Retro Saturday: Jonatan Cerrada

Let's take a little trip back 9 years to a top tune by France's first "Idol" - Nouvelle Star winner Jonatan Cerrada.  If you remember, Jonatan and rival finalist Thierry Amiel were in a Will & Gareth-style contest, with everyone (including myself) expecting the foregone conclusion of a Thierry win.  So it was all the more pleasing when Jonatan triumphed.  This is a little piece of pop perfection from Jonatan's debut CD, which I would like to dedicate to Rachel and Keira and hope it brings back some happy memories of that Parisian pilgrimage :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm48KXnqVy0

Retro Saturday: Guesch Patti

With my favourite annual sporting event going on at the moment - the Tour de France, need you ask - I thought I'd do a little trip back in time with a distinctly French flavour tonight. 

Back in 1988 - which I've decided to log in the history books as an officially fab year although admittedly it had its ups and downs - French pop singer Guesch Patti had a bit of a pan-European hit with the grammatically incorrect "Let Be Must The Queen".  The song came to my attention all those years ago after it got an airing on some British TV show or other, maybe Rapido, although my memory is a bit hazy on this one.  Anyway I thought it was time to feature it on Retro Saturday.  Very 'French' and very much "of its time" but hey, that's not so bad. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te1uCRoX6ic

Retro Saturday (revisited): Fredericks Goldman Jones

It's been a while since I listened to this multinational trio whom I loved in the 1990s, and I decided it was time to rediscover them all over again thanks to the excellent Verves of Europe (http://vervemedia.org.uk/) which played some FGJ a couple of weeks ago.

I'd forgotten just how much I loved "Peurs" from their first album, which I bought in 1998, so I thought it would be a good idea to share this with you tonight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9RK_1-0WDY

Retro Saturday: Riverdance

In keeping with the Irish theme which has dominated recent weeks, I thought it would be very fitting to feature the ultimate Irish music/dance phenomenon which was premiered at the Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin 17 years ago. Music by Bill Whelan, and fantastic dancing by Jean Butler and Michael Flatley.

What else but...Riverdance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWyhH5z92ps

(Oh and by the way, I haven't forgotten about the Dublin Diaries: they will be published on here at some point this week.)

Retro Saturday: Wales Special!

In the words of one of the 1980s most hideous hits by Charlene, "I've never been to me". Now what does that have to do with this week's Retro Saturday, I hear you ask. Well it's just a silly link to introduce this week's trip back through musical history. For I have never been to...Wales, (although if a certain person reading this has their way, that won't be the case for too much longer!!!) anyway this week's Retro Saturday is inspired by that conversation last week about Welsh music and how many bands/singers could you name, which immediately jogged my memory...

Of course no Welsh retrospective is complete without Tom Jones, who had his own musical revival at the end of the '90s with the "Reload" album which gave us "Burning Down The House" with the fab Cardigans http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYuFIrSLD84 and who could forget his duet with Mousse T - Sex Bomb: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkV65jUWYXk

Then there is the legend that is Green Gartside, the main man behind Scritti Politti, = the most beautiful man of the 1980s and underrated musical genius -
"Perfect Way" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs7Jy2y-33A
"Absolute" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teHqHmnXnhE&feature=related
"Boom There She Was" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7qCaCcfjXg
(from the brilliant "Provision" album, which, along with the Pet Shop Boys, kept me sane through the college years :)))

Young Marble Giants
No video, but just wallow in the minimalistic....minimalism of it all, and the understated brilliance of Alison Statton.
"Wurlitzer Jukebox" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xob9tLR18s&feature=related
"Include Me Out" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvNhjWZTi_E&feature=related

The Manic Street Preachers are IMHO the best band ever to come out of Wales, and their long career will soon be commemorated with the release of an extensive best-of compilation.
"La Tristesse Durera" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJzwIFyZfck
"Revol" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf91dTrLkgA&ob=av2n
"A Design For Life" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfEoVxy7VDQ&ob=av2e

During that late 80s/early 90s period of classic dance music, one Welsh act made their name - K-Klass rose to fame with hits like "Rhythm is a Mystery" -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIzU7_Iavk4

Welsh acts reached their peak during the Britpop era, a period of music which will always have fond memories for me. Catatonia had their finest hour with "Mulder and Scully" cashing in on X Files mania.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOdPSzVYt_o and then Cerys Matthews teamed up with the (non-Welsh) Space (another fab underrated combo from that time) to pay tribute to the one and only Tom Jones! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9zL9wlMvZE&ob=av2e

Super Furry Animals also enjoyed their finest moments during the glory days of Britpop, my favourites being "Play It Cool" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27jB6MvX4mQ and "Demons" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkosCOhDCYs

Goldie Lookin' Chain provided much hilarity with "Guns Don't Kill People Rappers Do" and went on to carve out a career as list-show talking heads and Celeb BB contestants - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJ83KXUloP8&feature=fvsr "I seen it on a documentary on BBC2" lol :)))

Finally, one of the obvious answers to "name some Welsh singers" - Charlotte Church, who initially achieved fame as an opera star and then became more famous
She did however make a couple of decent tracks during her short-lived pop career - "Crazy Chick" -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csL5mu05Xy0 and my favourite, the underrated "Moodswings (To Come At Me Like That)" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPnmlfB6jqM

Retro Saturday: The Alarm

You may (or probably may not) ask yourself what makes me choose the songs/singers for Retro Saturday. Sometimes it's just a song which pops into my head, other times it's a "do you remember that song/band?" conversation.

During a conversation with faithful travelling companion earlier today he mentioned The Alarm and I immediately said "that's one for Retro Saturday!"

"68 Guns" from 1983 was their biggest hit in the UK charts, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR20uChph7c&feature=fvsr but they came to my attention before that with "The Stand" which is probably my favourite song of theirs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMXSiL56QR4

And let's not forget "Rain in the Summertime": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8D6pPgwafq0&ob=av2e and "Where Were You Hiding When The Storm Broke" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIX3DLQiH7s&feature=related

By the way, that conversation this morning also gave me an idea for a Retro Saturday special - check back here same time next Saturday night :)

Retro Saturday: Cajsalisa Ejemyr

I first heard "Alla Behöver Nån (Nångång)" by Cajsalisa Ejemyr a few years ago now, but it has stayed fresh and I never get bored with it. Here is a clip of her doing the song on TV4 back in 1999. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkYONqrplE8

Cajsalisa also competed in Melodifestivalen 1997 with Du Gör Mig Hel Igen which was written by the one and only Robyn! A bit of a nervous performance and maybe the song might have done better if Robyn herself had performed it? Or maybe not. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1ZWqK5OR6M&feature=related

Retro Saturday: Anders Glenmark

Almost 4 years ago to the day, I wrote an appreciative post about Gemini, the duo comprised of Swedish brother and sister Anders and Karin Glenmark, who enjoyed success in the 1980s:
http://europecrazy.blogspot.com/2007/08/remember-how-ive-loved-you-all-these.html

In that post I wrote "some day I'll do something on this blog about Anders, as he does indeed merit a blog post of his own." I never did get around to that post, so let's sort that. I've recently got into watching 80s Melodifestivalen clips which fill the gap nicely till 'on-season' starts again....anyway I recently came across "Det är mitt liv - det är jag" which he wrote and sang at Melodifestivalen 1981. The song placed 4th out of the 5 finalists that year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdHYF1I4acg Of course the Melodifestivalen of 30 years ago was a long long way from the MF of today, but I still miss the orchestra and the backing singers etc etc.....

The Anders Glenmark of 1981 didn't have the distinctive vocal style we associate with him - but that was in evidence by 1984 when he returned to MF, this time alongside his sister Karin, and chalked up yet another 4th place with "Kall Som Is". They look like a couple of bank clerks who dropped by the SVT studio on their lunch break, but hey, it's the 80s! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWABTlBqKZk

Ask anyone outside Sweden who Anders Glenmark is, and outwith the Swedish pop lovers/Melodifestivalen fans/Abba fan community it would be fair to say that most people will not have heard of him. But listen to the chorus of that massive 80s hit "One Night In Bangkok" by Murray Head - that's Anders Glenmark singing!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDIZTmH6Qsw

Anders' biggest commercial success came in the late 80s and early 90s with hits like "Hon har blommor i sitt hår" and "Greyhound Bus" and even a further attempt at Melodifestivalen in 1989 with "Upp över mina öron" this time duetting with Orup. They came 2nd with what was in my opinion one of the best MF songs ever, and the duo went on to form a successful musical partnership along with Niklas Strömstedt, as Glenmark Eriksson Strömstedt (GES). The trio recorded the 1994 World Cup song for the Swedish football team. As World Cup anthems go, this is one of the best ever - maybe because it's not a boring old traditional football song, but it's a perfect musical snapshot of three Swedish musicians in their prime. Over the years Anders Glenmark had not just become an accomplished singer/songwriter but had also established a very specific production style which carried on through his own work and that of GES. I featured "När Vi Gräver Guld I USA" on the blog before, but it's always nice to revisit an old favourite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgeCt4bX878

I don't know what Anders is doing musically these days. The last we heard of him was 5 years ago, as co-writer (with Niklas Strömstedt) of Magnus Carlsson's Melodifestivalen entry, the distinctively Glenmark-styled "Lev Livet" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNOG6rpJtMQ I hope that one day, Anders Glenmark will come back and make music again.

Retro Saturday: Cock Robin

Either my search facility is not working properly, or I can't believe I haven't featured this 80s pop classic on the blog before now.

1986 was a very strange year for me, which began with a back injury which developed into a debilitating disease and I couldn't do very much apart from listen to music...happily I recovered by May/June though.

One of the songs which I always remember from those 'sick times' was "The Promise You Made" by Cock Robin. It became a massive European hit and also made an impact on the British charts. Even now, 25 years on, it still sounds pretty fabulous. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pk3A_QSINI&ob=av2e

Lead singer Peter Kingsbery went on to have a big hit in France with "Only The Very Best" from the Starmania soundtrack. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Bf96l01sds

Retro Saturday: Flesh

Another 80s rarity which continues to haunt me...a soulful delight by Flesh, entitled "You Can't Help (Sentimental Sunday)" which at the time screamed hit record, but like so many other great pop songs....it wasn't. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1EFGyWfUYY

Retro Saturday: The Motors

So many destinations, faces going to so many places where the weather is much better....a very topical tune for holiday season I think you will agree!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR_oBTUZYJg&feature=related

Retro Saturday: EuropeCrazy's Sounds of Summer!

OK let's try this one :)

I previously mentioned a few of these songs in my Holiday Hit Lists on here but as it's summer, I thought it might be worth revisiting a few of them.

Amsterdam 2002: K-Otic: Falling
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkSo4YnCwHU
A video which caught my eye thanks to very regular play on the Dutch music TV channels during our summer 2002 trip to Amsterdam. K-Otic were one of the first manufactured 'TV bands' from that Popstars-era, and much loved by the great Acer Ben who was one of my biggest blogging influences. Come back Ben, we miss you!

Biarritz 2002: "En Apesanteur" - Calogero
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO1LqqP9w3I
Extremely saucy video clip! All I will say is, do not get into an elevator with this man, you never know where it will lead..... ;)))

Biarritz 2002: "Come Back To Me" - Cunnie Williams
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiB4dupT2Io
I'd forgotten just how much I love this! A totally fabulous tune which (if you're old enough to remember) totally recalls Barry White's 70's soul hits. And if you're not old enough to remember....well just enjoy it for what it is - a great soul/pop song.

Prague 2005: "On My Head" - Dan Barta
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NByQ2bWgLbM
OK so this isn't a summer holiday song, it's a spring holiday song but I can bend the rules can't I!! This is a nice pop/rock song which got serious amounts of radio airplay at the time. And from what I can guess it's from a film about snowboarding. Now that's not very summery, is it???

Nice 2005: "Love Generation" - Bob Sinclar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0NSeysrDYw
At that time this song was best known as the new theme to Star Academy 5; I became obsessed with it and much later it was eventually played to the point of irritation, when I didn't want to hear it anymore. Yet it remains a fresh, feelgood, summery dance anthem, free of any of the dire ingredients which make today's dance music so formulaic and tedious.

Cologne 2006; "Klar" - Jan Delay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjoZnHyQpso
Long before he reached Eurovision interval-act notoriety, I was watching this on German music channels during my holiday in Berlin and bopping around the hotel room to this extremely funky tune.

Nice 2008: "Comme Avant" - Sheryfa Luna & Mathieu Edward
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKUdRzcxFeo&feature=fvsr
Two products of the French reality-TV-pop system - from Popstars and Star Academy respectively - duetting on a very fine r'n'b pop song which has stood the test of time.

Retro Saturday special: 1981 and my musical rebirth

I've had this post kicking around since the beginning of this year so I thought it was about time it was published.

30 years seems a long time, a lifetime ago, yet it feels just like yesterday. And my mind wandered back to one Saturday afternoon in January 1981, where none other than BBC Radio One was to be responsible for sowing the seeds of my own musical revolution which was to last for the best part of the following 30 years....

Saturdays back then, as indeed now, meant retail therapy. But on that Saturday I was stuck in the house with a heavy winter cold, curled up on the sofa and feeling sorry for myself. So I switched on the radio, and flicked through the channels. I can't remember the name of the DJ - but a song was played on the radio which was to turn my life upside down.

With unparalleled excitement and urgency, brass raged from the radio and a voice proclaimed "Bless my cotton socks, I'm in the news!" In those three minutes, my Saturday afternoon misery vanished. The song was "Reward" by a band called The Teardrop Explodes.



I wanted to know more about this band, and to discover more of this music. The DJ mentioned something about a night-time Radio 1 show, and so I began to explore this other world beyond daytime/drivetime radio. Richard Skinner's Evening Session, and the John Peel show, opened up a whole new undiscovered world of music which I devoured with enthusiasm. Every Radio 1 session was eagerly anticipated, and the joy of discovering another new band to add to my collection....well it was just undescribable. I began buying New Musical Express, Sounds and Record Mirror, hoping to discover more information about all the new bands which excited me.

But whilst all that was going on, my pop heart was still beating. All through my life I haven't been able to understand musical snobbery. Why can't you like two kinds of music at once? I grew up in a house where all kinds of music were acceptable, and as time went on I was able to love punk and disco and cheesy pop equally. By the end of 1980, the charts were not such an exciting place for me: the ska boom had faded and disco was on its last legs. At that time, my heart and my record player belonged to one man and his band: Adam and the Ants. Laugh if you must, but "Kings of the Wild Frontier" still remains an underrated gem, however everything he did after that just had me cringing with disappointment and we went our separate ways.

Magazines like The Face began to hail the New Romantic movement, which I initially resented and couldn't relate to, but the music made a lot more sense: Spandau Ballet, Ultravox, Visage and the new poster boys on this teenage girl's bedroom wall - Duran Duran.

Ironically, last Sunday night I watched Duran Duran perform on an ITV 'One Night Only' special and was amazed to see that despite the passing of the years (and the shocking deterioration in John Taylor's looks) they can still cut it. My interest in the band began to wane from "Rio" onwards and by the time of "Wild Boys" I hated them. They came to represent everything I hated about the 1980s, which was personally a very dark decade for me. If you can remember the 80s fondly then (a) you either weren't there, or (b) you were a yuppie. Duran Duran managed to work their way back into my affections in the 1990s and last Sunday night's TV appearance proved that they are still relevant.

But back to 1981 and beyond. John Peel's Festive 50 became an annual highlight. In 1981 http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/johnpeel/festive50s/1980s/1981/ the chart clearly hadn't let go of the punk hits which had inspired this musical revolution, but for me the real excitement was all about what happened after punk. In 1981, New Order took its first steps, rising from the ashes of Joy Division, and producing music which was way beyond its time. New Order was to become my all-time favourite band in subsequent years.

1981 changed everything for me. My interest in what I suppose you would call 'indie' or 'alternative' music developed from that year and resulted in my discovering music which never in a million years would make the top 40, but which enriched my musical experience in a way which I still fondly remember.

Retro Saturday: The Lotus Eaters

After a brief stop-off at 1993 we return to 1983 for a rare, forgotten treat.

My first encounter with Liverpool band The Lotus Eaters was, to say the least, unremarkable. I was unimpressed with their debut hit, "The First Picture of You" which was rather wet and wimpy, to these ears anyway. But the follow-up, "You Don't Need Someone New" completely changed my mind: bright and breezy acoustic pop, with an edge which was missing from their debut. It wasn't a hit single, but back then, that didn't matter as long as it was played on night-time Radio 1...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKwuo19Tk6w

Retro Saturday: Marxman

We fast-forward 10 years to 1993 - a rather special year for me for a number of reasons...anyway here is a cracking rap song by Bristol/Irish rap collective Marxman, who as the name suggests were a very political musical project.

Behind the very catchy groove of "All About Eve" were some very direct lyrics about domestic abuse. The song made it to no.28 in the UK singles chart: back in the day when music with a meaning could actually make it into the charts....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p86eXIHymHg

Retro Saturday: Tullio de Piscopo

Yes, it's back...!

I decided to rest Retro Saturday for a while but recently realised that there's some life left in it yet :))

So let's kick off with some classic 1983 Italo-Disco from top Italian funky drummer Tullio de Piscopo....believe it or not, this actually got some airplay on British radio back in those days before anything in a foreign language was a no-no.

Still fresh and rather wonderful. With lots of big hair.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhIXU4IXLWg

Retro Saturday: Ashley & Jackson

"I can make more than you steal in a day"

From 1990, truly the golden era of indie-dance-pop which for a long long time was my natural musical habitat :) Got a bit of airplay on night-time Radio 1, and this came from the archives of the late and much-lamented Chart Show which played a lot of music which I really liked at that time - Stone Roses, House of Love, Inspiral Carpets, World of Twist, Ride (the list is endless).

I've been looking for this one for a while, so I'm glad that I finally found it. Enjoy the jazzy-indie-funk vibe of "Solid Gold" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoMCN6QHxrs

Retro Saturday: Win

Another one of those great lost songs from the 1980s!

Win was a Scottish band whom big things were expected from - but like many other bands, they failed to achieve the success they deserved despite a high level of local radio support and the song, "You've Got The Power" being featured in a TV commercial for McEwan's Lager. If you're in the mood for a relatively obscure 80s pop gem, find it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqkePGfRFuE

Retro Saturday: Malcolm McLaren

The man who gave the world the Sex Pistols died this week. McLaren was an innovator with a unique and unpredictable personality: the world will probably never see his like again, more's the pity. After helping to kick-start the much-needed punk revolution, he then introduced the British public to early hip hop.

Many other bloggers have posted videos of the punk and hip-hop stuff, so I'll move on to yet another concept he was involved in, back in the early 90s - "The Ghosts of Oxford Street". I particularly loved a song called "Magic's Back", with vocals from Alison Limerick who was later to become a very popular dance diva. This song combined a sweeping classical feel with irresistible dance beats, and still sounds very fresh today. Do you believe in magic? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTw2ohPE2gQ

Rest in peace.

Retro Saturday: Adolphson & Falk

So while we're on the subject of long-forgotten 1980s Swedish pop, let's get to something completely wonderful - "Ifrån" by Adolphson & Falk. This is a fab slice of Swedish-language electro-pop which I still love as much today as I did all those years ago.

No video for this one but you may just love the song so much that it won't really matter....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wuwVi_QwnE