Metapost: Meanwhile, elsewhere on the Internet

Hello people still reading this. Did you like my Now 36 posts? If so, you might be interested in my feature Charting 1997 over at the Hit Parade blog, where I'm posting every chart of that entire year with commentary of a sort.


In more official news, those who use Spotify might be interested to know that the official Now Music people have launched their own app, which among other things allows you to hear all the tracks from every main series Now! album (except the ones that aren't on Spotify, of course). But they have included the track on Now 3 that you might have expected them to leave out. And of course Now That's What I Call Music! 81 is out on Monday, and if you buy it through that link I might make a few pence. Now That's What I Call A Challenge should be back in April.

Metapost: Happy New Year

Happy 2012 everyone. I'm planning a few weeks off from this blog while I work on a couple of other projects, but if you need a Now fix in the meantime, why not check out this thread on the Haven forum, where one of the regulars has collated artwork (and chart positions) for every track on all 80 volumes of the series to date?


And for anyone who missed it, the secret answer to what's different about Now 16 is that it's the only album in the series not to include a Number One single.

Fresh 4 featuring Lizz E 'Wishing On A Star'

Chart Peak: 10

YouTube

'Wishing On A Star' originally made No.3 in 1978 for Rose Royce, whose back catalogue has provided hits for acts as diverse as Jimmy Nail and S'Express... Fresh 4/Lizz E made the Top 10 in October 1989.

Clearly, this was the era for reworkings of late-70s tracks, with the tracks from De La Soul and Inner City on this album and the near-miss from Big Fun. And 'Wishing On A Star' is the gift that keeps on giving, with Jay-Z and Paul Weller adding to the diversity of the covers and making it one of the most-charted songs in UK history: a version by X-Factor finalists is on its way out of the Top 50 at time of writing, though a competing attempt by Seal found less favour.

For all that the song's only shown up on one Now! album to date, and it's this version from an act who drifted so far into one-hit-wonderdom that I can't even tell you what the "E" stood for. Band member Krust and producers Smith & Mighty went on to slightly bigger things as associates of Roni Size and his Reprazent collective, which would tip you off that this was a product of the Bristol scene if you hadn't already heard it in the accent of rapper Flynn. As it turns out this is really rather an impressive version, maybe the best I've heard: it's not dissimilar in approach from 'Dub Be Good To Me' around the same time and whilst I personally  don't think it's quite as good as that, it still has that slightly chilly air about it. A lot more than I'd bargained for and a pretty good way to end the album, if you can overlook the slightly rushed fade on this 7" edit.

Available on: Back To Life

Redhead Kingpin & The FBI 'Do The Right Thing'

Chart Peak: 13

YouTube

American rapper Redhead Kingpin reached No. 13 in August 1989 with this track.

Anyone else get the impression they were losing interest at this point in the sleeve notes? No mention of the fact that Redhead Kingpin's real name is David Guppy (no relation to Darius Guppy of fraud fame, so far as I can tell) or to the fact that his mother was apparently a police officer. At least the picture of the band makes it pretty obvious where he got the stage name from.

I have to admit I don't remember this at all from the time, but at least that saves me from getting it mixed up with the similarly-titled Simply Red hit. It's somewhere on the border between rap and that New Jack Swing sound we heard earlier on this album from Bobby Brown, though there's more charm on offer here, and a positive message amid the over-familiar samples. He does sound a bit like he's filling when he starts listing various districts of New York in which people should be doing the right thing, and the record's probably about a minute too long but it's rather enjoyable all the same.

Available on: Pure Dance Party

Neneh Cherry 'Kisses On The Wind'

Chart Peak:

YouTube

Neneh's third Top 20 hit in a row following 'Buffalo Stance' and 'Manchild'... Surely the only Swedish-born artiste to appear on 4 Now albums in a row.

4 in a row? If they were anticipating putting her on Now 17, they were wrong. Mind you, I can't think of another Swede who's even managed three in a row - not even Ace Of Base. I'm open to correction on that though, feel free to do so.

The third hit from her solo debut did even better in the US than here, and seems somewhat forgotten now. In all honesty it's not as impressive as 'Buffalo Stance' or as melodic as 'Manchild', although it has some lyrical charm with its tale of a precocious teenage girl. Though I do remember hearing it at the time, I haven't really given it a thought in the last twenty years or so and it's not that surprising really. The production has dated worse than I expected too.

Also appearing on: Now 14, 15, 18, 29 [with Youssou N'Dour], 30 [with Cher, Chrissie Hynde and Eric Clapton], 35
Available on: Raw Like Sushi

Oh Well 'Oh Well'

Chart Peak: 28

YouTube

'Oh Well' was written by Peter Green, the original leader of Fleetwood Mac (it made No. 2 in late 1969)... Oh Well are a German trio and the song had taken them to No. 28 by 22nd October 1989.

Fleetwood Mac's original of 'Oh Well' is a bit of an anomaly in their catalogue. Their first (and in the UK, highest-peaking) hit on the Reprise, it's invariably ignored on compilations released by that label, which tend to ignore the Green-era blues recordings and concentrate on the more lucrative AOR recordings of the 1970s and 1980s. Another interesting little factoid: the title was translated differently in Spain, Mexico and Venezuela. I don't know whether that says anything about the lyrical content.

Anyway, it might not have seemed the most obvious candidate for a Eurodance makeover, but it was the late 1990s after all and I presume that it was a well-enough-known song in Germany for people to recognise it. This version is based only on the A-side Part 1, rather than the instrumental second half, and resets Green's surreal (possibly improvised) lyric over background music that sounds like the theme to a regional TV news programme - it even has one of those thumping endings where you can just imagine the anchors straightening their paper scripts against the desk, even though they're going to read the entire bulletin from the autocue. I thought this was quite fun at the time but it hasn't aged all that well.

Available on: Oh Well (download single)

Shakespear's Sister 'You're History'

Chart Peak: 7

YouTube

Former Bananarama singer Siobhan Fahey, AKA Mrs Dave Stewart, found success in August 1989 when 'You're History' became the first British hit for Shakespear's Sister - It reached No. 7

For a while it was their only hit in fact, although you might notice that the notes refer to the act's origins as a Fahey solo project. Her first single in this guise flopped greatly though, so collaborator Marcella Detroit (aka Marcy Levy) was promoted to band membership, at least promotionally. And this seemed like the right place to launch the duo too: even though Fahey is technically the lead vocalist here, it's Detroit's very high-pitched delivery of the title line that is the real hook. You wouldn't want to hear her screech the whole song like that, but as the chorus it makes the ideal contrast with Fahey's low mumbled responses.

It also adds a layer of silliness that makes it easier to forgive some of the dubious rhymes. Yes, it's another one of those "go away useless ex" songs (maybe a stage forward from the situation in the Jimmy Somerville track, if you're listening on vinyl or cassette and haven't got Brother Beyond in between) but it's an unusually effective one, actually sounding generally glad to be rid of him. A record that's more than the sum of its parts.

Also appearing on: Now 21, 22
Available on: Sacred Heart