Jamie T 'Calm Down Dearest'

Chart Peak: 9

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'Calm Down Dearest' is the 3rd single from Jamie T's album Panic Prevention... The 20 year old South Londoner recorded the album in his bedroom, fusing folk with punk, reggae and hip-hop, producing a sound that's "uncategorisable and exciting".

I suggested at the time that had I been a bit nearer his age, I'd probably have really loved Jamie T. His blend of styles and his everyman persona seemed like a great reflection of the contemporary urban youth experience, but he often seemed a little too culturally specific for me to relate to. Still somebody who can use samples of John Betjeman and the Bonzo Dog DooDah Band (neither of them on this particular song) must have a bit more going on in his head than the average teen pop star.

In an interview I heard at the time, he admitted to having written this song while drunk and thus not being able to remember whether the title was inspired by those adverts with Michael Winner in them. In fact the lyric of this song isn't that coherent and partly for that reason - and partly because of the rather poor singing - this is my least favourite of his big hits, and it was only a matter of timing that it was his biggest. It did have a nice picture of a welcoming cat on the cover though, so that's a point in its favour.

Also appearing on: Now 67
Available on: Panic Prevention [Explicit]