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18 voters. 15 songs. 1 winner. Stay tuned as I kick off the results of the Basement Jaxx 'The Singles' rate soon!

 

In the mean time feel free to speculate. Here is a reminder of the songs:

 

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xx Red Alert

xx Good Luck

xx Romeo

xx Oh My Gosh

xx Bingo Bango

xx Where's Your Head At

xx Rendez-Vu

xx Jump n' Shout

xx Lucky Star

xx Plug It In

xx U Don't Know Me

xx Do Your Thing

xx Jus 1 Kiss

xx Flylife

xx Samba Magic

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Actually don't really have any idea what would be winning this so interested to see how this plays out. x

Good Luck is the best thing they've sone but think I'm alone with that one :D

 

probably Wheres your head at or Red Alert will win

Romeo is my fave of theirs but all of Red Alert, Good Luck, Where's Your Head At & Plug It In would be great winners too!

 

If I had to predict the winner I'd go for Good Luck. Actually nah, Red Alert.

Edited by dobbo

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15. Lucky Star

 

 

Average: 5.83

 

Highest scores: 10 (Euphorique + lewistgreen), 9 (Tones and Iz)

Lowest scores: 1 (Sleepy Rollo), 2 (dobbo)

 

Taking home the wooden spoon is 'Lucky Star' from Basement Jaxx's third album 'Kish Kash'. This single features a then 19-year-old Dizzee Rascal and Mona Singh, daughter of Bhangra singer Channi Singh. Basement Jaxx and Dizzee were label-mates at the time, so he was a logical choice of rap feature. The dance duo had been releasing top 40 hits for six years at this point, but Dizzee was very new to it all - scoring his debut chart appearance with 'I Luv U' just months before 'Lucky Star' was released. Basement Jaxx gave 'Lucky Star' the single treatment in 2003 and got to #23 with it in the U.K. chart. They certainly turn up the zaniness with both the production of 'Lucky Star' and its accompanying green-screen heavy video! The hopeful chorus is pretty demanding and in-your-face too. The verses from Dizzee are down-to-Earth and mention tougher times in the past - a particular stand-out lyric for me is "what do you know about hustling for a school meal?". Another memorable element of the song is the quirky effect that's added to Mona Singh's voice towards the end. I don't know about you guys but this was a surprising last place for me! It's all very unpredictable when even 15th place has 10s.

That was one of the songs I gave a slightly lower score to so can't complain too much about its placement (there weren't any songs on here that I actually disliked). Not as good as the combination of Basement Jaxx and Dizzee Rascal should be really.
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14. U Don't Know Me

 

 

Average: 6

 

Highest scores: 10 (Nick F1), 9 (lewistgreen)

 

Lowest scores: 3 (Sleepy Rollo), 4 (Jester, Jess Glynne + DanG)

 

Avoiding last place with a nice round average of 6 is 'U Don't Know Me'! It was released as a single from this very 'The Singles' album to help promote it back in 2005. It ultimately charted at #26 in the U.K. Lisa Kekaula takes the reins on lead vocal here. However, there's still another appearance from her to come as she is also the singer on 'Good Luck'. The backing vocalists include Vula Malinga, Daniel Pearce and Shaun Escoffery. 'U Don't Know Me' is one of Basement Jaxx's more rocky offerings for sure - the instrumentation helps an otherwise pretty standard song jump out more. This direction divided critics - with some claiming that this was their weakest single to date. But others loved it. The version on 'The Singles' is mid-tempo, but the sped up 'JaxxHouz' version is the one used for the music video. It's quite an amusing visual as it shows someone dressed up as Queen Elizabeth II participating in wild antics. This of course ties in with the title of the song - that we don't know her behind the scenes.

 

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'U Don't Know Me' is potentially the weakest track on 'The Singles' for me so I'm fine with this position. I definitely prefer the JaxxHouz version!

Not surprised at its position but as I said in my rate I’ve grown quite fond of it especially the original version on the album.
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13. Samba Magic

 

 

Average: 6.25

 

Highest scores: 10 (gavindeejay), 9 (Tones and Iz)

 

Lowest scores: 2 (Sleepy Rollo), 3 (Jester + dobbo)

 

Also claiming a place in the bottom 3 is 'Samba Magic'! This was Basement Jaxx's first ever single, released back in 1995. Unfortunately it failed to crack the top 40 but they'd only have to wait a couple of years to do so. It acts as the closing track on 'The Singles' and is the longest song on the album. It samples Brazilian artist Airto Moreira's 'Samba de Flora', a song from the 1980s. 'Samba Magic' is largely instrumental and features minimal vocals - quite toned down by Basement Jaxx's standards. But it has a flavour to it that feels distinctively them nevertheless. The biggest standout element to me is the carnival feel to the song which can also be found in 'Bingo Bango'. The electronic production also feels delightfully 90s. They would come so far but the reminder of where they began was a nice way to round off the compilation.

 

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This probably suffered a bit by being the most unknown song here - it was the only one that multiple people left blank in their rates. Also it was very early days of their career anyway - they'd go on to bigger and better things. Definitely not a Basement Jaxx classic by any means for me but I think I would've liked to see it a couple of spots higher. I can't complain though as I actually expected this to be last - that's why 'Lucky Star' being 15th surprised me!

The last 2 songs on the album were the only ones that I didn't recognise - 'Samba Magic' was the weaker of the two but still good fun. Expecting 'Flylife' to probably also be out early and to be the first song to drop out that I actually gave a higher score.

 

'U Don't Know Me' quite easily the weakest on the album for me but still decent.

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