Climie Fisher was an English duo made up of singer-songwriter Simon Climie and keyboardist Rob Fisher. Before teaming up Climie had actually written hits for other artistes including "Invincible" by Pat Benatar and I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) by Aretha Franklin & George Michael.
Incredibly, Love Changes (Everything) was not a hit when released the first time around in 1987, reaching a lowly No. 67 in the charts but after the success of Rise To The Ocassion the single was re-released and made it to its rightful place at No. 2 in 1988.
Before Yazz hit it big with hits like The Only Way Is Up, she was a guest vocalist on this record by producers Coldcut. In my opinion, one of the prime examples of an excellent British house record, this single peaked at No. 6 in 1988 and launched the career of catwalk model-turned-singer Yasmin Evans.
Of course Yazz went on to have enormous success with her other hits like Stand Up For Your Love Rights and the groovy Fine Time but the 90s saw her slip away from the limelight. Her hits will always be dancefloor classics though.
Here's the link for Stand Up For Your Love Rights :-
Norwegian group A-Ha seems to be more well-known for their debut hit "Take On Me". However, not many people know that their follow-up single The Sun Always Shines On TV did one better than their No.2 debut going all the way to the top of the UK charts in 1986.
For me, this song is equally, if not more, amazing than its predecessor ... full of guitar rifts and rockin' beats ... perfect to dance to and also good enough to just sit and listen to ... check it out.
Of course A-Ha went on to have numerous more hits ... not just with rawwkin' fast tunes like You Are The One and Cry Wolf but also ballads like Hunting High & Low, Stay On These Roads and the Roy Orbison cover Cryin' In The Rain. And, of course, they recorded the Bond theme The Living Daylights. Brilliant, just brilliant!
Irish group U2 has had many many amazing and awesome hits and I will get around to posting them sooner or later. However, let me start with one of their lesser-known hits.
Elevation, which was used in the film Lara Croft : Tomb Raider stormed to No. 3 in 2001. It's easy to see why ... the song, in a word, rawwwks. The Tomb Raider mix is amazing.
In 1993, a then-little known actress named Alicia Silverstone starred as the villain in psychological thriller, The Crush. Her performance impressed Marty Callner, the director of Aerosmith's Cryin' and she was cast opposite Stephen Dorff and Lost's Josh Holloway.
Of course, Alicia's career really took off after her starring role in Clueless and she then had a string of hit roles including that of Batgirl in Joel Schumaker's somewhat camp version of Batman And Robin.
I'm just surprised that the Aerosmith songs did not do better in the UK. Cryin' only reached No. 17, Amazing fared worse at No. 57 and Crazy, released as a double-A side with Blind Man reached a dismal No. 23. However, the songs and the amazing videos will forever be classics to me
By 2006, Bajan singer Rihanna had already released a few successful dance oriented singles, including Pon de Replay and the amazing amazing SOS (with its Soft Cell sample). Unfaithful was the singer's first ballad single release and, oh, what a ballad it was. Co-written by Ne-Yo the song was a heartbreaking potboiler of deception and adultery.
"I don't wanna do this anymore ... I don't wanna be a murderer", wails Riri in the song which climbed to No. 2 in the charts. Her fortunes were to continue and she's become one of the most prolific female singers around.
I also absolutely love love love the Tony Moran Club Edit of this song. A must for any Saturday night clubbing. Check it out here :-
And now for something completely new ... Stooshe is an English R&B group from London. They remind me of an English version of TLc. Black Heart is only their second single but I reckon it's pretty amazing and it's already gone to No. 3. Check out the video which has a 60s flavour a la Dreamgirls.
This amazing duet by two equally amazing female voices remains in the Guiness Book of Records as the biggest selling UK single by an all-female duo. Written by Bjorn and Benny of ABBA this song spent 4 weeks at No. 1 in 1985.
Elaine Paige (best known for her West End roles in Evita and Cats) and Barbara Dickson (who starred in Willy Russell's Blood Brothers) sang their roles as the wife and mistress separately but did meet for the video shoot.
The song has been covered numerous times, most famously, by Whitney and Cissy Houston and by Peter Kay (playing his Geraldine McQueen role) and Susan Boyle as a comedy single for the charity Comic Relief but not many people know that West End actor John Barrowman (Miss Saigon and tv's Torchwood) also did a rather "unconventional" version of the duet with Daniel Boys (formerly a contestant in talent contest Any Dream Will Do) ...
There have been many many versions of this song but for me the best and definitive version of this song is the one by that greatest of soul voices, Aretha Franklin. Released in 1968, it was actually a B-side to The House That Jack Built.Amazingly, House did not chart but this song went all the way to No. 4. Listening to it, one can quite clearly see why.
I know that most people are familiar with the Dionne Warwick version which was featured in the Julia Roberts / Cameron Diaz flick My Best Friend's Wedding (and apparently the song was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for Di)
But for me Dionne's version is too easy listening for me. Aretha's version is more ballsy, has more meat and more oooomph and for me it is the definitive version.
Back in 2001, Sophie Ellis Bextor, who had hitherto been better known as an indie chick singing with the group Theaudience, released Take Me Home. The single was a huge hit and went straight to No. 2 totally re-inventing Sophie as a dance diva.
In 1999, Martine McCutcheon was the darling of British soap, thanks to her role as Tiffany Mitchell in Eastenders. So when she decided to leave the show to pursue a musical career it was inevitable that her first single, a cover version of Polish singer Edyta Gorniak's Perfect Moment, went straight to No. 1.
It seems that Martine McCuthcheon had finally arrived when Dawn French parodied her in a Christmas version of French & Saunders.
Sadly, after a few hit singles, a stint in Love, Actually and a role as bridesmaid (to Michael Jackson's best man, no less) in Liza Minnelli's ill-fated wedding to David Gest, success was not to be for Martine so, perhaps, one day we may see her miraculously re-appear at the Old Vic (perhaps she did not die from being hit by the car in Albert Square but was actually in a coma and frozen in cryo until they could get rid of abusive hubby Grant - who knows, stranger things have happened in Albert Square) ... ermmm, that's nice!
This massive 1986 homage to classical composer Mozart (who was, himself, Austria's original popstar) by Austrian popstar Falco hit number one both in the UK (the first Austrian act to reach No. 1 there) and in the States.
Falco, who was a huge popstar in Europe at the time, is often erroneously thought to be a one-hit wonder outside of continental Europe but, in fact, he did chart with a number of his singles both in the UK and the USA most notably with his follow-up "Vienna Calling".
This amazing single from the Cranberries is a must for me in any live set. Featuring the distinctive and haunting wailing vocals by Dolores O'Riordan, I am amazed that the song only made it to No. 14 in the UK.
Of course the Cranberries went on to have other hits like Animal Instinct, Ode To My Family and Ridiculous Thoughts (my personal favourite). Enjoy the video for Zombie and make sure you turn up the volume for maximum pleasure.
Kylie's had many, many hits already and, while this may not be one of her more well-known hits, for me, though, what's significant about this single is that this is when she made the transition from wholesome and somewhat cheesy to a more sexy and sophisticated style.
In the music video, Kylie looks stylish and, for those familiar with her previous promos, one can tell that she's brushed up on her dancing skills.
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