Comments on: SHAKIN’ STEVENS – “Merry Christmas Everyone”

By: seekenee

seekenee — Tue, 01 May 2012 14:15:52 +0000

I spotted Shaky once on a Christmas TOTP2 cranking this out and at one point he visibly sighs/pauses/looks pissed off to be going through the motions of the song and at that moment I lost and gained respect for him in equal measure. This is awful but I like it.

By: DV

DV — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 20:15:24 +0000

Of non-religious Christmas songs, this is one of very few that does not make me want to spew when I hear it at Christmas parties, which must be something of a result for Mr Stevens.

By: lonepilgrim

lonepilgrim — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:54:46 +0000

I’m treating this thread as a general Christmas themed one – it’s no more than Shakey’s ‘hit’ deserves.

Here’s a link to the video for the liveliest track on bob’s Christmas album:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLZ8LPIh4Xc

and yes, that is a wig he’s wearing

By: swanstep

swanstep — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:53:27 +0000

Cheers from me too erithian for explaining that, links and all! I wonder whether the era of football commentary catch-phrases entering the lexicon has passed now that football’s on sky and one or two matches aren’t picked out as matches of the day that everyone sees in quite the same way?

By: Erithian

Erithian — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:42:38 +0000

“They think it’s all over – it is now!” – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wyLvagyApY – the Oasis split?!

By: Rory

Rory — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:00:40 +0000

Cheers, Erithian – very helpful!

By: Erithian

Erithian — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:25:17 +0000

Swanstep & Rory – if I may be of assistance again: “JUST LOOK AT HIS FACE!” – Barry Davies again, his reaction to a spectacular goal by Francis Lee for Derby County against his former club Manchester City in 1974-75. Here’s the evidence: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMmQk2lK_Ks

By a strange coincidence, “Interesting – VERY interesting!” could have been coined for the next Number One on this list…

By: Steve Mannion

Steve Mannion — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:18:27 +0000

re 80 I believe it occurs just before Christmas 1993

By: will

will — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:00:57 +0000

Re 80: Maybe one of those Robbie Williams post-Angels ‘look at me now, eh Gary’ singles?

By: Steve Mannion

Steve Mannion — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:37:33 +0000

Seeing as we’re still (impatiently!) on GA here my own jump-on point came with ‘The Show’, or maybe the Pointer Sisters cover – I didn’t think much of them prior to that.

By: Andy Pandy

Andy Pandy — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:52:04 +0000

@80:probably not what you mean but there was the occasional disapproving tut tut and “look at his eyes you can see he’s on drugs” by parents watching early 70s Top of the Pops as what was invariably a hard rock/progressive group made a rare appearance on the show…

By: Conrad

Conrad — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:44:39 +0000

I wonder what the equivalent pop moment is to JUST LOOK AT HIS FACE!

By: swanstep

swanstep — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:00:10 +0000

@ wichita 78. Wow, taken *with* the video to accompany it, I reckon Biology is close to a pop masterpiece. I listened to the song by itself a few times first and found it kind of clunky (It made complete sense to me that Neil Tennant would like it, because a lot of PSB songs have exactly Biology’s sort of underwritten – verses and choruses sound like they’re from different songs – gear-grinding clunkiness I reckon. Blasphemy I know…) and the nonce lyrics were already starting to drive me completely mad.

Then I checked the vid out on youtube, and the impact was incredible: the visuals, which are about sudden en masse costume changes, just tie the song together amazingly well. So, yes, ‘Oh I say’ seems about right with that one. (Interestingly to me too, that vid’s impact is sensational *despite* it clarifying that these gals are no dancers: no movement training at all that I could see there. Before this vid. I was kind of thinking that GA maybe represented what Hot Gossip/Legs and Co et al. might have been if the business had been run differently then… but I now see that that’s wrong. GA are a great visual package, but they’re not physically graceful.)

By: wichitalineman

wichitalineman — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:39:37 +0000

Swan, I’m in total agreement on I Want It That Way and on GA’s melodic lack (they also don’t really cut it played out, curiously). Still…. Call The Shots would be the fail-safe pop classic for me, while Biology is their “oh i say”* moment which finally led the general perception of them to turn from hit machine into cultural insitution (Neil Tennant heaped praise on it, for a start).

*a line used by the late BBC tennis commentator Dan Maskell for any unexpected backhand winner.

ps Nicola is my favourite.

By: swanstep

swanstep — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:44:01 +0000

Wow, thanks everyone for the suggestions (and for the cultural sign-post erithian – that’s *exactly* the sort of v. important next-level-down of cultural detail that hardly ever travels, and didn’t in this case).

I don’t have time to do all the required listening right now, but just did check out ‘No Good Advice’ on youtube.
Insta-review: my honest first thought was, ‘Well, now I know what Ladyhawke was listening to a couple of years ago!’ The overplayed and now very irritating ‘My Delirium’ completely rips off (at least 50% of) No Good Advice. My second thought: musically this track this would work as a pretty good Bond (OO7) theme (it would need some lyric changes). My third thought: these gals really are hawt, they could all *be* Bond Girls (I don’t think that was quite in the cards for the Spices – so this is an upgrade). Thus, I’m definitely beginning to get a sense of their place in UK pop – they’re the alpha group or (changing bio. metaphors) top-predator of UK glitzy girl-pop. Last thought: there’s still something missing melodically for me. Comparison case: I, like a lot of people, definitely had a ‘Well, you have to say that’s magnificent’ moment with ‘I want it that way’ from the Backstreet Boys at the end of the ’90s. Lots of people (and esp. straight guys) detested the whole idea of boy bands etc., but resistance was utterly futile against a melody *that* Bacharach-takes-dictation-from-God gorgeous.(not even probably the most lampoonable, and then actually widely lampooned videos in history could stop it).
I’m so far won over that GA are/were a force to be reckoned with (and the ‘gift-wrapped kitty cats’ couplet is a wicked keeper), but they don’t yet move me (even when you don’t want to moved – the obvious biggies from outkast, gnarls, rihanna, etc. this decade pass this test for a pop that just rules your bones). Thanks again to all.

By: Erithian

Erithian — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:51:30 +0000

Helpful Brit-cultural signpost for swanstep and Rory:
Barry Davies is a durable British football commentator, and “well, you have to say that’s magnificent” was Davies’ commentary on Diego Maradona’s second goal for Argentina v England in the 1986 World Cup, five minutes after his notorious “Hand of God” goal where he punched the ball past England’s keeper and got away with it. The phrase signifies due respect for a brilliant goal despite what had gone before (even if many of us think he’d never have scored the second goal if England hadn’t still been stunned and resentful over the first).

Ah, 1986… we look forward to talking about it!

By: will

will — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:01:10 +0000

No Good Advice is one of the best pop records this decade. I’ll never forget hearing for the first time on CDUK circa April 03 and sitting there open mouthed, declaring to my then-flatmate “well, you have to say that’s magnificent” a la Barry Davies.

By: pink champale

pink champale — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:50:50 +0000

swanstep – along with Rory’s picks, you might also try ‘sound of the underground’ (surf guitar driven drum n’ bass, no less), ‘promise’, ‘call the shots’ and ‘no good advice’. of the ballads, ‘life got cold’ and ‘whole lotta history’ are awesome. definitely worth seeing the vidoes, they tend to have a lot of charm and be a real part of the package. (there is also, undeniably, hotness). apologies for some bunny baiting.

By: Erithian

Erithian — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:17:30 +0000

GA may have a celebrity fan in the US by now, if this extract from a Guardian interview in January is anything to go by:
“[Springsteen] asks me what I’m listening to at the moment, and carefully notes down the names of Kate Rusby and Girls Aloud for further investigation.”
Although Bruce revealed at Glastonbury that his daughter was a big Lady Gaga fan, so maybe it’s that side of the family that’s doing the investigating.

By: swanstep

swanstep — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 01:50:36 +0000

Thanks 71, Rory. Insta-review: The Smiths/Elvis-retro-ness of ‘Love Machine’ definitely appeals, as does the odd naughty lyric…. still, even there I find there’s something missing tune-wise. The songs do feel a little like video screenplays, however, and I gather GA are great-looking, so I guess I’ll have to check out their vids to get the whole story. Thanks again.

By: Rory

Rory — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:00:47 +0000

I was a bit of a Girls Aloud latecomer, swanstep, so I’ll recommend the ones that hooked me: Love Machine, Biology, and Something Kinda Ooooh. Their ballads do less for me, but those are all stompin’. For the overall package I’m more of a Sugababes guy, but at their best GA are hard to beat.

By: swanstep

swanstep — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 23:37:20 +0000

Girls Aloud have never done a damn thing in the US (they have that in common with Shakey!). I might recognize the odd thing by them, but I certainly can’t name a tune of theirs. (I was the same way with Kylie until, say, ‘Spinning Around’ – mystifyingly popular in UK, apparently tabloid driven, just ignore it, sorted.) So…. anyone who’s a true believer (“best pop group of the ’00s”) care to recommend a handful of GA pop classics to a novice? What tracks in particular demonstrate the genius production?

By: screaming lord byron

screaming lord byron — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:58:38 +0000

67 – I can sure enough tell the difference, but not entirely sure one is wildly more popular with non-gay fans than the other (one of them is my favourite btw). They have the weakest voices in the group, if that’s what Will meant.

GA should do a Christmas A-side just the once – their genius production team have been content to get them covering old seasonal hits with ‘will this do’ productions to date. Shame on them! Imagine the video!

By: Rory

Rory — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:10:21 +0000

Gotta say, Sufjan missed a trick in not covering Shakey for this. “Merry Christmas, Workers of The Rock River Valley Region!”

By: MikeMCSG

MikeMCSG — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:50:28 +0000

#65 Will I think you must be a gay fan if you can’t tell the difference between those two.