Tom Ewing

17 April 2012

UB40 – “I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You”

#690, 12th June 1993

Pop reggae wasn’t invented in Gothenburg, more’s the pity. Back in 1983, UB40 had made a record celebrating the Jamaican music they grew up loving, and discovered that a lot of other people had loved it too, and even more loved the idea of loving it so long as it was filtered through the curatorial larynx of Ali Campbell. Labour Of Love made the band a fortune and froze their career: gentle weddings’n’parties reggae was what they did now. more »


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13 April 2012

ACE OF BASE – “All That She Wants”

#689, 22nd May 1993

Of all the hundreds of microgenres that make pop the funnest kind of butterfly collecting, perhaps the greatest is Swedish Reggae. The first person I heard talk about Swedish Reggae was Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields at the end of the 90s, but by then its heyday was long gone. It was a holiday romance, opposites attracting, never really meant to be – a union of the sun-hardened authenticity of reggae and kitschy Scando popcraft which couldn’t truly produce anything lasting, or could it? more »


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11 April 2012

Popular News

Short version: Popular will be back on Friday and back to a regular schedule.

Long version: more »


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9 March 2012

GEORGE MICHAEL AND QUEEN – Five Live EP

#688, 1st May 1993

Britain has a Pop Establishment as surely as it has a political one, and the charity tribute gig is its equivalent of a State Funeral. The line-up for the Freddie Mercury celebration at Wembley Arena is a curious thing, reflecting not just how much of a fixture Queen had become but how awkward it was to actually place them. On the one hand a bunch of hard rock and metal acts influenced by Queen, on the other a roll-call of British pop’s great and good, queueing up to try on Freddie’s stack heels. more »


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6 February 2012

THE BLUEBELLS – “Young At Heart”

#687, 3rd April 1993

bluebells Another song where hearing the original changes your perspective on it: as a Bananarama album track, “Young At Heart” is fizzy but unusually thoughtful, a vignette of a kid growing to understand her parents’ choices and compromises. Even at three minutes it runs out of ideas, but it’s a lovely, wise little song and – like all early Bananarama material – it brims with can-do enthusiasm. more »


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30 January 2012

SHAGGY – “Oh Carolina”

#686, 20th March 1993

Shaggy’s take on “Oh Carolina” acknowledges its debt to the past right away – sampling the intro from the Folkes Brothers’ 1960 original. Not just a nod of respect, it’s a canny move, as the crackling, wheezing shanty-town piano sounded like nothing else on 1993 radio, giving “Oh Carolina” instant cut-through. more »


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9 December 2011

What Was I Thinking? (Part 3)

It’s the end – but the moment has been prepared for! The last fifteen Poptimist columns with notes, because I can. Includes my favourite one. more »


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What Was I Thinking? (Part 2)

Continuing the narcissistic behind-the-scenes chronicle of a monthly column on a popular music website! It’s Poptimist 16-30! more »


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What Was I Thinking? (Part 1)

Today’s Poptimist column – up now at Pitchfork – is the last one: a decision entirely taken by me, quite a while ago. Being able to give up a paying gig is an outrageous privilege, but so was the whole column – I filed copy on whatever took my fancy and I can’t think of a single time when I was editorially interfered with (1 of the 45 columns – numerological significance ahoy – came about from a Scott Plagenhoef suggestion, and a very good suggestion it was too.) I was handed the largest audience of music fans I will ever write for on a platter and I hope I occasionally served up something interesting in return.

So to celebrate five years of indulgence here is one last monstrous one: links and brief annotations for all 45 columns, spread over three posts. more »


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3 December 2011

FT Advent Calendar Of Christmas TV Specials: December 3rd

Christmas is a time for the children, which means it’s also a time for endless kids’ TV specials. More than ever, in the age of the “DVD movie” stocking-stuffer. But this special has a little more to offer than just beloved “character brands” going through the tinselly motions. For a start – the SECRET ORIGIN OF ELTON JOHN!

more »


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