Supersister gave us three beautiful singles a few years ago but none of them charted well. Classic pop tracks such as Shopping and Coffee will always be Don'tStopthePop favourites. They had the disco beats of early Atomic Kitten with cute lyrics that PAY-TV would adore. Alas it wasnt meant to be. Which is a total shame!
Millenium suggests something slightly different from their bubblegum pop singles. Its a epic song that mirrors Universal Woman from Robyn's second album My Truth. With a little tweaking this could be still released in 2006. Thats how unusual this song is. Its nothing like Supersisters previous material. To me it sounds like a singalong version of Madonna's Frozen. I've been humming it all day!
If you like Supersister tell us and we'll load up their fabulous pop track Boyz In The Back Seat. And yes they've really spelt Boys with Z as a nod to the gay sex-sauna listing mag published in London.
This has been reloaded and reposted for those who missed it first time. Get the excellent other b-side, Boyz In The Backseat! at the brand new ReallySayingSomething/Boyzinthebackseat
SUPERSISTER Millenium-Reloaded
DUTCH/CRYSTAL WATERS My Time
Crystal Waters (born 1961 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a female African American dance music singer who enjoyed two major pop hits in the early nineties: "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)" (1991) and "100% Pure Love" (1994). She is also the niece of legendary singer Ethel Waters. Thats what Wikipedia says....biography aside...we love Crystal!
My Time is a brilliant pop record & stormed the US Billboard Dance chart a few years back staying at no.1 for ages! But we think this radio edit is a poptastic toon! New acts like Infernal and Rogue Traders have taken this song and traced the sublime drum beats to a superior level but still we adore this slice of dance-cum-pop. Crystal we love ya!
DAPHNE & CELESTE I Love Your Sushi!
Daphne (real name Karen DiConcetto) & Celeste are the very essence of good pop music which is why the duo were ultimately 'bottled' off the stage at the Reading Festival in 2000 (the bottles in some cases reportedly contained urine). For music directed towards kids, those grown up Morrisey lovers acted more childish than D&C's target audience. All we can say is "Up Your Butt With A Coconut!"
Note how that very credible act, Missy Eliot, appears to have nicked the Japanese introduction at the start of I Love Your Sushi.
KLEA Tic Toc
Klea was formed by a producer named Diamond Giza, looking for a collection of like minded individuals he joined forces with Isis Rain and Arch Collision and the trio produced music encompassing styles as diverse as Dub, Soul, House and Pop. Diamond is the producer behind Klea, he also sings and writes and has been known to spend days in the studio perfecting the Klea sound – he has even mastered the art of sleeping on his feet!
Isis Rain is the singer behind Tic Toc and the second member of Klea. She gives the project that most important female touch and she keeps the boys in check! Arch is the shy member of the team, not only does he write for the band he is also an accomplished rapper!
The video is amazing! Shame it flopped! This version is the original radio edit however if you recall the cd maxi release it included a far harder single mix which was more electronic and is just amazing.
MALU Toda!
Max Martin fans might love this!
Its been absolutely ages since Dontstopthepop visited Spain! Malú is a Spanish pop diva who is adored by Spain. She is the Spanish Kylie. Toda! recalls classic Cheiron/Max Martin traits and yet sounds so fresh. We love Malú and we adore the greek male 'hey hey heys' in the end on this gem! This was a massive hit in Spain and go up to any 14 year old Spaniard and they will sing this song without hesitation.
Spain is a land that has provided some of the catchiest pop music in Europe sometimes outshining Sweden and the UK. The only problem it seems classic Spanish acts like Fangoria, Malú, Bea Bronchal and so on never sung in English which has meant a vast of excellent pop music has stayed within Iberian mountains. The material produced by Mecano & Manuel Malou remains to have included some of the best written poetry to ever found itself in a pop song. The real sad thing is that archives of Spanish pop music is left unnoticed while boring Ricky Martin and JLO types are financed by radio stations and record companies who appear to have gone to the lowest common denominator. This is a crying shame!
HOLLY JAMES Touch It
Heading towards the hills of Dorset, Don'tStopthePop celebrates the magic of Holly James!
Holly began to set the foundations of an enviable career at a very early age. She's already had 2 Top 40 hits, as part of girl group Tymes 4, performed across the UK, co-written tracks for an album and been asked to provide the vocal for one of dance music's most respected producers...Not bad for a girl who worked at counter at McDonalds.
Her biggest hit has to be with Jason Nevins but Touch It was big in the clubs. I can't be for sure but I'm sure she's sampled Dannii's Push from Neon Nights on Touch It. This makes Holly James probably the only artist to have ever covered Dannii. For this she should be celebrated!
STRAWBERRY SWITCHBLADE Let Her Go
Lets get personal. I was born in 1983 to a mother who was a "punkpopper". She danced in Taboo, Recession, Dumbfounded and Fucked. I was brought up not in schools or nurseries but in squats filled with punks, pinkpunks, electric-hippies, LSD remainders from the 1970s and the nu-wave queens&kings. I don't remember much of it all being so young but i knew I was surrounded by loving people who'd decided the cultural revolution was still going to happen. Strawberry Switchblade were always in the background & were the soundtrack of lite-disco and reflexive electrosplash that always profused warmth, politics and change.
So returning to the land of Scotland, we've decided its only right, moral & ethical to remember one of the best girlbands' that ever existed. It hails from the very early 1980s but you will hear that Let Her Go is indeed timeless. You can hear traces in all of their records in all the mainstream pop songs of Girls Aloud, Abba and Madonna. It seems culture has completely forgotten about Strawberry Switchblade. All Wikiepedia states is this:
"Strawberry Switchblade was a Scottish indie pop-rock female quartet sporting gothic sensibilities. Formed in Glasgow in 1981, the band became the duo of Jill Bryson and Rose McDowall in 1982, and had a minor hit in the mid-1980s with their song "Since Yesterday".
There is so much more than that! Strawberry Switchblades' material was the sound of the pop future. The b-side to Since Yesterday, Secrets, sounds like nu-Xenomania while the demo tapes recorded when they were still a foursome in their Glasgow squat are Goldfrapp/Franz Ferdinand without those poncy overtones that often restrict the emotional essence of these supposedly post-modern pop acts.
I can't think of St.Etienne, Scissor Sisters or Girls Aloud without some ghost of Strawberry Switchblade haunting the electronic pulsars emitted from such wonderful albums. Stunning!
Things we're excited about!
Mrs.Robinson: they is sooooo hot but DontStopthePop will bring an exclusive track if all goes according to plan. We've heard some excellent tracks so far and all we will say is they might be the new Atomic Kitten for 2006 and they have some great support. Release date due March time. Seeing them live on Monday!!!!
The New Clea Album: Trinity. Highlights include Keep It Cool and Eenie Meanie! DontStopthePop can quite proudly say that they've recorded the pop album of the year! Keep It Cool must be the little sister of Push The Button. Fingers crossed it gets released! We'll be so upset if it isnt! Release due May 2006. Dontstopthepop will bring you exclusive clips from Trinity very soon!
The New Robyn Album: People involved so far include Basement Jaxx. An event! DontstopthePop will be bringing you 2 ultra Robyn tracks called Do Me Baby & Dig It which are not on any release in existence.
The New Cookie Album: Hands In The Cookie Jar. Highlights include Gotta Have It and Stay. Cookie must be the only British pop girlgroup not connected to a reality TV show. Especially with the demise of The Genie Queen. Don'tstopthepop will bring ya an exclusive track from the album soon!
The New Alexis Strum Album: Bad Haircut was probably the most played track on my old Ipod. Amazon lists the release date to be March 2006. Yay!
The New Britney Album: She wants it to be like Kylie+Madonna. The recent Japanese Bonus tracks are a good sign of things to come.
The New Dannii/Kylie Albums: Anything Minogue is something to look forward to!
The Spice Girls Greatest Hits Album: We're not totally sure about this seeing as their solo careers have destroyed the essence of Wannabe.
The Tyler James Album: The Likely Lad II. We've heard a track called Absolutely. Its good. Real good. Watch this space...DontStopthePop will bring ya some exclusive plays from the new album.
The ongoing escapades of both Rachel Stevens/Lisa Scott-Lee: From a sociological approach its always interesting to see the post-modern public diva evolving/regressing into realms of (non)success within the realm of celebrity. The music aint half bad either.
The New Album from Marie Serneholt: So far so good! Check out Cdon/Skivhugget if your not in Sweden and wanna buy it.
The Wigwam Album: Featuring Betty Boo!! Betty Boo!!! So the lead single aint much Boo but we're sure the rest of LP will be fine.
The Louise Nurding Album: Also working with Basement Jaxx!
The return of Javine: Nuff said really.
STELLA SOLEIL Kiss Kiss
The "original" version of Holly Rachel Vukadinović's (aka Mrs.Valance) massive hit single is dusted down on DontStopThePop! This actually is a sad moment as Stella has released a new album that is a total rejection of her pop anthology. She's gone all Kylie/Impossible Princess.
Anyway, we love her earthier version of Kiss Kiss and going by Tarkens vocals scattered throughout the track itself we know which version he prefers!
Stella seems to have been pretty done over with this album as Lene Nystrøm Rasted also covered Pretty Young Things thus stopping Stella from releasing for it herself.
SIX Let Me Be The One
This is the band that Nadine of Girls Aloud should have been in & for a time Six actually didnt have Six members in it! This was of course because Nadine wasnt allowed in the band after makers of the tv Show that formed the band, Popstars, found out she was too young! The managment was furious and made sure Nadine got involved in the British PopStars show the following year. Her place in Girls Aloud was a dead cert.
Our favourite Six 'classics' were this obviously this one, the debut A Whole Lot Of Loving, Its In Her Kiss and Love Really Hurts. They've only released one album but that album, ironically called THIS IS IT, is everything a pop album should be. Sadly its pretty full on the ballads but includes the very very very first appearance of the helium sample that later appeared on on that awful Akon track. Our favourite song title ever invented in the pop world has to be the very papal-like The Man That Made Me A Woman. Beats all those wonderful country n western song titles!
Anyway Let Me Be The One begins very slowly but evolves into a fabulous example of what pop music should be when its brilliant! Sadly this little slice of pop was the last ever Six single. This makes us cry*
*Well not really. But the boys were very cute. Even if the pic above doesnt illustrate that fact.
MARY KIANI 100%
Mary Kiani, aka Mary Queen Of Scots, sounds like the music of Gina G and the voice of Kristine W. In other words: she is utterly amazing. Or as the Clea girls would say "mazing, totally maaaaaazing!"
Mary hails from Scotland and her appearance on DontstopthePOP is rather special because I remember dancing to her as a 16 year old when she appeared at my secondary school. We connected immediately. Strangely the pop world has totally forgotten about Mary Kiani even if she was the first to grab the talents of Motiv8 and her album sounds strangely like a hybrid between Cher's Believe album and Gina G's Fresh. Rather it should be said that it was probably a prototype: the future of pop music with a touch of dance.
She has had several top 10 hits in the UK, legendary dance tracks like "I Imagine", "When I Call Your Name", "Let The Music Play" and "With Or Without You" were all huge hits for Mary in the UK and beyond. She also had a number 1 hit ("Real Love" - 1991) on the US billboard chart with her band The Time Frequency.
A new album is coming up!
SANNE SALOMONSEN Teardrops In Heaven
So to our first Danish entry! This is to celebrate a close friend of DontStopThePop! who'll be leaving to lecture at the University of Copenhagen! Gonna miss ya!
Sanne Salomonsen is a well established Danish musician becoming rather much like a fixture on the Danish wall of pop sound with her first material with the band The Sneakers who remained on the charts continuously from 1979 to 1985. As a solo artist she has released so many albums. Too many in fact!
Recent material has utilised key DontstopthePop favourites such as Ruby Amanfu who submitted Suga, For Life and Morning for Sanne while Sarah Whatmore handed over such as Love Like I Do to Sanne on the 2005 release of "Sanne:The Album".
TearDrops From Heaven featured on Sanne's 2003 album Freedom and written by Soren Rasted!!! Don'tStopThePop adores it! Its a real nod-ya-head-kick-up-ya-heels anthem!
ALL SAINTS 1.9.7.5 Lets Get Started
To celebrate the reformation of the All Saints, Don'tStopthePop has dug really really deep into the pop archives and gives you one of their first outings as a completely different band. All Saints 1.9.7.5 were originaly launched as a threesome to kick at the heels of the super girl group Eternal. The original drive for All Saints 1.9.7.5 was to rival Eternal by being far more poppier than the soulful/rnb direction the Bennet+Bryan girls were clearly heading towards.
The outfit consisted of Mel, Shaz and Simone Rainford and were originally called Spice but after talks with ZTT Records they quickly renamed themselves All Saints 1.9.7.5 which was a clear reference tothe band founders' Simone and Shaznay's age.
By 1994 the complicated recording sessions delivered the girlbands first single, Silver Shadow(pictured) which stormed MTV late night preview shows and the three girls performed throughout the UK. Already falling apart at the seams the band fired a second single If You Wanna Party to the UK but the track simply didnt work. Smelling complete failure ZTT dropped the band.
With rumours spreading that Virgin had signed a super girlgroup, London Records immediately swooped in where ZTT had flown off. The following years would see massive complications with band members, producers and the record company all trying to second guess Virgin Records and their brand new signing which was of course turned out to be the Spice Girls. Due to record company politics and legal complications Simone was pushed out in favour of a girl band that looked more like the Spice Girls instead of Eternal who were finished by this time. Simone had left the band before the release If You Wanna Party but had momentarily rejoined the group straight after ZTT had dumped the band.
However, in a bid to control the infighting+look more like the Spice Girls, London Records rid of Simone and brought in two Canadian sisters, the legendary Nicole and Natalie Appleto wWho'd eventually cause more complications than solve them.
By the time the newly rebranded All Saints had secured the no.1 with Pure Shores London Records had had enough of the debauchery-the second album was continuely delayed-and thus were already grooming a new three girlband who were in the form of the original All Saints 1.9.7.5 line up: the almighty Sugababes!
Lets Get Started was re-recorded by the second All Saints line up on their debut LP but as you will hear the original is quite different. Recalled Lets Get It Started, it wiped out Simone's vocals and I remember reading that a court case ensued which I have no idea as to the outcome. Produced by Kylie's favourite producer Johnny Douglas and released in Japan. BUT NEVER EVER RELEASED IN THE UK! As such this is an ultra rare track and we hope you guys enjoy it!
AFRO-DITE Rivers Of Joy
Afro-Dite are Blossom Tainton-Lindquist, Gladys del Pilar and Kayo Shekoni and most famous for releasing one of the catchiest Eurovision entries in existence, the rather iconic Never Let it Go. Naturally they hail from Sweden and possibly long defunct by now but DontStopThePop remembers them well. This pop gem taken from what is there, sadly, their only album.
They woz robbed!
TARA BLAISE Paperback Cliché
Lyrically this is one of our favourite pop songs in existence. Tara Blaise is a female pop singer from Ireland. The eldest of six children, she was born in London, but at the age of three her parents moved to Ireland, so she grew up in the rambling hills of Aughrim, County Wicklow. She was previously in a band called the Wilde Oscars which just a brilliant name for a pop band. Expect big things from Tara this year for beyond success in Ireland her material is now zooming up the Spanish charts.
Paperback Cliché starts off quite timidly but whirls into a catchy chorus that will have you strapped down before its finished. If you like Alexis Strum you will adore Paperback Cliché. 2006 is Tara's year! We think she m
HOLLYWOOD BRATS Then He Kissed Me
Long before The Ark/Scissor Sisters, The Hollywood Brats were THE band that you'd take your boyfriend on the second date back in the early 1970's. Every concert featured the boys in pink lipstick, womens clothes or butch leather chaps drapped in purple feather boa's. Which was quite an amazing thing considering the 1970's was a rough year for civil liberties in the U.S regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation.
If it wasnt for The Hollywood Brats The Ark would be shooting blanks. So in the same year as legal weddings for same sex couples Don'tStopThePop naturally thought that for every sad ballad that Chumbawamba write theres always a happier side to life. Formed in 1972 the Hollywood Brats were Punk long before the term was invented...this is of course a cover of the Crystals iconic hit single.
CHUMBAWAMBA Homophobia
Right, forget what you've read about this band or what you've heard. They've done a number of excellent electro-folk slashtrack albums that are usually stained with political lyrics and always absolutely stunning. This comes from their Homophobia EP/Anarchy LP and recalls what a ballad actually should be. There have been tons of club remixes done of this song but we prefer the stripped down original.
They cite Madonna, Kylie and Karl Marx in their FAQ praising the aforementioned ones for deconstructing the "heteronormative" and "paternal" hegemonies in Western society. Pop needs its polemics now and then.
FRANKIE/IDream Waste Your Time On Me
Be prepared to be shocked. For this song is amazing. If your not fan of the S Club machine don't let your fears pre-judge this epic pop anthem. If there was ever a song about being an "diva" this one has to be it! I can see Kylie, Madonna and even Victoria Beckham relating to this song.
So the guitars appear heavily influenced by the The Sound of the Underground instrumentals...all is forgiven by the middle 8 when Frankie stipulates "I wanna save the whale! And start a charity! BUT JUST AS LONG AS I CAN KEEP ALL EYES ON ME!"
This will blow your mind.
PS. She wants to Save the Whale! Has any pop song ever mentioned whales before? Just amazing!
RINGSIDE Struggle
Some would say that Americans aint pulling their weight when it comes to good pop music. Really? Look hard enough and you'll be surprised.
This is Don'tStopThePop's second boypop and again, & like Kubb, Ringside are pushing our notions of what pop music should be. Essentially we think Struggle reinterprets the thumping baseline from Kylie's Can't Get You Out Of My Head and throws mud at it with amazing results.
Yes the two boys are holding hands in the pic. Yes the lyrics are "milk the milk boy you just might get some insight". Yes indeed.
One is a son of Getty and one was a fashion designer for Gwen Stefani. This is the latter, Scott, describing himself in his own words:
"My name is Scott Thomas...I'm a real softie. I am a thirteen-year-old girl, trapped in a thick-bearded, skinny-legged, street fightin' man."
KUBB If I Can't Have You
& now for something absolutely 'new'+different!
Our first ever BoyPop offering comes from the 'very now' British pop band Kubb. The album, Mother, slides into an beserk All Saints/The Ark/Sister Scissor trinity of sounds. This eventually culminates in a Tyler James/Amy Winehouse/Kylie singalong zone of absolute 'strange-pop' musak which will consume. Highlights of the album must be Wicked Soul, Remain, Chemical & of course Grow. Mother has to be the album of the year. Please ignore all the comparisons to Keane/Coldplay who are no way near as catchy as Kubb and never will be. If I Can't Have You sounds very much like an older brother of Scissor Sisters' Mary. Strange, beautiful and addictive. We also think lead singer, Harry, is stunning.
Kubb is an outdoor game where the object is to knock over wooden blocks by throwing wooden sticks at them. The word "Kubb" (rhymes with rube) means "wooden block" in the Gotland dialect of Swedish. So now you know!
Oh and with performances on CD:UK and Popworld and a nomination for Channel 4's Best New Band For 2006 award at this year's Smash Hits Poll Winners' Party...Kubb could be symbolic of the sudden shift in Smash Hits to return to its hey days. Shame it was too late for the publication. However it did give us Kubb. Don't miss this band!
ALL BOUND FOR MOO MOO LAND!!!
LUCY WOODWARD (There's Gotta Be) More To Life
While we're on the subject of originals Don'tStopThePop! presents the original version of (There's Gotta Be) More To Life by Lucy Woodward. This is of course was a hit single by Stacie Orrico whose version can't be played now without somehow thinking of Kelly Clarksons Since You've Been Gone. Lucy's original was never supposed to be a single as she recorded it purely as a demo to tout to companies. As you will hear the demo is very low quality and it certainly doesnt have the amazing singalong ambiance that the Orrico smash hit did. Lucys version was later brushed down on the re-release of a Japanese version of her brilliant debut album, While You Can, a territory where Lucy is massive.
While You Can includes some brilliant tracks that we're sure Kelly Clarkson was playing while recording her recent LP. Check out the amazing version of Its Oh So Quiet on the Ice Princess Soundtrack. Far better than Bjorks 90's cover!
TRUEBLISS Don't Turn Your Back
Now its time for a bit of Pop history...TrueBliss started it all. They were massive in New Zealand after the TV Show, Popstars, put together Joe Cotton, Keri Harper, Megan Alatini, Carly Binding and Erika Takacs to form the first ever Popstars related act.
If it wasnt for TrueBliss you can forget about Darin, HearSay, Edens Crush, Girls Aloud, Clea, Will Young, Bardot, No Angels, Preluders, Bro'Sis, Sarah Whatmore, Hi-5, Lollipop, Six, Bellepop, Magnolias de Acero, Roser, Carmen Miriam, Excellence (XLNS), Supernatural, Johannes Kotchy, The Cheeky Girls, Rosie Ribbons, Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia Barrino and Carrie Underwood........
The album, which eventually evolved into Dreams, was recorded in just one week. Considering this its is amazing: an electronic hinterland that takes hold of the 1980's and shakes it for all that the decade was worth. Sadly the band never managed to release the follow up album that had been recorded despite the success of the debut that included tracks by Madonna and George Michael. Dreams also included a cover of Kylie's cancelled follow up to The Locomotion before she teamed up Stock/Aitken/Waterman Getting Closer.
Online resources are pretty quiet regarding TrueBliss as the discourse surrounding Popstars primarily focuses on the judges, Bardot and Girls Aloud. Its as if TrueBliss have been wiped from the music halls of fame. Well not at DontStopthePop for we'd never turn our back on them. Not only did you produce great music in such a short space of time but if it wasnt for you guys its possible that a great great great pop music would be nothing but a fantasy. So when your playing your fabulous Girls Aloud 3rd album remember that somewhere in between the tracks is the spirit of TrueBliss!
TrueBliss...we salute you
NANNE Fördomar
Sometimes its heartbreaking that for every Cookie the court of Stockholm will raise you threefold. For every Rachel Stevens the realm of Göteborg will send over Robyn. For every Girls Aloud the caves of Malmö will give you Army Of Lovers, Alcazar, BwO and so on. And always "and so on". For every Madonna discopop album that samples ABBA, the shores of Gävle will give you not just a paltry snippet of popbliss but ABBA in totality. The long line of pop luminaries is always endless. It is the land of pop perpetuality. One cannot talk of pop music without always recalling the musical output of Sweden.
From the university halls of Uppsala to the peaks of Kebnekaise, The Kingdom of Sweden (Konungariket Sverige) has produced some of the best music ever known to humankind.
The UN must do something about this clear unequality. In the meantime, all us pop lovers can do is simply indulge on all that is Sverige and you can't get more pop than Nanne Grönvall. Like Arielle Dombasle, Nanne traverses along a number of genres, mostly rock, opera and disco, and thus creates her own.
COOKIE Wishing Well-2005 Version
Damn they were sexy! Damn they were vocally brilliant! Damn they all had exotic names! Moreover should I be excited that that baseball bat is gonna be used for anything but sporting ventures? (DONTSTOPTHEPOP makes a little yeep!)
Cookie are a four-piece girlband made up of Marianne, Tahnee, Aimie and Montana. They used to have another singer who was in the original line up for super girlgroup Girls Aloud but she also pulled out of Cookie too. With no money they thus had to re-shoot the videos and completely restart their promotion with a new member, Aimie. This was a very a costly exercise.
They were doomed. For some strange reason the debut single, erotically called Do It Again, was more Girls Aloud than Girls Aloud and thus the song totally flopped.
A period of supporting Girls Aloud while on their recent tour amounted to nothing. Most of the tracks they recorded for the album, Hands In The Cookie Jar, were recalled by writers who didnt want Cookie to sit on their 'hit singles'. Sadly the same thing has caused problems with Clea's new album however Clea have survived this fickle nature of songwriters and publishing companies. We're totally not sure that Cookie have. The official website, while still pretty much all there, remains without updates and the forum has closed.
Wishing Well comes from Cookies 2005 recording sessions. Strangely another doomed girlband, Made In London, also recorded this track and check their version below.
ROBYN When I Think Of You!
Yes is a cover of the Janet Jackson hit single!!!!! And yes its sung by Robyn!!! Today we celebrate Robyn as we hear through the boards at PopJustice that she's teamed up with Basement Jaxx!!!!!!! THIS IS BIG!
What more can be said. Robyn is a DONTSTOPTHEPOP favourite...indeed its named after her hit single/album: Don't Stop The Music.
She's about to embark on a massive promo tour of Europe & will release Crash and Burn Girl over in Sweden! She did the video this weekend gone!
Todays selections are completely live but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't let that disparage you! These tracks are absolutely stunning.
When I Think Of You is a HIGH quality dat recording of Robyn's tour of her Don't Stop The Music album at the Malmofestivalen. Because of this it might take some time to download the mp3. Its well worth it though!
Robyn proves that pop music can be amazing live. Who needs guitars? Only if Robyn is singing with them!
Everyone sing with me now...."Hey baby ravish me, love me till it hurts..Don't you dare to leave...button down my skirt...Kiss me quick I'm about to burst , patience ain't my thing............"
BONUS TRACK: ELECTRIC-Live at the Concert of the Decade:Electric was her lead single from her second album and as you will hear, she really pushes the original to uncharted lands. Watch out for the swear word please!
ATOMIC KITTEN Something Spooky
"If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst forth at once in the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One... I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
This was Oppenheimer's-the creator of the Atomic bomb-attempt to describe the otherwise indescribable. The music you are about to hear are by the explosive band Atomic Kitten. They did their best to remain uncool in a period that desired the anti-Spice Girl formula-so much so Spice Girls gave us, Forever, the very produce of the nonSpiceGirls idiom- and thus Atomic Kitten evolved into the uber. Atomic Kitten came about when even the Spice Girls were ashamed of what they had done to the music charts. The Spice Girls had spiced up the world charts and with their Darkchild direction they suddenly turned into monochrome. Something Atomic Kitten were not prepared to ever let happen to them.
Atomic Kitten were borne out of an growning unease with happy music. They quite clearly shouldn't have been signed. Atomic Kitten gave us something Spice Girls were unable to on Forever: A dance/pop dance set list with a few uplifting ballads. Indoing so, they burst into the pop universe and were always going to be iconic so much so that a copycat band came out-the sublime Supersister-which is probably a true sign of Atomic Kittens significance. They set the pace, they destroyed the given and yet the magic that was evident on all of their material, even the Jenny Frost tracks, was an indescribable texture of Atomized pure pop!
Atomic Kitten were the kind of girls who'd perform their hit single The Tide Is High at a Tsunami Relief fundraiser.
Something Spooky is a very strange AK classic and probably recorded when the direction for the band was still unclear. You will hear that it is more rocky than any of their other material. It sounds like a long lost gem from the Go Go's demo tapes. An excellent track which was abused by the fact was given solely b-side existence. Shame! Twas the theme song for CBBC's Belfry Witches. Excellent!
ARIELLE DOMBASLE Cara Sposa
On a very recent trip to Paris, I stumbled upon Arielle Dombasle. She is married to French philosopher and writer, Bernard-Henri Lévy and quite a well established actress. However with the voice of a French Cecilia Bartoli, this inclusion makes her the first opera singer to find herself on DONTSTOPTHEPOP. Even if your not a fan of Opera you will love Arielle Dombasle whose Liberta album must have been on heavy play by William Orbit, Mirwais and Madonna throughout Ray Of Light+Music. Indeed Arielles L'ange Amoureux is a Baroque understudy of Sky Fits Heaven. However we prefer Cara Sposa for it even begins with a beautiful French reappraisal of love which involves into an Italian plea of resolution.
This is not solely opera, this is pop music at its most innovative: the ability to be both groundbreaking, timeless and historical all at once. It is hybrid. It is geneological. Cara Sposa thus encapsulates the very essence of Nietzsche condemnation of origin.
Pop music at best reminds us that nothing is "essential" and Cara Sposa entails this journey. It is nothing and yet dramatic. Is it heartbreaking and chillingly hilarious. One must remember that Pop music is not an exact thing nor is any form of the given: to downplay particular music as crap just because it appears to remain banal in comparison to more worthy musical expressions, such as Bob Dylan, is clearly and quite sadly essentialist. Pop music is not an culmination or something that it is not rather is part of a geneological commodification of our environment which is as in Entstehung. It is always. Cara Sposa informs the historian that the search for total knowledge is impossible. Everything is an profusion of everything which is always coming even as the abject Other.
MANIA If You Need A Good Girl
As other websites are celebrating Brian Higgins and Miranda Cooper(Moonbaby), DONTSTOPTHEPOP thought it would only polite to rejoice Niara Scarlett and Giselle Sommerville. In following the footsteps of Made In London, these two girls have produced some of the catchiest melodies and written killer lyrics ever known to pop music for other artists such as Kylie, Cher and Savage Garden under the guise of the pop powerhouse Xenomania. The two girls released two singles, an online track, which we'd love to have and album promo that remained just that, an album promo.
If You Need A Good Girl came as the flipside to their first single Looking For A Place To Go as very much a Xenomania anthem. Give it sometime for it work its charm on you for it starts off pretty mundane but it slowly builds into a stunning polemic of bitchpop. Love the thick beat and watch out for that rude word too.
MADE IN LONDON SPECIAL Collection of Songs
Made in London have been quite a success here at DONTSTOPTHEPOP. Their Dirty Water is the most devoured track on this website in the short history of its existance. So much so Dirty Water is no longer available for download. So DONTSTOPTHEPOP has decided it is time to remember Dirty Water and a number of other their other rarer tracks. Included are:
Wishing Well-A cover of the D'Arby hit single.
Shut Your Mouth-Their second single. Starts off like a nice Natalie Imbruglia track and turns into a Memphis Belle singalong classic and evolves into a rock anthem of Robbie Williams Let Me Entertain You proportions which somewhat recalls Samantha Fox's Touch Me.
Dirty Water-later covered by Bardot.
ENJOY!
KRISTINE W The River Divides
From two European pop divas, we travel to the US to the beautiful Kristine W. Often maligned by many as a dance artist who solely appeals mainly to a gay club scene which is certainly true to an extent-indeed she has more dance no.1's than Janet and Madonna in the US- however we feel her vocal talent and material is criminally underated.
This stunning track comes from the Japanese release of her second album Stronger which also featured one more bonus song Who I Am which recalls the latter days of Stock/Aitken/Waterman. River Divides is somewhat similar to Robyns Say You'll Walk The Distance and evolves into an epic cry for unity and love. According to her website The River Divides was provisionally going to be the lead single but the record company got cold feet & went with a club friendly dance track which is a shame as this song really explores new pop spheres not only for Kristine W but in general as its actually quite unusual. It sounds like the middle man between Madonna's Frozen and Kylies Confide in Me. Which we think is always going to be a good thing.
Kristine W has collaborated with the team behind Faithless, Dido and Dame Patti Labelle herself, who along with Atomic Kitten, recently covered KW. She has suffered from cancer and according to Wikipedia her first hit, All I Need Is Your Love was a success on R&B radio until it was found out that Kristine was not an African American female and thus immediately refused to play the song. Kristine W has just released her single I'll Be Your Light and you can buy all her material at ITunes or her website.
ANNA VISSI vs PANDORA On A Night Like This
Let the battle commence! On one side you have Anna Vissi the greek pop godess and on the other you have the Swedish Ice Queen of dance music, Pandora. Anna Vissi is otherwise known as "Thea" (Goddess in greek) while Pandora, in Greek mythology, was the first woman on earth...
Both recorded On A Night Like This about the same time, Anna performed it first while Pandora released it on CD before anyone else. Both well established divas pegged On A Night Like This as the song that would launch them into international superstardom. Pandora recorded it so as to make her name in UK while Anna Vissi had hoped the song would take her to the US and TRL.
Promotional plans were created in the buildings of record companies with each artist probably dreaming of pop deliverance! For Anna Vissi On A Night Like This was to be the lead single from her first ever english language album Everything I Am. Previously selling absolutely-and we mean ABSOLUTELY-millions in her domestic market, Greece, this song was gonna shoot Anna into the stars. Anna was even a personal favourite of Tommy Mottola and this new album, with all the hitwriters, was Sony Musics attempt to fill the massive void left by the departure of Mariah Carey. Nothing could go wrong...not even Anna's "diva issues"...
In a colder area of Europe, Pandora was working on her new album No Regrets. Now Pandora hasnt sold as much as Anna Vissi but she does well and is big in Japan. She's probably elated that the same people who gave Cher her massive comeback album, the song writing/production team Rive Droite Music/Metro, are helping her out. On A Night Like This is gonna launch Pandora into the stratosphere. With famous hit writers on board record company interest in Pandora transpires and the first sphere for chart dominance would be the UK. Nothing could go wrong...not even Pandoras lack of funds...even the majors are interested!
Then..during the summer Anna Vissi+Pandora begin to hear On A Night Like This on the radio. Things are going as they should be. Or so they probably thought. Something wasnt quite right. Anna probably immediately knows it isnt her song whereas Pandora probably has to listen a bit closer to the speakers. Most probably.... for....
Another far more established artist has released it with an amazing video and sings it infront of one billion people at the Sydney Olympics thus making the song totally hers. Sony records can no longer use On A Night Like This as The Minogue/EMI have quite clearly blagged it for themselves. Moreover Rive Droite seemed to have gone with the artist who is guaranteed to sell more. Thus, Anna Vissi spits blood on her website stating that this Australian diva had no right to take HER song. Then she finds out that technically she also covered the song. Thus she hushes up. Anyway she has Sony who'll simply choose another song to make her American dreams come true....cut to 2006 and Anna Vissi is representing Greece in this years Eurovision.
Pandora is the most we feel sorry for just because shes less established and her version is exactly the same as Kylies. At least Anna Vissi's version was a completely new take whereas Pandoras original sounds is a carbon copy of Kylies even down to the pleasant harp strums in the verses. It also messed up the whole album as the UK record companies could not launch an artist on a song that was already in the charts. Pandora was also told through her fans on her website that someone else had covered her song which not only a caused major headache with the whole No Regrets project but also meant she was the last to know. This makes DONTSTOPTHEPOP sad. The record company basically froze her out. At least Anna V had the weight of Sony to back her up while Pandoras stardust plans were wiped. No one touched her in Europe. Thus, No Regrets was officially only released in Japan.
As Pandora puts it "me and Anna lost the game to Kylie". In the end neither won the cheese even though they both fought to the bitter end. For both Anna and Pandora, their albums that contained On A Night Like This bombed. However since Everything I Am, Anna Vissi returned to singing in Greek and gave us one of key albums of 2005, Nylon, which pushed Annas total album sales to 10 million throughout her career and eventually achieved success in the US when her 2004 song Call Me was no.1 on the Billboard dance charts. Not bad for a lass from Cyprus. Pandora has recently returned with her wonderfully titled 9 Lives LP which must be like her 14th album to date. She goes from strength to strength and is a musical force to be reckoned with.
The song itself isnt THAT good. It sounds like a poor Cher reproduction of the Believe album tracks Runaway and Taxi Taxi. At worst it sounds like a reject from the 1997 Girl LP by Dannii Minogue. On second thoughts its Ok but its not all gravy as Christina Milian would put it. We can see why Kylie tends to completely re-do the song on her live shows.
(Thanks to Nish+Alex)
ANSHELLE Dancing In Solo
To celebrate the alledged sappho love between Jupiter and Dannii Minogue in todays trash papers we bring you SwissPop boxer/dance diva Anshelle! Not purely because of her sportastic merits but for the womens lib lyrics "leave the MAN at home YO!" on this very ditty.
DONTSTOPTHEPOP thinks Dannii+Jupiter should release a dance cover of I Got You Babe. I'm sure AATW are booking studios and contacting the estate of Sonny as we speak!
As for Anshelle, we don't know much about her as her website is pretty bad. Her album is an example of nervous pop producers not sure of how much they can expand the genre of electropop. It sounds like she's been listening to a lot of scandipop particularly Arash and Robyn but shes clearly not as confident as a Swedish pop maestros. Which is a good thing as at times music from the aforementioned shores can be so good its too good. Like having the best icecream and then getting brain freeze. There are flaws on Anshelles' album and for this we like as it means she can improve on something that is already grand.
Anshelle writes all the tracks on the album. Not thats anything harp on about but DONTSTOPTHEPOP certainly thinks she'll be a songwriter that we'll of hear again. Its a combination between Goldfrapp, Kylie, Franz Ferdinand and The Ark.
Yay for Swisspop! Yay for Sapphopop
Sunday Kind of Bliss!
Pop Show Party-Some might say that British pop music is dead. However PopShow reveals a subculture of acts pumping away regardless of lack of 'record company interest'. Acts have included DONTSTOPTHEPOP favourites Clea and Cookie. Next show is on the 14th of feb. It is THE place to be seen and its all for charidee! Go to the forum to check out the many unsigned pop artists such as Evolution and Charlotte Stevens. Totally educational.
Club Contact-Further proof that 'music with a catchy melody' is still alive and well in the UK. Previous acts have included Pay-TV. Every thursday at Juno. Respect!
Dirrty Pop!-Nietzsche and pop! Never! DONTSTOPTHEPOP feels Nietzsche is of course misplaced especially with the recent downfall of Smash Hits. Rather, Dirrty Pop should read Judith Butler, Deleuze or even better the often misunderstood Hegel!
BARDOT Dirty Water
We have no idea why the original bombed. Made In Londons Dirty Water had everything. Crossed all the genres and typecasts. It was rock, rnb, girl-pop, guitar disco and even engendered a sense of something grand or operatic. The same multiplicity was repeated on the early demos for the epic Nothing Good About This Goodbye by the equally amazing Alexis Strum some years later.
The prologue recalled Janet Jackson and Kylie Minogue at their finest and all with evil slicks in very London accents. When the first “chorus” comes in it is so London it hurts. “Why did I BOVVA?” immediately takes the listener to Camden Market without being too Vanilla.
The strings, drum beat, operatic harmonies, British couplets and simple chorus reveals Dirty Water to be one of the key singles of any music history. This song, with its hardline lyrics, straight up delivery and the feature of two choruses rather than one, is a pinnacle that secured the future of Girls Aloud. We might have had too much Middle class vino but DONTSTOPTHEPOP believes this to the song of the millennium. Although it wasn’t noticed by public at time of release, it will take centre stage at any museum exhibiting ‘poplife back then’ in 2760 AD.
It was later covered by Australian popstars Bardot who got rid of the introduction. THAT’S THE BEST BIT! They thus zapped the life out of the song. If we’d had not heard the Made In London original, DONTSTOPTHEPOP would like-but not essentially love-their version. However as the original is so strong, Bardot are unable to eclipse Made In London. Their voices are weak, the music sounds base and the polemic anger in the voice has completely gone. They sound like they are complaining about the lack of organic milk at their local whereas Made In London appeared to be about to deck you after too many vodkas. The depth of original was totally wiped out on the cover much like when Rachel Stevens buggered up Nothing Good About This Goodbye last year. Bardot seemed to have lost all character in the “why did I bother?” rant and instead perform the lyric not with disgust nor frustration but instead slight irritation. Like missing a bus.
The sweeping strings have gone as have the beautiful backing vocals. Bardot have given us some wonderful music in their short career but they utterly butchered a pop music gem.
But that’s just DONTSTOPTHEPOP’s opinion. If you wanna hear the original just check above.
OPTIMYSTIC Loves Gone Mad
So Smash Hits is over. Gone! Not that we've read it since they went into boyband hyperdrive after the demise of the Spice Girls. However Smash Hits was a pop institution and its closing reminds us all of the ongoing need to keep traditional pop music alive. Wipe away that tear and leave a message over at Smash Hits forever: while listening to Optimystics Loves Gone Mad.
Optimystic were Steps with the music of early Take That. They featured quite heavily in Smash Hits who recieved them as the next biggest thing since er Take That circa 1995. They were the Take that but with two girls. Pop is genius like that. Optimystic were Ian McKeith, Stuart McKeith(brothers!), Bryn Downing, Shola Finni and Selina Charlier: we miss u all so much! They had three chances at the British pop charts and completely flopped despite the two cutest men in the band being nude in most of their publicity shots. The Optimystic album sleeve 'HeartBeat' featured one of the guys gripping his rude bits in a clenched fist. The start of Loves Gone Mad actually starts off sounding like you've accidently recorded the soundtrack of a gay porn flick with all its macho grunts and 'uh uh uh uh ah ah ah'. They were quite clearly before their time!
Most of their material was of course produced, written and mixed by the master of 90's pop music Ian Lavine which makes their rare album of no less than 18 tracks, one of the best mid-90's albums of er the mid-90's. Tracks included Best Thing In The World, which is er actually like the best thing in the world. Optimystic were THE very essence of Smash Hits. Indeed in the Smash Hits Alphabet under O came the all important question "Optimystic... Have the been dropped yet?" (Mark Sutherland!).
JONAS HEDQVIST I Am What I Am
Now back over to Sweden and we celebrate two queens of Swedish pop music with one song. Everyone will have heard of this anthem but this particular version really does utilise the song in all its glory making sure the chorus is more like a command rather than a mere declaration. Naturally this was the theme tune of Stockholm Pride in 2001 where Jonas shared the stage with a newly reformed Army Of Lovers.
Jonas is of course Mister Gay Sweden from a few years back and we think hes rather tasty. We love the way his Swedish accent literally perfumes the 'sparkle/spangle' expresion. This cover also includes the striking vocals of the sublime Shirley Clamp!
As for Jonas hes is now in a band that looks to be the new Alcazar(pre-Magnus) called Backstage. They have a new record out called Once A In A Life Time. But thats all according to his website which is all in Swedish and try as we might, when we read Swedish we feel like we've had too much brandy.
Which is a good thing. Enjoy Jonas debut single!
ANGEL Mama's Little Girl
Staying in the wilderness of US pop music, Angel gave us rather a cute album in the form of Believe In Angels... Believe In Me. This particular song takes the form of a beautiful lovechild between Robyns Don't Stop The Music and JLo's Play. & believe us, this is rather good thing.
Angel is quite a new act and is probably mostly known for being kicked out of the girlgroup No Secret. However we think with the looks of a prettier version of Paris Hilton and lungs of a restrained Christina Aguilera Angel will go far. She's currently recording her second album so watch out for Angel. Shes not gonna take it lying down.
NIKKI CLEARY Hated
Following in the footsteps of Gonnabees, we have another beautiful ode to Americas homecoming queen. Hated is a sweet summer singalong song with lyrics you'd expect from a drag queen on acid. Or a bratty teenage girl. Or a bratty teenage boy dragged up and on acid: uniting both super bitch catagories. It starts off with a Goldfrapp drum beat but then evolves into something like a 1960's TV show themetune. For this we adore Hated.
It is thus quite cleary obvious why it ended up not on her brilliant debut album but on the motion picture Mean Girls. Nikki has yet to really break out and has a record company who appear to whore her music on nearly ever Lynsay Lohan soundtrack. Which we love.
While we wait for her second album to come out we suggest you buy her debut album creatively titled Nikki Cleary over at amazon.com. Its like a Stacie Orrico album but with a bit more melody you can dance to and no silly rnb slicks.
