My Random Music Blog: September 2019

Monday 30 September 2019

25 Years Since....September 1994

As you could probably tell, last month I struggled to find 5 charting records I was enjoying 25 years ago, this month was a bit easier:

Blur - Parklife

We were definitely at the point at the time this came out where people were losing interest in the heavier side of rock music and getting more into indie. Guns n Roses had long fallen out of favour, but one man I knew remained a fan until this point in time, where he'd become a Blur fan instead.

A lot is said about the Blur vs Oasis rivalry the following year, but one could argue this is where it began. Oasis had been at number 10 with "Live Forever" for 2 weeks, then this knocked them off number 10.

Terrorvision - Pretend Best Friend

Terrorvision were one of those bands falling out of favour amongst my peers. When "Oblivion" came out everyone seemed to like it, but by the time this came about few people were interested.

It's quite strange really when you consider that their greatest chart success was yet to come and their chart career would extend into the 21st century.

That said, their music was perhaps a bit more mellow as time went on which helped keep them relevant.

Dave Stewart - Heart Of Stone

Dave Stewart had always been the man in Eurythmics who never said anything, he'd be there in the background playing the synthesiser whilst Annie Lennox did the singing. I also recalled him having a solo hit that was an instrumental.

But then we had this, a song with Dave Stewart actually singing. Ok he doesn't have much of a singing voice, but that didn't matter, it was just the novelty of Dave Stewart singing. His guitar skills also sound quite impressive on this record.

I forgot about this actual song not long afterwards, but it was always at the back of my mind that I'd seen Dave Stewart sing somewhere and that I quite liked it. Once YouTube became a thing I looked up music by Dave Stewart and found this and the memories came back, I wasn't just dreaming that I saw Dave Stewart sing once.

Pet Shop Boys - Yesterday When I Was Mad

I thought the Pet Shop Boys might have lost it after doing that Absolutely Fabulous crap, but fortunately that was just a blip and they followed up with this.

One thing I do remember about this tune at the time was when I thought it was being played on the radio for the first few seconds, but it turned out they were playing "Welcome To Tomorrow" by Snap instead, I resented the Snap record because of that.

Almighty - Wrench

Around this time I entered a competition to win the new Almighty album. The question was what was their new label?

In those days you couldn't just Google the answer, it was a question I didn't know the answer to so I asked the man who introduced me to the Almighty. I thought he might be entering the competition himself and therefore wouldn't give me the answer, but fortunately he had already bought the album so he looked on the cover and told me.

Unfortunately I didn't win the competition, nor did I ever own the album for that matter. The answer to the question by the way was Chrysalis.

Sunday 29 September 2019

Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed - Week 39

Here's my weekly look at the Top 20 from 20 years ago. On the basis we'd reach the Top 20 in the Top 40 countdown around 17:30 on a Sunday at the time the plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Sunday.

Here is the Top 40 in full.

Obviously some of the records will be the same as last week so therefore the review will be the same for these. I've indicated which ones are new so you can skip the others if you read last weeks post.

Once again my opinions are inevitably going to differ from other people, but I'm not trying to convince anyone something is good or rubbish, I'm simply giving my opinion.

So this is the top 20 from this week in 1999 with my verdict on each record:

20. Missy 'Misdemeanor' Elliott ft MC Solaar - All N My Grill (New)

It had been a year since Missy Elliott scored a number one with Mel B of the Spice Girls and this was her first Top 40 hit since then. To be honest I find most Missy Elliott tunes irritating but this one isn't bad. Perhaps the fact she sings in it rather than rap helps, but I quite like the beat too.

Verdict - OK

19. Supergrass - Moving

I can't believe Supergrass were still having Top 10 hits in 1999, though this would be their last. It doesn't quite sound the same as I remember it sounding, but it's still boring.

Verdict - Rubbish

18. TLC - Unpretty

I first heard this in the most unlikely place, the Pete Tong show. Yes that's right, it wasn't just Dance Music he'd play on his show at the time. Anyway, I absolutely love this tune, hands down the best TLC tune I've ever heard. It's written by Dallas Austin, the man responsible for transforming Pink from R&B inspired Pop to Rock inspired Pop. The guitar in this suggests he is warming up for that moment. I think when done really well, incorporating Rock elements into non-Rock music can sound second to none and this is a good example of that.

Verdict - Good

17. Leftfield ft Afrika Bambaataa - Afrika Shox

This was the only Top 10 hit from Leftfield, but I guess on the basis this was the lead single from their 2nd album and they were now household names it shouldn't be that surprising. The experimental nature of Leftfield's music means it can be quite hit or miss, but in the case of this record I'd say hit.

Verdict - Good

16. Geri Halliwell - Mi Chico Latino

Back in 1996 I knew of someone who bought the "2 Become 1" single by the Spice Girls for the simple fact it had Geri's legs on the cover. He surely bought this single then because it has Geri in a bikini on the cover. In fact a lot of people must have bought it for that simple fact, hence it got to number one.

Verdict - Rubbish

15. DJ Jurgen Presents Alice Deejay - Better Off Alone

I can still picture where I was when I first heard this, I was sat in a car waiting for somebody whilst listening to the Pete Tong show. What a tune, I thought. A common misconception is that Alice Deejay is the female singer, but it's actually a group of Dutch producers with the singer and 2 dancers fronting it.

Verdict - Good

14. Martine McCutcheon - I've Got You

Who knew Tiffany from Eastenders had more than one hit single? Well actually I did, I remember her having several and questioned why. It's not as dreary as "Perfect Moment" but it's still pretty dreary.

Verdict - Rubbish

13. Sting - Brand New Day (New)

The lead single from his album with the same title which is influenced by World Music. To me though it just sounds like he's releasing any old crap because he can, because he's Sting.

Verdict - Rubbish

12. Thunderbugs - Friends Forever

Thunderbugs were going to be the next big girl group, I remember the hype about them at the time. This was their debut hit and then they promptly disappeared, can't say I miss them.

Verdict - Rubbish

11. Fragma - Toca Me (New)

For the benefit of those who don't know, this was the tune which was mashed up with "I Need A Miracle" by Coco Star for the number one record "Toca's Miracle" the following year. There is no doubt that this is miles better than that tune, I remember thinking at the time they basically ruined this tune by adding vocals to it. However in reality I always thought this one was pretty average.

Verdict - OK

10. Enrique Iglesias - Bailamos

Here we have the beginning of the UK Chart career of Enrique Iglesias. It's another of those ones that sounds like the crappy Spanish song you hear on holiday in Spain that makes it's way into the UK charts. That's understandable given Enrique Iglesias is Spanish, but then this was written by the same British song writing team responsible for the songs Cher was putting out at the time (Believe etc). Who would have thought just over a decade later he would be singing his own composition "Tonight (I'm Fuckin You)".

Verdict - Rubbish

9. Shaft - (Mucho Mambo) Sway

The opening track on "Kiss Ibiza 99", it's a house version of "Sway". I was a little sceptical of this when I first heard it but it started to grow on me after a few listens of "Kiss Ibiza 99". It actually reminds me of beginning my drive home from college, I guess that shows how much I was listening to that compilation at the time.

Verdict - Good

8. Lolly - Mickey

I first came across the song itself when Wayne and Cassandra were singing it on "Wayne's World". This would have presumably been the Toni Basil version rather than this cover. This was the 2nd hit from Lolly and I remember hearing this down the pub multiple times one night and getting really irritated with it.

Verdict - Rubbish

7. Tom Jones And The Cardigans - Burning Down The House (New)

Tom Jones was one of those singers who I'd assumed kept on having the hits since he started out in the 60s, probably helped by the fact his 80s comeback coincided with my early music memories. However despite him seemingly always being around, in the decade prior to this release he only actually had 2 Top 40 singles which came in 93 and 94. This was the first of his hits around the turn of the century to feature a more modern artist in an attempt to stay relevant. It's a cover of the Talking Heads song and I'm not overly keen on the original and this cover is no better.

Verdict - Rubbish

6. DJ Jean - The Launch

I like the riff in this one, which is just as well given it's repeated over and over again. However what makes this tune is the beats, in particular the bit just before the drop. There's no big breakdown in this, just several mini ones and I think there needs to be so you can hear more of that beat before the drop.

Verdict - Good

5. Paul Johnson - Get Get Down (New)

This one was being played regularly on the Pete Tong show at the time as I recall and charted quite some time after I first heard it. I was kind of disappointed when it did chart as I thought it could be one I'd keep to myself. Well myself and anyone else who listened to the Pete Tong show.

Verdict - Good

4. Vengaboys - We're Going To Ibiza!

3. Bob Marley Vs Funkstar De Luxe - Sun Is Shining (New)

If you want to make a Dance record which is a rip off of an older song this is the way to do it. What probably helps here is that it was quite an obscure Bob Marley record before this makeover so you would probably have to be a Bob Marley fan to have known it in the first place. Great tune.

Verdict - Good

2. Lou Bega - Mambo No 5 (A Little Bit Of...)

Lou Bega is one half of Masters at Work alongside Kenny Dope...oh hang on, this is Lou Bega not Louie Vega. That's right, when I first heard this I thought how could Louie Vega release such crap until I realised it was Bega not Vega. This was so popular that it managed to peak at 31 the week before on import sales alone so it was inevitably getting to number one when it officially got released. It's bloody awful though.

Verdict - Rubbish

1. Eiffel 65 - Blue (Da Ba Dee) (New)

This had already been played to death by the time it charted. I remember listening to the Top 40 the week it topped the charts but turned the radio off once the number one record was announced. It's absolutely terrible.

Verdict - Rubbish

If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 8/20, or 40%. Bob Marley and Paul Johnson ensure this week was better than last.

Saturday 28 September 2019

Is the EDM era now over?

Late last year, I read an interview with Liam Howlett where he said the UK charts were much better now EDM is dead. He said whilst it's still popular in America, it's dead in the UK and that's what counts.

Whilst there was notably less EDM music in the charts than there was a few years ago, the fact Calvin Harris collectively spent 14 weeks at number one last year means it wasn't exactly dead.

This year though, those who follow the charts may have spotted we have a notable absentee from the Top 40, David Guetta. He isn't on hiatus though, he's released 7 singles this year and none of them have made the Top 40. The closest he has got was 41.

Before we go any further though, we need to define what exactly EDM is. In my view, it's basically commercial dance music, made for the clubs and the charts.

Another thing to establish is whether Tropical House should be considered EDM? Well in my view, no. For a start, it's too slow to really be considered as dance music, but also it doesn't have it's roots in clubs like other forms of dance music, it came straight out of the bedrooms of the producers.

We've established there's been no David Guetta in the Top 40, but what about the other one, Calvin Harris? Well yes he had a big hit with "Giants" at the start of the year, but nothing since then.

Tiesto has been in the charts this year, but in reality it's been with pop music rather than dance music. It's the equivalent of Joey Negro giving himself a credit on "Relight My Fire" by Take That in the 90s, but whilst Joey Negro is generally considered to be dance music, it's a pop song. A similar thing could be said of Marshmello's hit this year featuring Chvrches, it's pop not dance.

We are now 3 quarters of the way through the year, and EDM tune wise in the Top 40 I've counted 9 including the Calvin Harris one. We also have "Breathe" by Camelphat ft Cristoph & Jem Cooke and "Piece of your Heart" by Meduza ft Goodboys. I'm not going to pretend these are underground sounding records, but at the same time they don't sound as commercial as your typical EDM record. They aren't exactly household names either, nor do they have vocals by a "name" just to sell more records.

We do have a couple of Top 40 hits by Jax Jones, plus one each from Martin Garrix and Sigala, all of which feature everybody and everybody else. The remaining 2 come from Avicii who for obvious reasons isn't going to be making any new EDM music.

The latter of the 2 Avicii hits, "Heaven", was the last EDM tune to make the Top 40, and it came out at the start of June. Nearly 4 months have passed since. In a way though, it seems quite appropriate for that to be the final EDM Top 40 hit.

Ok, I'm talking about the Top 40 and obviously there is more to music than the Top 40, particularly in this day and age. But then EDM is music for the charts, so if it isn't there then where is it?

Away from the charts though, if you look at the line up at SW4 this year it wasn't exactly what I'd call a dance music festival, maybe they needed the pop acts because dance music isn't popular enough to sell that many tickets anymore.

The thing is though, EDM did well to carry on for as long as it did. It was 10 years ago when David Guetta had number ones with "When Love Takes Over" and "Sexy Bitch" and Calvin Harris had a number one with "I'm Not Alone".

In 1989 Acid House was a big thing, in 1999 it was long gone. Similarly in 1999 UK Garage became a big thing, in 2009 it was long gone. We don't know if EDM is finished yet commercially, but if it is then it's about time.

My 25 Favourite Albums: Tiga - Sexor

The next in this series is the debut album for Tiga. It was a bit odd that this was his debut album given he'd been around a while by the time it came out, but then again there are plenty of dance music DJs who don't ever release studio albums so maybe not that strange.

Tiga first hit the big time in 2002 with "Sunglasses At Night", still perhaps his best known tune to date. Then came his dance version of "Hot In Herre" which didn't come out that long after the Nelly version and featured Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters at a time before they had their first UK hit. Neither of these tunes were on the album, but given how old these were by this point it's understandable.

The earliest release to make the album was "Pleasure From The Bass" which came out in 2004. Then there was "Louder Than a Bomb", followed by "You Gonna Want Me" which featured a now well known Jake Shears. Also coming out prior to the album was "Good As Gold".

By the time I bought the album, he'd also released "(Far From) Home" and "3 Weeks". The main reason I bought the album was for "(Far From) Home" as it's worth buying for that track alone. Furthermore there is also a remix on the album called "(Far From) Home (The Speed Of Sexor Reprise)".

With 6 tracks that I already knew and liked plus a remix of one of them, what else was on the album?

Well there are 14 tracks in total, 2 of which are interludes (The opening track "Welcome To Planet Sexor" and "Who's That?"). Then we have 3 covers, "Louder Than A Bomb" by Public Enemy, "Down In It" by Nine Inch Nails and "Burning Down The House" by Talking Heads.

The remaining 2 tracks are "The Ballad Of Sexor" and "Brothers", the latter containing the hidden track "Sir Sir Sir".

When I bought it I couldn't stop listening to it. What makes it so great? I've no idea to be honest, it's simply an album I love to listen to.

Tuesday 24 September 2019

Popmaster Live 2019

I wasn't sure whether or not to write a review given how much of a let down Popmaster Live was this year, but I thought it would be good to give some insight on what happened.

I attended Popmaster Live in both 2017 and 2018 and both were thoroughly enjoyable experiences, and certainly after the 2018 event when it seemed this would be an annual thing, I was very much looking forward to 2019.

Both 2017 and 2018 were announced the year prior and held early on in the year, but no announcement had been made at the start of 2019, or several months that followed. It wasn't looking like there was going to be an event, until the end of August.

The difference this time was that it was being run my Radio Academy as opposed to Classic Pop Magazine who ran the previous 2. Also, instead of being on a Saturday night in quite a sizeable events venue, it was being held on a Monday night at a small basement bar. I thought it may have been just for people who work in radio, but it didn't explicitly state that and I managed to buy a ticket no problem.

Our table was at the back, away from the main floor area. The format was similar, question comes up on screen and you pick a, b, c or d, except this time we had an iPad to answer with instead of a remote control.

When Ken started to introduce the quiz, it was very difficult to hear what he was saying. Like the last 2 quizzes, the first round was intros and outros. The music began, and that too was very difficult to hear. Given the objective is to identify the song from the clip, that was quite problematic. Despite this we managed 7/10, though no team managed more than 8 on that round.

Round 2 was hits from movies, a round I hate but I knew it was coming. We got 8 on that round which was good enough to put us in the joint lead with 1 other team. Fortunately one of the songs played was instantly recognisable because after the first second or so we couldn't hear a thing.

The next round was missing words, the title of the clip was displayed with one word missing which we had to get. Fortunately this one didn't rely too heavily on the clips. The first clip was played, and the iPad's weren't working. The round was halted and then abandoned.

With the iPad's out of action, we were given plain sheets of paper and a pen and told to write a, b, c or d for each question and hand in at the end. The problem was the answers to the questions were revealed on screen after they were asked, so relied on the teams being honest. The theme was songs to do with crime and we managed 9, the one we didn't get was one we knew but the sound was too poor for us to identify.

On going to hand the sheet in I noticed the sound was much better on the main floor. I pointed out we were really struggling to hear the music where we were sat. Somebody did come up and look at a speaker, but it never got any better.

They did blank out the answer reveal on the screen for the rest of the night, though sometimes it didn't work, but I guess it mostly did.

Up next was TV themes, not one of my strong points but there was nothing too obscure on there, I knew at least half of them and as a team we managed a full house. Then it was 60s in the 80s, where you had to say which act was covering the 60s record in the 80s. The questions on the screen helped more than the clips, and again we got a full house.

However, the scores of the leading teams were then read out. As we'd only got one question wrong since we saw we were leading we expected to be one of them, but we weren't. It was 10 points for a correct answer, we had 150 before the technology broke and 290 since which would give us 440, but the top 2 teams had 290 and 300.

The next round was guess the year, they were all songs that charted higher when they were re-issued and we had to get the year of re-issue. It was a tough round, but again we managed a full house. Still no mention of us near the top though. Then it was a round about soaps, basically name the soap the singer of the song was in, though their definition of soap extended to shows like Baywatch, but it was pretty straightforward and another full house. We fell at the final hurdle with the next round though, name the band the solo artist being played used to be in, we didn't know the band Jefferson was once part of.

Still, just 2 questions dropped since we saw ourselves leading the way and still no mention of us being the leading team, so one of the team members went to ask where exactly we were in the standings as by our calculations we should have 730 by now.

The following round was on 21st century hits, thought this would be the round we'd flop on. By this round we established we needed to stick our heads out over the balcony to hear the music properly and feedback to the table what it was. It proved effective and we got another full house.

We did flop on the following round, next singles. They played a clip and we had to say what their next single was. That was a very tough round, it took me till I got home to figure out how we did, I know we got 4 right and 5 wrong and the other one we had no clue about so just picked a random letter, not knowing what we picked when the answers were read out.

The final round was guilty pleasures, all novelty records and we got them all.

We'd lost count of our score by now, but as Ken revealed the Top 3 he said they were the only teams to get over 800. But as we'd lost count at 730, we clearly had more than 800. 2 teams had 810 and the winners had 820.

We went up to enquire on our score and it was something like 680. It turned out they'd excluded the first 2 rounds from the final scores, but also the scores we were given on some rounds were incorrect. I can't remember the specifics, but recall being given 40s and 50s on rounds where we got 100. I wasn't quite sure what our overall score should of been, but would have definitely been higher than that.

I've now figured it out. There were 12 rounds, the first 2 didn't count towards the total and the 3rd was abandoned, so it was out of 900. Of the remaining 9 rounds, we got 6 full houses, 2x90s and the other round was either 40 or 50. Let's assume it's 40, that gives us 820 points which would make us joint winners. However, we were joint leaders after the first 2 rounds, why they scrapped the scores from those rounds I don't know, nor do I know if it was the eventual winners who we were joint leaders with.

What I don't know though is how they were marking other teams. There could have been a team that got 900 who they didn't mark correctly, so I'll never know whether we should have won or not. That's the problem.

The previous 2 Popmaster Live events I went to, we didn't win, but that didn't matter as we were beaten fair and square by better performing teams on the night, and given the room layout I'm sure everyone could hear the sound loud and clear.

This time we had what could have been a winning score had it been marked properly, despite sitting where the sound quality was poor. Maybe we put the wrong round number on the paper, it's certainly hard to keep count when you're doing it and maybe we couldn't hear Ken say what round number it was, but we handed the sheets in after the rounds so they shouldn't have been mixed up.

I'm not annoyed that we didn't win, the prizes were crap anyway. I am annoyed though that I leave a quiz where our official score isn't our true score. I know that technology can go wrong, but a well established quiz like Popmaster should have adequate back up and there is no excusing the sound quality. For £15 a ticket I expect a quiz not to have the sort of annoyances you may have at the free to enter quiz down the local pub.

Would I go again?

Well like I said, the first 2 were great and I don't want to let one bad experience stop me going again. If it's at the same venue though, probably not.

Sunday 22 September 2019

Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed - Week 38

20. Bran Van 3000 - Drinking In LA

This brings back memories of coming back from the pub on a Friday night and watching "Ibiza Uncovered" and pretty much every advert break had the Rolling Rock advert in it which featured this tune. It had actually been a minor hit before but the advert gave it a new lease of life. Despite hearing it multiple times every Friday for a period of time I still have fond memories of this tune.

Verdict - Good

19. Ricky Martin - Livin' La Vida Loca

This wasn't the debut hit for Ricky Martin, but I'd say it's the song that made a name for himself. His previous 2 singles were basically that crappy Spanish song you hear on holiday in Spain that makes it's way into the UK Top 40. This ones no different in that respect, except you know it's Ricky Martin from America.

Verdict - Rubbish

18. A1 - Summertime Of Our Lives

The second single from A1 who released this on the back of what probably was the summertime of their lives having hit the big time with their blatant rip off of "Cuddly Toy". I can't think of a record this sounds too similar to, maybe they realised they wouldn't get away with that again. What we have then is just some generic pap.

Verdict - Rubbish

17. Westlife - If I Let You Go

The second hit and second number one for Westlife. This was written by the Swedish team of songwriters responsible for many Backstreet Boys hits amongst others. It does sound a bit like Boyzone do the Backstreet Boys (yes I do mean Boyzone, Westlife were still just getting started).

Verdict - Rubbish

16. Lyte Funkie Ones - Summer Girls (New)

I can't listen to this without thinking of Eminem's parody of the chorus in his tune "Marshall Mathers" where he says "New Kids on the Block sucked a lot of dick, girl boy groups make me sick". This was the debut hit for boyband LFO and one of many hits at the time it seems about the summer. This would have been a summer from many years ago though if New Kids on the Block had a lot of hits (the actual lyrics). Can't say I like this one.

Verdict - Rubbish

15. TLC - Unpretty

14. Sixpence None The Richer - There She Goes (New)

The second and final Top 40 hit for Sixpence None the Richer which is a cover of The La's song. I like the original and thought this cover was terrible. Listening to it after all these years it doesn't sound as bad as I remember, but I still don't like it.

Verdict - Rubbish

13. Moloko - Sing It Back

This failed to reach the Top 40 when it was originally released the previous year, but found chart success when remixed by Boris Dlugosch. Like many people, this was the first version I heard but I have since heard the original and it's completely different, only the vocals are the same really. I do prefer this version though. I guess the fact I still like it despite it being played to death over the years shows that it is a great tune.

Verdict - Good

12. DJ Jurgen Presents Alice Deejay - Better Off Alone

11. Geri Halliwell - Mi Chico Latino

10. Martine McCutcheon - I've Got You

9. Supergrass - Moving (New)

8. Enrique Iglesias - Bailamos

7. Leftfield ft Afrika Bambaataa - Afrika Shox (New)

6. Shaft - (Mucho Mambo) Sway

5. Thunderbugs - Friends Forever (New)

4. Lolly - Mickey (New)

3. DJ Jean - The Launch

2. Lou Bega - Mambo No 5 (A Little Bit Of...)

1. Vengaboys - We're Going To Ibiza! (New)

Thanks to this record, on more than one occasion after telling someone we're going to Ibiza I've had the response "Woah!". I guess at the time there was a lot of hype about Ibiza, Spanish influenced music and the Vengaboys which was the perfect recipe to get this to number one. That doesn't take away the fact it was bloody awful though.

Verdict - Rubbish

If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 7/20, or 35%. Not a great score and I feel we need several good new entries to boost the score next week.

Saturday 21 September 2019

My 25 Favourite Albums: DJ Shadow - Entroducing.....

At the time this album came out in 1996 I was only listening to dance music. People started talking about DJ Shadow and assumed him to be dance music as that was what many DJs were doing at the time.

Then one day somebody played me this album, and to be honest I didn't like it at first. As I was predominantly into Happy Hardcore at the time, this was simply too slow for me.

Once I became more open minded when it comes to music though, I recalled the time I heard this album and thought maybe it was something I could like, so I revisited it and realised just how good and album it is.

In the beginning I had assumed DJ Shadow to be one of the acts from Bristol, I didn't realise he was American. One thing I did notice though is that the Bristol acts such as Massive Attack had their albums in the dance section in the record shop, whereas DJ Shadow would be in the Rap/Hip Hop section.

On paper it's an instrumental Hip Hop album, and if you had to classify it as something then this would be it. It really breaks down the barriers though, it's experimenting with various samples to produce something you've never heard before.

Tuesday 17 September 2019

UK Number 40s: Stan Freberg ft Jesse White - The Old Payola Roll Blues (1960)

It was only a matter of time before a novelty record would appear, and here it is. It was the 3rd and final Top 40 hit for Stan Freberg who was a comedian.

This isn't a song as such, it's an audio clip about making some throwaway record in order to make money. Payola is the act of a record company paying a commercial radio station to play their music, which as the title suggests is what this records based on.

It's also mocking what is essentially manufactured pop music. He finds a teenager on the street who can't sing, but that doesn't matter, gives him a load of nonsense to sing, again that doesn't matter because this formula sells a lot of records. Maybe this is what originally inspired Simon Cowell.

What is said to have stopped this record selling more though was the title. Having the word "payola" in the title meant radio stations were reluctant to play it because of the payola scandal happening at the time.

Monday 16 September 2019

Radio 2 Hyde Park

I've been to many different places in London over the years for gigs, but one I was yet to go to was Hyde Park. After hearing the Pet Shop Boys were going to be headlining Radio 2 in the Park this year, and finding tickets were just over £50 (actually cheaper than tickets for Pet Shop Boys at The O2 next year), it seemed like the perfect time for me to finally go to my first Hyde Park gig.

Of course being an event with several acts on the line up, there was inevitably going to be ones that I didn't like. My hope was that the ones I didn't like were on early and I could turn up later to just see the ones I like. Truth be told, aside from the Pet Shop Boys, none of the other acts were ones I'd go out of my way to see in concert. The second best act on the line up in my opinion was Simply Red, so guess who was on first?

I arrived shortly before 13:00 hoping it wouldn't take too long to get in, actually got in pretty quickly. What amazed me when I walked in was just how far away the stage was.

Simply Red came on around 13:15 and started the set with "Stars". They also did "Sunrise", "Fairground", "Something Got Me Started", a new one, and finished with "Ain't That A Lot Of Love". It was a good performance and was over pretty quickly. Afterwards Mick Hucknall was being interviewed and he said "Holding Back The Years" was his favourite and enjoys playing live, but he never actually played it in his set. Guess with the time they had there was inevitably going to be some big hits missing from it.

The second act of the day was Kelsea Ballerini, someone I'd never heard of, but I found myself standing next to a big fan of hers who told me she was a country singer.

When she started her set, my first thought was it didn't sound very country, then my second thought was this is bloody awful. It would get worse after the first song, it was dreary cringe worthy crap that was quite painful to listen to. Her fans were enthusiastic but it sounded like there was only 12 of them. Was glad when her set was over.

The next act was supposed to be Emeli Sande, but she pulled out at the last minute. I'd struggle to name an Emeli Sande song, but I know I've heard her and know she's crap. Instead they had Craig Charles doing a funk and soul DJ set, that was more like it.

Bananarama were next up. After seeing the line up, my thoughts were Bananarama are alright. As they started to play though, I thought who am I trying to kid, I don't like their music at all. It was good for a bit of 80s nostalgia though, apart from when they played 2 of their new songs that nobody knew.

We then had Clean Bandit, who I thought would be more Radio 1 than Radio 2. I actually liked the one on the M&S advert as an instrumental, but the vocals ruin it. The band themselves consist of a female cellist and 2 males who seem to disappear in the background. They had 2 female singers and a female violinist at the front of the stage who weren't official band members.

The female cellist kept turning up to the front of the stage, often without her cello, to do a bit of dancing. To be honest I thought some of their tunes are alright, but can't help thinking they would be much better without vocals. When they finished with the M&S tune, they got the audience to sing along but I couldn't as I only ever listen to the instrumental.

Next up was Status Quo, a band who have been around for longer than Radio 2. It is often said that all their songs sound the same, and after watching this performance its hard not to disagree. They began the set with "Caroline" and it took till the chorus for me to figure out which one it was. There was also a medley of hits which I found difficult to tell when they'd actually changed songs, but I guess that's good mixing skills with instruments.

In the middle of the set they did "In The Army Now" which does sound different to their other songs, and I realised that I actually quite like that song. Their set was longer than the earlier ones, and they finished with "Whatever You Want" and "Rockin All Over the World".

Just one more act to go before the Pet Shop Boys, but it was the one I was least looking forward to, Westlife. They did their new song, some generic electropop crap written by Ed Sheeran, a bunch of depressing ballads they're most famous for, and their awful karaoke version of "Uptown Girl". Fortunately their set didn't last too long.

Whilst waiting for the Pet Shop Boys to appear, Gary Davies came on stage to DJ. They announced him as the king of the 80s, then ironically he didn't play anything from the 80s in his set, mainly playing 90s dance music such as "Right Here Right Now" by Fatboy Slim and "Insomnia" by Faithless.

The Pet Shop Boys finally appeared on stage. When I'd previously seen them in concert it was just Neil and Chris, but this time they had other musicians on stage with them including the drummer I saw play for High Contrast last year.

Being headliners gave them the opportunity to play lesser known tunes, which they did with "Burn" and "Vocal". They also had 2 guest appearances for the set. First was Olly Alexander from Years & Years who collaborates on their new tune "Dreamland". He was a very excitable guest to say the least. The second guest was Beverley Knight who sang the Dusty Springfield part on "What Have I Done To Deserve This" and did a pretty good job of it.

Of course we had the big hits too such as "It's A Sin", "West End Girls", "Go West" and the final one they did was "Always On My Mind".

It was hands down best set of the day, but that was almost inevitable.

To summarise, here's each set ranked from best to worst:

Pet Shop Boys - So many great tunes played out loud, top performance
Simply Red - Enjoyed it from start to finish, new song sounded alright
Status Quo - Good performers, music a bit samey but at least the set wasn't too long
Bananarama - No different to what you'd hear at an 80s night, minus the new songs
Clean Bandit - Not bad, but please lose the vocals
Westlife - Dreadful, but with songs like that wouldn't expect any different
Kelsea Ballerini - Hopefully won't hear her again, such terrible music

Sunday 15 September 2019

Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed - Week 37

20. Texas - Summer Son

For some reason, I'd sing along to the chimes in this song in my head with "1,2 sound of the Slipmatt" and still do now. Despite the random association with Slipmatt created by me, I can't think of anything good about this tune.

Verdict - Rubbish

19. Will Smith ft Dru Hill - Wild Wild West

I like Dru Hill, I've seen them in concert. I therefore find it a bit of a shame that their biggest UK hit was a collaboration with Will Smith. This was taken from a film of the same name that Will Smith was in. I once read an article about rappers who went on to act in films. On Will Smith, they said "he became so successful at acting in films that he stopped rapping, at least that's what we wish he did". That pretty much sums this up.

Verdict - Rubbish

18. Gomez - Rhythm And Blues Alibi (New)

This has a good first few seconds which make the song sound like it's going to be more exciting than it actually is. Then it gets a bit dreary, but actually it's not too bad. It sounds interesting in parts but it's just a bit too boring overall to like.

Verdict - OK

17. Agnelli And Nelson - Everyday (New)

We have yet another tune that appears on the "Kiss Ibiza 99" compilation, on the Trance CD. This one though reminds me more of watching the Club@Vision Ibiza Special which I recorded and watched several times. A clip of this would appear every so often including near the beginning of the show. They also had an Ibiza anthem for each year and the one they chose for 1999 was this. I wouldn't have picked this one myself, but I still like it.

Verdict - Good

16. Ronan Keating - When You Say Nothing At All

Boyzone weren't quite finished yet, but this was the start of Ronan Keating's solo career. It could just as easily have been a Boyzone song as it followed the same formula of being a poor cover of an older song.

Verdict - Rubbish

15. Another Level ft TQ - Summertime

The Honeyz have a track on their "Wonder No.8" album also called "Summertime" and the chorus is the same, but this isn't officially a cover of the Honeyz song. I like the Honeyz song but can't bring myself to like this, it just sounds like a blatant rip off but nowhere near as good.

Verdict - Rubbish

14. Bran Van 3000 - Drinking In LA

13. Ricky Martin - Livin' La Vida Loca

12. Westlife - If I Let You Go

11. The Offspring - The Kids Aren't Alright (New)

Another American High School type offering from The Offspring. This one isn't too bad though, it doesn't irritate me like "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)" and "Why Don't You Get A Job?" do and it has that Punk beat that I like. However it isn't quite good enough for me to think it's good.

Verdict - OK

10. TLC - Unpretty

9. Moloko - Sing It Back

8. DJ Jurgen Presents Alice Deejay - Better Off Alone

7. Geri Halliwell - Mi Chico Latino

6. Martine McCutcheon - I've Got You (New)

5. A1 - Summertime Of Our Lives (New)

4. Enrique Iglesias - Bailamos (New)

3. Shaft - (Mucho Mambo) Sway

2. DJ Jean - The Launch (New)

1. Lou Bega - Mambo No 5 (A Little Bit Of...)

Tuesday 10 September 2019

UK Number 40s: John Barry Orchestra - Beat for Beatniks (1960)

John Barry is a name known to many, most notably for being the composer of the "James Bond Theme". He was already an established chart act by the time James Bond happened though.

This was his 2nd Top 40 hit and was from a film called "Never Let Go". His first hit was called "Hit or Miss" which was the theme to "Juke Box Jury" and was still in the charts by the time this record charted and remained for a further 2 weeks afterwards.

With this record I think you can tell it was composed by the same person who did the "James Bond Theme". John Barry would have 9 Top 40 hits overall, but only his first hit would make the Top 10.

Sunday 8 September 2019

Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed - Week 36

20. Five - If Ya Gettin' Down

I remember this as being the song where Five are trying to sound like the Backstreet Boys. I was therefore surprised to learn it wasn't written by anyone in the Swedish songwriting team responsible for many of the Backstreet Boys hits and some of Fives early hits too. That said now I'm listening to it for probably the first time in 20 years I'm finding it doesn't sound as much like the Backstreet Boys as I remember. It is rather irritating though.

Verdict - Rubbish

19. Binary Finary - 1999

This is a remix of "1998" by Binary Finary and was more successful in the charts than it's predecessor. I love the build up on this one and I remember Dave Pearce playing this a lot on his show. I also recall this being a great exercise tune, it was a time of my life I realised how unhealthy I'd become since my school days when I had PE lessons so tried to do something about it and I'd associate this tune with that period of my life above others.

Verdict - Good

18. Apollo 440 - Stop The Rock

Apparently this tune was inspired by Status Quo. I'd never made the association before, but on knowing that I can kind of understand how. Is this a good or a bad thing? Well having heard over 50 Status Quo songs, I can't say I particularly like any of them. I can't say I particularly dislike any of them either and I guess I could say the same about this tune.

Verdict - OK

17. Will Smith ft Dru Hill - Wild Wild West

16. The Cartoons - Aisy Waisy (New)

How the hell did The Cartoons have 3 singles? This was the final one and only one that failed to reach the Top 10. Quite predictably it's very cheesy.

Verdict - Rubbish

15. Texas - Summer Son

14. Ronan Keating - When You Say Nothing At All

13. Ocean Colour Scene - Profit In Peace (New)

I guess it's not that strange to see Ocean Colour Scene were still having hits in 1999 given that TFI Friday was still going too. What I do find strange is that their Top 40 career lasted until 2007, some 10 years after their peak. I do vaguely remember this one but it's not the most memorable of songs.

Verdict - Rubbish

12. A*Teens - Mamma Mia (New)

The debut hit from Abba tribute act A*Teens which incidentally is an Abba cover. It's not made to sound exactly like the original, instead it's been given a Eurodance makeover. As Abba were no more but they were a band still in demand I understand why forming an Abba tribute act would be a good idea. But doing crappy Eurodance covers and not even attempting to look like Abba I don't see the point in this.

Verdict - Rubbish

11. Stereophonics - I Wouldn't Believe Your Radio (New)

I think by this point in my life I'd learned to ignore anything by the Stereophonics. Don't get me wrong, I very much remember them being around and the song title rings a bell but I have no recollection of the song itself. It's an incredibly dull song that's crying out for an Ali G makeover.

Verdict - Rubbish

10. Ricky Martin - Livin' La Vida Loca

9. TLC - Unpretty

8. Bran Van 3000 - Drinking In LA

7. Another Level ft TQ - Summertime (New)

6. Westlife - If I Let You Go

5. DJ Jurgen Presents Alice Deejay - Better Off Alone

4. Moloko - Sing It Back (New)

3. Geri Halliwell - Mi Chico Latino

2. Shaft - (Mucho Mambo) Sway (New)

1. Lou Bega - Mambo No 5 (A Little Bit Of...) (New)

Saturday 7 September 2019

My 25 Favourite Albums: The Ultimate Lessons

In the world of dance music, generally speaking the DJ is the one who usually gets the acknowledgement. Certainly back in the 90s, you wouldn't even know who the MC was half the time.

In Hip Hop though, the opposite is true. Maybe in the early day's you'd have the likes of Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa taking the plaudits, but the reality is the rapper is the one most people go to a Hip Hop concert to see, few people, if any, go because they want to see the DJ playing for the rapper.

This album though well and truly puts the Hip Hop DJ in the spotlight.

It was released in 2002, but the beginnings of the album date back to 1983. DJs Double Dee & Steinski put together 3 "lessons", which were basically hip hop sample based collages which were named "Lesson 1", "Lesson 2" and "Lesson 3".

Being entirely sample based though they were never commercially released due to sample clearances, until this album got released and they are the first 3 tracks.

Fast forward to the 90s, 2 Hip Hop DJs decided to have a go at creating their own "lesson". They were DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist. Both are called "Lesson 4" and are tracks 4 and 5 on the album.

As such, there is no "Lesson 5" and next up is "Lesson 6" which is by Cut Chemist and also appears on the self titled debut album from Cut Chemists group, Jurassic 5.

The final 3 tracks are live performances based on the "lessons" which are "Live Lesson A" by Cut Chemist and Shortkut, "Live Lesson B" by DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist and Steinski, and "Live Lesson C" by DJ Shadow.

Hip Hop to many is all about lyrics, and that's fine. We all have our reasons for liking music and lyrics are one of the reasons I like Hip Hop. However, for me there's more to it than the lyrics, or indeed the rapping style.

Basically, the backing track is just as important, if not more important. If the backing track is crap, then any MC, no matter how good they are, is going to struggle to do anything decent.

More to the point though, Hip Hop does not always need a rapper in the same way dance music doesn't need, and often doesn't have an MC. To appreciate what the DJs do in Hip Hop music, this album is a great way to show them in all their glory.

Tuesday 3 September 2019

UK Number 40s: Shaye Cogan - Mean To Me (1960)

Here's the first of my posts looking at the records that peaked at number 40 in the UK Singles Chart. In March 1960 the charts went from a Top 30 to a Top 50 and 3 weeks later this record entered the charts at number 40 and left the charts the following week making it the first record to peak at number 40.

It was also the only UK hit for Shaye Cogan who was an American actress who went on to record music and this was actually one of her final recordings. It was written by Fred E Ahlert and Roy Turk and had been recorded by many different artists prior to this recording. Both songwriters had died by 1960, but had a handful of UK hits written by them which charted posthumously both together and separately. Perhaps the best known for Fred E Ahlert was "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter" and for Roy Turk was "Are You Lonesome Tonight?".

Shaye Cogan died in 2009 aged 85.

Sunday 1 September 2019

Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed - Week 35

20. Britney Spears - Sometimes

A teenage love ballad sung from a teenage girls perspective, written by a 36 year old bloke from Sweden.

Verdict - OK

19. Phats And Small - Feel Good

The follow up to "Turn Around", I don't know how well remembered this one is but I certainly remember it. It follows the same sort of formula as "Turn Around" but doesn't sound too similar, this sounds like more of a summer tune so probably a good thing they released it in the summer.

Verdict - Good

18. Travis - Why Does It Always Rain On Me?

If you want to listen to this then instead of clicking the link I would recommend watching this being performed on Ali G instead. Before the song is performed, Ali G say's to singer Fran Healy "we listened to your music, and it's fuckin miserable" which pretty much sums up my thoughts. During the performance Ali G puts some beats to it, starts rapping and advises Fran he no longer needs his guitar. A big improvement if you ask me.

Verdict - Rubbish

17. Underworld - King Of Snake (New)

I've mentioned this a lot in these reviews and I'll mention it again, Kiss Ibiza 99. This was on the Trance CD of that compilation. As far as Underworld singles go, this is probably my favourite.

Verdict - Good

16. Whitney Houston - My Love Is Your Love

This Wyclef Jean penned song is actually quite clever. It's impossible to listen to this without thinking about "No Woman No Cry" by Bob Marley. Yet when you try and sing "No Woman No Cry" along with this in your head you find these sudden changes that stop it from being a blatant rip off, even though it kind of is. It's hard to look past the fact it's not as good as the song that inspires it, but then if that song didn't exist I wouldn't hesitate to call it good.

Verdict - Good

15. Basement Jaxx - Rendez-Vu

The opening tune to Pete Tong's Essential Selection at Café Mambo in Ibiza in 1999. No I wasn't there unfortunately, but I did record the show and listened to it a lot. He went on to say what a tune to open with, and I can't argue with that. It was certainly my favourite Basement Jaxx single to date.

Verdict - Good

14. Hepburn - Bugs (New)

What's this, Hepburn had a Top 40 hit that wasn't "I Quit"? Well yes, they actually 3 Top 40 hits and this was the second. I don't remember this myself, I discovered it when I was doing my yearly chart review for 1999. Like "I Quit" though, it's crap.

Verdict - Rubbish

13. Five - If Ya Gettin' Down

12. Eminem ft Dr Dre - Guilty Conscience

For some reason this completely passed me by at the time. The first time I recall hearing it was the following year when I bought "The Slim Shady LP". Much like his debut hit "My Name Is" this is controversial with a bit of humour and Dr Dre contributes more to the vocals this time giving him a credit on the record. I'd say I prefer this to "My Name Is".

Verdict - Good