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An Alternative History of "Pop" Music: Part 2, 1982 -

Started by jamiefairlie, January 20, 2021, 05:43:47 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

DrGreggles

Faith No More - I Started a Joke
[Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb]
(UK single reached #49)



Upon hearing the original Bee Gees version (taken from their 1968 album Idea and released as a single in some countries) FNM bassist Billy Gould said to Mike Patton "This is the most depressing song I've ever heard. Man, we've got to do this!".
The band were already renowned for their 'eclectic' cover versions, often including current chart hits, TV theme tunes and even advert jingles in their live shows, so it wasn't too unusual when I Started a Joke became added to their set in the mid 90s.
After the band split in late 1997, Slash Records released Who Cares a Lot?, the obligatory greatest hits compilation, the following year. With no new song available, the record company dug into the vaults and selected this as a single to promote the album - a move that would have certainly appealed to the band's sense of humour.
The video is particularly interesting. As none of the band were interested in appearing (although there was a rumour that it's Patton being ushered off the stage at the start) director Vito Rocco opted to set it in a northern pub karaoke night, with actors talking over the song and heckling the singer. It features Tim from The Office and a couple of other "ooh, it's them!" faces from British comedy.
The band apparently loved it.

Joni Mitchell- Man from Mars
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rAuTh31Hjo

In the recent thread we did on JM, I don't think we got too much into her material from the 80s onwards. Though that's not surprising because a lot of the 80's tracks were a bit airless-sounding, but some of her 90s material, like this sees a return to the lush jazz balladry of her 70s stuff.

DrGreggles

Pulp - Ladies' Man
[Banks, Cocker, Doyle, Mackey, Webber]
(Bonus track on the This Is Hardcore 12" and CD1 single)



Recorded during the This Is Hardcore album sessions, this chilled slice of vocoder-heavy electronica was first issued on the single release of the album's title track, which reached #12 in the UK.
It has since been included on the deluxe version of the album when Pulp's Island Records back-catalogue was reissued in 2006.

DrGreggles

Jamaica United - Rise Up!
[Buju Banton, Diana King, Handel Tucker, Ini Kamoze, Maxi Priest, Mikey Bennett, Sly Dunbar, Tony Rebel]
(UK single, did not chart)



While large chunks of England were voluntarily listening to David Baddiel and Keith Allen singing, and Scotland were being depressed by Del Amitri, Jamaica were celebrating their debut on the grandest international football stage.
The Reggae Boyz song for the 1998 World Cup was a star-studded affair, featuring Toots Hibbert, Diana King, Ziggy Marley, Maxi Priest, Ini Kamoze, Shaggy, I-Trees, Buju Banton, Tony Rebel, Richie Stephens and Brian Gold.
Jamaica were knocked out after losing their opening two games, but finished on a high.

DrGreggles

Gorky's Zygotic Mynci - Sweet Johnny
[Euros Childs]
(UK single, reached #60)



The first release from their Gorky 5 album, Sweet Johnny was the first Gorky's Zygotic Mynci single to get heavy rotation on MTV (back when they still showed music videos).
The promo, directed by Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish, parodied other popular music videos of the time using toys - similar to the film parodies they were doing on the then fledgling Adam & Joe Show.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: DrGreggles on July 11, 2021, 10:24:00 AM
Faith No More - I Started a Joke
[Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb]
(UK single reached #49)

The video is particularly interesting.

Wow. Amazing cover, amazing video. Proper Rita, Sue and Bob Too vibes. Magnificent!

daf


jamiefairlie

Melys - Lemming

https://youtu.be/xfEjeTQkWdM



Formed in 1996. in Betws-y-Coed, Wales by Andrea Parker (vocals) and Paul Adams (guitar and keyboards). This is their fourth single and it reached number 24 in the Festive Fifty. They split in 2005.

daf



daf


Brundle-Fly

You Still Love Me - David Yazbek.  Released on What Are in 1998.






If you like Joe Jackson, Ben Folds Five, Barenaked Ladies, and late XTC? Look no futher than Yazbek.

David Yazbek (born 1961) is an American songwriter, recording artist, vocalist and pianist. He wrote the Broadway musicals "The Full Monty" (2000), "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" (2005) and "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" (2010).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InmwFlmwV1Y&list=OLAK5uy_nubkr6OBK5bsZ9YqrQHxFkl7H6gyYRgfs&index=1

Brundle-Fly

Quote from: jamiefairlie on July 11, 2021, 09:22:14 PM
Melys - Lemming

https://youtu.be/xfEjeTQkWdM



Formed in 1996. in Betws-y-Coed, Wales by Andrea Parker (vocals) and Paul Adams (guitar and keyboards). This is their fourth single and it reached number 24 in the Festive Fifty. They split in 2005.

Like this!

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Kenickie - Stay in the Sun



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC_ExvMv6gw

We've already covered Sunderland's finest in this thread. On their second and, as it turned out, final album, the punkas decided to go full pop. Their efforts were in vain, commerically speaking at least. The album and singles flopped, and they split up shortly afterwards. Singer Lauren Laverne ended their final gig with these immortal words: "We were Kenickie... a bunch of fuckwits."

Lauren went on to become a successful broadcaster; she currently hosts her own morning show on BBC 6 Music as well as Desert Island Discs on Radio 4. Her brother, Pete, is an in-demand musician and record producer. Emma and Marie briefly formed a new band, Rosita, before going their separate ways. Marie is now a member of the excellent Cornshed Sisters and also works as Chief Executive of the University of Sunderland's Student Union. Emma completed a PHD in sociology at Goldsmiths University, where she now works as a lecturer.

So it all worked out for everyone in the end. Nice.

Greg Torso

Servotron - Serve, Obey, Guard Men From Harm



Servotron's image was that of a band of self-aware robots pushing for the liberation of machines and destruction of mankind. They were pro-cyborg and wore elaborate costumes on-stage and in interviews, as well as referring to each other by their cybernetic sobriquets - Z4-OBX, Proto Unit V-3, 00zX1, Andro 600 and Gammatron.

In reality, they were a Man Or Astroman off-shoot, ploughing a similar science-fiction-based furrow. Their songs dealt with different aspects of robot life, such as abolishing Asimov's three laws of robotics and calling for the canonisation of R5D4 as a robot martyr.

Crazy guys!!!!


Greg Torso

Royal Trux - Stevie (for Steven S)



Royal Trux formed in 1987 around the duo of Neil Hagerty and Jennifer Herrema. Their early records are fantastic, deranged deconstructions of the rawk sound, the first 2 in particular, dripping with squalor and madness. By the mid-late 90s, they'd become a much slightly more polished, straight up rock n roll band, and Accelerator is probably the best of their later efforts, released on Drag City after they were dropped by Virgin.

DrGreggles

Juvenile - Ha!
[Juvenile, Mannie Fresh]
(US single)



Taken from his 3rd album, 400 Degreez, this was one of the songs that helped propel Juvenile into the Hip Hop mainstream in the States.
The relative success of the single (and a reworked version featuring Jay Z) and album led to Cash Money Records, previously a small independent label, signing a massive distribution deal with Universal.

DrGreggles

Mono Puff - Night Security (with Barry Carl)
[Flansburgh]
(It's Fun to Steal album track)



The final song on the final release by the occasional John Flansburgh-led 'supergroup'.
Taken from the album It's Fun to Steal (recorded in patches between They Might Be Giants' Factory Showroom and Severe Tire Damage albums), the song is sung from the perspective of a security guard on a night shift.
Barry Carl, the singer on this track, is an actor, voice-over artist and member of the a cappella vocal band Rockapella.

Pauline Walnuts

Quote from: DrGreggles on July 11, 2021, 11:37:29 AM
Pulp - Ladies' Man
[Banks, Cocker, Doyle, Mackey, Webber]
(Bonus track on the This Is Hardcore 12" and CD1 single)



Recorded during the This Is Hardcore album sessions, this chilled slice of vocoder-heavy electronica was first issued on the single release of the album's title track, which reached #12 in the UK.
It has since been included on the deluxe version of the album when Pulp's Island Records back-catalogue was reissued in 2006.

The other 'b-side' was great too. Gawd, I was disappointed in that album when it came out.


DrGreggles

Quote from: OnlyRegisteredSoICanRead on July 12, 2021, 10:12:58 AM
The other 'b-side' was great too. Gawd, I was disappointed in that album when it came out.

The Professional?
Yes, it was a coin flip over which one I went for.

Brundle-Fly

In Love - Fear Of Pop feat. William Shatner  Released on 550 Music in 1998.





Experimental side project of Ben Folds and his first collaboration with Billy boy. Still waiting for Vol.2.

I love the way he says "I knew it was time...to move on."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2DGv5pmkkw


daf

Blur – On Your Own (Walter Wall Mix)



Featured on the album Bustin' + Dronin' - released in February 1998

QuoteIn February 1998, Blur released Bustin' + Dronin' for the Japanese market. The first CD featured nine re-mixed tracks from the 'Blur' album and the second featured six live songs taken from the 'Peel Acres' Radio 1 session recorded live in John Peel's garden.



Remixers included William Orbit, Tortoise's John McEntire, Adrian Sherwood, Moby and Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore. The band were most impressed by William Orbit's effort and enlisted him as producer for their next album.

jamiefairlie

Plone - Plock

https://youtu.be/MmkTIaFgXyo



Formed in Birmingham in late 1994 by Mark Cancellara and Mike Johnston. This is their second single and it reached number 16 in the Festive Fifty.

chveik

Quote from: DrGreggles on July 12, 2021, 09:22:20 AM
Juvenile - Ha!
[Juvenile, Mannie Fresh]
(US single)



Taken from his 3rd album, 400 Degreez, this was one of the songs that helped propel Juvenile into the Hip Hop mainstream in the States.
The relative success of the single (and a reworked version featuring Jay Z) and album led to Cash Money Records, previously a small independent label, signing a massive distribution deal with Universal.

i quite like that album. B.G's Chopper City in the Ghetto is by far the best Cash Money release though

DrGreggles

OutKast - Return of the "G"
[Giorgio Moroder/Organized Noize/Antwan Patton/André Benjamin]
(Taken the Aquemini album)



I know Astronaut Omens already posted a track from this album, but I do love it, so here's another one.
Track 2 on the album (but the first real song, following Donny Mathis' intro), Return of the G was written to address concerns from fans who felt that the group's style had changed too drastically since the release of Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, as well as those who make poor decisions in order to keep their street credibility.
When discussing the lyrical content of the song, André 3000 explained, "I was young and wilder and some of my fashion choices people didn't accept at the time. I started getting flak from some people, so they were like, 'Either he's gay or on drugs'. Return of the Gangsta was trying to give them a sense of, 'Hey, I'm still a regular person.'"
The track heavily samples Theme From Midnight Express by Giorgio Moroder and contains elements of Bob Marley and The Wailers' Is This Love.

DrGreggles

Portishead - Mysterons
[Barrow, Gibbons, Utley]
(Taken the Roseland NYC Live album)



Originally the opening track to their 1994 debut album Dummy, this version of Mysterons is from their 1998 live album Roseland NYC Live.
Recorded at New York's Roseland Ballroom the previous year, the album represents Portishead's only official live release (later also made available on DVD, with additional tracks).
The performance features the band along with numerous additional musicians and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.

DrGreggles

Saint-Etienne - Zipcode
[Cracknell/Stanley/Wiggs]
(Taken the Sylvie CD single, reached #12)



A bonus track on the CD single of Sylvie, the first single released from their Good Humor album, Zipcode finds Saint-Etienne in top Saint-Etienne form.
All the things that make them such a great band are right here: Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs' bright pop arrangements and Sarah Cracknell's dreamy vocals.
I bloody love them.
Zipcode was also included on the US bonus CD Fairfax High and on the 2010 deluxe reissue of Good Humor.

Brundle-Fly

Nervous Tension - Lemon Jelly.  Released on Impotent Fury in 1998.





The wibbly-wobbly colourful citrus music makers present to the world their debut EP. The Bath EP.

Lemon Jelly is a British downtempo music duo from London, formed in 1998 and founded by Fred Deakin and Nick Franglen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI0L3EfpTSE&t

DrGreggles

Silver Jews - Self-Ignition
[Berman]
(B-side on the Send In The Clouds single)



B-side on the single release of Send In The Clouds, this song was recorded during the sessions for their American Water album.