Helena Paparizou's Teardrops has just hit Greek radio and is expected to be huge. Its glorious power ballad of the type we've not heard for sometime. See the camp performance here.
Staying in Greece, it was the MAD TV music awards last night. This is very much like the MTV/The Brits but for Greece. The stars of the show were the aforementioned Helena who kicked it all off with a cover of Let The Sunshine In/Aquarius and Michalis Hatzigiannis who walked away with four awards! Check out his brilliant duet "Tonight" with Reammon and "Heria Pslla" on his myspace. Dontstopthepop fav' Peggy Zina won best video but being a true diva that she is wasn't there to pick it up. Classy!
Its London's Gay Pride today. Darren Hayes and others will take to the stage in a bid to improve the rights of sexual minorities around the globe. And to promote their latest pop products. Nice! I look out outside of my window and its raining. Hopefully the sun will appear as a soggy rainbow is no fun.
Dr.Who (nay David Tennant) is appearing at the event for some reason. As will the Dr.Who finale. Already its featured MyFly and is rumoured to have a blink and ya miss scene from Kylie. However I spoke to the guy who runs Holy Moly and it seems as her part was filmed before she headed of to Italy three weeks ago its very unlikely its been done in time for tonight. Talking of Kylie, her material with Groove Armada is said to be "Blondie-pop". Much has been made of Beyonce at the BET Awards and her "tribute" to Kylie's amazing start of the Fever Tour. Check out the closeness for yourself....
Popjustice waxes lyrical about Natalie Imbruglia's new single Glorious but Pinkiedust over at YouCallThatLife trumped them all the way back in March!!!!!
According to that idiot Louis Walsh the Spice Girls reunion has delayed the all important Boyzone chinwag. I hope Dannii farts in his direction during the X Factor shows that begin, sadly, this August.
The latest single by No Angels has bombed in the chart German charts. When I say "bomb" i mean a huge fart in a lift. No.36! That is awful! They deserve it though for going with "Maybe" as a single. They should have gone with either of the Agnes Carlsson covers "I Believe In You" or "I had A Feeling". They are re-releasing the album soon so expect another single but they better choose the song wisely or it will be a very short-lived reunion.
Robyn's Kleerup collaboration With Every Heartbeat has been c-listed by Radio One. This is brilliant news.
Lily Allen was surprisingly nice on the Friday Night Project last night. She pretended to Amy Winehouse and produced a new song called "Lidl Rebel" with Alan Carr and Justin Lee Collins. Hear the cute mess here.
Mike of PoptrashAddicts continues to set the pace with his latest update on "Gay Pimp". This man, Mike, deserves a BloggerAward for, er, bestblog like E-v-a-h. He makes me "shake like a freak". Which is a good thang.
While PopPosterGirl goes AWOL, that other poster girl of pop Britney is called to join the True Colors Tour by one Cyndie Lauper. J'ason of ChartRigger exposes the story behind the latest tabloid drama effecting the sublime Mrs.Spears. Is it me or is there something a bit ridiculous about a Gay and Lesbian Tour? I don't know but I doubt a concert featuring stuff like "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and Erasure will ever re-order the political structure that causes margonilisation and heteronormative violence. To me its just another conceited effort to wrench out more money out of a group under a promise that it will somehow deliver queer justice (or as they put it "human rights"). If they've ever spent one hour reading about history surrounding human rights they'll know they are barking up the wrong tree. Read this, its well worth it. Simply put, human rights are created and granted by the very same institutions that have taken them away so steer clear.....
Coming up tomorrow? Something very special: A girlband are appearing on Dontstopthepop to say a few words as will a DSTP reader! Stay tuned!
POP NEWS!
Bugger the Spice Girls! Ricki-Lee is back!
Yes she quit the Young Divas and is back with her new single Can't Touch It and it's hot! A bit Gia Farrell, but a lot of fabulous!
Ricki-Lee achieved two top 10 gold-selling singles in her adopted Australia (she's New Zealand born) with Sunshine and Hell No! and another top 20 Breathe but her debut album stallled at #30. She then joined the Young Divas project and we all know how well that did. Now she's breaking free and her new song is awesome!
make sure you get a copy of it when it's released on 4 August. In the mean time enjoy this lower quality radio rip.
The Spice Girls Are Back....(but what about Nonstop, SOAP, TrueBliss!)
A few months ago there were stories in the press that placed doubt about this band ever reuniting. Mel C screamed "never", Victoria "pouted" and Simon Fuller shrugged his shoulders. However, by the start of the year I'd been informed by quite a reliable source that the Spice Girls had actually already signed on the dotted line. So let me just take a little moment here to plump and ruff up my feathers and do a "I told you so" shimmy ala Grace's mum from Will & Grace. Ok.....done! Seriously though, when I said it was the year of the girlband I meant it! I won't add any more that you've probably read already other than one hopes NonStop of Portugal, Soap of Denmark and TrueBliss of New Zealand follow suit with immediate effect!
Anyway, check out this Reuters video-clip of the Spice Girls walking about and taking photo's in the grounds of The Royal Observatory in Greenwich. Note how Geri has developed into Edina Monsoon's younger sister.
GIRLBAND WATCH
Other girlbands to look out for this summer
Caracola: The poptastic Swedish girlband plan to release not one but two albums this year.
Raen: One of Australia's most exciting pop acts of the moment have recorded what are destined to be dancefloor anthems.
Lucky Twice: Already selling quite a lot in Spain, Lucky Twice have just released their album "Young & Clever" and it is already making sure its one of 2007's finest pop L.P's to own.
Slinkee Minx: Another Australian girlband that have just released their latest single called "Way Of Life". An album is expected very soon.
Monrose: The German popstars go from strength to strength with their latest offering "Hot Summer" produced by the Danish maestro Remee.
Other exciting girlgroups that have yet to confirm 07 releases but its likely: Girlband (OZ), Young Divas (OZ), Soccx (GER), Serebo (RUS), Wir3 (Ger), Pay-Tv (SE) and B-Tween (SE).
I tell myself it's just a blue day
Well we ran a little check and if Don't Stop The Pop were a film we'd be classified NC 17 in the states because we use words like gay, sex, hell, pain and pussy.
Isn't that glam!?!
Almost as glam as Nicolette's Blue Day single from 2000. It's hard to believe it's that old! I've loved this song ever since I heard it and today I heard it for the first time in ages and it has taken me back, so i thought it's time to share it with the world!
Nicolette got to the final 15 for TrueBliss in the first ever PopStars. She then released a couple of singles, Blue Day (#20) and Harden Up - which didn't chart in NZ but made #70 something in Australia. She featured in a few movies like The Vertical Limit, Savage Honeymoon and the just-released Quiet Night In. She was also a stuntperson for Gabrielle on Xena: Warrior Princess.
Farewell La Toya Week
Yes a sad week indeed. No Angels are set to miss the top 20 for the first time ever and La Toya Jackson Appreciation Week is coming to an end...
However to celebrate such a great festive week we shall finish up with a track from all of her albums!
La Toya Jackson (1980)
The debut featured the already featured If You Feel The Funk and Are You Ready. It spent 11 weeks in the Billboard Top 200 and was reissued last year. It also features her collaboration with brother Michael, Night Time Lover. Michael is also apparently famous too. A bit of a slow-burner but a classic gem of an album!
My Special Love (1981)
Toy's sophomore effort was little more polished than her debut but only spent 3 weeks in the charts after a poor performing debut single in the Billy Ocean cover Stay The Night. The highlight far and away however is Special Love, possibly her best performed track ever - her vocals are lush and dreamy just like the song. This album is quite rare and has only had a limited CD release with copies going for $400US on eBay!
Heart Don't Lie (1984)
Containing her first ever Billboard Hot 100 hit with the title track (her first music video too), Heart Don't Lie spent six weeks in the chart and sold well enough for new label Private-I to commission a follow up. This is probably La Toya's most accessible album with each track being a classic 80s gem! Featuring a brilliant cover of Prince's Private Joy, it contained another Billboard RnB hit in Hot Potato - which also became her first charting single in the UK.
Imagination (1986)
This album is such a classic that La Toya even forgets about it in her best-selling autobiography. It didn't chart, although it had one Billboard RnB hit in He's A Pretender and Baby Sister won the "Outstanding Song Award" at the 1985 World Popular Song Festival in Japan, where Toy performed the song live with younger sister Janet on backup vocals - Janet too apparently was famous too.
La Toya (1988)
La Toya really threw down on her Teldec Records debut. Teaming up with Full Force for You're Gonna Get Rocked, it became a #42 smash hit in New Zealand, another Billboard RnB hit (almost making the Hot 100 at #103), and her second charting song in the UK. It's also a classic La Toya video. This album featured Full Force producing one side and Stock Aitken Waterman producing side two with classics like (Ain't Nobody Loves You) Like I Do and (Tell Me) She Means Nothing To You At All. An essential 80s album and easy to find on eBay. 
Bad Girl (1989)
Bad Girl is legendary for having been issued on various small budget labels more than 50 times and counting. The only La Toya album still in print (aside from the debut album) this is the easiest album to find and probably her biggest seller because of it's ease to get. However I think this is her poorest album from the 80s, with only the hilarious Sexual Feeling, a favourite of Kelly Osborne's and the brilliant Do The Salsa being memorable tracks for me.
No Relations (1991)
Released as a tie in to her autobiography, No Relations featured her last mainstream top 40 hit in the camp house anthem Sex Box which hit #25 in the Netherlands. This also featured her own version of the Grammy-nominated Reggae Nights which La Toya herself wrote for inclusion on Heart Don't Lie but gave to Jimmy Cliff to turn into a worldwide hit.
Formidable (1992)
In 1992 La Toya was the star attraction at Paris's infamous Moulin Rouge. A soundtrack was recorded and 3,000 copies pressed before La Toya broke her contract and left. This item is probably the most sought-after in her entire catalogue. Most of the songs are in French but she does a camp as version of The Locomotion that leaves Kylie to shame!
From Nashville To You (1994)
This also appeared in a double disc set with Lynne Rose Garden Anderson as The Great Ladies of Country and surprisingly La Toya holds up well in country music. Highlight is definitely the poppier tracks like Trash Like You which is screaming for a proper pop cover! 
Stop In The Name Of Love (1995)
Possibly the worst album in the history of the world, La Toya was forced into recording this by her abusive husband/manager and the vocals were laid down in an hour (and it shows) and then put over the top of bad karaoke Motown classics, including those of her brother. The only decent song really is Tears Of A Clown which has an almost decent vocal performance, probably because La Toya - being abused at the time - could easily relate to the song. A true low point which has to be heard to be believed. 
Startin' Over (2008?)
La Toya's comeback album has been promised for four years or so, it was preceeded by the Billboard dance hits Just Wanna Dance and Free The World - possibly the gayest hand-in-the-airs sogn ever. It leaked in it's original form in late 2006 including the brilliant Should've Left You. However it was decided the whole album will be redone, and now it's on hold (again!) and it probably will never come out... La Toya may be testing her fans loyalty with it, but if the leaked tracks are anything to go by it should be glamorous!
Now that should've whetted your appetite for more La Toya - if new tracks come we will let you know. Also make sure you check out the Church, the Church's forum, and La Toya's Sex Box - a La Toya only blog - for more La Toya goodies and pick up her debut album at Amazon and get rubbing your big back door!.
MAX RAABE Around The World (La La La)
Lady Marmalade-Much better than the original. Christina-who? Patti LaWhat?
Around The World (La La La)-The best version of the song....
Blue (Da Ba Dee)-A cover of the Italian Eiffel 65 but such is the brilliance of the Max Raabe you start to imagine its the German version that's the original...
Oops I Did It Again-This takes you to the Weimer Republic instead of bald Britneys. Suddenly it becomes a Kurt Weill lost gem. Wait till the end!
Max Raabe is the kind of act that DontStopthePop had always intended to feature but never got round to it. In fact, Max Raabe is a perfect DSTP sort of act and it should shock no one that he's German. A few years ago my boyfriend (from central west Germany!), brought home one of his Cd's and informed my naive brain that it was the best thing since buttered bread. And Max Raabe really is.
While the UK tends to look down on quality pop songs, Max Raabe re-invigorates them with the just fruits they deserve. Classics like ATC's Around The World and Britney's Oops I Did It Again are analysed and mixed with tools that scream 1920's rather than Almighty/Metro. Indeed, Britney's Lucky is remixed and utterly improved into a ode that Edith Piaf might have performed when she was still kicking her little feet.
You might think that this is merely an extended novetly-gag. But the sheer brilliance of the production of, for example, Around The World (La La La) exposes something that the original(s) could have never ever realised. Why? Because Max Raabe knows pop and pays its respect by, and I quote himself here, understanding the "music is the key". This doesn't just re-morph the original song, but collapses time, post-modern pop culture and the Weimer Republic. His takes on Blue (Da Ba Dee), Let's Talk About Sex and Lady Marmalade are comic to be true! But they also contain an absolute musical quality, a sense of macabre and lots of blushing winks. All of which makes his covers absolutely beautiful...
Max Raabe is a revelation.....
Buy his a music on Amazon.de
See his official website here
Toy and SAW - a match made in heaven
Yes the above picture is really how it should have been...
In 1988 La Toya teamed up with the kings of 80s pop Stock Aitken Waterman for what should have been her biggest success...
However rather than using (Ain't Nobody Love You) Like I Do as the lead single and get Toy her first hit in the UK, the Full Force produced You're Gonna Get Rocked was chosen instead and while that rocked on to #42 in New Zealand, #103 in the US and #90 in the UK, I feel that teaming a Jackson with SAW was a lost opportunity. After the flop of You're Gonna Get Rocked no further singles were released in the UK. In fact Like I Do's video seemes to have only got airplay in Continental Europe where the single apparently made #17 on the German charts.
Another single produced by SAW was released in Europe, that being (Tell Me) He Means Nothing To You At All. Toy sings "she" in the song but the record company obviously didn't care enough to correct the spelling on the single. It didn't have a video and didn't seem to chart anywhere...
These two tracks are essential for lovers of SAW and Toy alike!
ITS A POPWORLD AFTER ALL!
Its DSTP round-up
-DontStopthepop doesnt usually do this. But "we" haven't done it for some time so lets get on with it. A few months ago I said all the "doomin' and "gloomin" surrounding the the Spice Girls reunion was all to bring the name back into public manifold. Well theres been a few hiccups but they're still on course for a reunion and a greatest hits package. Just watch The Friday Night Project tonight... Typically the wonderful journalist Victoria Newton exclusively revealed that the girls were "re-releasing" their greatest hits. Which is interesting as there have been Spice Girls' dolls, crisps and cameras but a greatest hits package? Don't be ridiculous!
-The amazing new LuckyTwice album "Young And Clever" has been released through their Spanish record company ValeMusic. Oddly for Sweden its behind the game and is planning to release the Cd in September. Get it before that through the Spanish store Nicole Kidman adores ElCorteIngles. Talking of which, here is the sublime performance of L-T's huge hit Lucky by some Spanish Big Brother contestant. I adore her and she is amazing!
-Its Gay Pride in London tomorrow. "We" hope you all have loads of fun. Especially PaulofTheZapped variety!
-Good Luck to Shirley Bassey! Her Living Tree is currently finding its roots at Glastonbury. So she's the replacement for Kylie! Who cares! She's a diva and she'll show them all how its done.
-This is 50 Cent playing with a some huge dildo. This is the only time such an individual will ever appear on DSTP.
-Back to class! Robyn's remixes of With Every Heartbeat are ripping through the dancefloors of East London clubs. Sadly for fans the Cd won't feature the version of the song that had extra 'talky bits'. Maybe for the Swedish album thats in the works for a winter 08 release?
-DontStopthePop is currently falling head over heels with the Australian popband Raen. Please, please please support indie pop acts by going by their website and spread the word!
-Taking of which, pay your respects to Mike of PoptrashAddicts. "I Aint Playin" is pure pop bliss! Nobody does it better
-DSTP will have three members of a girlband guest appearing on the blog! I will say nothing more at the moment but stay tuned....
-Other up n coming contributers include Pinkie!, Chris and my fellow super NSP'er Ricardo!
-Things that make you go hmmmm. At least they coulda provided a link to purchase the sublime album they released....thats all i ask for!
K3-GIRLBAND LEGEND!
Borst Vooruit-One of the campest songs ever produced. Take the theme tune to Superman and weave it over Your Disco Needs You and you've got the campest song since In The Navy. Gayer than a Betty Midler singing in the San Francisco bathhouses. It has one of the most exaggerated productions ever known in the history of pop music. OTT!
Ik ben een klein geel visje (Help!-I'm A Fish)-Ok, you know this song. It was also done by Creamy (girl group from Norway) and Little Tree's (girl group from Denmark).
Superhero-K3 totally reinvent themselves with a rocking out pop song.
Leonardo-This song takes you Ireland. Brilliant use of the fiddle. Or, whatever that instrument is!
Verliefd-K3 at their best! This song starts off rather slowly but turns into a great pop song!
K3 hail from Belgium but are also absolutely huge in The Netherlands. Since launching back in 1998 they've released over ten albums all of which have scored top ten places due the fact that the producers have squeezed as much pop on the cd's as is possible.
Aimed at kids but also to pop lovers in general, K3 have their own German "younger-sister" band who have just covered K3's first hit released all the way back in the heady days of 1999. Such was the brilliance of K3 and their pop, Wir3 can still have a hit with a song thats over 7 years old. So K3 are Karen, Kristel, and Kathleen and they've had a string of T.v shows, clothing ranges, computer games, spin-off bands, tours, musicals and fames all centering around the girls. They started off as a camp kiddies pop band backed by the T.V station Studio100 but have grown up and moved on.
Although they have a kids as their key demographic, K3 have become poptastic polemic that stretches far beyond pre-teens. Indeed, Robbie Williams and, gulp, Pet Shop Boys have all gone record to announce their support for the band. One of their songs, "Tele-romeo", even sounds like a mash-up of Kylie's Turn It Into Love and PSB's It's A Sin. They've tried Eurovision (watch the rather nervous attempt here) and as the video for the original Heyah Mama reveals they are willing to get down on their knees to service a half-naked man on a beach. Noice!
So as I was saying! Unlike Wir3 who are clearly aimed at young'un's K3 have evolved into a Bel-NL superband with a drag show dedications and Dutch teenagers remixing their material to hardcore baselines. In fact there are a multitude of dedications to the girlbands you'd be here forever listing them all.
Musically, K3 must be placed at the extreme side of bubblegum pop. However they are willing to rock out in the catchiest way possible (check out their performance on Top Of The Pops for proof). This is why they are girlband legends. They might have reached just two countries yet the material they continue to put out is timeless and completely over the top. They take a bit of B*witched, some of Ace Of Base, schlager, S Club 7, lots of ABBA and add a touch of their own to produce a wild statement of sheer pop. This is the type of music that doesn't care that its never going to win awards or receive acceptance by music aficionado's. On the contrary, its so external to the world of Amy Winehouse, Kylie and Girls Aloud it resides on a planet of pop that cartographers refused to map. One of the most interesting things about K3 is that they are one of the few 90's girl groups still around!
Look a bit similar to Kylie's Your Disco Needs You performance? I thought so too! Take their track "Borst Vooruit". It sounds like the Superman theme song fused in with Your Disco Needs You. As a result, its one of the campest polemics of pop I've ever come by. You feel as if your marching off into a rainbow war of peace, smiles and flowers. K3 present a world of brilliant togetherness which is helped by the "exaggerated" production, soaring strings and the sort of camp melodies you've not heard since The Village People stormed into the showers of the YMCA and the navy. Listen to Borst Vooruit and you'll see what I mean. When not marching into the Castro, you'll find doing a jig with their odes to the carnival like the cheerful "Ya Ya Yippee" and "Leonardo".
In the Navy! Considering the dollops of pop found in the albums I'm quite surprised that the internet is pretty dry on the band! There is however a brilliant fansite on the group that details all their releases up until 2006. Besides the official website thats about it. So now, hopefully I can restore the balance and pay K3 their dues. Only because the girls have been doing it for for ten years and with nearly two studio albums released a year its about time I grabbed the girls and say "thank you". Ladies, gentlemen, pop-lovers, kids....raise a toast to K3! One of the oldest and still functioning girlbands in Europe!
You can buy all their albums at the brilliant Dutch website BOL.NL
Check out their Official Website
Next up on DSTP: more Latoya, Robyn and of course more girlbands!
Guys on the floor rubbing my big back door!
As we continue with La Toya Jackson Appreciation Week, we jump ahead to modern day La Toya and her much delayed new album.
After a long hiatus La Toya returned to the Billboard charts in October 2004 with Just Wanna Dance, the first single from her upcoming album Startin' Over. Several awesome remixes were issued and the promo was issued to clubs under the pseudonym of "Toy" to remove any stigma attached to her name and it worked as it became her biggest hit ever on the Billboard dance charts. A commercial release however didn't happen as her record company Ja-Tail had no distribution deal. However they do now and we're promised that a rejigged Startin' Over will be coming soon and will be full of pumping club tracks - we can't wait!
Just Wanna Dance attracted a whole new fan base to La Toya, so take a listen to the Vibelicious Radio Edit and see if you can resist!
Check out an unofficial music video edited by Jaime of the Church of La Toya and a drag video to one of the hot mixes.
WIR-3 Heyah Mama-WARNING!-GLOBAL SUMMER HIT ALERT!!
Heyah Mama has the potential to be this years Las Ketchup so learn the lyrics now and you can be prepared! Wir3 are a girl-group from Germany and they've just released what could be the summer hit of 2007. Its actually already been hit (but for their big sister band-but more them later) and is expected to squeeze its way in Spain, France and German-speaking countries of Europe. A full blown tour has already been penciled in and its promising to be an exciting few months for Vera, Lina and Linda. Influences? B*Witched, Ace Of Base, Amy Winehouse and er K3!
With a brilliant pop video to go with the rather catchy song, you might be hearing Heyah Mama in your corner of the world eventually whether you like it or not. Why eventually? Well Wir3 are actually a sister band of K3 from Belgium and Holland. Who (I hear you cry!). K3 are a very successful girlgroup who are aimed at kids but have some of the catchiest music ever recorded in the history of pop. Think Amy Diamond with a bit of Banaroo and you've got the superband K3 summed-up. They'll feature tomorrow as "Girlband Legends" so I won't go on and on but I will discuss them with reference to Wir3. K3 was an idea spawned by T.V station Studio 100 a Dutch broadcasting company with rights in Beligum where the girls are also very successful.
The brilliantly poptastic video for Heyah Mama by Wir3 with dance routines and primary colours galore. Flowers check!; butterflies check!; ladybirds check! addictive pop song? CHECK!
They launched themselves in 1999 and have never looked back. There are T.V shows, T.V films, musicals, games, clothing ranges, remix albums, dolls, films, and so on all based around the phenomenon that is K3. Tomorrow DSTP will paying respect to the Dutch/Flemish supergroup so more will explained then. K3 are such legends that they've go their own franchise of spin-off girlbands planned for 2007.
What!? Yes, Wir3 is the first of these spin-off groups and they've launched themselves in the safe market of Germany with a cover of K3's 1999 hit single Heyah Mama. Personally I prefer the newer version only because they've made it a lot more catchier than its original. Compare the two for yourself by watchin' this Dutch sublime news report on Wir3-K3-
The people behind the band are wondering whether to take Wir3 in English-Spanish markets or to bring out domestic versions of the band in each respective country. BBC, the people behind the Teletubbies and S Club are currently in discussion as are Scandic broadcasting networks. What is sure, Heyah Mama is one of the catchiest songs released this summer. Wir3 have recorded Heyah Mama in English so it seems that we can expect much more from the song. As I type, my boyfriend has translated a Afrikaans website and there's a "K3" for South Africa launching this summer too.
Thus, Heyah Mama has world domination in its sights! And what a brilliant song it is! Last year DSTP predicted Lucky Twice and their single to be huge in the markets it came out in. The platinum discs handed to the Swedish girlband the other day attest the songs' success.
The success of Heyah Mama is a lot easier to take a gamble on only because its already a hit and theres broadcasting superstructure to back it all up. Still, if the gray clouds are blocking your sunshine today just play Heyah Mama and you'll be feel the white sands in between your feet in no time!
NB: Wir3 are touring Germany on the same tour of SummerPOP-07 so if your in Germany and nearby go and boogie!
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Tomorrow K3 take their place as a legendary girlband so expect some of the campest/poppiest songs ever recorded. Also more Latoya and perhaps something Robyn!
COMPETITION!
To celebrate La Toya Jackson Appreciation Week, DSTP is giving away her fabulous debut album which was issued on CD for the first time last year (well aside from an impossible to find Japanese version from the 90s).
To win this stunning masterpiece, all you have to do is print off this poster (it's black and white A4) and take a pic of yourself with it somewhere that people might see it. Maybe you could put it up in your office, school or cafeteria?
Anyway the glammest photo will win plus achieve worldwide fame on here! Quite easy really! Just upload the pic to imageshack or somewhere and post the link in the comments section!
And while we're at it let's have another glam track from her debut album, If I Ain't Got It.
BeFOUR Magic Melody (aka Around The World)
Its ATC(A Touch of Class) Juniors/Teens! Do you remember the wonderful band A Touch Of Class and their sublime song Around the World. They were absolutely huge in Germany with their La La La (Around the World) which was an epic slice of euro-pop that remained at no.1 for over five weeks selling over a million singles. It certainly improved on the original Russian template of the song that was composed by the Russian dance maestro Ruki Vverkh. ATC also made it a top 40 song in both the UK and U.S. Well, that was then and this is 2007!
Germany will see the release and launch of Magic Melody under the auspices of BeFour; a fabulous pop group that is ready to sweep the European charts. Its often said that pop music is dead. Well its certainly not in Germany where the list of successful pop acts reads like a shopping list of DontStopthePop's most wanted. Let me see, what do we have here? Monrose, Soccx, Bisou, Us4, Chipz, YooMii, No Angels and of course Banaroo. It would seem that if your pop act and you want to sell loads without going all electric, try out the German market first. Melanie C certainly has!
BeFour consist of Manou, Alina, Dan and Angel. As Magic Melody has only just been released this week it won't be on DSTP for download. Instead, I suggest you buy the fabulous cd through Itunes or order through Amazon.de. In the meantime keep yourself clucky with the sublime video promo available above. In a stroke of mere genuous the video recreates the "construction of the pop band" and the flaws and pit-falls that they face. Yet, thats the actual video itself. Odd? Deconstructive? Self-reflective? Go and play it! If not for all the intellectual moments then for the bit when the blonde boy does a Patsy Stone from AB FAB and the photo shoot falls on top of him. My other favourite moment in the video? When lots of white stuff goes over the faces of the lads.....
The CD single also comes with a fabulous b-side called Flying Around The World which sounds like A-Teens mashed up with Scooch at their best. In other words, buy buy buy!
Welcome to the most important week in pop history
Yes after months of preparation we are kicking off the first annual La Toya Jackson Appreciation Week. The purpose of this is to bring the joy of La Toya to you all.
Now you may think you know La Toya... The Playboy covers, the eccentric fashion sense, the badmouthing of her brother, the psychic helplines, the abusive husband, the video tours of the world's top sex clubs, and the TV faux-pas of Armed & Famous. The list goes on. La Toya's fame has always been about her antics and those of her brother. What is often overlooked is her music.
La Toya has released nine albums and a tenth, Startin' Over, is on the way - and has been since 2002! Her success has been relatively muted in comparison to her siblings, but she's scored hits on charts as far afield as New Zealand, the Netherlands, the USA and Germany. She's a Grammy winning songwriter and has recently made a comeback on the Billboard dance charts.
So forget what you think you know about La Toya and let the music speak...
If You Feel The Funk
It seems appropriate to start right at the beginning of La Toya's esteemed music career in 1980.
If You Feel The Funk was her first international single and is an infectious slice of disco pop and the shrill second verse is pop heaven. However it arrived a little late to ride the disco wave, peaking just outside the Hot 100 in the USA (although it was a top 20 dance hit). In Europe it was received a better reception, making #42 in Germany and #18 in the Netherlands.
La Toya said in her biography La Toya: Growing Up In The Jackson Family that she was uncomfortable, being a devout Jehovah's Witness, with the sexual overtones to it, which are quite tame compared to her later works. However her father and manager Joe Jackson insisted she record it and we are glad she did!
No video was made but she performed the song on a number of shows.
A great start to a great career!
Album version mp3
Once you've fallen in love with the track, head over to Amazon and buy the reissue of her debut album which was achieved after much effort by the legendary Church of La Toya website. If the reissue sells well enough her second album will get the reissue treatment - and that's worth it solely for Special Love!
Official Church of La Toya promotional video for the 2006 album reissue.
Legendary Wellington Diva La Toya JackSin throwing down to a La Toya medley including If You Feel The Funk at an 80s night.
ROBYN RETURNS...an early review
On thursday Robyn arrived in Camden and took the stage with wild abandonment. Overlooking the famous canal, Dingwalls was rocked-popped to its foundations. The crowd waited outside venue at eight while Robyn herself sat in coffee shop preparing right next to them. When it was her time to enter she appeared from the darkness and kicked off with an amazing take on CobraStyle. Consisting of pure atomic energy, she then blasted into the dance monster of Crash and Burn Girl. I went with my Pop princess in crime Steve who shouted out "I love you Robyn" and she turned her head and replied with "I love you too, baby!". This fused into a rip roarings versions of Who's That Girl and Bum Like You. At Cargo she forgot the lyrics to Handle Me. Not this time. It was a tight ship tonight and it refused to hit any ice-bergs despite being as cool as snow.
The hyper string of songs exhausted the audience and after Konichiwa Bitches Robyn finally slowed down with her performance of Eclipse. Now, Eclipse is a bit of a favourite of mine so it was brilliant to see Robyn take on one of her hardest ballads she's recorded in her career. Considering Eclipse came half-way through the entire show, it proves Robyn has a type of energy that rivals a sun in transcendence. She danced the hardest, she sung the bestest and barely lost an ounce of composure. Her audience on the other hand were already dripping with sweat by the time Handle Me hit its second chorus.
With Eclipse done, she launched into Be Mine. The concert hall exploded and chanted the ode to emancipation with Robyn. When Robyn did the talky bits about the scarf she'd given her ex who'd given it to "Whats her name" a bunch of fans screamed out "BITTTTTTHHH!!!!" and Robyn smirked! Be Mine led into the current single With Every Heartbeat. With Every Heartbeat is a polemical song that requires restraint and a whole lot of emotion. As such it can be done dreadfully in another's hands. Robyn handles the gem with care and basks her vocals in the stunning Andreas Kleerup production. This song will be huge......
She left the stage but the audience refused to allow her go as we all screamed encore in Swedish. She came back and launched into two amazing performances of Keep This Fire Burning and Show Me Love. This was followed by Jack Me Off and an acoustic version of Be Mind. With that, she departed and sent up for the champaign.
The day afterwards she took to the stage at Wireless and ended the poptastic week with the chilled aftershow party at Sketch. Much loved up, Robyn leaves her audiences with a smile, content and yapping about the show afterwards. Thanks once again....
(I know she also performed Dream On but I can't quite remember where it came in the set...it was amazing but I perhaps a bit fuzzy...)
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Things coming up Robyn-wise: pictures of the amazing night, bits and pieces, random news and gossip!
Credits: Robyn, Steve, Grace, NileOn, DEF and Marlies!!
Critical webspaces: Robyn.com
Critical Myspace: RobynOfficialMyspace
With Every Heartbeat Video (new)
DEUCE Life In The Street [DSTP Reader Dan's Post!]
Forward: Dan, a reader of Dontstopthepop has decided to take the helms with this update. He has picked a rather poptastic rare gem by Deuce and written a little something on it. Enjoy it peeps and take it away Dan..
A while ago on DSTP, we had quite a big reaction to an unreleased DEUCE song, which was recorded as a demo for the 2nd album. Here, however is a song that WAS released, but i'd hazzard a guess that most fans either don't know about it, or haven't got it.
The song was recorded for a coronation Street compilation album, as a duet with actress Sherrie Hewson. Sherrie is not a singer, so provided a talk/rap to the song.
The song was released at the end of Deuce 1.0's life. When the band were asked multiple times about when the new video (for Let's call it a day) would be filmed.
"at the moment we're concentrating on the Childliners single and the Coronation Street Album". The song is very europoppy circa mid 90s... but in fact is actually quite catchy and even Sherrie's rap is kinda cool.
Many Thanks to Dan, for letting me know about it, and also for buying the CD so we could have the best version! Coming up on Dontstopthepop? Robyn!
Oh and the next reader to guest appear on the blog will be Pinkie!
Support acts of yesterday year by buying music through the brilliant resources such as Amazon MarketPlace and Gemm Music
ROBYN With Every HeartBeat-The New Video (as subtle as the song...)
So here the new video for With Every Heartbeat. The original one was done by the very talented mister Fredrik Skogkvist which you can still check out on his blog. It was actually revealed to the world on the old Dotmusic site but the link has been ever so fragile. Working sometimes and then not at all. So thanks to Tommie its here in all its glory. Lovely!
Patrick Nuo is amazingly back again
Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE Patrick, but how the hell did he make it to a third album when the infinitely more successful Holly Valance and Rachel Stevens can't?
Only one of his songs, the infectious Beautiful, has ever made the top 10 anywhere (in both Austria and Switzerland). In fact in Germany where he's based, he's never even had a top 20 hit, and his last single Watchin' Over You missed the top 50. Yet amazingly he's about to release a new album unimaginatively titled Nuo, which must mean it's all deep and oh so personal. [After listening to it I can say this is not the case - it sounds just like his last stuff!]
I seriously think he must be sucking a lot of cock to allow this because it makes no sense! He's got a great voice, and a lot of great songs (see 5 Days, Undone, Gone) and he is without a doubt the most beautiful popstar in the history of the world ever, but he just doesn't sell records!
However that doesn't matter. Enjoy his new single Too Late which continues his run of flawless hits (we're gonna ignore the shit that was Girl In the Moon which was a well-deserved flop). And by hit, well it charted at #83 which makes Girl In the Moon seem like a hit in comparison but it was still shit.
Slinkee Minx are back!
After what seems like far too long, Australia's hottest girlband are back with a new single Way Of Life. Slinkee Minx were included in our girlbands countdown and debuted a couple of years ago with a cover of Belinda Carlisle's Summer Rain which hit the Australian top 5. Follow up Closer/Careless Whisper made the top 40, but third single, Someday, only made #55 when it clearly had top 10 written all over it!
Now they're back with Way Of Life which is out this week. If you like what you here, support the girls and buy the single from Sanity, or iTunes.
Glam!
MISSMATCH Unabashed-Full Legal Download!/Album Review
The girls of MissMatch have very nicely allowed DontStopthePop share the album track "Unabashed". See it as a gift, a treat and its all perfectly legal as the girls have granted us full permission to share this rather poptastic song from their brand new album "Just Push Play" which you can buy/listen to if you click the links below the review. Thanks girls!!! Click here to download "Unabashed".
A few years ago a Swedish singer called Robyn altered pop music as we know it. In her “audio communiqué from Konichiwa Records Headquarters” known to others as the introduction to her “Robyn” L.P it was stated she was "a two time recipient of the Nobel prize for Super-Foxiest female EVER, and wartime consigliore to the Costa Nostra.” Well this years Nobel Prize for “best bitchen” pop album of 2007 goes to two girls MissMatch whose “Just Press Play” album takes on the challenge Robyn and raises the standard of what pop music should sound like.
They are MissMatch. You might have recognised MissMatch for they tried to represent Sweden at this years Eurovision but the country voted for a very retrospective band rather than selecting a sound that smelt of nothing but future. After a little chat with the girls they said their greatest influences were “Gwen Stefani, Lenny Kravitz, Prodigy, SugaBabes, The Sounds, Robyn” but take a little listen to the album and you’ll accept that they’ve managed to break barriers of pop music. As such “Just Push Play” is a rare example of a unique and concise pop polemics which reveal a super-strong battery of turbo-powered music.
The journey begins with a prelude that orders the listener to sit back and relax. According to the girls “you will feel 50% happier in just ONE week!” and by track two the smile around your face will be wrapped around the entire room. Your Ipod, cd machine and speakers will be thanking you for playing such brilliant music (trust me on this).
Consisting of uberglam girls Carin Ekroth & Emma Göransson, MissMatch begin their journey into pop by eyeing up everything that went before and stub out the rivals with a wink and a quirky baseline. The keynote song “Breathe In/Breathe Out” recalls the early sunrise over the cliffs of a summery morning with a diet coke in one hand and a fresh bag of fish n chips in the other. The girls state its their next single and you can hear why. If you liked Rachel Steven’s/Alexis Strum’s “Nothing Good About This Goodbye” you’ll find pleasure in the upbeat electro ballad. Except MissMatch update the well-traveled path of softcore electropop by exposing a raw vulnerability in the moment that leaves you unsure whether the singer of the song is upset or glad. The story is complicated, beautiful and unable be resolved with a quick lyric and thus resembles an unusual realistic take on the genre of the ballad.
“Say It Like You Mean It” is a traditional MissMatch song as it brings the beat right to a dancefloor frenzy that Sweden is infamous for. They claim that they are “second to none” and that “you’ll be sleeping in my bed” which makes them sound like the true ladies of girlpower we were once promised by the Spice Girls but all the British band delivered was kitchpop songs dedicated to their mum's and piss poor merchandise. By the time you get to “Whatcha Gonna Do With That Thing” your wet for a bit of sex talk and MissMatch refuse to disappoint. If my English A-level teacher taught me well I’ve learnt to decode lyrics and I've gotta sneakin' feeling the girls have actually composed a song about willies!
When they say “you gotta power that is greater than a gun” and a “friend that will never let you down” you get the feeling that that they singing to the space in-between you legs rather than your face. You know this for sure when the bridge consists of the cute chant “people say that size don’t matter that’s a lie-I know better!” which leads to demand to “follow me as I go down”. The experience is brilliant as its backed-up by a brilliant electro guitar melody so as to construct the entire epic “chat-up/sex-talk” scene in some grungy underground nightclub.
This leads to the song of the album “Unabashed” which the girls have exclusively offered to readers of DontStopthePop! The song is dedicated to the girl who wears lipstick, has far too many men, refuses to grow up and wild hair. The killer line is “I guess you think its hip to be square” which acts as a middle finger to rules and regulations. You know exactly where MissMatch stand with regards to transgression. The pumping baseline forces the location of the battle of this well honed debate of rationality vs passion firmly on the dancefloor. Suddenly “Unabashed” becomes an anthem for people who’ve rebelled against authority, lived for the night, don’t fit in, dream of shimmering worlds of love, sex and desire. They kick the shit out of the argument that these queer members of society are “in a phase” and instead the girls call these people “unabashed”. Personally, I think this is a perfect way to describe population of the insurrection.
Once MissMatch get to song entitled “Let’s Make The Baby” you might think they are sneaking around the bins of Natasha Beddingfields early demo’s for “I Wanna Have Your Babies” but the assumption is severely misplaced. Rather, MissMatch describe the dirty brilliance of the process of procreation rather than giving birth itself. In short it’s an invitation to strip down, spread the legs above your shoulders and lube up. They scream that “there’s a rocket in your pocket, plug it in my socket and give me an electric shock” to leave them “big as a balloon”. Quite!
In conclusion, Just Push Play is one of the dirtiest and funniest albums Sweden has ever offered the pop fan this year. Each song whether its the one’s mentioned above, the Eurovision attempt, their song dedicated to “Sinners”, or their epic dance track “Don’t” which Girls Aloud would love to record, absolutely raises the bar of pop music. In fact the entire album is the L.P any British pop act would die to release. Girls, you have done yourselves proud!
Thanks MissMatch for allowing DontStopthePop to share "Unabashed". Enjoy people of the pop generation!
Buy the album at Cdon
Check their official website where you can hear the album
Sugar in the marmalade!
Who says that good addictive pop music must be made by girl bands, Australian pop princesses or Swedes that are clearly bonkers? While the pop world owes its continued survival to the aforementioned, one shouldn't forget that most of the world's people live in Asia and it is to Hong Kong that we turn to bow down to the brilliance that is Leon Lai.
He's a very successful singer and actor in the Far East (which is actually West of where I am!) and was to star in a little movie called Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon but due to touring commitments he couldn't.
Now I can't find out when the utterly addictive Sugar In The Marmalade came out but it is a class A pop track that will be totally stuck in your head, even if you can only sing a couple of lines!
This is a bit of a new direction for DSTP, so let us know what you think!
NKD QuickSand
The girls - Nicky de Lange, Kesha Charlton-Perkins and Deidre Visse - have just won their first award in South Africa for best musical newcomers. They got their name much in the same way fellow girlbands Clea/RAEN/EMMA got their names. NKD hail from South Africa and were formed out of its first Pop Idol shows. As they've featured online quite a lot recently for their biography I'll give you these two links as they drive home the girlbands genealogy much better than I could ever do. So instead I'll point you in the direction of a brilliant music store where you can purchase really cheap South African musicians like DSTP icons Shine 4, Hi-5 and of course NKD's debut album where QuickSand comes from.
The track itself is a perfect slice of pop that recoils in a musical seizure of Stock, Aitken and Waterman with electronic bouts of Transvision Vamp, Sophie Elis-Bextor and Giorgio Moroder thrown in for excellent measure. The result of which makes QuickSand a poptastic anthem and must for your playlists...Its everything that Girls Aloud would wish to be and sounds like everything Kylie's tenth album must contain!
You can listen to the entire brilliant album on NKD's album on their official website.
