March 27, 20169 yr Ultra Naté - Free http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm82/TheMagicPosition86/rsz_free_zpssm9jeork.png Date 8th June 1997 3 Weeks Official Chart Run 5-4-7-6-4-8-5-8-11-13-16-19-27-37-47-60-69 (17 weeks) *Positions in red are the weeks when the track would be number 1 if just dance music was chart eligible. Whilst her American contemporaries Robin Stone and CeCe Peniston were scoring successful UK hits with dance smashes inspired by the American club scene, Ultra Naté continued to evade mainstream success for 9 long years despite a strong push by her label Warner Bros. Her first UK hit came just before the start of the decade in December 1989, the house influenced “It's Over Now” (taken from debut Blue Notes in the Basement) but the follow-up “Is It Love?” fared no better, charting at #71 in February 1991. It could have been so very different for her, as Crystal Waters originally wrote “Gypsy Woman (La Da Dee La Da Da)” for Naté, however after the lead single from following album One Woman’s Insanity “Show Me” hit reverse soon after entering at #62, Warner Bros. decided it was time to pull the plug. As has often been the case in this countdown, success triumphs in the face of certain defeat, and so it was to be with “Free” - an inescapably positive summer anthem that tapped into the optimistic mood of the country following the recent ascendency of the New Labour government - which went on to become an instant Top 5 hit in June, and spent an incredible 8 weeks in the Top 10. Written by Naté and transformed into a club anthem by Lem Springsteen in what became known as the Mood II Swing edit, “Free” has a simple but strong message which is emphasised in the bridge to the final chorus with the gospel-like plethora of backing singers euphorically cheering ‘Don’t be scared, your dreams right there, you want it (you want it), reach for it!’ The track has a subtle but effective guitar riff throughout and a much fuller production without the distracting but hypnotic/exciting beats than earlier 90s dance hits making it a better fit for radio than as a track which storms the dancefloor, however it did satisfy both equally well. It dominated radio through summer ’97 and remained in the Top 40 until mid-September becoming part of the soundtrack to that holiday season, instantly granting Naté the success she had been chasing fruitlessly for almost a decade. 230VadxFFok
March 27, 20169 yr This was my school stapler :o It was a must for the radio I was listening to go to school and I was often listening to it in the morning before going to school. That was in 2005. That legacy. *.*
March 27, 20169 yr Free is a beast of a tune if there was ever one. I also like several of Ultra's tracks like Found A Cure, New Kind Of Medicine, the Stars On 54 track and her t. Edited March 27, 20169 yr by N-S
March 27, 20169 yr "Free" deserved to chart higher than No 4 and I thought it would. I was a huge fan of Ultra Nate and bought her earlier singles. "Is it love?" is a great gospel tinged house track. Is it love? "A Deeper Love (Missing you)" also deserves your attention. "Blue notes from the basement" a classic dance album and much underrated.
March 28, 20169 yr Author "Free" deserved to chart higher than No 4 and I thought it would. I was a huge fan of Ultra Nate and bought her earlier singles. "Is it love?" is a great gospel tinged house track. It still did very very well - Top 20 of the year in a year that produced 7 or 8 million sellers
March 28, 20169 yr Yes Free... classic tune! And everytime people hear the name Ultra NAte, Free will come up as first, although as other already said, she had a couple of really good songs. I loved this one, which I think stayed a club hit nothing else: Automatic 8w7nPCaDh_Q
March 28, 20169 yr BillyH - sorry, late coming back to this thread. It might have been something by The Propellerheads from your description - maybe Spybreak!, OHMSS or History Repeating. Olive was ok. Not keen on the other two. Mind you, I did remember thinking at the time that Ultra Nate had been around for ages and it was weird she only had a big hit then.
March 28, 20169 yr Yes, I thought it might be Spybreak! he was referring to - soundtracking the BRILLIANT Matrix film of course, and it did just make the Top 40... at #40.
March 29, 20169 yr Author Sash! featuring Rodriguez - Ecuador http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/tonyttt31/ecuador.jpg Date 29th June 1997 2 Weeks Official Chart Run 2-2-6-6-11-16-18-23-28-37-56-74 (12 weeks) *Positions in red are the weeks when the track would be number 1 if just dance music was chart eligible. It’s not a move made very often when a dance band has a smash on their hands. They usually don’t risk changing the formula too much. And while Ecuador is hardly Madonna style re-invention is wasn’t Encore Une Fois Part 2 either. Still as ridiculously catchy, if not even more so that Encore Une Fois, this was Sash! digging in for the long haul. While a lot of their peers were happy to let the music been instrumental Sash! continued with almost obnoxious shoutiness as a vocal hook. Opening with the call to arms worked extremely well at raising anticipation for the main riff, in a club setting. Many assumed that the vocals were credited to Rodriguez but he is actually German trance producer Adrian Rodriguez and not Mr Shouty McShoutface. Often overlooked because it was proceeded by and followed by fan favourites. More on that later. 44t3xc_XDes
March 29, 20169 yr Everything from Sash! is a gem for me :lol: :wub: :wub: :wub: But Ecuador is a real Sash! classic.
March 29, 20169 yr Something like this according to one of the lyrics sites: [in Spanish] Dame tu mano y venga conmigo Vamonos al viaje para buscarlos sonidos magicos ?de Ecuador! ?Ecuador! ?Escuchame! Vamonos al viaje para buscar los sonidos magicos ?de Ecuador! ?Escuchame! ?Ahora si! :lol:
March 29, 20169 yr There are a lot of songs named after South American countries and Ecuador is apparently still the 2nd highest charting (Don't Cry For Me Argentina got to 1 in 1975). Sadly no song called Suriname yet. :( Quito, of course is famously the highest capital city in the world. As for the song, well it's Sash! what do you expect? !
March 29, 20169 yr Author I actually tried to find a list of songs that were also counties and I came up with China (Tori Amos) Australia (Manic Street Preachers) America (Razorlight) Ecuador (Sash!) Madagascar (Art of Trance) Ireland (Garth Brooks) Haiti (Arcade Fire) Edited March 29, 20169 yr by Colm
March 29, 20169 yr There is also Paraguay by Iggy Pop (on his new album). & if France wanted to rebrand itself New France by Orbital ft. Zola Jesus. :D Also can't believe you forgot England by The National. ! Edited March 29, 20169 yr by Doctor Blind
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