THE MONTH OF DANNII-THIS IS A DONTSTOPTHEPOP CELEBRATION!


Its Dannii month. We've already had the rather interesting Piers Morgan interview & now comes a bevy of Dannii's releases. Three in all! Although none of the albums are new they contain a bucketload of unreleased material. The most interesting is of course the brilliant 1995 Sessions compilation album. It supposedly includes tracks that were meant for a third studio album that failed to come about. We've only heard Everlasting Night so this is practically a new album. I can't wait to hold this hand and play it loud. I'm gonna open my windows and blast it out. Let the citizens of Hackney jump to the beat of Dannii circa 1995! Yes, its going to be fabulous November! Perfect early Christmas present!




So what is it with Dannii? People have often pegged her without ever enjoying the slice of pop she's baking and instead build stupid stories surrounding the dance pop princess. She isn't as good as her sister. The comparisons have always bored myself silly. She is a popstar. She'd be somewhere in the pop industry whether Kylie was doing it or not. Its always pissed me off that people always instantly lazily judged her work without actually listening to the music. Journalists and radio stations couldn't get beyond her surname. Always asking the same boring questions. I never understood this. No one really compares brothers. Its just taken as it is. However women in the industry are always taken apart because of their clothes, hair colour and family relatives. Rarely is the music and the star individually celebrated. This is my moment to do just that.



Truth is, Dannii's music has always been stellar. You can hear the hard work in her albums. Often or not she's one step ahead of the game when it comes with production houses. Dannii was the first high profile act to take a buck on the pretty unknown songwriter Brian Higgins. This was long before Girls Aloud were on the scene. What? Dannii more cutting edge than Annie, Sophie Elis-Bextor, Gabriella Cilmi, Texas, Sugababes and Pet Shop Boys? In this precise context, yes!

Dannii lives and breathes the industry. She's been in it for four decades. Stardust runs through her dna. Its in her blood. Play Neon Nights & you can hear shades of the mighty Robyn and Confessions on a Dancefloor L.P's that came out a year afterwards. Listen to Dannii's Girl and you'll hear early cries of Cher's amazing Believe album and Madonna's Ray of Light. Ever since the release of Girl, Dannii's studio albums have emerged as great indicative products of pop music. Often or not I find myself humming a current dance anthem that would evolve into something from Dannii's albums.

What makes the Dannii experience annoying is the fact that her record companies tend to mess things up. That's the impression I seem to get. I am just a fan of her music here. Take for example the release of He's A Greatest Dancer. That was a hot mess. Then you hear the bonus bits on her greatest hits and digital only releases like ClubDisco. Love Fight could have been amazing. As would have the JCA collaboration Come & Get It. If they were only released. Still, at least we have the music through the viaducts of additional tracks on greatest hits packages. These have emerged as a little liferope for the Dannii fan. Moreover, they illustrate the difficulties within the music industry at present.

With her current position as X Factor judge many have raised questions about her qualifications. To me this is ridiculous. The arguements are sloppy and ill-thought. It should be someone who has had a U.K number 1. It should be someone who has had huge successes around the world. It should be a superstar. However, looking closely at it all Dannii's position at the table becomes ever more appropriate. Listening to the music it is proof that Dannii is a stern hardworker. Proof that the industry isn't about lying about and things falling into place at the snap of the eyelashes. If you want to be under that spotlight for more than 15 seconds you've got to work to stay there. Many argue its all about being born under a lucky star. However that lucky star gets rather fickle and tired at its subjects. Its always been the case. Its up and down. And often or not, down and out.



Dannii has constantly worked her butt off in all different forms. On stage, on tv and producing. Dannii knows the industry. She's probably the best experienced at being a popstar in this respect. Someone who has only tasted the upper echelons of success could only ever be able to produce advice that is limited in its scope and thus ultimately flawed. Dannii can see the bigger picture. What happens after the show is over. X factor is no star maker. In fact its truly ever created one long term proper popstar. Leon and Alexandra have had successes for sure but not in the longterm. As I said above, many have criticized Dannii and her qualifications as a successful popstar but I'd say it would be wiser to pay attention on the the success of X Factor as so far it seems more of a flop format. My point? Dannii's credentials have been well proven, the show she is on has not. That's where analysis should lie. Not in the judge. It is a monster of a show in which many careers within the music depend on and this is probably too many eggs in one basket. For every Leona...there's a Steve and Shayne. Dannii has nothing to prove. No. The show however does. Success is a funny thing. Indeed Dannii wrote about it when she was just a kid and its all in that second single.

Alas, I am sidetracked. Dannii, Dontstopthepop pours this toast of crispy bubbly just for you. Organic of course. On a more personal note I actually passed my Dance GCSE to the extended remix of Everything I Wanted. Class! I made sure the rest of my class listened back to the entire Girl album back in 1997 (and 1998). We stomped our way through Heaven Can Wait & Someone New (yes, I had the Japanese import from Tower Records London for a snip at £22!-all my pocket money for 2 months!). In the winter months of 1997, Girl and Spiceworld emerged as the critical soundtracks to my dance classes in the drama buildings of my school. Thank you, Dannii! You helped Dontstopthepop get a great grade in my GSCE's but also the soundtrack to my teenage years with the girls from 9LTN and beyond!

16 comments:

Lance said...

I've read this twice already :-)

Love it. Dannii is such a star. They don't make them like that anymore.

Anonymous said...

This article has been a long time coming, from one Dannii fan to another it's nice to see a recent article on all she has achieved in her (frankly bloody fantastic) pop career. I'm just excited for the 95 sessions and a new album from her now. New articles like this are always appreciated, thank you!

TEAM MINOGUE!

Chris xx

E said...

Wow! 22 for a cd!

So right about X Factor. There are so many jobs riding on the show. But does it actually create stars? I think it generates many careers in showbiz but only Leona Lewis has really achieved the level of success it claims to proffer. All other winners have so far failed or bumbled along.

D'luv said...

No "Boogie Woogie" on the '95 compilation = Danniifail.

Brad said...

Excellent post. Dannii is a delight, and those who don't appreciate what she's got to offer are simply missing out on something wonderful.

Thanks for this! :)

Myfizzypop said...

I thought the piers interview (apart from it being with piers) was really lovely and made Dannii even more wonderful than she already is :)

Poster Girl said...

I had a big BIG Dannii moment (more like several weeks) when I was over in Sweden. Some of her material is incredibly underappreciated. "Who Do You Love Now," "Disremebrance," "Someone New," the Jason Nevins mix of "Put The Needle On It," "Feel Like I Do," "All I Wanna Do," "Come And Get It," "Begin To Spin Me Round": all SOLID GOLD. Neon Nights is one of those albums any pop lover should own.

Fernando said...

Amazing article!

Love and Light from Brazil xxx

VickyCheng said...

I LOVE DANNII!
Enough said really...
:)

Ps: Listen to "Love Me Like This" - one of the best songs ever :)

Alexmuraska said...

I love Danni Minouge. People Should really Stop Comparing Her To Kylie & Cheryl.

Rosie said...

Amazing article! Team minogue all the way! Such a lovely understated person who fully deserves the limelight and praise for everything she does :)
love her to bits!

Mike said...

It goes without saying how excited I am about the 95 Sessions. Almost enough to make me re-open Dannii's Dirty (and dusty) Box. I just wish she'd get serious about her music again. X Factor is a nice earner for her but music is her calling. And I would hate Cheryl's evil ways to rub off on her.

Diva Incarnate said...

That was fantastic - some things you wrote really hit the nerve for me, like her endurance and commitment to thriving in the music industry, adapting and what not.

Writing about Dannii is so much fun and to read an informed article about her is a real pleasure!

I'm having a Dannii day when these sessions are out, so will probably feel compelled beyond reason to write something up myself, but you write perfectly about how I feel about her.

MissMeredithJ said...

I love dannii shes a supper star <3

Anonymous said...

I am giddy about the 95 sessions too and the re-issues.

What a well thought out piece of writing. You are up there with Poptrash's Mike with your fab article!

Girl was so ahead of it's time and i can't believe the people who slag Dannii off regarding her being Kylie's sister.

As many non-idiots know, Dannii was mega famous before Kylie recorded The Locomotion as her first single!

Dan takes so much stick for no reason! To be honest, Dannii's back catalogue has more listenable tunes than Kylie's whole PWL experience put together! (i know, it's like slagging jesus saying that!)

Again, fab article, you should send it to Dannii!

fiiilthygorgeous said...

oh the great goose! so underappreciated!! :)

dannii will always be one of my very favorite popstars! her musical output over the years is so varied but always top-quality!

i still get excited everytime one of her songs or remixes pops up on my ipod... no matter how many times i've heard it!

thanks for the great article! :)