100 '80's Singles #13: A Love Bizarre - Sheila E

One of the great things about Prince throughout the 1980's was that he worked some of the most amazing and talented musicians and that several of them had music careers of their own. My favourites were Wendy & Lisa and Sheila E. Sheila E is without doubt one of the greatest drummers in pop and funk music. In the 1980's she had three perfect pop songs which were The Glamorous Life, The Belle of Saint Mark and A Love Bizarre. 

A Love Bizarre was co-written and co-produced by Sheila E and Prince who both sing together. It was released in 1985 and featured on her Romance 1600 album. It reached number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100 singles charts and was a number one hit on the US Hot Dance Club Play Chart. It also features in the movie Krush Groove and most of the music video is taken from that movie. The single version was just under four minutes long but the album version was over twelve minutes long and is just glorious funk music.

Here is the music video for A Love Bizarre.

and the full album version which also featured on the 12" release.

and a performance from the US music show Solid Gold

JLS & Alexandra Burke's X Factor 2009 Performance of Bad Boys / Everybody in Love

JLS announced that they are breaking up as a band today with a farewell album and tour on the way later in the year. Their first two singles Beat Again and Everybody in Love are still their finest moments in pop and those songs really set them up as pop stars in their own right. I always remember the look of pure tragedy on Aston's face when Alexandra Burke won X Factor  in 2008 when they came second. Over the years on X Factor there were contestants who simply just wanted to be be pop stars and Aston has always been one of those people. 

The pop charts are a very different place nowadays as ten years ago when a boy or girl band broke up there was always a successful solo career or more that followed but with at least half of the charts being populated with the same songs each week in the UK, Irish and international charts that option is not always a guarantee. JLS worked as a four piece, they could dance, they had character and their songs were pure pop. A lot of pop dance music in today's charts is now a DJ with any female vocalist but in time that genre will be replaced so it will be interesting to see if a multitude of solo careers will happen again.    

Popjustice has a lovely tribute on JLS's career here and they rightly highlight their collaboration with Alexandra Burke on X Factor in 2009 as one of both acts best moments.  

Here is that performance of Alexandra's Bad Boys and JLS's Everybody in Love as sung by all of them together very brilliantly.

Distant Cities

Distant Cities are a three piece band from Chicago. Like most bands that I hear through social media I know very little about them so it the music is always what stands out on it's own merits. I liked the tracks on their four track digital album especially Walk Blind when I heard it this evening. I think they have an atmosphere of the Cocteau Twins. The four tracks on their digital album are Look Away, Walk Blind, Foul Fowl and Inamorato.

Follow them on Twitter @Distant_Cities

I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever) - Josh Groban

I Believe (When I Fall in Love it Will Be Forever) was written by Stevie Wonder and Yvonne Wright and featured on Stevie's 1972 album Talking Book. That album also featured two of Stevie's most famous songs Superstition and You Are the Sunshine of My Life. 

I Believe has been covered many times over the years including versions by Peter Frampton, Art Garfunkel, Tina Arena and George Michael.

The most recent cover version of I Believe (When I Fall in Love it Will Be Forever) is by Josh Groban and it features on his recently released album All That Echoes. It is a song that suits his voice perfectly. Like George Michael I always think that  Josh covers songs that he really loves himself.

The video below was recorded at Alexandra Palace in London.

100 '80's Songs: #12: Like a Baby - Wham!

Wham! second album Make it Big was one of the most famous and successful pop albums of the 1980's. It was released in 1984 and had four singles. Three were by Wham!; Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, Freedom and Everything She Wants which was a number one in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts and also part of the double A side of Last Christmas. The fourth single was George's solo single Careless Whisper here in Ireland, the UK and in most other countries and which was credited as Wham! featuring George Michael in the US.  

Make It Big only featured eight songs in total and one of the album tracks which should have been a single was Like a Baby. It is such a beautifully structured song that really captures summer and memory. It is over four minutes long and George does not sing until one minute forty seconds into the song. While Careless Whisper was the great big ballad on the album I always think Like a Baby is a classic pop song in it's own right. It has an elegant confidence. 

The album cover pictured above is the same as the one I still have. I loved that Wham!'s name and the album title weren't on the front, however  it is in some editions.

Imagine It Was Us - Jessie Ware

Jessie Ware is one of many new music artists who deserves much more success in the UK singles charts than she has had to date. Her most well known song Wildest Moments got to number 46 in the UK charts and the re-release of If You're Never Gonna Move got to number 41. Devotion is one of my most favourite albums of the past few years, all of the singles released from it have been wonderful. The Gold edition of that album was released this month and her newest single Imagine It Was Us is a perfect and elegant summer pop dance song.

Here is the video for Imagine It Was Us.

100 '80's Songs #11: More Than You Know - Martika

More than You Know was Martika's second single. It was released in 1988 and reached number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and also number 15 in the U.K. While her most famous single from the 1980's is Toy Soldiers I think that More Than You Know is her still one of her best and most pop dance songs, it is pure energy and fun. It just captures the songs that represented chart pop music in the later part of the 1980's. What I also love about Martika's songs including her new music is that they all have their own identity. How different are the songs More Than You Know, her cover of Carole King's I Feel The Earth Move to the song she co-wrote with Prince; her 1991 hit Love... Thy will Be Done. 

Here is the music video for More Than You Know. This is the extended music remix which Martika has featured on her own Youtube page.

All Along - Bambi

As ever most of the new songs that I feature on my blog I like within the first few moments of hearing them and here is one that I was really impressed by when I heard it for the first time today. 

Here is All Along by the wonderfully named band Bambi.



They are a London based band and have several upcoming gigs listed here on their Facebook page, Their Soundcloud page is here and they are on Twitter @BambiHQ

Same Love - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Each week I look at the Irish singles charts to see if there is any song that stands out from other international charts. Over it's history many songs have sometimes done better in Ireland than other countries. One song that stood out on this week's Irish singles chart is Same Love by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis which is at number 97 but it is still a song that has been downloaded here in Ireland as a separate song from their The Heist album and that is important. It was a number one song in Australia last year and got to number 89 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

I would call Same Love an ally song as it is about LGBT equal rights and questions religion, language, hip hop and other things in relation to LGBT rights. This week it just made me think how many people in Ireland both LGBT and straight have connected with this song by two international number one best selling music artists.

There has to be more songs like this.

By now in 2013 we are well used to female pop stars such as Madonna, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Cyndi Lauper and P!nk all standing side by side on the issue of equal rights. Out male stars like Holly Johnson, Boy George, George Michael and Andy Bell do this on a daily basis through social media but we don't always hear positive LGBT themed songs or messages by other male stars and bands. There are of course many straight male allies but I do think some of today's singers and stars are gay themselves but go just so far by saying they support equal rights and remain in the closet which for me is irony. Same Love is written from a personal perspective, Macklemore's own sexuality is mapped out early in the song but I love how his uncle was a positive influence on him and how he has become part of the song's story. The verse lyrics are sung by Macklemore but the chorus is sung by Mary Lambert and in doing so the lyrics also acknowledge same sex love between women and that is equally as important. 

Here is the music video directed by Ryan Lewis and Jon Jon Augustavo which features many positive images. It has been viewed over 22 million times since October 2012.

The Sea - Swim Deep

The Sea is the newest single by the West Midlands band Swim Deep. I think 2013 has really been a mix of music in relation to which songs have charted. The Sea reminds me of several songs released over the past year that aren't quite indie or pop, somewhere in between. There is a definite 1990's feel of the Stone Roses era to The Sea which I think shows the influence of the kind of music Swim Deep have had. I hope this song does well in the charts. With bands like Bastille charting well this week it really is sometimes just a matter of success over time so best of luck to them.

Swim Deep are Austin, Cavan, Ziggy and Zachary. A link to their songs on Soundcloud which also includes their songs The Sea, Honey and King City is here. Their Facebook page is here and they are on Twitter @Swim_Deep

Here is the music video for The Sea.