11TH DECEMBER- YOU CAN DO IT- Ice Cube Featuring Mack 10 & Ms Toi (1 wk)

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_0Yiw011cz2M/R7MifYD6jxI/AAAAAAAAAEM/Z0DhXlI5DHE/s320/icecube.jpg

 

Don't remember this one? Well neither do I, and I barely could at the time. For a record to sell just 20k and be at No 2 just a fortnight before Christmas showed the poor state of sales in 2004. There is, allegedly, a sample of "Rappers Delight" in here somewhere (perhaps for the irony) but this is just awful and just about as unfestive as you can imagine. It was in fact already a 5 yr old rap track that was remixed by some dj's and created enough interest for All around the world record label to license it from EMI and give it an official release, but I have nothing good to say about this I'm afraid.

 

 

18TH DECEMBER- I BELIEVE IN YOU- Kylie Minogue (1 wk)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/48/I_Believe_in_You_(Kylie_Minogue_single_cover).jpg

 

Come the end of the first half of the noughties Kylie's rebirth had been complete and to celebrate it was time for a new GH set, the first proper one in 12 years. For the project Babydaddy and Jake Shears of the Scissor sisters (very HIP in 2004 anyway) were asked to co-write a track and produce Minogue and this was the result. It's everything really that you would expect from such a collaboration, camp, fun, killer hooks, an electronic pulsating gem that screams "hit" and so it turned out to be. The fact that it was released a fortnight after "ultimate Kylie" doubtless harmed its chances at becoming a No 1 hit for her but it did the job of promoting the album which saw its sales drive past the million mark.

 

This remains, for me, one of the best things she produced in the decade, Kylie's vocal sound quite etherial here, as the music swirls around them and the music builds to a suitable climax and the whole thing is quite "gorgeous", personal misfortune was about to hit Kylie very shortly but there is little doubt that the period 2000-04 wa a period when Kylie was back at the centre of pop.

 

25TH DECEMBER- FATHER AND SON- Ronan & Yusef (1 wk)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/59/Father-and-son-ronan-keating-featuring-yusuf.jpg

 

Now I have to confess that I rather liked the boyzone version of this in 1995, and perhaps because of that I find this version rather lacklustre though it is far closer to the original than the Boyzone version. Much like Kylie, Ronan had reached the point of a GH album and this is really his last big solo hit ,so perhaps fittingly he returns to hi early days. Roping in Cat Stevens (as was) in a bit of a steal adding a bit of credibility to the version, and of course famously rectifies in part the glaring oddity of the Boyzone version, namely that this is suppose to be a "duet" between father and son whereas Ronan sings it all on the 95 version.

 

In truth it's OK but as soon as it's over you have no desire to hear it again, and it's rather a damp squib when all is said and done but then perhaps that does sum up Ronan's solo work, certainly after the first few initial hits. Louis Walsh allegedly tried to turn him into an Irish Cliff Richard through the song choices, I suspect Cliff, by 2004, would have been mortified by this thought.

 

So there we have it another 5 years finally complete- thanks for bearing with me through time, I know it took a while! I may or may not return to complete the last bit over the autumn/ winter but thanks to all who contributed and kept me from thinking I was typing to myself in this dark corner of the forum!

Thanks for this Barry. Adore Kylie's I Believe I You as well.

 

Look forward to 2005-2010 if you manage it ^_^

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Edited July 16, 201410 yr by Alex.

CHARIS?

Don't feed the troll.