Blondie : Rapture

Ahh ... the legendary American band Blondie ... they epitomised the early American new wave and punk movement of the 1970s.Their trademark is, I would say, lead singer Debbie Harry. She is classy with a capital "C" ... very much the gorgeous uberblonde with the commanding presence. Harry is the recognisable face of Blondie.

Their eponymous debut album spawned their first single X Offender. Originally titled Sex Offender, that song is a whole story in itself. Apparently, the original lyrics were about an 18-year-old boy being arrested for having sex with his younger girlfriend which was then changed to a story about a prostitute being attracted to the police officer that had arrested her. The record company insisted the title to be changed because they were worried the title might be too much.

Blondie really came into their own with the album Parallel Lines which produced the UK No. 1 singles Heart of Glass and Sunday Girl. Further hits followed including UK No. 1 singles Atomic and The Tide Is High. 

One of my most favourite Blondie songs is Rapture which came from Autoamerican, the same album that gave us The Tide Is High. Blondie has a talent for recording different genres of music. They had given us disco (Heart of Glass), reggae (The Tide Is High) and they were soon to give us calypso (Island of Lost Souls). Rapture was the first song to top the US Billboard Hot 100 to feature a rap.

In the UK the song failed to top the charts but still peaked at a respectable No. 5. Check out the video here :-

Justin Timberlake recreated Rapture as part of a medley of songs at the 2003 Brit Awards with the Princess of Pop herself, Kylie Minogue, performing the rap. Check out the video here :-

ABBA : Dancing Queen

Once in a while a song comes along that not only defines its artiste but also an era. Dancing Queen is one such hit.

 

ABBA had been the darlings of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 when they so triumphantly won it (for the first time) for Sweden. However the group was dismissed by some circles as a one-hit wonder. As ABBA's Bjorn Ulvaeus said once in an interview people expected ABBA to be a one-hit wonder because they were perceived as a "Eurovision group" and that's what usually happens to "Eurovision groups" ... they have one huge hit and they go away.

 

 

 

As it happened, ABBA was to prove the critics wrong as they went on to have hit after hit and ABBA became Sweden's hottest pop export and, arguably, one of the biggest groups of the 1970s and early 1980s.

 

 

Dancing Queen was released in August

1976 and included on the album Arrival.

 

 

Upon its

release this monster hit went on to top the charts of more than 15 countries. It is easily ABBA's most recognised hit. It is also one of the songs to define the disco era and once topped a most popular disco hits poll on British telly - this despite ABBA not actually being a disco group.

 

 

The song has been covered by many artistes as diverse as U2, Donna Summer, The Sex Pistols and Kylie Minogue who performed it at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. In fact, Dancing Queen was to be the inspiration for what was later to become Kylie's showgirl persona.

 

 

As a special treat I also feature ABBA singing Dancing Queen in Swedish costumes specially for the royal wedding of King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden to Silvia Sommerlath (who would soon be Sweden's own Dancing Queen). Enjoy ...

 

 

 



Olivia Newton-John : Physical

Once in a while there comes a song which works on all fronts. And with Physical everything seems to fall into place. From the music to the slightly raunchy lyrics juxtaposed with Livvy's sweet and innocent vocals everything is just right.

 Up till then, Olivia Newton-John had been known as the sweet girl-next-door.

The image had been further cemented by her role in Grease. However, much like her Grease alter- ego, she was about to undergo a metamorphosis, courtesy of Physical.

It was inevitable that Physical would shoot to the top of the charts and Livvy was even nicknamed Olivia Neutron-Bomb for her new raunchy image.

The video was fun and funny and pokes fun at the (then) emerging gym culture and even implies that the fit hot men who frequent the gyms are of the persuasion of the love that dare not speaketh its name. In fact, the only straight guy left at the end of the video is the fat guy whom Livvy quickly bags before he gets away.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWz9VN40nCA&feature=player_embedded

The very sexy Kylie Minogue did a cover of the song but much as we love the divine Ms. M the original still rawwks it for me. Now, where did I put my leg-warmers?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWQS6E7W3DY&feature=player_embedded

Kylie Minogue : Wouldn't Change A Thing

You know I just have to start my very first post with everyone's guilty pleasure, the divine Ms. M.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=OzGy7KAQCnQ

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.