All That She Samples

I am very much a Gaga fan. However, Alejandro was one of my least favourite songs on The Fame Monster. The video for Alejandro changed that for a few weeks. Today, an artist is ridiculed for not being original but I think Lady Gaga is as original as you get nowadays. Every artist has to have influences and she draws on many. Enough to provoke reactions anyway. I love the choreography in the Alejandro video and the image above is one of the best I have seen recently of Gaga. There are moments when she reminds me of Gwen Stefani. I went to see her in concert a few months ago and she was very entertaining but the theme of going to the monster ball was just ok instead of being amazing. We had seated tickets and it was one show I wished I had been standing at. She gives a 100% and it's not many new artists who could have a choice of the one big song at the end of the show with Just Dance, Poker Face and Bad Romance all performed in the latter part of the show to full effect. I always get the sense that behind it all she is a pretty fragile person and I know the media are waiting for that grand meltdown which is not going to let happen just yet if ever. Alejandro always reminded me of La Isla Bonita for some reason even though it's nothing like that song apart from the latin vibe. It is Ace of Base that Alejandro borrows from the most. I posted a Robin Skouteris mix of La Roux and The Gossip a few weeks ago and here is a mix of Alejandro and All That She Wants by Ace of Base. I think it works well but I feel it didn't really need the addition of Please Don't Break My Heart which is pure old fashioned bubblegum pop by Kalomoira.

80: 80's 30: Carly Simon

My 80: 80's project seems like a very big task indeed when I don't post very much but I'm going to try and post the remaining songs between now and the end of August. So here is one from 1982. Why by Carly Simon has that nursery rhyme melody that would also be heard on songs like Coming Around Again and Itsy Bitsy Spider both of which of course I also love. Why was written and produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards. There is an interview with Nile Rodgers here with Sinead Gleeson. Sinead is a friend of mine and she writes for the Irish Times. I'm always thrilled to see her name on articles in the paper and she recently has interviewed several music stars including Kirsten Hersh and Joan Jett. Why was also covered by Wham! on their tours back in 1984 and 1986. That would have been pop heaven for me to have heard that song sung by George back in the day. An audio clip of that live performance was on Youtube for a while. George Michael always did choose great songs to cover. From 1982, a top ten UK hit for Carly Simon this is the extended version of Why which includes a very Chic style chorus near the end.

80: 80's 29: Boy George

I have won very few things in my life. So few that I remember most of them including a signed Jody Watley debut album in Smash Hits! and tickets to see Bon Jovi in concert which I gave to Emma. A few weeks ago I won a very fab prize which was a meet and greet with Boy George in Dublin's Tripod venue where he was also going to dj and sing some of his songs. I had entered a competition on a website and when I hadn't heard back by the Wednesday I forgot about the prize. Then on the Friday I got a phone message saying that I had won and to get back in touch asap as the event was that night. My friend Anna Lena went with me and it was such a great night.
We were meant to meet George at 10pm before he went on stage but then the time was changed and we were to meet him after his set. He came on stage and sang for over an hour with just a guitar player and two backing singers. He was in great form and sang a lot of his own songs such as Karma Chameleon, Do You Really Want To Hurt Me, Bow Down Mister and Everything I Own and also several cover versions of great old songs. The crowd were mostly lovely but it wasn't sold out so the drunken ones stood out as they made a lot of noise and heckled. Apart from Sandra Bernhard I don't think there is anyone better than George to sort out the hecklers and all I will say is that he did. His encore was going to be Victims which readers here know is my favourite Culture Club song but he changed his mind and did a cover of the T Rex song Get It On which was really fantastic.

There was a break before he would come back to dj and we were told that he would see us after that. By then it was almost one in the morning. Then it was changed again and we were brought back stage to meet him. It really was one of the best moments ever for me as a great big pop fan. George was so lovely and chatted to us for a few minutes. I was like a 14 year old and babbled away. I knew he had been in Belfast playing a gig the night before and asked him about that. he talked about working with Mark Ronson. I really was a good bit starstruck and heard myself asking him what were his own favourite songs to which he replied 'the new ones'. I brought along his second book Straight which he signed for me, a great big sweeping signature on the page. I had read that he had regretted writing the book and knew he could have refused but he didn't seem to mind. We had a photo taken and the photographer said he would be in touch but he never did or lost my number. I know in this record everything generation we live in I should have pursued that photo but for me the evening was just perfect. A guy told me once that the best photos are the ones you hold in your mind and I really believe that.

I am so glad that Anna Lena got to go to see him with me, we have gone to several great concerts, movies and conversations with movie stars this year and she's simply a fab friend. So much has been written about George over the years. Everyone knows about his life, he is someone that many people have an opinion on. For me, he has always been one of the greatest popstars. He asked us did we know the songs he covered which we did and what was so great was to hear him doing what he always did best. Sing. I never read his first book but I did read the book his mother Dinah wrote Cry Salty Tears which really gives an insight into where a lot of his own traumas came from. Boy George was one of my first memories of the importance of pop music to me. To meet him was really something. Victims is my favourite Culture Club song but equally beautiful is Time (Clock Of The Heart).

Here is a live TV performance of his most recent single Amazing Grace. He didn't sing Amazing Grace that night which was a bit strange but that's George.

Many Months Later

Today I heard a song that I thought was the Dixie Chicks with a guest male vocalist but was in fact Need You Now by Lady Antebellum. It was a song I had known about but hadn't heard, like so many new songs this year. Sometimes I read about a song on a blog but don't always listen to or watch the video. John at Pop Music Notes posted about the song many months ago here. I really think John is my music kindred spirit in America as I love so many songs he likes. I know my sister Emma likes good pop country too so this one is for you Emma. .