vya
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Post by vya on Apr 21, 2021 20:45:43 GMT 1
Nikolaustag Goodier
Twenty 4 Seven ft Captain Hollywood - Are You Dreaming? Both better (it almost has a tune) and more unintentionally hilarious, lyrically, than their earlier hit, but surely there won't be a third. Love for the animals, prayer for all of us. Tolerable. But yeah add it to the list of reasons for Brexit.
Madonna - Justify My Love A big step forward. Although the BBC video is a step back. New adult Madonna is a more interesting Madonna.
Charts: James, "Lose Control", now there's a thing.
The Farm - All Together Now Get Pachelbel to write a tune for you if you have no sense of melody whatsoever, why not? Football and war and Christmas. This bunch of chancers not richly blessed by talent, to say the least, surely won't do better.
MC Hammer - Pray God help us. Less annoying than his other hits at least.
Cliff Richard - Saviour's Day Not peak Cliff. But more melodious than Mistletoe and Wine at least. Variety show stuff at best.
November top 5 albums: Madonna - Vogue Paul Simon - The Obvious Child Beautiful South - A Little Time Phil Collins - Do You Remember? Elton John - Sacrifice
Snap! - Mary Had A Little Boy End it now, please. Rubbish. After ripping off a 70s hit, now a nursery rhyme gets the Snap treatment. Surely nowhere else for them to go. Hopefully not.
New Kids On The Block - This One's For The Children Oh no no no no no no no no no. The video is a case of America making nice with Russia and (I think) Vietnam. By sending them NKOTB? Making nice? Awful.
Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby With live (c)rap in the studio. Oh no. More energy than on the record, for better or worse. Not good, as the rap is the most unappealing part of the record. Silver Bullet would have done a better job and with less wack, genuinely menacing lyrics, and without this silly orchestrated dance.
Betty Boo - 24 Hours More straightforwardly pop less rap than her earlier tracks, maybe more charming, and by default the highlight of a dire show.
A bad episode. Yazoo's "Situation 90" had it been on would have raised the overall quality some way. But so much rubbish...
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Post by vya on Apr 17, 2021 21:37:26 GMT 1
29 Nov Campbell, overexcited by a new PM
Dream Warriors - My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style Brandishing sticks like relations of morris dancers and rapping live, quite possibly the most exciting thing ever to have come out of Canada. Substantially better than their debut. A good start. Only thing missing is active and enthuisastic audience participation.
Soul II Soul ft Kym Mazelle - Missing You Far from unpleasant, and indeed rather attractive both in terms of melody and beat, while the vocal contribution of Mazelle is always a plus, but continuing the sense that they actually might only have one volume of Club Classics in them. The problem is mostly one of trying to innovate and extend a style that they themselves brought to a mass audience, and indeed, played a big part in creating.
Megabass - Time To Make The Floor Burn The emphasis in the excerpt is first on the understated Cooltempo European House, Bizz Nizz et al, then Inner City (whose latest, truly deep house album "Fire" has been criminally ignored). Then alas Technotronic turn up. James Hamilton would either approve or be bored by the BPM matching going on here.
Honor Blackman & Patrick Macnee - Kinky Boots Vastly better than Donald Where's Your Troosers. Good fun.
Dimples D - Sucker DJ Makes sense that this had been recorded as long ago as 1982. Old school rap. Innocent fun, Sugarhill-adjacent world, flash forward it kind of makes sense in this context as a pre-Christmas semi-gimmick.
Chris Isaak - Wicked Game Pure sublime beauty and genius. Rather more than 50s revivalism going on here. Thank you David Lynch.
Pet Shop Boys - Being Boring More high quality songwriting and creation, atmopherically and lyrically. Probably too subtle to be a big hit, but a career high point. The cut demanded by the beeb (the final verse, bringing the story up-to-date and which gives the song its entire purpose being excised entirely) is not just brutal but brutish.
Bombalurina ft Timmy Mallett - Seven Little Girls Sitting On The Back Seat From the sublime to the ridiculous. The musical approach (kind of SAW/Sam Fox c. 1987) is at least better than their previous offense. And still the "oh yeah" sample lives on. Also, the video is too ironic and knowing to work.
Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby A very odd record. And a very odd no 1. The production/samples are sewn together professionally (during the verses more than the chorus), the rapping is err not so good. Could have been something special.
Deee-Lite - The Power Of Love I think I prefer this to "Groove...", it too has charming eccentricities, and some 70s touches mixed with a contemporary house approach, but it is kind of minor overall, and I don't think this act will have a shelf life to note or recall...
In places, a really good edition. A curate's Easter egg.
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vya
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Post by vya on Apr 4, 2021 10:10:45 GMT 1
Maggie's Last Party Turner
EMF - Unbelievable Adolescent male energy. Much better than anything the Farm or Soup Dragons will ever do. America has New Kids, we have EMF. Even though they too are not up to much, we win.
Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby It's all about the samples and backing, which are rather brilliantly minimalistic and skilfully assembled. Less said about the rap or the lyrics the better.
Proclaimers - King Of The Road Feels like a cultural reclamation given the immense Scottish (and Ulster) influence on US Country and offshoots. Suits the group really well. Almost makes me wonder if they're pushing for the Christmas number one. And Anthea Turner says the same. So.
Rod Stewart & Tina Turner - It Takes Two Superfluous.
Julee Cruise - Falling Haunting. Damn fine
Jimmy Somerville - To Love Somebody A bad idea's a bad idea
808 State - Cübik In. Your. Face. Fantastic genre-switching going on here, as, in another way, in Tunes Splits the Atom too.
Righteous Bros - Unchained Melody Still the same
Bruno, Liz & the Radio One DJ Possee - Let's Dance Sub-Pat and Mick charity number. Indeed sub-LadBaby. Hope there's no one Yewtreed in the vid.
Apart from the ending not bad overall
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Post by vya on Apr 4, 2021 9:27:57 GMT 1
15 No no no nov Brookes
Black Box - Fantasy Still better than anything Technotronic have done
Inspirál Carpets - Biggest Mountain Subtle and melancholic and rather beautiful. More of this, please.
Charts: Caron Wheeler and Julee Cruise with things of note
Robert Palmer & UB40 - I'll Be Your Baby Tonight No, you won't. And do mockingbirds really SAIL away?
Caron Wheeler - UK Blak Really wasn't expecting this on here (given it got no higher than 40). More understated and rawer than her solo debut, and in a similar stylish groove as Mica Paris of late. A subtle and beautiful celebration.
Breakers The Mission - Hands Across The Ocean: whoever tone-policed and popped/danced down their sound wasn't doing them a favour Jon Bon Jovi - Miracle: more of his usual overblown rock theatrics Julee Cruise - Falling: sublime
Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers - Let's Swing Again Amazed that people are still buying their singles..long after the inspiration or novelty ran out
Megabass - Time To Make The Floor Burn A.k.a. Jive Bunny going contemporary, in case everyone was bored of Mirage. Inclusion of Inner City and 49ers good, of Technotronic (two tracks) bad. Why??? Even by the standards of this genre not much cop
Kim Appleby - Don't Worry Big hearted but a bit bland musically. A bit, really, Brother Beyond album track. Worse, respectable, even.
Righteous Bros - Unchained Melody Not sure why 1990 Britain was so steeped in nostalgia, but not complaining
Prince - New Power Generation Relatively straightforward and appealingly accessible purple funky pop, even if the unrevolutionary music mismatches the lyrics.
Good edition, at times
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Post by vya on Mar 27, 2021 0:01:42 GMT 1
8th Nov Davies, dressed a bit like a musical version of a sailor
Jason Donovan - I'm Doing Fine (Takes back comment on how "Step Back In Time" makes up for all of SAW's other recent cheap dross). Atrocious. And dressing up as a parody of Martin Fry when ABC were on top of the world. Retire now.
Paul Simon - The Obvious Child Somewhat glorious. I bet today's humourless and moronic neo-segregationist puritans would convict him of the "crime" of "cultural appropriation" (i.e. what used to be known as culture). The elements here blend and mix rather wonderfully.
Charts: an absolute killer AA side by Nightmares on Wax there. WARP so where it's at.
EMF - Unbelievable The last industrial (mining) bit of Glos to remain such, the Forest is a very particular place. Other bits of Glos (the Stroud Valleys, say) are kind of like bits of the North marooned down towards the South-West, but the Dean is probably more like the Lancashire towns whose style they are looking to here. Against my will I have to admit this track is pretty infectious and rather more brilliant and sharp than a lot of the lad/scally guitar-based stuff doing the rounds. They'll never better this...
Del Amitri - Spit In The Rain Good use of accordion. As usual with the Dels, a bit formulaic and grey and miserable, but less unappealling than its title. A bit more eclectically folky than the norm too. Way better than I remembered it being.
Top 5 Albums of October Charlatans - Then George Michael - Waiting For That Day Status Quo - Anniversary Waltz Part 1 Carreras/Domingo/Pavarotti - O Sole Mio Paul Simon - Born At The Right Time
The La's - There She Goes A much better "Beatles Tribute" than Jason Donovan's (obviously). And much more "authentically" 60s in sound that a lot of the revivalist tracks around. Well worth the re-re-release.
Great 808 State two-sided single there in the charts too
Gazza & Lindisfarne - Fog On The Tyne (Re-visited) This is New Order's fault. They seem to be enjoying themselves.
Jimmy Somerville - To Love Somebody Reggae or lovers rock beats applied where they don't really fit seems to be a theme of this season. Only mildly annoying.
Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody The rawness and lack of excess production and use of real orchestration are what set this apart a bit from the 1990 sound. And they CAN sing. Well worth the re-release.
808 State - Cubik (not "Cubik Olympik", Gary) Innovative and occasionally headbanging. The dance-indie crossover from the opposite side to usual, really. As cutting edge as WARP but a bit more polished. Well worth the re-release.
If they'd put on "Aftermath" this would have been noteworthy. As it was a mix of decent, tolerable and intolerable
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Post by vya on Mar 26, 2021 21:37:36 GMT 1
One Eleven Mayo in a patchwork quilt
Kim Appleby - Don't Worry Musically a more sophisticated relative of SAW, not unpleasant, not an unwelcome return after tragedy, but time has moved on, and the sound hasn't.
UB40 & Robert Palmer - I'll Be Your Baby Tonight Not Palmer's most misguided nod reggae-wards (see "Change His Ways"), and not UB40's weakest noodling. Less actively repulsive than I was expecting, with a certain mellow warmth, and they sound like they're enjoying themelves, so.
(charts: Northside! Parody Madchester....)
Black Box - Fantasy Take a piece by a near classic act, keep the tune, take the life out of it, make it mechanical and as close to soulless as you can get away with (and with an act who brought Salsoul to a new generation....), and put on some vocals that are frankly unsympathetic to the number....At least they resisted the temptation to throw in a "wooh yeah!" sample. Not quite terrible, but.
Whitney Houston - I'm Your Baby Tonight Tolerable background music, fast wallpaper from a talented singer who can do more
Roxette - Dressed For Success Sounds as sharp as it looks. The beat is a bit stilted/over-regulated though at times. Probably the best so far tonight, but.
Rita Macneil - Working Man Spine-tingingly classy, even.
Cure - Close To Me (remix) A new coat of paint has sharpened this up a bit without removing its essential sweetness and habitual Cure weirdness
Kylie Minogue - Step Back In Time MAGNIFICIENT. SAW in full effect. Kylie as a dancer now too. Rather more than just a 70s pastiche (and of course she does not remember the O'Jays). A career peak. More than makes up for all the rubbish SAW have inflicted elsewhere recently. Superb. Obviously too sophisticated to sell as well as some of her earlier lesser singles.
Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody If it's not jeans ads it's films. Not sure what that says about the pop music cultural direction of the time, old ways disintegrating maybe above all. The performance is a cut above most of the rest here though, so it's unsurprising....
George Michael - Waiting For That Day Growing up in public, and how. Rather fabulous.
Well, the final three tracks on this edition were heads and shoulders above the others.
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Post by vya on Mar 19, 2021 23:05:28 GMT 1
25.10 Brambles
Belinda Carlisle - (We Want) The Same Thing I suppose I can't blame her laying on the production with a shovel after the lack of commercial success of the mostly rather (or slightly) more subtle singles off the same album, but of them all this is the one I'd skip.
Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody See what a film tie-in can do for you. A real elegance here, anyway.
Public Image Ltd - Don't Ask Me Vaguely eco lyrics, characteristic Lydon wisdom and insight with eccentricity, energy and something off-kilter. Agreeable enough but more a curio than absolutely essential.
Berlin - Take My Breath Away See what a TV screening of a film tie-in can do for you. A real careful balance of tension held taut here, anyway.
Soup Dragons - Mother Universe A fairly dire band with one half-decent song, and this is it. Enjoy it while it lasts. More like half a song than a whole song though really.
Jason Donovan - I'm Doing Fine Straight in at no 35, it's over, "tribute to the Beatles" indeed. Dire. Embarrassing. Can't imagine PWL would even endorse this...sub-Big Fun.
Paul Simon - The Obvious Child Hypnotic drumming + gentle but powerful and story-telling vocals as only PS can do. A cut above.
Breakers: George Michael - Waiting For That Day: Pure class Elton John - You Gotta Love Someone: With a gospel choir, but not the most convincing Reg number
Paul McCartney - Birthday Not subtle
Beautiful South - A Little Time Argumentative duets are rare. But how well this one is done. A minor delight. Superb songwriting as well as performing.
Roxette - Dressed For Success Another re-release, and one of their spikier numbers. Seems really go-getting 80s actually, maybe a few years late.
A curate's egg edition
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Post by vya on Mar 19, 2021 22:36:17 GMT 1
18.X Goodier
A-ha - Crying In The Rain I like the notion of this lot being an updated Everly Bros, and in their own inimitable style they pull it off too. Not up there with their more innovative or quirky or haunting peaks, but a refreshing shower for sure.
Aztec Camera & Mick Jones - Good Morning Britain Definitely not the best thing Roddy Frame has ever written (but he has written some real gems). Main problem: the sheer unthinking mindnumbing utter conventional Guardianista viewpoints in the lyrics that bear little resemblance to objective reality. Musically a pleasure, though.
Innocence -Let's Push It Yes, let's. Proper funky groove, lyrics with some edge to them, soaring but subtle vocals, a saxophone used purposely, even, a small slab of gorgeousness (and oh so much better than the album version, this is how you do a remix to make a 7" single of a dance track). Great, great, great. A strike rate of three singles, all of them excellent.
Whitney Houston - I'm Your Baby Tonight Her single choices have been a bit hit and miss over the years, but this falls somewhere between the two. Her voice is angelic, and the song thrusts without quite having a hint of the classic about it. Better than most though.
Happy Mondays - Kinky Afro Quite possibly their creative apex, the opening verse is the Mondays to a tee. No pretence at all. How is this turning into such a good show? Loving Ryder's nonchalance as they fill the stage with Manc jemenfoutism.
Rita Macneil - Working Man An oddity, chartwise. A folky Canadian (could easily be Irish) evocation of coalminers. Davy lamps aloft. Warming and heartfelt.
Breakers: Berlin - Take My Breath Away: did this sort of thing before Maria McKee got similarly caught up in Hollywood tangles, as a talent still punching through the polish Tina Turner - Be Tender With Me Baby: one of her stronger and more touching songs of this period, but why is her voice twinned with such bland instrumentation and production, over and over again? It's insulting. But it is overemoted. Paul McCartney - Birthday: Not a career highlight it would be fair to say
Hi Tek 3 ft Ya Kid K - Spin That Wheel (Turtles Get Real) Is this the last (s)hit with "wooh! yeah" all over it? I mean it's not the worst quasi-Technotronic record (and even sounds a bit Todd Terry/Royal House, three years late), but..not good. (am now reminded of the Scottish pizza chain of the early 90s, the Pizza Gallery,- incongruously with one English branch, in King's Lynn, all of whose pizzas were named after artists: inspired by the film?)
Maria McKee - Show Me Heaven Let's hope she gets more singles success on the back of this, showing off more of the rawness that Hollywood toned down a wee bit here. It's a fine number 1, still.
Belinda Carlisle - (We Want) The Same Thing A severe case of trying too hard to have a big hit, laying it on too thick, too too much.
With the notable exception of Technotronic-lite, this was an astoundingly, surprisingly, agreeable selection of songs
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Post by vya on Mar 12, 2021 23:27:39 GMT 1
11.10 Brookes
Sisters of Mercy - More Pleasingly theatrical in both sound and visuals. A rebuke to all this laddish tedium doing the rounds. Not their finest moment musically, but whatever.
Cliff Richard - From A Distance Bette Midler's own cover of this is a bit outside the top 40 this week, too, and it's (easily) the better of the two. The song is fine, but why would you choose this version, when both vocally and musically it doesn't come close to standing up to the competition?
(Charts: Innocence - Let's Push It. Now that is something)
Chimes - Heaven I'm entranced by her voice and by the whole vibe, this is so so good. Some cute subtleties in there too. Another rebuke to all the workaday blandness spilling out of, in particular, North-West England.
New Kids On The Block - Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)? (though Bruno appears not to know that is what it's called) This isn't even from their latest album, is it, but from the one before? I guess they sense their time is running out...The song is superior to most of their own stuff, indeed so much so that it saved me from typing "from the sublime to the ridiculous" as I thought may have been warranted. Not sure why you'd not go to straight to the Delfonics though.
Beautiful South - A Little Time Amazing how much better than the Housemartins this lot are. Something distinctive, eccentically English and provincial. Another story song, too, with cutting lines too. Love it.
Neneh Cherry - I've Got You Under My Skin OK this is an innovative reinterpretation, and a personal one, too, and Neneh Cherry is divine. I'm still not quite convinced it really works, somehow, though.
Monie Love ft True Image - It's A Shame (My Sister) So many 70s revivals or 70s inspired pastiche revivals around now, this is alright, no more no less.
Status Quo - The Anniversary Waltz Part One Good fun (also: much better than most of their recent original stuff: fair enough, they've earned it)
Maria McKee - Show Me Heaven Haunting in places, spine-chilling even.
Depeche Mode - World In My Eyes Yes
Not bad, overall.
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Post by vya on Mar 12, 2021 22:55:57 GMT 1
Castlemaine day (4.X) Mayo (drowned out by screaming audience)
Twenty 4 Seven ft Captain Hollywood A contender for the most tedious top tenner of the year, now that the kids are bored with SAW's second division offerings.
MC Hammer - Have You Seen Her On balance less irritating than his previous hit. Can the mention of the Cosby Show be sufficient to get it cancelled though, maybe?
Pet Shop Boys - So Hard It's not clear yet they are past their commercial peak, but this is just the beginning of their most creative and appealling spell, "Behaviour" and "Very" the fruits. A splendid, sophisticated, smart, satisfying return.
Technotronic - Megamix Mayo references the World Service. Technotronic meanwhile ran out of ideas after the first chorus of "Pump Up The Jam". An extraordinary cheap and nasty cash-in that makes the Bobby Brown or Alexander O'Neal ones look like works of art.
Top 5 Albums of September Deacon Blue - Circus Light (wish I'd seen them live around this time) Michael Bolton - Soul Provider (music is horrible, but song is considerably less objectionable than his prior hits) Elton John - Club At The End Of The Street (OK no more no less) George Michael - Waiting For That Day (Clearly a real, substantive and classy step forward) Pavarotti, Domingo, Carreras - O Sole Mio (amazing what the hand of Paul Gascoigne can do)
MC Tunes vs 808 State - Tunes Splits The Atom Truly innovative and eccentric and rather wonderful. And while he and they might dress like casuals of a random Division Four football team somewhere in or around Greater Manchester, and the hip wiggle is maybe knowingly ironic, maybe just not giving a damn (which might be better), and while he may have nothing much to say, as a rapper he is a master.
Breakers Adventures Of Stevie V - Body Language: weak, wack, pale imitation of his previous hit. Should have stuck it on the B-side of that and left it there; Beautiful South - A Little Time: an argument in song. Certainly worth a listen Neneh Cherry - I've Got You Under My Skin: no argument about the quality of the song or the calibre of the singer, and while there is nothing really wrong with it, somehow it fails to grip me Chimes - Heaven - More or less a Weegie relative of the Soul II Soul sound, and a welcome and attractive one, glad to see them getting another hit
Bobby Vinton - Blue Velvet I'm really getting Eastern European vibes here that I did not notice at the time (and yes: checking his background, yes, indeed). Can we call him the American Vyacheslav Malezhik, even more than Manilow? I prefer Malezhik.
Maria McKee - Show Me Heaven Superior film soundtrack. Better than "Take My Breath Away" even.
Hi Tek 3 ft Ya Kid K - Spin That Wheel (Turtles Get Real) Cos just what the world needs is Technotronic crossed with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Bad.
Really can't call this a great episode
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Post by vya on Mar 6, 2021 0:28:00 GMT 1
27 Sept, Turner
Monie Love ft True Image - It's A Shame (My Sister) As neat a mix of the early 70s and early 90s as to be found anywhere ,without ever really catching on fire.
Depeche Mode - World In My Eyes A band on top of their game, even by the fourth single from the album. Synth music for bleak and broad landscapes (that's the influence of South Essex for you) and stadiums.
Londonbeat - I've Been Thinking As You This is really rather good.
Wedding Present - Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me) The early 90s smashing up the legacy of the 70s, the new thrashier Weddoes work. Probably ticks both boxes of the "do it different and do it better" rule for covers. Mellow it is not.
The Cure - Never Enough Even they are leaning in the direction of the new dancier indie trend. Not convinced it suits their gifts.
Status Quo - The Anniversary Waltz Part 1 Cheerily unpretentious
Bass-O-Matic - Fascinating Rhythm A cut above
Marie McKee - Show Me Heaven Rather more than alright
Ride - Taste Almost brilliant guitar pop
Decent edition, two tracks from EPs, unusually.
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Post by vya on Mar 5, 2021 23:50:51 GMT 1
20 Sept Campbell in a sharper suit than usual, playing a cross between Baudrillard, Iain Sinclair and what Gary Davies aspired to be circa 1982
Twenty 4 Seven ft Captain Hollywood - I Can't Stand It This is poor even by the standards of Anglophone continental European dance music
Stone Roses - Fools Gold At last one of the re-releases gets on, but one that's already well known. Still decent but.
Snap! - Cult of Snap Campbell makes a passing reference to the impending war in Kuwait. Musically by far the most interesting thing Snap! have put out so far (to damn with faint praise). They'll need to get rid of Turbo B, though, whose mumblings are reliably the worst part of their records.
AC/DC - Thunderstruck Not for me. Indeed, if someone made a record and video that was intended to be a parody of AC/DC, how would anyone know?
Breakers: S'Express - Nothing To Lose: Sounds surprisingly dated, energetic pop that is neither unenjoyable nor remarkable; DNA - La Serenissima - not the finest tribute to Venice ever, and how is that "wooh yeah" sample STILL around; Monie Love ft True Image - It's A Shame (My Sister). Monie is a cut above many contemporary rappers, so why we don't hear her rap in the excerpt in a mystery. Fortunately she has good taste in samples too.
Charlatans - Then Melancholic and deep and swirling, a calm assault on the senses. Best thing so far tonight by miles.
Iron Maiden - Holy Smoke Fairly sure this is purely a fanbase buy now.
The Farm - Groovy Train "Amazingly this band was ignored by all the major labels". Not sure they were wrong, really. One nice riff apart, this is grim, like having a brick constantly shoved in front of your face.
Steve Miller Band - The Joker "He's a stalker, he's a talker, he's a bit of a porker, isn't he, I'd like to see old Steve Miller get into a pair of size 30 jeans". Campbell would not say that now. Presumably "midnight toker" joins "subtle whoring" as a combination of words found in only one big hit single. Not a commentary on jeans ads, really.
MC Tunes vs 808 State - Tunes Splits The Atom An innovative, unique track, 30 years later, still nothing else sounds like it.
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Post by vya on Feb 27, 2021 0:46:30 GMT 1
13 Sep Bit In the Middle
Londonbeat -I've Been Thinking About You A rare example of where adding a dance beat has really improved an already capable act. They were good more toned down. Now though, wow, they are close to excellent. A fine song. Great start to the show!
Janet Jackson - Black Cat Still a mistake. What on earth was she thinking? It's not even that it's dreadful..
Sonia - End Of The World "The first British girl to have her first 5 singles go top 20" says Smooth Gary. Just as well this is the best of them. Though the others were mostly dire. And this is mid-market karaoke, done reasonably well.
INXS - Suicide Blonde To my ears a disappointing comeback, kind of taking the elements that had worked so well in the big hit off their last album and reassembling them in the wrong order, and with a less strong song..
Bass-O-Matic - Fascinating Rhythm A bit peculiar, kind of like the only time this would have been a hit is autumn 1990. Not quite dance experimentation (like their previous single). but not straightforward pop either. A melange of elements that should maybe not work together but do. Hypnotic in places. And a rare example of a rap interlude adding to a track. Definitely pretty decent!
KLF - What Time Is Love? This is what it is. I'm agnostic about whether the rap interlude improves this or not.
Maria McKee - Show Me Heaven A bit more straightforward and overproduced than what she usually does, but there's something here, passion and fervour and guts. Yes for a film obviously, but better than many such tracks.
Steve Miller Band - The Joker Ah, it's that week, the very narrow number one week. Pub rock on a large scale. Must bode well for the future of Dogs d'Amour and the Quireboys.
Faith No More - Epic Innovative and worth the re-release. And genuinely funky.
Unexpectedly, the best episode for ages. Surprisingly so. Gosh.
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Post by vya on Feb 26, 2021 22:48:12 GMT 1
6/9/90
Not Tina
The key word of this episode is "funky" apparently. Up to a point, Lady Turner.
Adamski - The Space Jungle Oh well, that confirms that "Killer" really was a flash in the pan. High on the list of "terrible follow-ups to really rather brilliant and innovative enormous hits". Even a guest singer of the calibre of Seal wouldn't have saved this, though. Why?
Mariah Carey - Vision Of Love A bit more like it
Talk Talk - Life's What You Make It Clear by now (1986) that TT were going beyond the narrow confines of pop, already. Watch out for the badger.
The Farm - Groovy Train One side effect of Madchester is that dull charmless bands from across urban areas of the UK (and as we shall seee, the Forest of Dean) could now have hits. The antithesis of glam in appearance - how ordinary and dull-looking can you get, dress-wise? There is a wee bit of artistry here in some of the keyboard riffing, but you feel they're embarrassed to be involved with something so effete, or at least want to be seen as such. Probably their best song, to damn with faint praise.
From the Top 5 Albums of August Madonna - Vogue (Malcolm Mclaren did it first) Luciano Pavarotti - Nessun Dorma (I guess no other track has a video to hand) Phil Collins - Something Happened On The Way To Happen (A bit of a guilty pleasure IMO) New Kids On The Block - Step By Step (Oh baby) Elton John - Club At The End Of The Street (not vintage Reg by any means)
Caron Wheeler - Livin' In The Light Pretty decent way to launch a solo career, with production from the Jungle Brothers. A fair bit of subtle beauty in here, but it can't quite decide whether to be arty (and as African as the clothing worn by the band), or commercial dancefloor. Appealing, certainly.
Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart Still sounds like something I was supposed to like, but couldn't find a way to do so. DJ Dmitry was not from Russia, either (Putin and others may disagree). Just checking I see that the Ukrainian parliament had already declared sovereignty, if not, as yet, full independence, by this point, too.
Loose Ends - Don't Be A Fool Kind of dull and forgettable and generic IMO
Bombarulina - IBTWYPDB This time the video, and not a yewtree in sight, remarkably. In a word, pants.
Janet Jackson - Black Cat Not sure why a performer (and indeed artiste, and indeed artist) of JJ's calibre and talent was persuaded that a quasi-stadium rock number would be a good idea. I can see how it fits in with the tougher theme of other parts of the album, but, no, a bit of a misfire without being actively repulsive.
Not a uniformly terrible edition, once Adamski was done
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vya
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Post by vya on Feb 19, 2021 21:09:18 GMT 1
30.08 Brookes
Aswad - Next To You This has been forgotten, and rightly. How the once nearly mighty are fallen. Not even a success in commercial chart pop terms.
Sonia - End Of The World Moving on from the Duet With Big Fun sub-section to the Ballad AND Cover Version of Something Not Well Known sub-section of SAW's "Dunno what to do with 'em anymore" folder. New hairstyle to make her look more mature too. Maybe an LP of Credible Soul Ballads with singing holograms is on the way. Unexpectedly, though, in with a call as being Sonia's best single to date. To praise with faint condemnation.
Steve Miller Band - The Joker Maracas being shaken and not by Bez, well, 70s revivalism, stadium pub rock, whatever, buy jeans, kids, just don't toke too overtly in them.
Betty Boo - Where Are You Baby Fun, energetic, and vastly more fun than "Doin' The Do" was. That silver outfit tho.
New Kids On The Block - Tonight This is all very Cliffs Pavilion in Westcliff-on-Sea
Jason Donovan - Rhythm Of The Rain Still pretending to play the guitar. Now shunted off to fester in the same "60s cover version" rabbit hole that Sonia is currently resident in too, but making a much less decent fist of it than she has. I'd rather jack. Annoying plinky-plonky kiddie music accompaniment too. A pop career fading in front of our eyes.
Bombalurina - IBTWYPDB Some advanced level of civilisational decay on display here. Spectacularly bad miming too. Makes nuclear war almost seem an appealing option.
Whitesnake - Now You're Gone The kind of polished and overemoted poppier rock that Whitesnake, for a few years in the mid-80s or so, did supremely well. It's ridiculous, of course, but this would have been better placed in the main part of the show than much of the rubbish that was there.
An episode that verged on being tolerable on occasion
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vya
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Post by vya on Feb 19, 2021 21:06:46 GMT 1
23.08 Campbell
The Human League – Heart Like A Wheel A decent comeback, their best single for well over half-a-decade, maybe because they've gone back to the type of sound they had then, too. Not their very best, but well, their very best are superb.
Mariah Carey – Vision Of Love In places, a duet with herself. A splendid voice, out-Whitneying Whitney maybe. Video is cut off at precisely the wrong time, of course.
Tina Turner – Look Me In The Heart Tolerable and not entirely demeaning, not close to her weakest moment.
Jive Bunny & The Mastermixers – Can Can You Party Really milking it now, with no coherence to either the medley or the video. And while entire episodes of TOTP have been banned from replay for less, here we see the two greatest murderers in human history waving while the wedding DJs from Rotherham serenade them with "Daddy Cool". Make it end.
BREAKERS Steve Miller Band - The Joker (see next week); Wilson Phillips - Release Me. Harmonious and pleasantly polished but probably a bit too mid-tempo for its own good; Sonia - End Of The World (see next week, but good grief the greenscreening in this video is TOO cheap and blatant).
Lindy Layton feat. Janet Kay – Silly Games Poor Janet Kay must have fallen on hard times. Not so much a case of "do it better or do it differently" as "do it far worse and have the original performer humiliate herself while providing, as a secondary part of the record, all that is worthwhile and absorbing about it". A travesty.
Cliff Richard – Silhouettes From an objectionable cover version to a pretty pointless one. Video notable for Cliff shaking his butt like he is Nicki Minaj ahead of his time.
Deacon Blue – I’ll Never Fall In Love Again Another cover, at least it's a quality song by a capable act. A little bit too obvious an attempt to score a number one, maybe, but the performance, like the video (1990s Scotland aspiring to be 1960s America, well, there was a lot of that about) is more than tolerable.
Bombalurina – Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini Now for an atrocious cover. Mallett appearing to model his aesthetics and at least part of his approach to pop music on Jonathan King. Make it end
Deee-Lite – Groove Is In The Heart Dance music for music critics, who don't really like dancing that much. Seriously overrated.
(highest new entry in the top 10, George Michael's "Praying For Time" not on - I think no video?
Another case for the revival of Pan's People etc) They got the two decent tracks out of the way at the beginning I see.
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vya
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Post by vya on Feb 13, 2021 12:24:13 GMT 1
16.08 Anthea Turner
Go West - The King of Wishful Thinking GW in their first outing incarnated the aesthetics of peak Thatcherism, intentionally or not (less annoying than Curiosity Killed the Cat, at least) : more about the muscles than the music. This film-based comeback is a bit of a step forward, really.
Sting - Englishman In New York Whoever excerpts these videos should get a new job, shoudla started with a verse. The video itself is as appealing as the song, spacious and classy.
The KLF - What Time Is Love? Of historic import: their first appearance on TOTP without Gary Glitter in tow, I think. Something moderately innovative and exciting disguised as a relatively conventional dance track, with the rap and dancers up front, and the boy genii hidden at the back. Hope they give "Kylie Said To Jason" a remake too, but more subtle than this one.
NKOTB - Tonight Pure entertainment, not least with the pixellated-out hash leaf on the top of one of them at the start.
Together - Hardcore Uproar As with the KLF track, there's something ambient lurking in the background that might be better heard without all the extraneous wave your hands in the air stuff that demands unreasonable amounts of attention. No classic, though.
Betty Boo - Where Are You Baby Gainin' respect' in a cool British dialec', we were born this way, so dance so dance
Jon Bon Jovi - Blaze of Glory The lyrics are more preposterous than those of "Tonight". They'll never take him alive
Roxette - Listen To Your Heart Still superior manufactured pop, not quite too polished
Partners In Kryme - Turtle Power Walked in the bar past midnight, A few drinks & the time was right
Primal Scream - Come Together Outdoing the Soup Dragons now. Any two-bit act with limited talent and less intellect can call in a quality and creative producer and end up something utterly sublime, like this. Andy Weatherall ft the idiot singer and the bass player. An excellent end to the show
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vya
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Post by vya on Feb 6, 2021 12:34:57 GMT 1
09.08
Davies
Bombalurina - Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini This is so Anglo-Saxon. How can they still get away with that "ah yeah!" sample? Not the greatest crime against taste committed here, obviously. Though the other samples are maybe the most interesting part of the record.
DNA ft Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner Superior to the diner itself.
Blue Pearl - Naked In The Rain Hearing this again already makes me want to reach for an umbrella.
Craig McLachlan & Check 1-2 - Amanda Daringly ignoring the Beautiful South's warning by having two "girl's name"" songs in the chart simultaneously. And this is the superior of them, more subtle, more sensitive, and a bit more musically and lyrically developed. A bit. Inoffensive and not unpleasant.
Breakers Roxette - Listen To Your Heart: fair enough that it gets a rerelease, superior pop; Jon Bon Jovi - Blaze Of Glory: walking the boundary between emoting and overemoting, but better than when Spear of Destiny tried it; Sting - Englishman In New York (Ben Liebrand Remix), as with DNA/Suzanne Vega, a New York-themed song that benefits from a reinterpretation, a successful style change. Has Quentin Crisp been posthumously cancelled yet, btw?
Tricky Disco - Tricky Disco The Smash Androids and others taking helium. Maybe the video is better than what studio choreographer + dancers could have come up with. Such good fun, and surely the ooh yeah has a bit of knowing irony now, in this case....
Soup Dragons ft Junior Reid - I'm Free Insistent if nothing else.
MC Hammer - U Can't Touch This Still supremely irritating
Hothouse Flowers - I Can See Clearly Now A spacious arrangement with much use of the piano that was always part of their appeal. A bit Morrisson-esque too. Yeah OK.
Partners In Kryme - Turtle Power Someone call pest control
Together - Hardcore Uproar So the playout is where they are putting the vaguely bleepy stuff three weeks in a row now? Less groundbreaking and creative than the Warp stuff, a bit too polished, and just a hint of Italohouse there too.
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vya
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Post by vya on Feb 6, 2021 12:02:08 GMT 1
2 August 1990
Brookes
Little Angels - She's A Little Angel In a regional Division Four rivalry, largely ignored outside the county it's in, the Angels just gave rivals Thunder a 6-0 walloping. This has flair and verve and energy and even a bit of wit. Outside the shire, though, nobody will know.
New Kids On The Block- Tonight There's a hint of the retirement seaside tour about this, even apart from the blatant Sgt Pepper pastiche. Knowing references to their greatest hits (from a few months earlier) in Verse 1, they think it's all over. And it nearly is, now. "We met a lot of people, and girls". Really? Heads and shoulders above anything else they've done, in part because of how unashamedly ridiculous it is. Blackpool Tower beckons.
LFO - LFO Having been through the Breakers>Play-out and still climbing route, TOTP can no longer fully ignore this slice of innovation and atmosphere, life breaking out from behind the confines of brutalist architecture. Although from Leeds (West Yorks really being a centre of electronic innovation right now, with Unique 3 bleeping down the way in Bradford too), with Warp at the helm, this really is an opening page in the latest stage in the remarkable history of Sheffield's contribution to sharp and engagingly brilliant pop music. And to think I thought "Deep Fried in Kelvin" referred to Glasgow. A pity TOTP ditched Legs & Co/Ruby Flipper/Zoo et al, a creative dance interpretation of this in the studio would have been something to behold.
Bell Biv Devoe - Poison The lyrics are dodgy, and the attitude behind them is too. Own responsibly for your emotions, guys. That aside, this is a really well constructed melange of rap, soul (almost) and new jack swing (great powerful beat), and of the traditional and contemporary. Give it a rewrite and it'd be a gem.
Top 5 Albums of July. Here we go again Madonna - Vogue Beach Boys - Wouldn't It Be Nice Rolling Stones - Paint It, Black Luciano Pavarotti - Nessun Dorma Elton John - Healing Hands (at least they, briefly, play the other side of this) Not all recent singles this time, at least. And nothing really major missed out by not being a breaker, so. Ok maybe.
Madonna - Hanky Panky Does not improve on repeated listening.
Prince - Thieves In The Temple Tonight Mostly an unremarkable track. And Prince at his best is not that.
Dream Warriors - Wash Your Face In My Sink Think I might dispute Bruno's assertion this is a novelty track. Playful, yes, but not trapped within such narrow confines. Way more creative (When Doves Cry reference included) than what we just had from Purple Rogers Nelson.
Duran Duran - Violence Of Summer (Love's Taking Over) Whereas their 87 and 88 comebacks were under-rated, and marked by some quality material (Skin Trade, Do You Believe In Shame?), this does not bode well for the 90 comeback. The familiar DD sound in back, but the song is weak, charmless and. all in all. dire.
Partners In Kryme - Turtle Power Rubbish, obviously, but I'd not previously realised how similar the vibe/atmosphere of this is to Tackhead's "Dangerous Sex" that was lingering just outside the top 40 round about the same time. Stripped of the lyrics, and mixed up a bit, someone minimal and dangerous could have maybe made something of this, as the Partners don't, nor are intended to do.
Tricky Disco - Tricky Disco More from LFO under a pseudonym (I think), with added helium.
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vya
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Post by vya on Jan 29, 2021 23:13:02 GMT 1
2607 Brambles
Blue Pearl - Naked In The Rain Imposing and not subtle, but maybe close to being a bit too much.
Technotronic ft Ya Kid K - Rockin' Over The Beat Yes, less annoying than their other records, almost melodious at times.
Some great new entries in the chart - "Rainbow Child" by Dan Reed, "Silent Voice" by Innocence, "The Emperor's New Clothes" by Sinead O'Connor, will be hear any of them here, I doubt it? What about "Tricky Disco"?
DNA ft Suzanne Vega - "Tom's Diner" Now this (whoever murdered that Diana Ross track take note) is how you use a remix to reinvent and invigorate a song. Video is a bit weird without ever going full-blown trippy.
Soup Dragons ft Junior Reid - "I'm Free" Junior Reid and the reverberating bass are the highlights here. It is infectious. But I'm keeping my distance.
Breakers Bell Biv Divoe - "Poison": can't help but think this verges on the misogynistic a bit. Musically and in rap terms it's rather interesting though, not that you'd know it from this excerpt Sinead O'Connor - "The Emperors New Clothes": fantastic driving bit of Sinead with anger and frustration aloft, again the choice of excerpt, at the end of the song, is odd Bananarama - "Only Your Love": entering the rave generation a few years later, not unappealling, some woo woos, but enjoyable rather than essential
Paula Abdul - "Knocked Out" OMG Four performers wearing boxing gloves and big cloaks. Basically an Aldi knockoff of a Janet Jackson album track.
Charts: "Velouria" by the Pixies! Any chance of hearing it? LFO climbing quite a bit too,
MC Hammer - "U Can't Touch This" Oakland is a world away from W12 in any number of senses, but there is a real "sleazy 1970s Radio One DJ" mood to this.
River City People - "California Dreamin'" Continuing the theme of playing the wrong side on double-A's singles, this is likeable and unncessary. What's wrong with dreaming? But we've seen this already anywhere, where are LFO? This isn't tricky.
Partners in Kryme - "Turtle Power" The first (c)rap number one. It's not good is it? Can't wait for the English version: Spencer, Nicholson, Moore and Hepworth the suburban cats.
LFO - LFO At last. Low frequency oscillation. This is a thing of wonder. Minimal and bleepy, subtle but quietly assertive, the sound of the future. WARP records. The new Yorkshire. Spacious and lovely.
Putting that on at the end makes up for a lot. If they'd had "Silent Voice" on too I'd have been delighted. Dance is very much where it is at right now. Some odd choices, but that's to be expected I guess.
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