Gwen Stefani 'Wind It Up'

Chart Peak: 3
YouTube

The sassy lady from Orange County took her original version of 'Wind It Up' and mashed it together with a sample from the Sound Of Music to score a No. 3 hit in December 2006... It was the first release from Gwen's album The Sweet Escape, which is dedicated to her "best project", her son Kingston.

Having successfully established herself as a solo artist with her first album, Stefani might have been expected to go back to No Doubt. At least, I'm pretty sure that's what the rest of the band expected, but in the event she made a second album, apparently because she wanted to use up some of the unreleased tracks from the first one. You might not expect a masterpiece from that rather desultory premise, but even then few would have guessed that how clumsy the lead single was going to be. Even the original track - recorded for a fashion show, hence the references to her own clothing line - can't have been up to much, with its half-baked rapping and the odd way she gulps the title (if the song wasn't called that, I don't think I'd ever have guessed what she was saying). So what better way to top it off than by sampling, er 'The Lonely Goatheard' for no apparent reason. The finished item is so bizarre that the first time I heard it on the radio, I couldn't tell whether it was a joke or not. Possibly it was, but if so it seems to have been at the record-buying public's expense. It's a testament to star power that something as weirdly dreadful of this reached the UK and US Top 10.

Also appearing on: Now 50 [with Eve], 60, 61 [with Eve], 62, 67
Available on: The Sweet Escape

No Doubt 'Don't Speak'

Chart Peak: 1 (3 weeks)

YouTube

'Don't Speak' was an American smash hit first and then a huge British chart-topper in February '97... Gwen and the boys expect a second big hit soon with 'Just A Girl'.

In early 1997, I didn't listen to the radio all that much, but I did listen to the chart rundown. So when Mark Goodier announced that the previous week's Number One had dropped to 6, I was at a loss to guess what might have replaced it; I guessed correctly that it wouldn't have been the one single I bought that week, 'Last Day' by Silver Sun. It turned out to be this lot, who I recalled having a minor hit with the original release of 'Just A Girl' the year before. Years later I was to discover that bassist Tony Kanal (as seen shirtless at the start of the video) went to the same primary school as me, though not at the same time.

Though I hadn't heard it before it became Number One, I've heard it often enough since, even on the radio the day I started writing this post. I must admit I was never fond of it, finding it terribly whiny and self-consciously emotive. Matthew Wilder's (yes, he of nothing breaking his stride fame) production is full of good ideas, but rather too full - we have to have the flamenco guitar solo *and* the muted trumpets *and* the big string section - the full whack just drags on too long. It's very much one of those songs where I can tell why people like it, I just don't want to listen to it myself.

Also appearing on: Now 37
Available on: Tragic Kingdom

Eve feat Gwen Stefani 'Let Me Blow Ya Mind'

Chart Peak: 4

YouTube

Fascinating study in editing that official video - apparently on this basis, "asses" and "bitch" are acceptable but "shit" and "hits from your stash-box" aren't.
I think this is the one track on this album I already owned, albeit not intentionally: it appears (in a slightly longer edit) on a Hip-Hop Classics compilation I found in a bin once. The fact that I didn't go out of my way to obtain this track shouldn't be seen as a slight on it though.

I have to admit I've always found Gwen Stefani a bit annoying, and she's on especially irritating form in the video here (which I hadn't seen before). For that matter I didn't like Eve's previous single 'Who's That Girl?' all that much either and quickly got tired of it thanks to massive radio exposure. But fair play to them, this is a really good pop record. Much of this is thanks to the production skills of Dr Dre, rightly given props in the sleeve note (oddly, the technical credits at the back of the booklet attribute it to Swizz Beats, but Dre's input is unmistakeable and of course he makes a cameo appearance in the video). He was on a real roll then, unlike nowadays when he doesn't even produce his own records, and his backing track here is superb. Eve rises to the challenge too, with an impressively self-confident performance that sweeps you up in its sheer joie de vivre. And Stefani, well, she could be anyone by the time all the effects have gone on her vocal. But she does a decent job here, I must admit. A career highlight for both of them.

Eve also appears on: Now 49, 51 (with City High), 61 (with Gwen Stefani again), 62 (with Amerie)
Gwen Stefani also appears on: Now 61 (with Eve), 62, 66, 67 (with Akon)
Available on: Scorpion