I'm off to see Bat for Lashes tomorrow night and I can't wait to hear LAURA. LAURA which was the lead single from the Bats 3rd album The Haunted Man, and also one of my favourite tracks of 2012. I am very excited to be seeing Natasha Khan in the comforts of the Enmore Theatre in Sydney.
Bat for Lashes is kind of a mish mash of various genres of music. She's moody, atmospheric, part tribal, an electronica queen. Lots of beats with a lovely voice to boot. I like her uniqueness in today's bland world of pop. In some ways she reminds me of the Kate Bush and sometimes Bjork. I also like the fact that she released a cover of Depeche Mode's STRANGELOVE for Record Store Day last year. You can listen to it below.
I've been hearing the name Solange on various social media sites/websites for the past year and I stumbled across the video for LOSING YOU while watching Rage on Saturday morning this weekend (only free to air music show left in Oz). I remember that Beyonce had a sister called Solange and it is indeed that Solange! I love this track and I call it LO-FI SOUL! Enjoy.
For a period in the late 80's there was a production team who had the midas touch, everything they did turned to gold or platinum (in record sales that is) and they seemed unstoppable. I am of course talking aboutStock Aitken Watermanlead byPete Waterman.
I was 12 years old when they scored their first Number 1 with Dead or Alive'sYOU SPIN ME RIGHT ROUND (LIKE A RECORD)early in 1985. They were still going strong by the end of the decade. I loved alot of the songs and artists they produced. Back then, I was their prime market - a teenager with a penchant for pop music and 1984 was the year I discovered POP. They managed to score13 Number 1'sin the UK charts. WOWEE!
The other day while looking for footage of their Christmas Cracker Concert on utubes, I came across this fab documentary about SAW (aka Hit Factory). If you have a spare 40 minutes its well worth watching, if only to see Pete Burns face.
MY TOP 7 SAW TRACKS/ARTISTS LIST
(click on song title to be taken to youtube official video - i hope!)
If I were to list my favourite SAW tracks then all of them are likely to be Kylie tracks so I've tried to keep this HOT LIST interesting. This is my fave Kylie song and as she was the Queen of the Hit Factory then this has to be top of the list. So instead of posting another video here is a Coke commercial Kylie made in Australia around the time of Better the Devil You Know and if my eyes are correct its the exact same dress in the commercial that appears in the video.
This was SAW's first track with the Nana's and it was and still is a stroke of pop cover genius. The song was Number 1 for 6 weeks in Australia. Lets not also forget I HEARD A RUMOUR, LOVE IN THE FIRST DEGREE and HELP (which they sang with French and Saunders for Comic Relief) while we are here. I love these good time girls.
OK so i know this is isn't the biggest hit but this is like HIGH NRG on speed or something. Its a great pop track and probably the last AMAZING single made by Pete Burns. I love the scene in the video as he slowly enters the bath. Its priceless. Here's a rather nice photo of Pete from the SAW concert. Its amazing how good you can look with a Veil on. The Power of the Veil indeed.
Everytime I listen to this song it reminds me of 1985 so clearly and how can you not like Princess? For some strange reason it also reminds me of Eastenders which I guess was pretty big at the time.
This has to be up there with the all time best collaborations with SAW. I was so surprised when Donna Summer queen of disco teamed up with SAW. You just think, why does she need them? I am glad she did though as this is a gem of song. Donna passed away last year and I have been going through a phase of buying her old LP's. She was such a talent and had such a strong voice. This was like her 4th incarnation as a popstar! Donna Darling may you R.I.P. I quite like this collector's collection of Donna 7inches! Here's one of my favourite pics of Donna.
The first BIG HIT for SAW and what an artist! It was the year of the gender benders but Divine was something else. A documentary about the life of Divine titledI AM DIVINEis currently in production.
I've saved the best for last. I loved these girls. It's so sad how Mel passed away from Cancer and that their career was cut short. I love this short clip from TV AM (how awful is Anne Diamond) - they were just lovely east end girls wanting to have a good time. Thats the Way It Is was the 4th single from Fun Love Money (FLM) (their only album) and the girls don't even appear in the video. I have fond memories from when this was released and thinking what a lovely track it was.
So I have been listening to the marvellous 1st album by Ms Lily Allen this week and it's like it is 2007 all over again at Vinylluver HQ! I know she's gone off and had sprogs but its a little bit sad! LILY WHERE ARE YOU!!!! Anyways LDN has been a favourite of mine just because she rhymes Tesco (UK supermarket) with Alfresco! I also love the intro to the video:
"Have you got any punky electronica .. kind of grime .... kind of like ... new-wave grime ... but kind of maybe like more broken beats, but kinda dubby broken beats ... but a lil bit kind of soulful .... but kind of drum'n'bassy, but kinda more broken drum'n'bass like more broken beats. but break beat kind of broken drum'n'bass?"
I've got a very BIG soft spot for Belinda Carlisle. I loved her in the Go-Go's, I loved her solo career and I just love whatever she does. I recently came across a link on Twitter about the Go-Go's covering that God awful Carly Rae Jepsen song - CALL ME MAYBE. I wondered over to utubes and listened to it and now I love that song. When Carly Rae sings it, its kinda boppy and sacharin sweet annoying. The Go-Go's cover has rocking guitars and of course BELINDA! The song was performed on the US Go-Go's tour which took place last year. I wonder if they'll record it? FYI - It was one of Rolling Stone Magazine's favourite cover versions of 2012. Check it out.
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