Pop

CHICAGO - “If You Leave Me Now”

As I gradually learned more about music history it became apparent that there were a bunch of American bands who had enjoyed long careers in the 70s but who were close to invisible here. It seems to me that Britain has never really had an equivalent to the rock radio formats on which Chicago, among others, built a fanbase: individual DJs were left to promote adult-oriented and classic rock, which didn’t give dues-paying rock bands the space they had to build large audiences back home. Of course, I didn’t listen to radio in the 70s, so I’m happy to be corrected on this.Anyway the upshot is that the career of Chicago seemed (and seems) bizarre to me: literally dozens of albums, most of them doubles (or more!), reduced as far as I was concerned to a single soppy hit which I knew better from karaoke than from ever actually hearing the band’s version. And apparently “If You Leave Me Now” is hardly typical of the band’s work (to the extent that its success caused serious rifts). In Popular terms, though, it’s the first of a bunch of limpidly sincere records we’ll be meeting as the British public went ballad crazy. … read on …

PUSSYCAT - “Mississippi”

A few years ago, Channel 4 did a rundown of the Top 100 Best Selling Singles. My friends and I settled down to watch, cheer, shout at Kate Thornton, &c. And there, first up at No.100, was “Mississippi”, bringing a mighty collective WTF?? from everyone in the room - none of whom, I should add, were older than me. None of us had heard, or heard of, this song, which turned out to be the biggest-selling (in Britain) single to have made no mark whatsoever on pop history - at least as understood by us callow youngsters. To be honest we thought it might be a put-on. … read on …

Punk Metaphor Watch #1: Guess His Theory

With the biting winds of PUNK ROCK beginning to blow through the Popular comments boxes it’s time to examine the ways in which punk has become institutionalised as a metaphor - starting with Richard Williams on the Guardian football blog: Stadium Rock of Top Flight looks Bloated Against The Joy Division.

… read on …

The Freaky Trigger Top 100 Tracks Of All Time No. 45. The Undertones - Teenage Kicks

Of all the records this admittedly sluggish Top 100 could have stalled on for its longest period, it is odd that it was Teenage Kicks. After all everyone loves Teenage Kicks, right? Tom was toying with writing about it as an adjunct to this Pitchfork article about Peel, but the time came and went (and you can’t begrudge him, he is going great guns on Popular). A few other volunteered, to then realise that they couldn’t quite put into words what they really wanted to say about TK. And so I will attempt it, after being prompted by the reference made by Tom in this Abba - Dancing Queen article. He (rightly in my opinion) sees Teenage Kicks and Dancing Queen as being cut from the same cloth, a glorious celebration of teenaged energy and abandon. Is that why Teenage Kicks is so good though?

Well yes. That’s why it is good. Great even. But SO GOOD? That reason is John Peel. Bear in mind that as the eclectic, all over the place, music loving DJ persona that really crystalised in the 80’s, he would constantly be asked a number of questions about his musical taste. And it is odd that we all know his favourite single and favourite album and that NEVER CHANGED in almost twenty years. Trout Mask Replica, and Teenage Kicks. Which perhaps in 1982 as a pairing would have shown considerable pop/rock breadth, but by 2002 could be from the same album (indeed I am sure you can get a Peel sanctioned comp with Kicks and some Beefheart on it). … read on …

ABBA - “Dancing Queen”

In my teens I read a science fiction novel with a startlingly elegant twist. (I won’t mention the book’s name in case you come across it yourself.) It was about a brilliant scientist who vanishes: the book’s protagonist goes looking for clues to what happened, and becomes close to the scientist’s wife. And at a crucial juncture in the plot, the narration shifts, mid-paragraph, from third person to first: the scientist’s “vanishing” was literal, and with a thrill of horror you realise he’s been observing the action all along.

What on earth does this have to do with “Dancing Queen”? The song turns on a similar effect. Of all ABBA’s twenty or so hit singles this is the only one with no first-person content - none of the “I” or “me” or “us” that populate almost all their records. Of course on one level this is coincidence - but the apparent lack of personal perspective is very unusual for ABBA. They’re a band who like to ground their songs in experience and who pay close attention to a lyric’s perspective; even a character song like “Head Over Heels” makes sure to establish its subject’s relationship to the singer, right in the first line. “Dancing Queen” is entirely in the second-person - the song is directly addressed to a girl, but its narrator has, like the scientist in the novel, become invisible. … read on …

Europop 2008: Group A Finale

Switzerland take on Portugal and the Czechs battle Turkey in the last two Group A games. Click below the cut for managerial comment, analysis, match reports and previews.

How to vote: Pick the track you prefer from each pairing and vote - these polls close next Monday. You will need to click “submit” separately on each one. If you download the tracks please also vote! (We’re getting around twice as many downloads as votes currently).

 Loading …

 Loading …

… read on …

ELTON JOHN AND KIKI DEE - “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”

The intro to this is a masterclass: the strings and piano curling around the bass and drums in what amounts to a trailer for the song, teasing its hooks for you. It’s a suitably flirty intro for a duet, so it’s a shame the performers don’t really catch fire. Or the performer - Kiki Dee doesn’t do much wrong (though it’s annoying how her lines sometimes just trail off), it’s just unfortunate that she’s partnered with the fearful pop heffalump that is Elton John. … read on …

DEMIS ROUSSOS - The Roussos Phenomenon (EP)

(Special note: I have been unable to find a copy of all four tracks on the EP, so this review is written without having ever heard “So Dreamy”. So the mark out of ten is - unusually - subject to change. Though frankly I doubt it will.)

In a wayward year of odd Number Ones, this is one of the rummest. It isn’t the sort of thing I’d want to listen to very often, if at all, and if it was typical of the kind of records that top the charts, well, we wouldn’t be here. But there are enough intriguing touches on The Roussos Phenomenon to not dismiss it as wholly ridiculous. You are occasionally reminded that yes, this Demis Roussos is the same D.R. who released 666, a prog triple concept album about the Book of Revelation, the year before recording most of this…. slightly more accessible material. … read on …

Europop 2008: Group D - Spain v Sweden

Spain and Sweden both got off to shaky starts in Europop 2008: who will take the points here? Listen to the tracks, vote in the poll, and look below the cut for managerial comment, analysis, match reports and previews.

How to vote: Just tick the one you like best (even if you don’t like it much!). This poll closes next Thursday, 15th March.

 Loading …

… read on …

THE REAL THING - “You To Me Are Everything”

The Real Thing do everything right - pleading soul vocals, springy piano line, big-impact chorus - without ever threatening the spectacular. They’re using a blueprint - tuneful underdog disco - which Hot Chocolate would have huge success with, but without the next-level abjection and paranoia Erol Brown sometimes brought to it. So the Real Thing deliver a solid good time rather than anything more striking (or commentable). Solidity can get you a long way, though - “You To Me Are Everything” has become a wedding dance staple, and for simple welcoming catchiness it deserves that ubiquity.