90.Artist: Dannii Minogue
Song: Disrememberance
Album: Girl (1997)
Watch The Video*
Dannii has always spent her career in the shadow of sister Kylie, and to be honest, it's hard not to. Dannii's career has always felt a little poxy. Unserious. So it was with shock that people listened to Dannii's 1997 album Girl because it was actually good. As in, legitimately good. The best track for me is "Disrememberance". I think it's her best song period, lyrically, musically and vocally. The song is actually quite sad. You can take it as a song about Dannii wanting an ex-lover to remember her when she's gone (a theme she would put a bitter twist to on 2004's ace "You Won't Forget About Me"), but I choose to take it as a message from Dannii to her fans. "Will you remember me? Please remember me." It's easy to forget that Dannii has been around just as long as Kylie and since Girl has been making quality dance music (much less pop, as opposed to Kylie) and if she continues making music of the quality of "Disrememberance" (or newer songs like "So Under Pressure") then the answer is yes Dannii. I will remember you. Gladly.
*Please note, this is a live clip as the actual video isn't on YouTube, unfort, but it's still fun to watch. I really must ask... WHAT IS GOING ON WITH HER HAIR? Jeebus.
89.
Artist: Bronski Beat
Song: Smalltown Boy
Album: The Age of Consent (1984)
Watch The Video
Remember YAZZ? Everytime I hear this song I am reminded of Yazz's great "The Only Way Is Up" (unranked, although in retrospect it probably should be on here - need any further proof that America is scared shitless, and always has been, of dance music, "The Only Way Is Up" only reached #96 in America, whereas it reached #1 in the UK and #2 in Australia). "Smalltown Boy" by Bronski Beat is better, but I just thought I'd mention Yazz, cause not enough people do. YAZZ! Anyway, this wonderfully mellon collie song, sung in that bizarre androgynous voice so popular in the '80s, is all about a wonderful teenage kid moving from the English sticks to London. Why you may ask? Because he's A FLAMER! But look at him in the video! He's a wholesome lad who even eats the sandwiches his mother made him for his long journey. The video even has how nice young chap getting gaybashed by his homo man-crush and then getting yelled at by his homophobic father and his mother cries cries cries. lol, the song and the video is all such a melodramatic affair that it is nigh on irresistable to fall for it's bizarre charms. lol, gay it up folks.
88.Artist: Hole
Song: Miss World
Album: Live Through This (1994)
Watch The Video
Aah, Courtney Love - my absolute favourite coke hound. While most people are wise to Hole's music through their stunning album Celebrity Skin, I have a soft spot for their grungy beginnings, particularly Live Through This and the song "Miss World". I dare anybody to listen to this song and not wanna headbang along to the chorus "I made my bed I lied in it/I made my bed I died in it". My favourite part is the guitar bit just after the opening section ("I am the girl you know...") before it gets into the first verse. Much like Nirvana (#100, "About A Girl") there's a weird connection to Hole. Weird because nothing in my musical pantheon points to me loving Hole. And the video clip? Well... it's the Courtney we know and love (all white skin, white hair, red lipstick), yet somehow we're meant to believe she's a homecoming queen of sorts. Yeah, I think Courtney's coke days started about now.
87.
Artist: Wendy Matthews
Song: Beloved
Album: Ghosts (1997)
Another impossibly maudlin track on this countdown! Never worry, the super fun happy stuff must all be at the pointy end of the countdown. This track is by Wendy Matthews who we have already discussed (#93, "The Day You Went Away") and is about a woman who is dead and is watching over her husband in the house they shared. He better not move out cause she's "bound to this house". God, depressing much? Don't even get me started on the chorus, which packs a whallop.
86.
Artist: Gary Numan aka Tubeway Army
Song: Are 'Friends' Electric
Album: Replicas (1979)
Watch The Video*
Yes, this song is about a man whose only friend is a broken down robot! Yes, this song has no chorus. This song is just one musical bit put on repeat with Numan's droll cockney singing over the top (at times, it is merely spoken word)
*Please note, this is a live performance of "Are 'Friends' Electric", as there is no video available. It can essentially be considered a video though due to the look of the framing of Numan, plus the fact that it's obviously lip synced and sounds exactly like the album track.
85.Artist: Beyoncé feat. Jay-Z
Song: Crazy in Love
Album: Dangerously in Love (2003)
Watch The Video
I was totally in love with Beyonce for, like, 5 years. I loved Destiny's Child and the occasional guest work she did (with people like Missy Elliot) and then she release this and my mouth dropped. Single handedly beating everything she had done before with any artist. The album wasn't that great, but this song remains great. You all know it, it was the song of the US Summer back in 2003. The inspired horn treatment, the sexy and powerful singing from Beyonce, the legitimately awesome (yet now ubiquitous) rap from Jay-Z and on top of it all that video clip was "slammin' y'all". The whole thing is an exhausting explosion. Unfortunately, her new song "Deja Vu" and accompanying video clip are awful. Add that with the really blah final Destiny's Child album and I am officially off the wagon. But boy, was it fun while it lasted.
84.
Artist: Basement Jaxx
Song: Romeo
Album: Rooty (2002)
Watch The Video
Call me crazy, but this is my favourite Basement Jaxx track. There are many (believe me, many) contenders, but I like this one the most. This was a track from their breakthrough album (out here, at least) Rooty. This infectious track features the vocals of Kele le Roc and seriously, honest to god, makes me wish our world was a musical. The video clip is ace, taking a go a Hollywood musical numbers. If ever a song could get away with it, it's this one.
83.Artist: Eurythmics
Song: Beethoven (I Love to Listen To)
Album: Savage (1987)
Watch The Video
Don't even bother listening to this song if you can't deal with weird non-mainstream androgynous dance music. The Eurythmics always sort've subverted pop music, but this one just belted it out of the park. I have no idea what the song is about, and I don't particularly want to - although I'm kind of glad to finally realise she's saying "mink coat" instead of the, er, c word which I always thought it was. The song is a twisted spoken word (essentially) beat-machine and I love it. The video clip, the first in a trilogy of videos from the Savage album, features Annie Lennox being the ultimate housewife and then some. Truly a classic. I like to imagine that it was the inspiration behind that scene in David Lynch's Wild at Heart where Diane Ladd goes mental at her makeup table. :P
82.Artist: Aaliyah
Song: Miss You
Album: I Care 4 U (2002)
Watch The Video
I find it quite ironic that my favourite song from one of my favourite artists ever became available on her posthumas best of. If this is any indication of what she was to do after her sensational final album Aaliyah then, well, the music world lost more that day she died than most probably originally thought. If Aaliyah were still around today, I'd love to see where she would be. Like many a artist who passed long before their time, Aaliyah was a singer of immense power - she could make you feel so much through a song, especially one as moving as "Miss You". That the song itself is about Aaliyah describing the pain of losing a lost one, is not lost on anybody who listens. Aaliyah was a true artist and the day she died was terrible. I remember being on the internet and the story came on Yahoo and I was just shocked. Some have Kurt Cobain, older people have Lennon and so forth, I have Aaliyah. I do miss her. *sads* The video clip is great too, featuring plenty of familiar faces (amongst them Missy Elliot, Toni Braxton, Queen Latifah, Jamie Foxx and Rosario Dawson) lip syncing the song mixed with footage of Aaliyah's videos. She was only 22
81.
Artist: Dolly Parton
Song: 9 to 5
Album: 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs (1980)
Watch The Video*
WOW, was this a fortuitous choice? Time for a bit of a pick-me-up after that depress-athon that is discussing Aaliyah. "9 to 5" is, of course, the theme song to the deliriously delightful 9 to 5 starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton herself. Man, how much fun is this song? Dolly sounds a treat and the whole thing just works. Their didn't appear to be a music clip for this song so instead I am linking a clip from the actual movie that somebody put up. It's the big confrontation scene towards the start of the movie. I loved this scene and thought it amusing that somebody posted it on YouTube. I still say Dolly deserved an Oscar nod for that performance as well as the win for her song (how did she LOSE?). It's also amazing watching the size of Dolly's breasts. They've literally grown about four times the size!
That's it for now, in the next bit we get some Reality Bites, some Janet, George and little bit of Bruce (but you can never have too much Bruce!)
2 comments:
my wife loves the song Crazy in Love...it was ever her ring tone for me on her cell phone for a time.
--RC of strangeculture.blogspot.com
weird. I'll update that later.
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