Last night's show was a box o'wonders. Here's what we played :
Little Comets - Isles
King Blues - Holiday
Richard & Linda Thompson - Shoot Out the Lights (Shoot Out the Lights)
Hoosiers - Unlikely Hero (The Illusion of Safety)
An Army Of Lights - Thelma (An Army Of Lights EP)
An Army Of Lights - Dungeons and Dragons (An Army Of Lights EP)
Moody Blues - The Actor (In Search Of the Lost Chord)
Gerry & the Pacemakers - I Like It
Adam Faith - What Do You Want
The Fab Four Freakout :
Beatles - Leave My Kitten Alone
Beatles - Mother Nature's Son (The Beatles)
Beatles - Till There Was You
Beatles - Love Me Do (original single)
Magnetic Man - Karma Crazy (Magnetic Man)
Mystery Jets - Show Me the Light (Serotonin)
Merseys - Sorrow
Animals - Bring It On Home To Me
Beau Brummels - Laugh Laugh
Rachel Unthank & the Winterset - Blue's Gaen Oot o'the Fashion (The Bairns)
Steeleye Span - Copshawholme Fair (Hark the Village Wait)
...and this week's Top 5 songs :
5). Tinie Tempah - Written In the Stars (-2)
4). Swedish House Mafia - Miami 2 Ibiza (+1)
3). Duck Sauce - Barbara Streisand (new)
2). Bruno Mars -Just the Way You Are (+2)
1). Cee-Lo - Forget You (non-mover)
TOP 5 ANALYSIS and REVIEW
Only one new entry in the top 5 this week, and that seems paltry because we're spoiled for new songs lately. The week also witnesses a rise in the fortunes of two songs - one of which has scaled the heights before - and a non-mover at number one.
At number 5, Tinie Tempah drops two more spaces with the former number one "Written In the Stars". It's a glitzy song, with all sorts of keyboard tricks and vocal gymnastics. All in all, it's a pretty good song, although it's obvious that Tinie has taken the American template of hiring a singer (in this case, Eric Turner) to provide the hook, while he raps in between it all.
The song has a good message, though - while ostensibly it's all about Tinie's success, there's also some inspiration there ("Everyone is the kid that no one cares about/You gotta keep screaming 'til they hear you out").
On the England Swings scale of 1-10, I'm going with a 7 this week.
Swedish House Mafia (featuring Tinie Tempah, by the way) rises a place to number 4 this week with the kinda fun "Miami 2 Ibiza". The song has a lackadaisical musical quality, with the synth at the beginning supplying a deliberately wimpy riff. That makes it better when the deep synths kick in after the verses.
Here, Tinie uses all sorts of initials to tell the story. This works pretty well, but some of the references are pretty obscure. I get "BB" (Blackberry) and CK (Calvin Klein), but there are some others I'm not so sure about ("LV"? Anyone?). I give the song a 7 as well.
Now speaking of fun, Duck Sauce's "Barbara Streisand" comes in at number three this week. This is one of the silliest songs I've ever heard, and I love it. The kicker, in case you haven't heard it, is the frequent interruption of the technofireworks with a very earnest fellow simply saying the title of the song. No, no, come back! It's cool!
The tune also samples a classic Boney M song from the 1980s, which provides it some flash as well. Ridiculous. But effective. I give it an 8.5
Bruno Mars, tenacious fellow that he is, climbs again this week to number 2. That makes the chart performance of "Just the Way You Are" 1-2-4-2 in the four weeks since its release, which is unusual in the UK. There didn't seem to be any contributing factors (particular of the "X" kind) which led to the rise; the song just had a mini-comeback.
It's been at number one in America for the space of those four weeks, making it one of the biggest hits of the year in the USA. It may be on its way to doing the same in the UK - already some are expecting another rise to the top.
The song is ubiquitous at this point; if you're in the USA or the UK and haven't heard it yet, then you must ignore all popular music with a passion. For those of you who are like this : it's a bit of an old-school R&B slow song, and while it doesn't grab the listener right away, it's a challenge to listen to it more than twice without waking up in the morning with the tune in your head.
I give it a 7.5 on the scale.
Cee-Lo manages to hold onto the number one slot for the second week with the euphemistically named "Forget You". In case you weren't aware of this, the first-released version of the tune had another "f" word replacing the "forget" part. Either version is irresistable, with Cee-Lo going for big drama by using old soul music. Between this song and "Crazy", he's established a certain bonkers style of doing songs that's all his own. Listen to it, you'll love it. I give it an 8.
Album review tomorrow!
Little Comets - Isles
King Blues - Holiday
Richard & Linda Thompson - Shoot Out the Lights (Shoot Out the Lights)
Hoosiers - Unlikely Hero (The Illusion of Safety)
An Army Of Lights - Thelma (An Army Of Lights EP)
An Army Of Lights - Dungeons and Dragons (An Army Of Lights EP)
Moody Blues - The Actor (In Search Of the Lost Chord)
Gerry & the Pacemakers - I Like It
Adam Faith - What Do You Want
The Fab Four Freakout :
Beatles - Leave My Kitten Alone
Beatles - Mother Nature's Son (The Beatles)
Beatles - Till There Was You
Beatles - Love Me Do (original single)
Magnetic Man - Karma Crazy (Magnetic Man)
Mystery Jets - Show Me the Light (Serotonin)
Merseys - Sorrow
Animals - Bring It On Home To Me
Beau Brummels - Laugh Laugh
Rachel Unthank & the Winterset - Blue's Gaen Oot o'the Fashion (The Bairns)
Steeleye Span - Copshawholme Fair (Hark the Village Wait)
...and this week's Top 5 songs :
5). Tinie Tempah - Written In the Stars (-2)
4). Swedish House Mafia - Miami 2 Ibiza (+1)
3). Duck Sauce - Barbara Streisand (new)
2). Bruno Mars -Just the Way You Are (+2)
1). Cee-Lo - Forget You (non-mover)
TOP 5 ANALYSIS and REVIEW
Only one new entry in the top 5 this week, and that seems paltry because we're spoiled for new songs lately. The week also witnesses a rise in the fortunes of two songs - one of which has scaled the heights before - and a non-mover at number one.
At number 5, Tinie Tempah drops two more spaces with the former number one "Written In the Stars". It's a glitzy song, with all sorts of keyboard tricks and vocal gymnastics. All in all, it's a pretty good song, although it's obvious that Tinie has taken the American template of hiring a singer (in this case, Eric Turner) to provide the hook, while he raps in between it all.
The song has a good message, though - while ostensibly it's all about Tinie's success, there's also some inspiration there ("Everyone is the kid that no one cares about/You gotta keep screaming 'til they hear you out").
On the England Swings scale of 1-10, I'm going with a 7 this week.
Swedish House Mafia (featuring Tinie Tempah, by the way) rises a place to number 4 this week with the kinda fun "Miami 2 Ibiza". The song has a lackadaisical musical quality, with the synth at the beginning supplying a deliberately wimpy riff. That makes it better when the deep synths kick in after the verses.
Here, Tinie uses all sorts of initials to tell the story. This works pretty well, but some of the references are pretty obscure. I get "BB" (Blackberry) and CK (Calvin Klein), but there are some others I'm not so sure about ("LV"? Anyone?). I give the song a 7 as well.
Now speaking of fun, Duck Sauce's "Barbara Streisand" comes in at number three this week. This is one of the silliest songs I've ever heard, and I love it. The kicker, in case you haven't heard it, is the frequent interruption of the technofireworks with a very earnest fellow simply saying the title of the song. No, no, come back! It's cool!
The tune also samples a classic Boney M song from the 1980s, which provides it some flash as well. Ridiculous. But effective. I give it an 8.5
Bruno Mars, tenacious fellow that he is, climbs again this week to number 2. That makes the chart performance of "Just the Way You Are" 1-2-4-2 in the four weeks since its release, which is unusual in the UK. There didn't seem to be any contributing factors (particular of the "X" kind) which led to the rise; the song just had a mini-comeback.
It's been at number one in America for the space of those four weeks, making it one of the biggest hits of the year in the USA. It may be on its way to doing the same in the UK - already some are expecting another rise to the top.
The song is ubiquitous at this point; if you're in the USA or the UK and haven't heard it yet, then you must ignore all popular music with a passion. For those of you who are like this : it's a bit of an old-school R&B slow song, and while it doesn't grab the listener right away, it's a challenge to listen to it more than twice without waking up in the morning with the tune in your head.
I give it a 7.5 on the scale.
Cee-Lo manages to hold onto the number one slot for the second week with the euphemistically named "Forget You". In case you weren't aware of this, the first-released version of the tune had another "f" word replacing the "forget" part. Either version is irresistable, with Cee-Lo going for big drama by using old soul music. Between this song and "Crazy", he's established a certain bonkers style of doing songs that's all his own. Listen to it, you'll love it. I give it an 8.
Album review tomorrow!
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