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Post by Whitneyfan on Jul 8, 2020 11:43:17 GMT 1
MissingI'd paid passing interest to EbtG over the years. They were, after all, one of those earnest semi-successful indie bands that students like me were supposed to underwrite. I owned their first greatest hits, and really liked their Rod Stewart cover. When Missing was first released I thought it was another solid effort. Then along came Todd Terry. The Missing remix sounded totally novel. I don't recall any tracks that came before it which managed to bring so much melancholy onto a dance floor. In 1995, every other dance record was an off-your-nut frantic banger likely to bring on an epileptic fit, or a wedge of cheese so stinky it needed hazard warning stickers. Missing simply didn't fit. But it certainly worked. That it took three months to convert music buyers to its beauty is no surprise. It still is a slow burner, and I never tire of hearing it. Ben Watt watched Todd very closely. The next two EbtG albums are in the mould of this track, and are, as a consequence, unsung classics. Check out Walking Wounded and Temperamental on your streaming service of choice, and then buy them next time you see them in a charity shop. You've put into writing what I basically feel about the track. This is why I can't do reviews lol, because once I've said I love the track I find it hard to be able to put into words why that is the case!
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Post by Whitneyfan on Jul 8, 2020 11:45:22 GMT 1
As for 'Sweet Dispostion', well that track really gives me goosebumps - it is absolutely awesome! I feel like I should have made the effort to discover more of their work, it's that good. Like Elbow, this is one of the stand-out tracks of the last 15 years for me.
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Post by greendemon on Jul 8, 2020 12:18:50 GMT 1
Love 'Missing', both the original and the dance remix. 'Sweet Disposition' is one of those songs I heard for years without knowing what it was called or who recorded it. It's definitely one of the better songs to come out of the last few years of the 00s, which was a bit of a slump for me in terms of music I like. I had forgotten all about it until it appeared in Time Machine. It's very uplifting
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Post by Shireblogger on Jul 8, 2020 12:22:45 GMT 1
Sweet Disposition is a strange one. I've certainly heard it before, but it had never properly registered with me. I wouldn't have been able to pick it out in an identity parade. Which is a bit unfair, because I like it, and know it is the sort of track which will grow on me.
So now I'm off to listen to a couple of Temper Trap albums. I want to find out whether it was a one-off, or they are actually a band I should have tuned into a decade ago. And I want to know why they never had another sizeable hit.
This could be my first discover in the Millionaires series.
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vastar iner
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Post by vastar iner on Jul 8, 2020 12:42:13 GMT 1
The Temper Trap one sounds like they're doing a pastiche of Sigur Ros...
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SheriffFatman
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Post by SheriffFatman on Jul 8, 2020 13:19:49 GMT 1
Sweet Disposition is a strange one. I've certainly heard it before, but it had never properly registered with me. I wouldn't have been able to pick it out in an identity parade. Which is a bit unfair, because I like it, and know it is the sort of track which will grow on me. So now I'm off to listen to a couple of Temper Trap albums. I want to find out whether it was a one-off, or they are actually a band I should have tuned into a decade ago. And I want to know why they never had another sizeable hit. This could be my first discover in the Millionaires series. Let us know how you get on! I know nothing else by them
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SheriffFatman
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Post by SheriffFatman on Jul 8, 2020 13:20:21 GMT 1
The Temper Trap one sounds like they're doing a pastiche of Sigur Ros... It does a bit, that’s not necessarily a bad thing though
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Post by Whitneyfan on Jul 8, 2020 13:21:43 GMT 1
Actually I lied, I do know this one. I had forgotten about it though, but it's quite good:
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Post by greendemon on Jul 8, 2020 13:24:36 GMT 1
The Temper Trap one sounds like they're doing a pastiche of Sigur Ros... I'm not really hearing that. I think if that was their aim, they need to have another go as it wasn't a convincing effort!
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TheThorne
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Post by TheThorne on Jul 8, 2020 19:53:03 GMT 1
The Temper Trap one sounds like they're doing a pastiche of Sigur Ros... I'm not really hearing that. I think if that was their aim, they need to have another go as it wasn't a convincing effort! I always put them along side bedroom emo bands like Death Cab For Cutie and The Shins. It was just one of those songs that was on every big moment on teen dramas and many other shows at the time, just gorgeously epic. This of course was the same with 'Hoppipola' Also my 2009 Time Machine choice
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SheriffFatman
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Post by SheriffFatman on Jul 9, 2020 9:05:16 GMT 1
733 - December '63 (Oh What A Night) by The Four Seasons No. 1 in 1976
The mid 70s now, and a song that has been danced to by drunk people at weddings ever since. I don't mind it, in fact musically and vocally it's probably fair to say this is a very good performance. I guess it's just become a bit tainted by the fact it's never fully gone away, it's managed to maintain a place in the background of life for 44 years without actually being brilliant, it's just OK.
It also seems to me that it's not terribly well representative of the Four Seasons back catalogue in general. Songs like Let's Hang On and Sherry are classics of their genre, up there with the Beach Boys in their ability to elevate pop music to a status beyond the transient and become timeless. December '63 is a slight step away from their soul sound and towards the more irritating end of pop, it's more YMCA than Surfin' USA.
This came near the end of a long and successful chart career. They only had one more top 10 hit, but were presumably able to retire on the royalties. A fully deserved million seller I think, purely on the basis that it's such a very well known track. I'm never particularly pleased to hear it though.
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Post by greendemon on Jul 9, 2020 9:20:06 GMT 1
I'm going to skip this one as it might come up in Haven Factor.
I will say, though - rather embarrassingly - that while of course I know the song, I hadn't connected it to this particular artist before!
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Post by o on Jul 9, 2020 10:29:13 GMT 1
Random generator I think not...
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SheriffFatman
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Post by SheriffFatman on Jul 9, 2020 10:33:46 GMT 1
Random generator I think not... Eh?
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Post by Whitneyfan on Jul 9, 2020 10:39:02 GMT 1
I'm not sure it will affect Haven Factor to review this, as there are plenty of old threads where you can look and see what people think about certain songs if you want to.
However, can I review Clock's version instead and say it was a very lazy way of a more or less guaranteed hit at the time - but at the same time was very infectious!
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SheriffFatman
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Post by SheriffFatman on Jul 9, 2020 10:55:27 GMT 1
Can I ask a silly question? What's a Haven Factor?
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Post by greendemon on Jul 9, 2020 11:06:18 GMT 1
It's a regular competition that happens in the music forum here. People anonymously choose a musical artist to 'mentor'. Each week everyone picks a song from their artist to pit against the others. We all vote, the (usually) two artists that get the fewest votes have to each pick a different song to feature in a sing-off, and the one that loses that vote is eliminated. And so on and so forth until you're left with a winner. We tend to try to avoid discussing songs that might appear in future rounds of the contest because it could influence people, and Frankie Valli is one of the participating artists this time. But Whitneyfan is probably right that there's not much danger of that here as this thread isn't part of that contest. So carry on, sorry for the intrusion
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Post by masenz on Jul 9, 2020 11:20:17 GMT 1
Have to disagree on this one. There is something magical about December'63. Yes, it is a bit wedding-party-hell, but only because it is such a brilliant track. I guess as I wasn't around when it first came out so whilst I've known it for years it was very much 'randomly in the background' until I was in my late teens and starting to discover older music a bit more etc, so I haven't outplayed it.
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TheThorne
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Post by TheThorne on Jul 9, 2020 14:51:33 GMT 1
Don’t think reviewing it is a problem, it’s their signature song and I love it although I never knew it until the 88 remix which was played everywhere when I was on holiday that year
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SheriffFatman
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Post by SheriffFatman on Jul 10, 2020 7:06:43 GMT 1
732 - Heaven Is A Place On Earth by Belinda Carlisle No. 1 in 1988 (originally charted in 1987)
I’ve got a feeling this is a very popular one on Haven. I was 10 when it reached number one and was following the charts avidly, it still reminds me of being that age. It wasn’t really a favourite of mine at the time, but in a house where my older sisters constantly had Radio 1 on it was just inescapable.
Over the years I don’t think I’ve paid it the attention it deserves. With a catchy chorus and excellent vocals, it’s actually pitch perfect trans-Atlantic pop, hard to think of anything bad to say about it. It also formed a key part of the plot in a very odd episode from season 3 of A Handmaid’s Tale, which disturbs me now whenever I hear it.
With a modest 2 weeks at number one in January 1988, I expect it’s taken a hefty chunk of digital sales and streams to boost this one onto the millionaires list. Fair enough I think, it deserves to be here, it’s clearly very popular and a good song.
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