Pop-Eye 1/9/02

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The DJ Bobo one?

― Zac, The Black Power Ranger (vicc13), Monday, 2 September 2002 14:32 (twenty-one years ago) link

Quite possibly. Actually scratch that. I can live quite happily with just Irene Cara's version withou DJ Bobo going to all that trouble.

― Pete (Pete), Monday, 2 September 2002 14:39 (twenty-one years ago) link

Short Answer: "(Get The Feeling)", apart from giving it the most manufactured band cover version title ever, does rescue how "alright" the rest of The Tide Is High. Blondie didn't think of doing this did they? They just got Debbie Harry to try way too hard and thought that'd do. I don't think they even bothered with a key change. And that matters more to me than pop hierarchies and hat motives.

Also Madonna's "Like A Prayer" is shockingly rubbish up close. Before I heard it properly I thought it was the greatest thing ever, but it just isn't, it's just boring.

― Graham (graham), Monday, 2 September 2002 15:12 (twenty-one years ago) link

Can I just distance myself from the growing body of opinion that seems to think "The Tide Is High" (Blondie version or original) is a bad song? I think it's one of Blondie's best - and it's not ice-bitch either, Pete - Harry's "I'm not the kinda girl" is pure swagger. NB Back in them days a cover version was just a cover version and there was none of this 'key change' nonsense.

― Tom (Groke), Monday, 2 September 2002 15:21 (twenty-one years ago) link

A song without a key change is like an alien without a pulsing sex-crest, Tom.

― mark s (mark s), Monday, 2 September 2002 15:26 (twenty-one years ago) link

Difference between TTOH by The Paragons (I think it's the Paragons, havent checked) and by Blondie. Paragons version is tentative - he's singing to convince himself he can get her back. Blondie version is a warning - she's on her way back. The AK song runs into immediate trouble because there's three people singing not one, so it dilutes the narrative voice and the emotional impact too.

― Tom (Groke), Monday, 2 September 2002 15:30 (twenty-one years ago) link

Oakenfold - err, not very good
Nickleback - I like this one
Madhouse - I like this one too
Abs - err, not that great
Darius - dreams can come true!
Ms Dynamite - horrible hook, old school "naff", the rest of it is okay
Truth Hurts - the music is good
Sugababes - okay-ish
Blazin' Squad - if I count to ten, maybe the the nightmare will go away
Atomic Kitten - Tour de force!

― jel -- (jel), Monday, 2 September 2002 16:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

When does Kelly Osbornes single come out? It's great! As is Holly Valences!!

― jel -- (jel), Monday, 2 September 2002 16:01 (twenty-one years ago) link

The Madhouse singles (Like A Prayer and Holiday) are merely 'legal' renditions of successful bootlegs: Erdbeerlimes mixed the acappella of "Like A Prayer" on top of Black Legend "You See The Trouble With Me", and some anonymous guy released the white label of the "Holiday" acapella on top of an extended Stardust "Music Sounds Better With You".
I can understand why Madhouse does it (hell, the Sugababes do exactly the same thing), but most clubs still play the bootlegs...

― Siegbran Hetteson (eofor), Monday, 2 September 2002 16:21 (twenty-one years ago) link

And by the way, Paul Oakenfold must have earned the "most spectacular quality drop" award this year. It's hard to imagine this is the same guy who produced "Southern Sun" just a few months ago, it's unbelievable...

― Siegbran Hetteson (eofor), Monday, 2 September 2002 16:34 (twenty-one years ago) link

That Oakenfold single is the first thing I've ever heard from either him or Shellshock that's not made me want to throw stuff at the radio. Does that get me banished from ILM?

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Monday, 2 September 2002 17:03 (twenty-one years ago) link

like Miss Dynamite, Sugababes, Truth Hurts, Oakenfold
dont like everything else in there

this could be the most songs i've liked in a top ten this century for what its worth

its weird how Ms Dynamite, Blazin Squad and Bedingfield are all tagged as garage even tho none of their current singles are remotely garagey....not even Romeo and Harvey's singles are either...whats happened to garage???

― blueski, Monday, 2 September 2002 17:14 (twenty-one years ago) link

Garage = the vector through which British 'urban' pop became cool again, so its not surprising the media still likes the tag even as the public and performers are making all sorts of post-garage noise. It's an exciting time, actually.

― Tom (Groke), Monday, 2 September 2002 17:21 (twenty-one years ago) link

Blueski - there's obviously heaps of garage still being made, and getting into the charts eg. the slamming 3rd Edge song, The Reelists etc.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 2 September 2002 21:07 (twenty-one years ago) link

it IS "returns my pages"...

― michael w., Tuesday, 3 September 2002 06:59 (twenty-one years ago) link

Well its always nice when a bloke borrows your Yellow Pages or Thompson Local that he has the forethought to return it.

Rethinking my reading of The Tide Is High I'm sticking with the creapy stalker version - that said its one of those Blondie tunes where she is a little bit too interested in appearing cool.

Adding your own verse (toasting is putting it a bit far) can be a good thing if you are making your own stamp on the song, but the Kittens verse adds absolutely nothing. (Nice point about dilution above too Tom).

― Pete (Pete), Tuesday, 3 September 2002 07:13 (twenty-one years ago) link

I don't understand this notion of a Blondie where Debbie Harry can be "too interested in appearing cool"??

― Tom (Groke), Tuesday, 3 September 2002 07:18 (twenty-one years ago) link

BLimey I am just happy that the Abs single exists - I ph34r3d I had dreamed it in a moment of beautiful pop lucidity on T4 months ago! YAY ABS!

― Sarah (starry), Tuesday, 3 September 2002 07:32 (twenty-one years ago) link

it IS "returns my pages"...

Is it really? Gutted.

Hang on, it doesn't make sense like that though.

― Anna, Tuesday, 3 September 2002 07:37 (twenty-one years ago) link

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/truthhurts/addictive.html

― zebedee, Tuesday, 3 September 2002 07:48 (twenty-one years ago) link

"You was there from a half a grand
Now it's kelos to c notes and how fast your grands"

wossee on abaht ehhhhh?

― blueski, Tuesday, 3 September 2002 08:33 (twenty-one years ago) link

is this official? i still say it's "returns...", listen to it, i'm convinced. it does make sense, in a way, like he returns her calls, he's polte and thoughtful as well as hot, you know? why she doesn't say "texts", i imagine, is because it's difficult to rhyme, or maybe he's a doctor.

― michael w., Tuesday, 3 September 2002 10:10 (twenty-one years ago) link

'polte' = 'polite', obviously.

― michael w., Tuesday, 3 September 2002 10:11 (twenty-one years ago) link

They were playing TTIH in Tescos this morning as I was buying my cheese. It occurred to me that the irritating thing about it is that they borrow / steal the phrasing directly from the Blondie version and they might have done better to steal the Paragons' (John Holt's?). Also the AK version is even duller rhythmically than the Blondie one.

Next on was "Automatic High" by the S Club Juniors and that sounded much better to me. Oddly controlled.

― Tim (Tim), Tuesday, 3 September 2002 10:51 (twenty-one years ago) link

hahahah apparently Josh Wink did the remix for Oakey's single, does anyone reckon it goes "starrrrrrrrrrry eyyyyyyyyyyye eyyyyyyyyyyye eyyyyyyyyyyyye eyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye" 303 blips rising, GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH MASSIVE SPECIAL FX SPLURGE EYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYED EYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYED. end.

― Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 3 September 2002 10:58 (twenty-one years ago) link

In the Tescos in Hackney they only play xtian metal.

― mark s (mark s), Tuesday, 3 September 2002 10:58 (twenty-one years ago) link

graham stop being such a little shit all the time!!

Pot, meet kettle.

― Nicole (Nicole), Tuesday, 3 September 2002 11:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

wow, i think you're right - it does sound like "returns my pages" now that i'm paying attention.

― dave k, Tuesday, 3 September 2002 11:16 (twenty-one years ago) link

tim f: you heard dizzy rascal's "i love U" yet?

― bob zemko (bob), Tuesday, 3 September 2002 11:18 (twenty-one years ago) link

it's like ... seismic

― bob zemko (bob), Tuesday, 3 September 2002 11:19 (twenty-one years ago) link

HE turns my pages!

― blueski, Tuesday, 3 September 2002 11:30 (twenty-one years ago) link

hey, it can be whatever you want it to be, ok?...but i still say *ducks*

― michael w., Tuesday, 3 September 2002 11:52 (twenty-one years ago) link

The Blazin' Squad song is a (horrid) Bone cover, is it not?

― Andy K (Andy K), Tuesday, 3 September 2002 12:12 (twenty-one years ago) link

No Andy its COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!!!

(OK sorry I will stop this joke now.)

It is a cover yeah, with garage MCing in the verses.

― Tom (Groke), Tuesday, 3 September 2002 12:21 (twenty-one years ago) link

yes it is, but i never liked the Bone Thugs original anyway - seemed kinda trite in the same way Puff Daddy's 'I'll Be Missing You' tribute to Biggie did. i'm sure they are sincere about it but how come it feels the exact opposite - just my cynicism?

what annoys me about the current covers crop is that it feels like they are just admitting 'OK we know this is actually quite an insult to the original song and we cant do anything to better it or even match it but on the plus side we do get another number one hit so dont take it so seriously please" esp. with Blazin Squad and the new Liberty X (its so similar to the Mantronix original so a total waste of time)...Atomic Kitten's covers are merely 'stylised' by Stargate's slinky hiphop beats but strip out whatever spark the originals had in the process - shame...but the kids seem happy. is it time for a new thread on GOOD cover versions already?

― blueski, Tuesday, 3 September 2002 12:22 (twenty-one years ago) link

I saw them on Top of the Pops (BBC America runs it) and their deliveries didn't seem all that much different from the ones on the original. However it's entirely possible that I wasn't giving them enough of my attention.

― Andy K (Andy K), Tuesday, 3 September 2002 12:28 (twenty-one years ago) link

Andy: YES IT IS. I am staggered that no one has mentioned this yet because that's the first thing my wife and I screamed at the TV when we saw them on TOTP (mmm BBC America, i love you...). The second was, "Why are there eight thousand of them?"

Re Truth Hurts lyrics: She definitely says "returns my pages". I can't believe in this hi-tech mobile phone world that people have forgotten that the pager is still going strong in the low-cash demographic. (If you don't buy that explanation, I have a second one; a lot of people have pager service on their cell phones.)

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 3 September 2002 12:55 (twenty-one years ago) link

ey thenk yew.

― michael wells, Tuesday, 3 September 2002 13:02 (twenty-one years ago) link

But 'turns my pages'I took as a way of saying 'he rings my bell' 'he floats by boat' 'he's the cream in my coffee, the sugar in my cup' etc.

― Anna, Tuesday, 3 September 2002 14:10 (twenty-one years ago) link

Anna: I originally heard it that way as well and thought it was a fantastic turn of phrase, too. In fact, I still sing the song that way and I hope she changes the lyrics to that.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 3 September 2002 14:24 (twenty-one years ago) link

That lyrics page is rub, the mp3 i have i think its the original 5 minutes version and it has a rap just in the beggining, before she sings

― Ameixa (vicc13), Tuesday, 3 September 2002 14:30 (twenty-one years ago) link

well i always felt confident she said 'he turns my pages' and i still do - death to all non believers

― blueski, Tuesday, 3 September 2002 14:35 (twenty-one years ago) link

it is defo "returns my pages", you see she dropped her essay at school and some nice guy picked them up for her.

― jel -- (jel), Tuesday, 3 September 2002 15:25 (twenty-one years ago) link

I too watched BBC America in horror as the Blazin' Squad munchkin-ed their way through the Bone Thugs track. I'm a devout poppist, but I just don't get this one; they didn't even try to update the beats. Tell them to avoid Cleveland.

As an aside, I think that the Mo Thugs Family (Felecia feat Krayzie Bone)'s "All Good", is not just one of the great songs of the 90's, but also a missing link between UK Garage and US Rap. Blazin' Squad would have been much more convincing covering this rather than a song about meeting your dead homies in the afterlife. I just realized I was waiting for Dr Evil to come out during their performance to tip a 40.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 3 September 2002 16:30 (twenty-one years ago) link

"I saw them on Top of the Pops (BBC America runs it) and their deliveries didn't seem all that much different from the ones on the original. However it's entirely possible that I wasn't giving them enough of my attention."

This is because Bone, Thugs 'n' Harmony are, like, the US blueprint for archetypal gararge-kru mc-ing.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Wednesday, 4 September 2002 11:10 (twenty-one years ago) link

Yeah, calling what Blazing Squad is doing on that track "garage MCing" completely baffles me because, as far as I can tell, it's completely indistinguishable from the original, which predates garage (IIRC).

No one has answered why there are eight thousand of them! Was this an afterschool program that got out of control?

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 4 September 2002 12:12 (twenty-one years ago) link

Bah now I know how Graham feels. Your Bone Thugs etc don't mean shit in MY hood (trans. I have never heard the original).

― Tom (Groke), Wednesday, 4 September 2002 12:15 (twenty-one years ago) link

"No one has answered why there are eight thousand of them! Was this an afterschool program that got out of control?"

Strength in numbers obv. = surely you must like one of that eight thousand at least.

(this sort of thing was also why Pay As U Go's "Champagne Dance" video was so cool - bored with this member? here's another!)

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Wednesday, 4 September 2002 12:20 (twenty-one years ago) link

8 thousand distinct personalities (ie: Wu-Tang, So Solid Crew) = CLASSIC
8 thousand boys dressed like extras from "Village Of The Damned" remake and doing the same creepy robotic dance with no distinguishing features = how do you pick a favorite when they're all the same (and they want to reach out of the TV and eat your soul)? DUD (except for the soul-eating part; that's kind of cool).

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 4 September 2002 12:26 (twenty-one years ago) link

Having only heard two of those bands previously and none of those songs I seem to be in my own little world. I've gone "indie" by default.

pop meets kettle...
too much coffee and swedish berries.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Wednesday, 4 September 2002 12:45 (twenty-one years ago) link

It's got to be "He turns my pages". because a) That's what she sings, and b) Why in a list of abstract reasons for liking someone "He keeps me guessing", would they include a very specific topical reason?

― Graham (graham), Wednesday, 4 September 2002 12:47 (twenty-one years ago) link

it gives it context.

― michael w., Wednesday, 4 September 2002 12:52 (twenty-one years ago) link

Strength in numbers obv. = surely you must like one of that eight thousand at least.

My favorite was the thirteenth from the left.

It's obvious to me that all those members are needed to protect the one who wears the jacket emblazoned (emBLAZINed hehe) with "HARLEM".

― Andy K (Andy K), Wednesday, 4 September 2002 13:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

I presumed from the name that Truth Hurts was going to be some terrible emo band. How wrong can you be? What a magnificent record.

That lyric is definitely "returns my pages", though I admit it doesn't make much sense. Maybe she's doing it with the R in deference to Rakim.

― Mike (mratford), Wednesday, 4 September 2002 13:09 (twenty-one years ago) link

Why in a list of abstract reasons for liking someone "He keeps me guessing", would they include a very specific topical reason?

"He keeps [her] guessing" because he is "spontaneous".

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 4 September 2002 13:11 (twenty-one years ago) link

Whereas earlier when I listened to it repeatedly it sounded like it could be nothing but "he turns", now it sounds like it could be nothing but "returns". How strange.

― Graham (graham), Wednesday, 4 September 2002 14:01 (twenty-one years ago) link

http://www.netcomuk.co.uk/~tewing/2002_09_01_singlesa.html#81189240

Special Pop-Eye Supplement now up!

― Tom (Groke), Thursday, 5 September 2002 12:42 (twenty-one years ago) link

http://www.netcomuk.co.uk/~singlesb.html

That's odd, archives not updating - anyway here's a link to the main site.

― Tom (Groke), Thursday, 5 September 2002 12:49 (twenty-one years ago) link

Tom meant to write http://www.netcomuk.co.uk/~tewing/singlesb.html

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 5 September 2002 13:05 (twenty-one years ago) link

Oh bollocks - anyway the archive's now working.

― Tom (Groke), Thursday, 5 September 2002 13:13 (twenty-one years ago) link

The technology has surpassed me. I can never do Pop-eye again.

Is this the only time we will ever see Tom doing star ratings for things?

― Pete (Pete), Thursday, 5 September 2002 13:44 (twenty-one years ago) link

I've just realised what really disturbs me about Blazin' Squad. Not only the arse name, not only the fact that the first time I saw them on CD:UK it was them doing a tour of schools...

It's the fact that they're meant to be garage andsuchandsuch, yet they do appear to be in possession of a Token Black Member.

― Mr Swygart (mrswygart), Saturday, 7 September 2002 12:11 (twenty-one years ago) link

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