What do I think of when I think of “Think Of You”?
Sadly, the answer is “Saturday Night”. You can’t talk about Whigfield without talking about “Saturday Night”, and the problem with that is that in the end “Saturday Night” is probably all you end up talking about. If hard pushed to name another Whigfield song, the smart people may remember “Think of You”, but would be easily sidetracked into saying “Turn Back Time” by Aqua. Indeed Aqua seemed to be Whigfield fronting the B-52’s* such their equivalent lasting appeals and places in pop. So why Whigfield and Think of You?
The “holiday” song was not a new phenomenon by the time summer 1994 came around. Y Viva Espana was twenty years before. But “Saturday Night” was a holiday pop song which came from Ibiza, the ubiquitous pop club banger which everyone knew on their way home. By the time it was finally released in the UK it had a ready made audience. It also had the extreme good fortune to knock Wet Wet Wet’s “Love is All Around” off of the top of the charts engendering Whigfield with an indie cred that could not be derived from the song itself. But my primary memories of “Saturday Night” is associating it with Ibiza. I had just left University, and the island of clubs was a post-exam destination for lots of people I knew (and didn’t much like ). All though the summer the all new down with the kids Radio One, I mean One FM, had been banging on about Ibiza, Peter Tonging from the Island during its club heavy weekends. So when I finally heard the fruits of this hardkore summer of action I was abit surprised. This sweet little pop confection that came WITH A DANCE! That was what Ibiza ’94 was all about. Oh the schadenfreude!
All of of which is STILL not about “Think Of You”. But does go to some way to explaining why I consider “Think Of You” Whigfield’s only proper song. “Saturday Night” to me is a cultural milestone. It killed off Wet Wet Wet (probably forced Pellow to smack). It tore down the party I was not having by not being in Ibiza, but being so naff. And even its seminal video was cheap, nasty and was fundamentally about a girl who looked liked she would be more comfortable in Lederhosen doing her hair**. Saturday Night, from is bouncing frog sound to its fake echo at the end is an artefact, not a song, and Whigfild herself is just a small part of it.
So “Think Of You”, the follow up, was, to me, her first real song. And it is a good song. Its less gimmicky, less flashy and potentially less catchy than “Saturday Night”. It doesn’t have a dance after all. BUT if this had been “Saturday Night” I doubt I would have dismissed the Ibiza sound quite so much. It starts with almost the definition of Balaeric House, with a simple piano motif which repeats throughout the song. The production is as clear and bold as a SAW Kylie song from the late eighties, and the catchy lyrics (down to a little bit of Scando Scat near the end). Indeed the Kylie comparison is a good one, as this is the period when Kylie was off being SEXKYLIE, and INDIEKYLIE wasn’t far off. Far be it for me to be as simplistic as saying that there was a Kylie-sized void (which would be pretty small), but there may be some truth to it. Beating Wet Wet Wet was Whiggy’s Neighbours, And if “Saturday Night” was her “Loco-motion” which makes “Think Of You” Whigfield’s “I Should Be So Lucky”. So perhaps the dwindling of Whigflid’s career is down to a lack of a Jason Donovan, or indeed any definable personality beyond the usual pop platitudes. Or maybe none of her other songs were as good as “Think of You”
You’re still thinking of “Saturday Night” aren’t you? Listen to “Think Of You” below…
*A description that simultaneously is unkind to not just Whigfield and the B-52’s, but Aqua as well!
**I know Whiggy was Danish, but she looks and acts remarkably German to me. In the Think of You video, in her power suit she reminds me more of Andrea Merkel more than anyone else. LOOK!