HA! Squeel music snobs. SQUEEL!!!

 

Sorry I cannot resist S/A/W! I'm fully aware this will not prove a popular thread, but I'm optimistic someone may care to come out of the closet and own up to liking a whole albums worth of unashamed 80s pop-synth cheese.

 

01: Mel + Kim "Respectable"

Certainly the coolest act to work with SAW, if only we knew what else they would go on to achieve... that Kim Appleby solo track however... :wacko:

 

 

02: Lonnie Gordon "Happening All Over Again"

Into the 90s, and SAW up the ante, replicating the US house/Shep Pettibone sound that was absolutely everywhere by this time. Great track, great voice... Anyone care to hear Tracey Shaws version?

 

 

03: Kylie Minogue "Hand On Your Heart"

Lyrically, I happen to think this is a well written little gem - it took Jose Gonzalez's (gorgeous) version for everyone else to realise.

 

 

04: Sybil "When I'm Good N Ready"

The first ever 7" single I ever bought! Great voice, great pop, just great.

 

 

05: Bananarama "I Heard A Rumour"

It's those big synth sirens that do it for me. Could've easily gone for 'I Want You Back' or "Love In The 1st Degree', but this has the edge for me.

 

 

06: Hazell Dean "Who's Leaving Who?"

Perhaps one of SAW's more 'grown up' singles, perhaps? Not a massively difficult achievement, but I get a bit of a kick out of this clip!

 

 

07: Sonia "You'll Never Stop Me From Loving You"

A half-pint sized, ginger haired Liverpudlian? Couldn't get away with it now, which I think is actually very, very, very sad. Or is it who is sad?

 

 

08: Donna Summer "This Time I Know It's For Real"

It's certainly no 'I Feel Love', but this was the last great track she made.

 

 

09: Brother Beyond "The Harder I Try"

The lead singer was easy on the eye anyway...

 

 

10: Kylie Minogue "Better The Devil You Know"

If you don't enjoy this, there's something wrong with you. THE closing anthem of this intense cheese fest! A landmark anthem, and one Kylie will never come close to topping.

 

Edited June 19, 200817 yr by ScottyEm

OK, here is a challenge I can't resist........ personally I think you've left out many of their best work (pre 1987) before they became annoying, and before virtually all their production backing tracks sounded the same..... :P

 

1. Roland Rat Superstar - Rat Rapping - F*ck Public Enemy & NWA! (I am being sarcastic of course) This is what introduced the generation to the "underground" sound of hip-hop courtesy of the debut Top 40 single written & produced by SAW under a vermin inspired pseudonym before they officially became a partnership (so it is to their back catalogue what Hotlegs - Neanderthal Man is to 10cc's..) . Infinitely better than Kenny Everett's Snot Rap.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=vb4Sf-EuPXk

 

2. Hazell Dean - Whatever I Do (12" mix) - This became their first top 5 hit for the production trio in the summer of 1984. Just listen to this brilliant 12" which has more in common with New Order, then the ulta commercial Euro Cheese/Chicago House pap that became their signature sound half a decade later.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jSjLxzmM9nA

 

3. Divine - You Think You're A Man - Long before SAW were working with the latest Australian teen soap star, they were working with a true Gay icon. So terrible it is brilliant.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=IiIJOB0GLW4

 

4. Dead Or Alive - You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) - In short the greatest record Stock Aitken & Waterman ever made, and a genuine contender for one of the 100 greatest pop records of all time. Featuring the Scouse Boy George, the acerbic Pete Burns on vocals "I Want Your Loooooovvvvveeeeee....."

 

5. Princess - Say I'm Your Number One - A truly brilliant British r'n'b track, another UK Top10 hit from 1985, and a great song to match. A far cry from the rubbish they'd be coming out with a few years later with Sinitta & Sonia.

 

6. Three Degrees - The Heaven I Need - Somehow this great track just failed to reack the UK Top40 in 1985. Mind you the terrible video did not help it.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=2lqShhACIH0

 

7. Brilliant - Love Is War - Co written by Jim Cauty (future KLF), this is another great track that should have been far bigger commercially from 1986.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=M8j2z9eBxdI

 

8. Bananarama - Love In The First Degree - 1987 and sound wise the rot was creeping rapidly in, but this is just a fantastic throwaway pop song containing more attitude, than negative comments that a WAG from a manufactured pop group will come up with during the entire series of XF5.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_nl46l8XHvg

 

9. Stock Aitken & Waterman - Roadblock - Originally released to DJ's as a white lavel. This was proof that SAW could still come up with great records if they really tried. But by now they were too busy making records that sounded the same for the likes of Kylie, Jason, Rick Astley, Sonia, Sinitta, Big Fun, etc.... :manson:

No video link.

 

10. Donna Summer - This Time I Know It's For Real - Proof that if you match up a great singer, with a great song (forget the cheesy video), then SAW could still sound great.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=dft5CgEvTPE

 

11. Kylie Minogue - What Do I Have To Do - After three years of producing rubbish, all of a sudden SAW came up with a trilogy of fantastic singles for the Princess of Pop, of which this track was the third of three (Better The Devil You Know & Step Back In Time were the first two).

 

12. Boy Krazy - That's What Love Can Do - By 1993 and in the UK SAW were about as welcome as Barrack Obama at a Klu Klux Klan convention. But this UK flop single went on to be a huge hit in the USA.

lol... well i cant even make up an ep! ...

 

ok... 'you spin me round (like a record)' was good, i also like princess 'say im your number one', and i like mel n kim, 'showing out' was my fav...

 

like ive said before, about 10% of watertwats output was good... 90% was rubbish.. but it appealed to a new young generation. we blamed 'girls n gays' for s.a.w. 's success! (chartwise) although in reality chart sales were poor, with older people into indie, rock, house.. etc

Just three words on this!

 

NO NO NO!

 

S/A/W were a blight on 80s music and although they did do a few ok tunes the rest of their output is unforgiveable.

No shame at all. Love S/A/W and most of their stuff :wub: Cheesetastic :lol:

 

01: Mel + Kim "Respectable" :heart: :wub: :heart: :wub:

Certainly the coolest act to work with SAW, if only we knew what else they would go on to achieve... that Kim Appleby solo track however... :wacko: :o Are you talking about Don't Worry. Love that tune :wub:

 

02: Lonnie Gordon "Happening All Over Again" :wub: :heart: :wub: :heart:

Into the 90s, and SAW up the ante, replicating the US house/Shep Pettibone sound that was absolutely everywhere by this time. Great track, great voice... Anyone care to hear Tracey Shaws version -_-

 

03: Kylie Minogue "Hand On Your Heart" :wub: :heart: :wub: :heart:

Lyrically, I happen to think this is a well written little gem - it took Jose Gonzalez's (gorgeous) version for everyone else to realise.

 

04: Sybil "When I'm Good N Ready" :wub: :heart: :wub: :heart: :dance: TUUUUUUUNEEEEE

The first ever 7" single I ever bought! Great voice, great pop, just great.

 

05: Bananarama "I Heard A Rumour" :)

It's those big synth sirens that do it for me. Could've easily gone for 'I Want You Back' or "Love In The 1st Degree', but this has the edge for me. :wub: Has to be Love in the First degree ;)

 

06: Hazell Dean "Who's Leaving Who?" :)

Perhaps one of SAW's more 'grown up' singles, perhaps? Not a massively difficult achievement, but I get a bit of a kick out of this clip!

 

07: Sonia "You'll Never Stop Me From Loving You" :wub: :heart: :wub: :heart:

A half-pint sized, ginger haired Liverpudlian? Couldn't get away with it now, which I think is actually very, very, very sad. Or is it who is sad?

 

08: Donna Summer "This Time I Know It's For Real" :wub: :heart: :wub: :heart:

It's certainly no 'I Feel Love', but this was the last great track she made. :o Prefer this to I Feel Love, altho' it is a classic :)

 

09: Brother Beyond "The Harder I Try" :wub: :heart: :wub: :heart:

The lead singer was easy on the eye anyway...

 

10: Kylie Minogue "Better The Devil You Know" :wub: :heart: :wub: :heart:

If you don't enjoy this, there's something wrong with you. THE closing anthem of this intense cheese fest! A landmark anthem, and one Kylie will never come close to topping.

 

 

 

 

 

3. Divine - You Think You're A Man - Long before SAW were working with the latest Australian teen soap star, they were working with a true Gay icon. So terrible it is brilliant.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=IiIJOB0GLW4

 

Not so terrible its brilliant...just brilliant - its confrontational, fierce and for a fat man in drag - not that camp really :lol: and much much better than the Boys Town Gang and many of the Eurodisco stuff you could find your self with on a DanceStreet/ZYX Video

 

http://www.eurodancehits.com/deepdvd/zyx.html :lol:

 

 

http://img.mp3sugar.com/artist/artist_82.jpg

 

C.C. Catch

 

MODERN TALKING - SEXY SEXY LOVER

 

Fancy - Flames Of Love '98

 

now thats what i call hi-NRG so terrible it is brilliantly p*** funny.

1. Divine - You Think You're A Man - so bad, it's fantastic!!!

 

2. Dead Or Alive - You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) - outstanding classic - one of my all time Top 5 favourites - always cheers me up

 

3. Bananarama - Venus - genius lol

 

4. Mel & Kim - Showing Out (Get Fresh At The Weekend) - suppose it was quite cutting edge (dance music wise) at the time. Great tune

 

5. Hazel Dean - Whatever I Do (Wherever I Go) - fantastic

 

6. Mandy Smith - I Just Can't Wait - a big flop over here, but still one of their best tunes

 

7. Samantha Fox - Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now - yes, very sad, but a great pop song nonetheless

 

8. Dead Or Alive - Brand New Lover - very underrated, should have been HUGE

 

9. Kylie Minogue - Better The Devil You Know - still think this is one of her best

 

10. Jason Donovan - Too Many Broken Hearts - complete cheese-fest, but can't help but love it

 

11. Lonnie Gordon - Happenin' All Over Again - great tune

 

12. Sybil - When I'm Good And Ready - much underated, but sublime gem!

1. Divine - You Think You're A Man - so bad, it's fantastic!!!

 

think there is more to this record than a 'so bad, it's fantastic' GP historical context and seeing that Bobby Orlando is also involved along the way with Divine's record....

 

http://www.purplevalleyfilms.com/pvfilms/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/pink-flamingos.jpg

 

on the other hand North & South - no that could be so bad, it's fantastic!!!

 

http://991.com/gallery_180x180/North--South-No-Sweat-98-166169-991.jpg

 

'You Spin Me Round', for me, suffers too badly from annoying indie/rock worshippers who think it's a cool record because they say so. Not that it's a bad track at all, it's rather great, but there are atleast 10 S/A/W tracks I would choose over this.

 

 

'You Spin Me Round', for me, suffers too badly from annoying indie/rock worshippers who think it's a cool record because they say so. Not that it's a bad track at all, it's rather great, but there are atleast 10 S/A/W tracks I would choose over this.

 

or maybe just choose from Pete Waterman productions himself...

 

 

Track 11, disc 2 of the 101 Party hits compilation - Piranhas - Tom Hark (yeah its a PWL Record)

 

 

They Don't Know (tho its the original Kirsty MacColl version here)

 

and as far as the fast food rockers go...DJ Otzi's schlager-house version of the Fast Food Song (the Burger Dance)...much much better as cheese goes :lol:

 

3. Divine - You Think You're A Man - Long before SAW were working with the latest Australian teen soap star, they were working with a true Gay icon. So terrible it is brilliant.

 

sorry richard...i just think is terrible, full stop.

 

anyone who EATS FRESH DOG$h!t on film (pink flamingoes) is anything but what 'its' name suggests.

3. Divine - You Think You're A Man - Long before SAW were working with the latest Australian teen soap star, they were working with a true Gay icon. So terrible it is brilliant.

 

sorry richard...i just think is terrible, full stop.

 

but do you like that big gay boystown Hi-NRG Disco genre in the first place - not really a traditional shiny happy guitar pop thing is it now - maybe these are more to your tastes...

 

Man 2 Man Meets Man Parrish - All Men Are Beasts

 

Man 2 Man Meets Man Parrish - Male Stripper (not the extended 12 inch)

 

MAN TO MAN - Energy Is Eurobeat

but do you like that big gay boystown Hi-NRG Disco genre in the first place - not really a traditional shiny happy guitar pop thing is it now - maybe these are more to your tastes...

 

Man 2 Man Meets Man Parrish - All Men Are Beasts

 

Man 2 Man Meets Man Parrish - Male Stripper (not the extended 12 inch)

 

MAN TO MAN - Energy Is Eurobeat

 

in a word...... no.

 

im not a fan of hi nrg, or disco, in general. though i can tollerate evelyn kings 'hi - energy'.

 

(oddly enough i prefer the disco-esque tracks of the late 90's / early 00's then orgiginal disco, my fav is possibly jamiraquai's 'little l' )

1. Divine - You Think You're A Man - so bad, it's fantastic!!!

3. Divine - You Think You're A Man - Long before SAW were working with the latest Australian teen soap star, they were working with a true Gay icon. So terrible it is brilliant.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=IiIJOB0GLW4

HA! Squeel music snobs. SQUEEL!!!

 

Sorry I cannot resist S/A/W! I'm fully aware this will not prove a popular thread, but I'm optimistic someone may care to come out of the closet and own up to liking a whole albums worth of unashamed 80s pop-synth cheese.

 

even tho this article below is about ABBA - these comments above have relevence and show its true what it says below - when reading some of the bolded areas

 

As the film Mamma Mia! opens, it's cool to admit you like ABBA

By Nigel Farndale

Last Updated: 1:29AM BST 22/06/2008

Even 'real men' can't resist strutting their stuff to 'Dancing Queen'. As the film 'Mamma Mia!' opens, Nigel Farndale explains how to admit you like ABBA – and still be cool

 

There comes a moment at just about every dinner party I attend when the wine glasses are refilled, the conversation turns from current affairs to pop music and my wife disgraces herself. Her favourite band, she will announce without a shred of embarrassment, is ABBA. Always has been and always will be.

Other female guests will chorus their agreement, regardless of their age, social background or the number of doctorates they hold. Some may even start singing ABBA songs.

 

As they lean forward to engage in a cheerful discussion about whether SOS has more artistic merit than Knowing Me, Knowing You, the men will lean back and mumble earnestly among themselves about Radiohead or the Foo Fighters – cool bands, cerebral bands, bands with growling chord progressions.

 

There may be a biological explanation for this, albeit a rather patronising one. According to Lesley Douglas, the co-ordinator of the BBC's popular music coverage, men and women listen to music differently. Women are more likely to engage with music emotionally, whereas men are more analytical in their approach, obsessing over the fifth note in the third verse, or the catalogue number's rarity.

 

I don't think she's right. Men and women experience music in the same emotional way, it's just that they talk about it differently.

 

And men are more inclined towards music snobbery because they are more image conscious, more insecure, more concerned about what other men might think. If a woman likes a song, however frothy and synthetic, she will say so.

 

If a man likes a song he thinks he shouldn't, he will listen to it guiltily, on his iPod, in the cupboard below the stairs. Steve Jones, the Sex Pistols guitarist, once confessed to me that on the tour bus he would listen to REO Speedwagon on his Walkman, terrified that if Johnny Rotten or Sid Vicious caught him he would be beaten up.

One of the reasons I suspect men pretend they don't like ABBA is that the phenomenal success of the band seems to defy intellectual analysis. You could argue, for example, that Dancing Queen is the greatest pop song of all time because everyone in the Western world wants to get up and dance when they hear it.

But where is the intellectual satisfaction in saying that? It is not enough to sustain the male population conversationally for what is in store: a whole summer of ABBA-mania.

 

Mamma Mia! the movie is released next week. Set on a Greek island, it is a romantic comedy about a woman who decides to track down the father she never knew because she wants him to give her away at her wedding.

 

There are three possible fathers, Pierce Brosnan plays – and sings – one of them, Colin Firth another, while Swedish heart-throb Stellan Skarsgård plays the third.

 

The soundtrack is one ABBA song after another. We know it will be big because the musical was big. Is big. It makes £4 million a week. And, since it opened, nine years ago, about 30 million people have been to see it.

There will be no escaping the subject of ABBA this summer, then, so here are a few conversational primers that men may wish to use. A good starting point is the credit crunch. We are all going to need some serious cheering up this summer and you could usefully argue that the inevitable success of this escapist, feel-good movie will be a reflection of this.

 

Irony seems another rich seam for discussion. Because they first found fame in 1974 by winning the Eurovision song contest, ABBA were considered irredeemably naff.

 

Then the four band members started divorcing each other and writing songs about it – you could cite The Name of the Game here, and use the adjective "haunting" – and suddenly they looked cool and interesting. Then punk came along and they were naff again.

 

Then in 1982 they split up, became all moody and reclusive – wouldn't even be seen in the same country as one another, let alone the same studio – and began to look interesting again.

 

Then their ironic appeal began in earnest. Highly camp tribute bands such as Björn Again were formed. Steve Coogan recognised their cool-to-be-uncool appeal and the film Muriel's Wedding, with its ironic ABBA theme, became a blockbuster.

 

There are plenty of ABBA facts for men to sink their teeth into. Don't bore on about how the name "Abba" is an acronym of the first letters of each of the member's names (Agnetha, Björn, Benny, Anni-Frid).

Everyone knows that. A better statistic is that 26 years after they split up they are still one of the world's best-selling bands, selling three million records a year. And you might also slip in that in 2000 Abba were reported to have turned down an offer of $1 billion to do a reunion tour.

 

You could also attempt an analysis of ABBA's lyrics. Waterloo was clearly an attempt to re-contextualise 19th-century European geopolitics. Napoleon had so subverted the principles of the French Revolution that for most Frenchmen his defeat was the only way civilisation could be saved. "I feel like I win when I lose."

And there is even some scope for musical analysis. You could talk about the appeal of the music residing not only in the catchy melody and lyric hooks, but also the "wall of sound" achieved by overdubbing the female singers' voices in multiple harmonies. When bluffing about the music, remember that Benny wrote the tunes while Björn wrote the lyrics.

 

It takes a big man to admit he likes ABBA. And any man who still lacks the courage to come out might consider something that the hairy-chested Pierce Brosnan told me, when I interviewed him the other day.

He was not an ABBA fan, he had never seen the musical, but when he went to the London production in preparation for this role, he found himself dancing in the aisle, as everyone who sees the musical does.

And there is another intellectual gambit you might try. You could compare the opening of Dancing Queen, that tingling moment when Benny runs his fingers down the keyboard, to the bell with which Pavlov summoned his dogs.

 

Whenever we hear it, we want to head to the nearest dance floor, however ungainly a dancer we might be.

 

 

in a word...... no.

 

im not a fan of hi nrg, or disco, in general. though i can tollerate evelyn kings 'hi - energy'.

 

(oddly enough i prefer the disco-esque tracks of the late 90's / early 00's then orgiginal disco, my fav is possibly jamiraquai's 'little l' )

 

ok you dont like Hi-NRG full stop as a genre - but do/did you like the acid jazz thing as a genre

 

and i suppose jamiroquai will always get a better cultural ranking - perhaps seen to be more upscale - more assocaited with a 'glass of Champagne' and a couple of ferrarris rather being aligned up with the image of a group of hairy leatherboys in chaps - kinda bit more safe - a bit more Mick Hucknell at a Smooth Radio refit of Studio 54 than Tom of Finland's all-night disco sauna....

Recently discovered a band that is a world away from s/a/w recorded some tracks with them once, but they

were never released. Who was the band? ... none other than Judas Priest!

 

It surprised me when i found out. The two acts just don't go together.

 

 

ok you dont like Hi-NRG full stop as a genre - but do/did you like the acid jazz thing as a genre

 

i didnt say that.... i said 'IN GENERAL'... ie i said generally i dont like hi nrg as a genre, NOT i dont like hi nrg full stop.

1. Samantha Fox: Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now

2. Kylie Minogue: Turn It Into Love

3. Rick Astley: Together Forever

4. Mel and Kim: Respectable

5. Kylie Minogue: Better the Devil You Know

6. Bananarama: Venus

7. Samantha Fox: I Only Wanna Be With You

8. Jason Donovan: Nothing Can Divide Us

9. Dead Or Alive: You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)

10. Brother Beyond: The Harder I Try

11. Sinitta: Toy Boy

12. Rick Astley: Never Gonna Give You Up

 

 

Recently discovered a band that is a world away from s/a/w recorded some tracks with them once, but they

were never released. Who was the band? ... none other than Judas Priest!

 

It surprised me when i found out. The two acts just don't go together.

 

now some could get slightly confused here to which one is Pete Burns and which one is Rob Halford....like "oh youre telling me the Tom of Finland clone is not Pete Burns and the goth bloke is.....your $h!tting me - is that true???!!!" :lol: :lol:

 

http://static.last.fm/proposedimages/original/6/5552/73085.jpg

http://991.com/NewGallery/Pete-Burns-Music-Life---Dece-422415.jpg

 

but wasnt dead or alive originally a very avant-guard goth like thing....a really mental scream of pure noize...part of a weird liverpool scene with the crucial three (Julian Cope, Ian McCulloch, Pete Wylie) and others shown on that rock family tree thing the other week on bbc4

 

on the other hand think Breaking the Law is like really funny in a dead cheesy way...not as funny as def lep's lets get rocked but at least you can see where justin hawkins icked some of his ideas from....maybe it would have worked then again they might have just come out sounding like Big Audio Dynamite :lol: :lol:

 

(however on the Dead or Alive page on wiki there is a picture of former member...Wayne Hussey...and within two more clicks you too can wonder if Iggy Pop ever got round to covering the pet shop boys It's A Sin...would it sound like these OTT goth epics of mega feta propoations....

 

listen smirk and enjoy :lol:

Listen pal I don't have to like the Sisters through some sense of innate superiority. They went disco-goth and they were glorious!

 

 

Edited June 28, 200817 yr by grebo69