Blue Dot Fever

I've heard the term "Blue Dot Fever" been mentioned a few times recently. I thought it was either some sort of illness or a term youngsters use these days which I won't understand.

Turns out it's neither. It's actually musicians cancelling tours or concerts because they've not sold enough tickets. The blue dots refer to the available seats on the venue maps on the ticketing websites.

I'm possibly contributing to this because I don't go to concerts nearly as much as I used to. I've not suddenly stopped liking it but the reality is it ain't what it used to be.

25 years ago the experience was something along these lines. You'd go to a box office with a £20 note to hand over. In return you were given a ticket to a concert of your choice and maybe a bit of change. On the day itself you'd take your ticket and a £20 note and arrive at opening time. At this point you showed your ticket to get inside and then use your £20 note to buy a few beers and soak up the atmosphere before watching whoever you chose to see. You'd leave the venue with some change in your pocket and if you had a good enough time you'd buy some merchandise, a poster perhaps with your change.

Somewhere along the way the drinks prices went up and the quality of the beer went down. As far as I remember the beer prices at concert venues 25 years ago were similar to those in the pub. If they were more expensive it wasn't by enough to make me notice. I do remember the first place I spent more than £5 for a pint was at a gig.

As a result the experience changed to have several beers from the shop first then arriving at the gig later. The ticket was no longer for the whole evening, it was for the time the act you wanted to see was on stage.

OK there came a point when I decided to no longer drink at a concert, the price of a beer at The O2 (currently £9.50 if the internet is to be believed) reached the point of me vowing to never buy a drink there again.

The wider issue that affects everyone though is the price of the tickets themselves and the fact that in some cases they're not actually tickets. Any venue that requires me to download an app rather than send me and actual ticket (e-tickets acceptable) doesn't deserve my custom.

You hear about dynamic pricing which is only ever going to put people off. Set a price and I'll decide whether it's worth paying or not. 

The fact of the matter is that bands like Oasis are so popular they can get away with expensive tickets, dynamic pricing etc. but very few music acts are that popular.

A quick scan of the listings at London venues tells me that there's no must see concerts happening in the near future but there are a few in the would be nice category and the prices here actually aren't too bad for the most part.

I did however stumble across Saint Etienne at Shepherds Bush Empire. This venue is at the smaller end of the major London venues and a ticket here will set you back around £75.

I've seen Saint Etienne in concert a few times and for the most part enjoyed them. When I heard they were calling it a day I thought it would be nice to see them one last time but I've seen them enough times for it to be fine if I don't. At £75 I'm certainly not going.

It looks like the last time I saw them in concert was in 2017 which cost £27.50. I would expect the price to go up a little bit in 9 years but not almost 3 times as much. Even the price of a pint in The O2 hasn't gone up by that much.

Lets say the people who spend £20 to go to a gig years ago are now willing to pay £100 a ticket. Back then if you had £100 to spend on tickets you could go to 5 gigs. Put the price up to £100 that person isn't suddenly going to have £500 to spend. They have to pick 1 gig and the other 4 music acts miss out on their custom.

Do all songs have a shelf life?

If I never hear "Bohemian Rhapsody" again then I'll be happy with that. It's not a bad song but after hearing it so many times in my life it does nothing for me. I can sing the whole song word for word and hum all the instrumental bits in between. I can even picture what happens in the video every moment in the song. I never set out to learn it in so much detail, it's just hours upon hours of exposure and I've been completely sick of it for years.

Yet it wasn't always like that. There was a time when I'd listen to it through choice, more specifically when listening to Queens Greatest Hits. I always thought Queen had better songs and perhaps always considered it over-hyped but somewhere along the way it became overplayed.

Similarly with "Don't Stop Me Now" which I'd often hear out in town. I can't stand that song yet I don't think I minded it in the beginning.

These are 2 examples of songs that have been played constantly for decades and I'm certainly not alone in being sick of them. I can thing of several more songs that I may have had a higher opinion of had they stayed in the past.

That's not the only way for a song to pass it's used by date though. I've spoken on here before about my Alisha's Attic phase where I was doing the overplaying of their songs myself. After listening to them in my car on my way to see them do a gig the last thing I wanted to listen to on the journey home was Alisha's Attic. 25 years later I've still not really been able to get back into them.

The question though is does every song have a shelf life or are there songs I'd still like to hear regularly for the rest of my life?

I won't truly be able to answer until I'm on my death bed. Obviously if you listen to the same song on repeat you'll eventually get sick of it. The true test though is whether you can return to it after a break.

For example when I was younger I'd go to clubs and pubs with loud music every week. One song you'd often hear was "Jump Around" by House Of Pain. Quite logical, a good tune, pretty catchy but above all people could dance to it by jumping around.

It did reach the point of not this again. Those days are long behind me though so my frequency of hearing "Jump Around" is much less. As such I'll happily listen to it, in fact I did earlier today when listening to the House Of Pain album with it on.

Will I happily keep on listening or does it have a use by date it hasn't reached yet?

Honeyz - Butterflies

Few would argue that the Honeyz were the biggest UK female R&B group from 1998-2000 and Mis-Teeq were the biggest from 2001-2003. 

Both groups are reunited but the difference I struggle to get my head round is that Mis-Teeq are playing at Wembley Arena for £100+ a ticket whereas the Honeyz played at a pub in Clapham a couple of weeks ago which was free to enter before 9pm.

In 1998 I was a teenager with my whole life ahead of me and music aspirations of my own. Now I'm a 40 something who never fulfilled those ambitions, a lot more skeptical and hate all things modern. The Honeyz themselves are only a few years older than me and whilst they did make it in music they've spent the last 25 years knowing they're unlikely to be able to make a living from being the Honeyz anymore.

When I listen to the Honeyz it takes me back to a time when I was young and optimistic and the world seemed a much better place. This is the sort of reason why lots of groups reunite, the see the demand from fans to be taken back.

Then they do something there's often no demand for, they release new music. When I heard that the Honeyz had a new song I can't say I was excited. Neither were too many people by the looks of things. It was released this week and currently has 73 views on YouTube, 3 of which are me and 2 are a friend who I told about it. To put that into perspective, the last post I made on this little blog got more views

The silver lining is this was written 20 years ago, probably longer than that because it was from when Naima was still around but it's the current line up who recorded the vocals for this recently. On that basis it could be said this is a sign of what was to come had they still been around for the 3rd album in the early 00s.

The guitar intro almost sounds like it could be a Queen song but this all changes once we get to the singing. It's an odd combination but it's a catchy number, I could still hum the chorus after a first listen. 

The jury was out after a first listen but it sounded better after a second one. Then the third listen just before writing this post has got me thinking this is actually quite good. 

Why the lack of interest particularly given the hype about the Mis-Teeq reunion?

I would say lack of awareness of it's existence is the main factor. Another is the question of who exactly are the Honeyz in terms of members? 

The line ups have changed a lot and the only constant member is Celena. In terms of the current line up we have Heavenli who left before the 3rd single and first returned when their popularity was in decline. Then there's Candace who was never in the group in their heyday. 

Then again should that matter? when the much hyped Oasis reunion was announced all we knew was the Gallagher brothers were returning, nobody knew or probably even cared who else was joining them. 

Would the return of Naima be the difference between playing pubs in Clapham and playing arenas? I can't see it myself but then again I didn't thing Mis-Teeq had a hope in hell of selling enough tickets for Wembley Arena so you never know. 

18 Week Number 1

In September 1953 the UK Singles Chart wasn't even a year old when Frankie Laine clocked up his 18th week at number one with "I Believe". It was knocked off the top spot twice along the way so whilst it's longest stint of 9 consecutive weeks was a joint record with first number one "Here In My Heart" by Al Martino that would get broken, his 18 collective weeks at number one did not get broken until now.

The current number one has now been there for a total of 18 non-consecutive weeks. This is arguably as significant as when Bryan Adams set a record of 16 consecutive weeks at number 1 in 1991.

You had to be living under a rock in 1991 to not know about Bryan Adams record breaking stint at number 1. This time though many of you will be thinking what it the song at number 1?

The song in question is "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean. That song probably rings no bells and you're now thinking who's Sam Fender? and who's Olivia Dean?

Well Sam Fender made a name for himself when he finished runner up for England in the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest with "Spaceman". Olivia Dean is one of the latest in a long line of Disney child actresses who made the transition to pop music, a sort of Britney Spears for the 2020s.

Oh hang on I was thinking of Sam Ryder and Olivia Rodrigo. OK I don't really know who Sam Ryder and Olivia Dean are either. Nor have I ever knowingly heard their song that's been top of the charts for 18 weeks.

The fact of the matter is had I not started this blog which in turn made me feel the need to keep a vague eye on the Top 40 then I probably wouldn't know what's at number 1 myself. 

My interest in the charts stems from a childhood of watching Top of the Pops and listening to the Top 40 countdown. It stepped up a gear when I got my first British Hit Singles book and to this very day I still find the history of the charts fascinating.

These days all that interests me are the chart stats, the days of me being interested in the actually music in the current charts are long gone. Many other 40 somethings feel the same except they were never interested in the chart stats, just the music. Therefore the charts are irrelevant to them.

The youngsters I speak to these days don't even know there's such a thing as the charts. They may listen to what's in the charts without knowing it.

Are the charts relevant to anyone these days but a small niche of music nerds? Probably not.

What remains is the question of whether Sam Ryder and Olivia Rodrigo can go on to beat Frankie Laines record......

Remembering 1996: December

December is a bit of a strange month when it comes to music. You have Christmas and inevitably the Christmas music that comes with it. There's also novelty tunes and music from people who don't normally make music and the 2 aren't mutually exclusive. Then there's the build up to New Years Eve which spills over into New Years Day. Aside from that not much really happens.

One of my memories of 1996 was that by December in music terms we were already into 1997. Compilations with 1997 or 97 in their name were already in the shops. The January 1997 editions of music magazines were already on the shelves.

There were also songs that were setting themselves in the future. "Cosmic Girl" by Jamiroquai charted in Dec 1996 and opens with a line about something than happened on a Saturday in 1999. That sounded so far into the future at the time. Now I see this year and 2029 merging into the same thing when I look back in the future.

There was the Top 40 debut from Chicane with "Offshore" and he would go on to be the most prolific trance artist chart wise in terms of number of hits. 

My memory has this down as being earlier on in the year but clearly wasn't, it was the month the World Dance compilation mixed by DJ Hype and Ellis Dee was released and I bought it.

In the inlay was an interview with both DJs and the real eye opener for me was finding out DJ Hype started DJing in 1982 and Ellis Dee in 1987. In my mind the music hadn't existed long enough for them to be DJing that early and I always imagined the DJs to be around 18 once they made a name for themselves.

I had the theory they must have been only 14 when they started DJing and it turns out that was the case with DJ Hype. Not with Ellis Dee though, he was comfortably in his 30s at the time of this compilation.

World Dance themselves held their new year event at Wembley Conference Centre. Despite the separation of hardcore and drum & bass with World Dance going down the latter route there would still be some hardcore DJs on the line up such as Force & Styles.

Meanwhile Helter Skelter held their first new year event at The Sanctuary. It had previously been Dreamscape holding events there at new year but they didn't put one on this time around. The Helter Skelter event became the first of theirs where the hardcore and drum & bass tape packs were all separate.

Remembering 1996: November

The Chris Evans Breakfast Show on Radio 1 is arguably the best remembered Radio 1 Breakfast Show of the 90s and yet it didn't even last 2 years. 1996 was the only full calendar year it was on for.

One of his team on the show was Danny who I'm pretty sure they used to call Danny Boy. After much was made about how long he'd been with his girlfriend he proposed to her live on air and this happened in Nov 96. The reason I'm able to pinpoint this was they played "Place Your Hands" by Reef which was a new song at the time and put wedding bells over it.

Few people probably remember that but many will remember the bigger reason Chris Evans made "Place Your Hands" by Reef famous. On TFI Friday a new segment called "It's Your Letters" was introduced and Reef played a reworded version of "Place Your Hands" singing "It's Your Letters" instead.

We had the first of many posthumous hits from 2Pac in Nov 96 which was "I Ain't Mad At Cha". Incidentally the singer of the chorus on this is called Danny Boy but a different person to the one who was on the Chris Evans show.

Another artist having a posthumous hit this month was Wildchild. It had been a year since he passed away shortly after making a name for himself with "Renegade Master". His posthumous hit was "Jump To My Beat" which is the better of the 2 records in my opinion.

It had been a low key year for Dreamscape followeing the death of it's promoter Murray Beetson earlier on in the year. In November Dreamscape 23 was held which was just the 2nd and final Dreamscape of the year. It would carry on beyond 1996 but even by this point Helter Skelter was seen as the biggest rave promoter.

The Prodigy followed up "Firestarter" which another chart topper with "Breathe". Whilst it followed a similar formula as it's predecessor being a dance/rock crossover with vocals by Keith I actually like this one and bought the single. Perhaps the additional vocals from Maxim helped.

The Fine Young Cannibals made a comeback in 1996 with "The Flame". It was their first Top 40 hit since the 80s but by the time it made it onto The Chart Show lead singer Roland Gift had left the band, so it was a very brief comeback.

Remembering 1996: October

At the start of 1996 Oasis had become just about the biggest band out there. In the summer I went to what I believe was my last village hall disco for teenagers before deciding I was too old for them. At that disco people were chanting for Oasis after every song. I didn't get it, they were too slow and boring for a disco in my opinion. Had you told me at that disco that Noel Gallagher would feature on one of the best number ones of the year I wouldn't of believed you.

That's exactly what did happen when he provided vocals for "Setting Sun" by the Chemical Brothers. It couldn't sound any more different than Oasis. That said it did have it's similarities in that both this record and many Oasis records were heavily inspired by The Beatles. In the case of this record it came from "Tomorrow Never Knows".

I felt I had bragging rights in a way because I'd been singing the praises of the Chemical Brothers for a year or so at this point and now they'd hit the big time with a chart topper. I was a fan before they reached these heights.

However I couldn't claim the same thing for the commercial dance record that had the biggest impact on me in Oct 96. On an episode of Top of the Pops I was introduced to "Insomnia" by Faithless. I'd never heard anything quite like it and bought the single the following week. However it had previously reached number 27 in the Top 40 the previous year and this was a rerelease.

Now for some future bragging rights. Scooter were well known within the rave scene for being German cheesers. The had 4 Top 40 hits that made the lower reaches in the mid-90s and the final one of these was "I'm Raving", their take on the Shut Up & Dance record. They wouldn't return until 2002 with "The Logical Song" where the mainstream public assumed them to be a new act but I'd refer to "I'm Raving" as and example of them being around for several years.

One of the big rave anthems of the early 90s was "Don't Go" by Awesome 3. It never made the Top 40 though until 1996 when a remixed version featuring Julie McDermott on vocals made the charts. It didn't end there though because another version by Third Dimension which also featured Julie McDermott on vocals charted. My advice though is stick to the original.

I would occasionally listen to Trevor Nelson on a Sunday afternoon on Radio 1, a show that had started earlier on in the year. It made me start to appreciate R&B and the music he played was more of an urban variety.

One such record was "No Diggity" by Blackstreet. My previous reservation about R&B was that it seemed a bit sappy, but this was anything but. It was hip hop with singing as opposed to rapping, though it did have rapping on it courtesy of the opening rap by Dr Dre and a later rap by Queen Pen. One might assuming the presence of Dr Dre meant it was produced by him but it wasn't. It was produced by Blackstreet member Teddy Riley who'd produced for Michael Jackson amongst others.

In the last weekend of October when we had the Helter Skelter Odyssey event at The Sanctuary in Milton Keynes. This was the last event where they release a drum & bass 4 pack, hardcore 6 pack and and 8 pack that was a mixture of hardcore & drum & bass. Following this it was either a hardcore 12 pack or drum & bass 8 pack. The music had now split to the point they could no longer be mixed.

We were however seeing early signs of a split in hardcore. Although the Billy Bunter set was still a happy hardcore set it had a more mature sound than the other sets and the signs were there on what would evolve into trancecore.