reggae style is ska - sort of reggae meets rock - rather than "ragga".
It is a common thing in music to perform a cover in a different style, and putting a "disco style" to a song often takes out all the emotion. Putting in a reggae style often works, and even "Red Red Wine" was not originally a reggae song when Neil Diamond wrote it. Actually UB40 said when they recorded it they had never heard the original and only knew Tony Tribe's version. They only knew who had written it when they had to put Neil Diamond's name on the credits.
"Go West" is another of those cover version with a slight change of style, because it went from old-style disco to more new-style dance so it was always intended as a dance track. The song has now become more associated with a North London club winning a football match by a 1-0 scoreline.
I wish more black musicians were going down the reggae path rather than rap and R&B. I know any musician could do so, but one tends to associate reggae with black musicians and very few of them are recording old-fashioned reggae now. Maybe they are just not getting the exposure.
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Post by andrew07 on Oct 16, 2011 13:38:19 GMT 1
You don't seem to get any reggae songs in the top 40 anymore, the last reggae-sounding one I can think of was "Welcome To Jamrock" by Damian "Junior Gong" Marley, but then I stopped listening to the top 40 altogether 2 years ago.
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Post by Earl Purple on Oct 16, 2011 13:43:14 GMT 1
This is slightly reggae-style. This band is not a reggae band as such though and their latest song is far more hardcore rock.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Oct 16, 2011 14:02:30 GMT 1
why are you polluting my thread with reggae? I quite like the most recent Olly Murs song- does that count as coming around to it?
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Post by evansabove on Oct 16, 2011 14:08:23 GMT 1
why are you polluting my thread with reggae? I quite like the most recent Olly Murs song- does that count as coming around to it? No that is not proper reggae at all
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Post by Earl Purple on Oct 16, 2011 14:18:41 GMT 1
A lot of people at the time felt UB40 were not "proper" reggae either, they were commercial reggae.
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Post by evansabove on Oct 16, 2011 14:24:48 GMT 1
A lot of people at the time felt UB40 were not "proper" reggae either, they were commercial reggae. I would agree they were not proper reggae either although a lot closer. All that Olly Murs song was pop with a reggae beat bolted on
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borneoman
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Post by borneoman on Oct 16, 2011 15:01:02 GMT 1
what about Rihanna's Man Down? That sound more reggae-ish to me than Olly
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Oct 16, 2011 15:03:26 GMT 1
why are you polluting my thread with reggae? I quite like the most recent Olly Murs song- does that count as coming around to it? OK people's I put a smilie after what I said to denote I was joking! I know it's not "real" reggae I know....
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Oct 16, 2011 16:30:49 GMT 1
A lot of people at the time felt UB40 were not "proper" reggae either, they were commercial reggae. They were brilliant till they became a tribute band.
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Post by Earl Purple on Oct 16, 2011 17:06:23 GMT 1
For me, this was UB40's best moment:
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Post by evansabove on Oct 16, 2011 21:34:34 GMT 1
It was the endless cover versions that did UB40 in
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Oct 17, 2011 17:05:40 GMT 1
2ND OCTOBER- MOVING ON UP- M People (1 week)1993's No 2 hits are only heading one way from here on in sadly, and isn't upwards! This starts us off brightly enough though, a sassy piece of daytime pop which I grant you has been overplayed over the years and comes to represent the blander end of dance music in the decade. M People sadly outstayed their welcome in my view, but certainly between 1993 and 1995 they producing a string of catchy pop hits that rank with the best that the 90s had to offer, it's just that from 96-99 they produced quite bland music that was immediately forgettable, but come let's listen to this for the first time again. Small's vocals, which murder and trample over the latter tracks in their discography, are rather sublime on this track, a naturally follow up to "One Night In Heaven" in which big vocals are needed to match the production, this is more quiet determination. The tale of the wronged woman who has had enough of her wayward partner is not something to shout about, but just a situation that needs to be got out of, and quickly, the piano at the start of the song is neat and clean in sound reflecting the situation, there is logic in the narrative, the protagonist will not be argued with on this one. The physical appearance of Small is also of benefit, she is physically dominant in the video clad in black with that ridiculously high hair, it's the perfect theme for her. A string of 7 top 10 singles would follow this but the glory of 1993 would ever elude them right through to their demise.....
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Oct 17, 2011 17:07:19 GMT 1
30TH OCTOBER- U GOT 2 LET THE MUSIC- Capella (1 week)Sometimes music isn't just about the age you are, or what you're friends are into and exposing you to, it's about location. Growing up in a small market town at the age of 17, doing my A-Levels my world consisted of house parties and the town pubs and I was happy enough with that, we didn't get Sky until 1995 and I never set foot in a club until 1994 partly because there were no clubs in my town and to get to the nearest city was just a mission. All of this is by way of explaining of how I got "Dance", which was melodic and radio friendly, but not "Club" music of which Capella circa 93 was most certainly so. Again it's partly to do with the fact that lyrics are fairly minimal so there isn't much to get our teeth into and I hated this song at the time. Now listening to this for the first time since it left the charts probably, it isn't that bad, probably because I'm post clubing these days, but I understand it now, I get the context, I suppose it didn't help that most of my friends were by 1993 getting very into indie music, which as it turned out was where it was all going to be happening very shortly. In hindsight therefore I'm not going ot be so harsh on Capella as I would have been back in 93, the next song however I make no such promises on......
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Post by evansabove on Oct 17, 2011 17:10:56 GMT 1
I could never stand Heather Small's ridiculous voice which seemed to ruin every song they did. Watching her sing is even worse. Horrid band
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borneoman
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Post by borneoman on Oct 17, 2011 17:50:31 GMT 1
Didn't like M People much... didn't hate them either... until they (undeservedly) won the Mercury Prize!!!!!!!!!! Kinda surprised she didn't succeed solo... and I kinda liked the Capella song... Capella > 2 Unlimited for me
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