Jamelia 'Call Me'

Chart Peak: 11

YouTube

Birmingham-born Jamelia is currently been hailed {sic} as the hottest new talent on the UK RnB scene, claims which were supported by her 2000 Brit nomination for Best Newcomer... The video for new single 'Call Me' is based in an office - an ordinary atmosphere in comparison to the powdered-wig wearing, costume-drama-style video made for her previous single 'Money'.

I don't think it's an entirely accurate representation of an office, I have to admit. 'Call Me' is not a version of the Blondie or Go West songs, but an original composition: Wikipedia credits it to Jamelia alone, although two co-writers are named here. Either way, it was the third of four singles from her debut album, and possibly best described as a functional RnB track that does what you'd expect but little more, and the pastiche of turn-of-century US production styles unfortunately leaves it sounding very dated now, full of acoustic guitars, harps and clicking beats. Songs like 'Try Again' on this album are strong enough to grow into the production but there just isn't quite enough to this one. Generally I like Jamelia but this is just ho-hum. She didn't have another hit for three years.

Also appearing on: Now 45, 56, 57, 58, 59, 65, 66
Available on: Jamelia - The Collection

Jamelia 'Beware Of The Dog'

Chart Peak: 10
YouTube

Jamelia mashed up a sample of Depeche Mode's 'Personal Jesus' until it was almost unrecognisable in 70s style dance stomper 'Beware Of The Dog'... The "hard-edged" track gave her her 6th consecutive UK Top 10 single on its release in December 2006.

I don't find it that easy to imagine that many people who've heard the original Depeche Mode track would find it that hard to recognise the riff in here, even though it has been played about with slightly: the effect is a actually slightly more akin to Marilyn Manson's cover version of the songs, which may have been where the idea came from. Whoever thought of it, though, was onto a winner, smartly spotting the best thing about the original but removing Martin L. Gore's pompous lyric and Manson's awful joke. It's replaced by a suitably forceful warning about a bad boyfriend, which could be perceived as a sequel to her highest-charting single 'Thank You', if a lighter-hearted one. Indeed the two-track CD single of this even used 'Thank You' as the B-side, so I can't have been the only one who had that thought. The only real flaw in the songwriting is the knowing use of the phrase "reach out and touch me" in the middle-eight; an obvious allusion to the similar phrase in 'Personal Jesus' but at odds with the sense and mood of this song.

Jamelia doesn't always get the best press, and is often dismissed as a one-hit wonder, but among the couple of dozen singles she's released there are a handful of real gems, and this is one of them. Whilst not especially showy, her performance here strikes the right tone: hard-edged and forceful but with a sense that she's enjoying herself. Maybe she already suspects not all her audience will take the advice. Irrespective of my wild speculation, this was a deserved seventh Top 10 for her, though also her last: it was possibly a strategic error to follow up with another song based on an 80s sample, but whatever the reason the aptly-named 'No More' fell short of the entire Top 40 and effectively ended her relationship with EMI. Though she reportedly signed a new deal as long ago as 2010, little has been heard of her since.

Also appearing on: Now 45, 46, 56, 57, 58, 59, 65
Available on: Walk With Me