All time dance classic next up. One I have not yet got on 12" but it's on my shopping list.

 

Ah, think I know which one. Single finger keyboard riff time - go!!!

Faithless - Insomnia

 

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm82/TheMagicPosition86/Insomnia_zps4rtxcn9u.png

 

Date 20th October 1996

3 Weeks

Official Chart Run 3-5-8-12-18-16-24-31-38-39-38-47-63 (13 weeks)

*Positions in red are the weeks when the track would be number 1 if just dance music was chart eligible.

 

Emerging from the embers of the now moribund UK rave scene and into the era of the superclub and superstar DJ were Sister Bliss (Ayalah Bentovim) and Rollo (Rowland Armstrong) who started working together in 1993, and would 2 years later discover the distinctive vocal talents of Buddhist rapper Maxi Jazz (Maxwell Fraser). Together with vocalist Jamie Catto they would in early 1995 form the group Faithless, who would go on to produce some of the most eclectic and celebrated dance music of the mid-late 1990s.

 

The name Faithless came from the groups first single “Salva Mea” (Latin: Save Me) which describes Maxi’s experience with his own faith (Buddhism), his perspective on the world, and how when you have no faith in yourself the world becomes a very frustrating place. The name Faithless could have also been said to describe the trend towards a more secular society and the search for substitute meaning, which they offered up on 1998 #6 hit “God Is a DJ” with the proclamation: This is my church.

 

Both Sister Bliss and Rollo (brother of Dido) were veterans of the UK dance scene, with Rollo having helped to produce 1992 #6 hit “Don’t You Want Me” for Felix, and Sister Bliss having been a classically trained pianist and violinist who was seduced by the acid house scene in the late 1980s and subsequently became a successful DJ. With the combined production talents of Rollo and Sister Bliss able to conjure subtle and unique soundscapes but not the vocals that would bring them to life, they decided to experiment by slowing some of the demos down and asking Maxi Jazz to then construct poetic lines and rhythmical raps that straddled the pounding beats - this first experiment successfully became “Salva Mea (Save Me)” and charted at #30 during the summer. The follow-up “Insomnia” would go 3 places better at Christmas but built into a huge club anthem and secured huge demand, which inevitably led to a re-release 10 months later where it stormed to #3.

 

“Insomnia” unlike most dance anthems celebrates neither the euphoria or the hedonistic thrill of the night out but instead charts the uncomfortable comedown that follows. Breaking with sinister and tense pad sweeps that juxtapose against the relaxed and calm opening atmosphere, this is quickly shattered by the harsh two-note charged beat that accompanies Maxi Jazz’s frustrated rap where he eventually laments before the drop - I can’t get no sleep - representing an echo of the night’s events which cannot be silenced, much to the protagonists dismay. Obviously the synth drop in “Insomnia” that comes well over 2 minutes in is the part that everyone is waiting for, however the build-up and tension that precedes it makes it even more rewarding. A club classic from a new archetype of dance group that would go on to inspire many other groups and singles that came later in the decade and into the new century. “Insomnia” is a phenomenally strong start to a career that would go on for well over a decade and include a further six Top 10 hits, the last being “Mass Destruction” in 2004 (#7).

 

Flawless. :wub:

I sorta missed Insomnia back then. I wasn't really going to clubs much and so I hadn't heard it at its most effective.

 

Was it the first it to feature that staccato/plucked synth that would be used in many other hits afterwards such as Encore Une Fois, I Can't Help Myself, Castles In the Sky?

Edited February 15, 20169 yr by Colm

Still love this part of the lyrics

 

"Let me dream of makin' mad love to my girl on the heath

Tearin' off tights with my teeth"

 

 

amazing song, one of the best dance tracks ever!!! and they made so many great dance tracks along the years... and I also like their slow ones too (Don't Leave, Why Go, also really like Last This Day from the To all new arrivals album)

Still love this part of the lyrics

 

"Let me dream of makin' mad love to my girl on the heath

Tearin' off tights with my teeth"

 

Excellent isn't it?

 

I don't care too much for the plinky plonky riff that comes in half way through. It's really accessible dance music but there are much better riffs out there (Vitalic's La Rock 01 does so much more for me on a dancefloor). It's legacy is there for all to see in any kind of Tiesto-style production or Fatboy Slim disc that lets him stand there with his fingers in the air - simple riffs that make people jump up and down punching the air at festivals making that "wooah wooah" noise. Not a great thing :)

Excellent isn't it?

 

I don't care too much for the plinky plonky riff that comes in half way through. It's really accessible dance music but there are much better riffs out there (Vitalic's La Rock 01 does so much more for me on a dancefloor). It's legacy is there for all to see in any kind of Tiesto-style production or Fatboy Slim disc that lets him stand there with his fingers in the air - simple riffs that make people jump up and down punching the air at festivals making that "wooah wooah" noise. Not a great thing :)

 

 

You're turning into Alex Range :lol:

Who's Alex Range?

Who's Alex Range?

Russian buzzjack poster, fan of dated pop music by blonde females, hates dance music, is known to be homophobic.

That's not why there's a similarity.

 

The similarity lies in the fact that Alex nearly always favours something rubbish over something genuinely groundbreaking. Not that you're anything nearly as bad - richie, but you're slagging off Children and Insomnia when they were milestones in 90s dance music. :lol:

I do quite like Insomnia. Just don't think it is particularly groundbreaking - it's a less interesting take on the Felix record of four years earlier.

 

I've said enough about Children. Whatever ground it broke wasn't really needing breaking.

The riff is faster and more complex than that of Don't You Wan't Me.

 

From an objective point of view I can appreciate when steps forward are being taken even if the song itself doesn't flick the right switches in my brain - as in the case of Children.

Edited February 16, 20169 yr by Colm

Robert Miles ft. Maria Nayler - One & One

 

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm82/TheMagicPosition86/One%20amp%20One_zpsed53qnf9.png

 

Date 10th November 1996

4 Weeks (3 consecutive)

Official Chart Run 6-6-6-5-4-3-5-4-6-16-21-30-37-44-60-71-67 (17 weeks)

*Positions in red are the weeks when the track would be number 1 if just dance music was chart eligible.

 

Securing his third Top 10 hit in under a year was Italian producer and pianist Roberto Concina (otherwise known as Robert Miles), and though his first two successes were largely instrumental and built around similar sounding beats and piano melodies, he opted for a slightly slower production and some soft vocal accompaniment from British singer Maria Nayler on wintry dance ballad “One & One”.

 

The track, perfect for the Q4 market was written by the songwriting powerhouse duo of Billy Steinberg and Rick Nowels - both of whom worked with Madonna; Steinberg in the 1980s whilst writing classic hits such as “True Colors”, “Like A Virgin” and "Eternal Flame”, whereas Nowles previously worked with Belinda Carlisle in the 80s on massive hits like “Heaven Is A Place On Earth” and would go on to work closely with Madonna on 1998s Ray of Light. Maria Nayler had already scored dance success in the UK featuring on Sasha 1996 single “Be As One” (#17 in March), but was not actually the first singer to record “One & One”, and indeed the original was recorded by 1994 Polish Eurovision Song Contest entrant Edyta Górniak. That version would never chart, but Robert Miles would re-record the original with Maria Nayler and add his unique production to the track turning it into a melancholic club ballad that would endure through until Christmas where it climbed into the Top 3.

 

Despite the success “One & One” would be both artists final Top 10 hit; Maria Nayler would go on to have a couple of minor solo hits in the late 90s - the highest charting of which was 1998s “Naked And Sacred” and Robert Miles had just 1 further Top 40 hit “Freedom” a year later (#15) but would continue to record and release music even up to the present 2010s.

 

 

One & One grew on me. It does bring me back to Christmas 1996 more than any other song.

Bloody love "One And One". Also been getting into one of Maria's solo singles "Will You Be With Me" recently. Lovely voice.

One of my favourite songs of the 90s, and definitely in my top five of 1996, a really beautiful dance song. The piano breakdown before the middle eight is glorious.

I had no idea Edyta Górniak had sung this originally...her version really does sound like a 90s Eurovision entry, where Spanish guitars were everywhere :lol: Safe to say the guitar solo in that version is nowhere near as great as the Robert Miles version.

 

I used to think the Shortland Street theme was by Robert Miles and Maria Nayler too :lol:

 

One & One is perfect. :wub:

Edited February 17, 20169 yr by Ne Plus Ultra

I like the vocals of Edyta Górniak more than Maria Nayler