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It's 5 years since Sophie Ellis-Bextor began her pop career but she's already experienced a dramatic change of direction - Sophie originally fronted super-slick indie outfit The Audience [sic], but it was her guest vocal performance on Spiller's 'Groovejet' that really propelled her into the pop limelight... Now Sophie is on her own - and cool disco number 'Take Me Home', originally an American chart hit for Cher, gave her a UK Top 5 hit.
I don't know why, but something about her solo career has never quite gelled with me. I saw theaudience live a few times, and I've still got the coloured vinyl 7" of
'A Pessimist Is Never Disappointed' - indeed looking up that clip reminded me how much I used to love the band. I don't think it's just the fact that she went in a different direction when she went solo: I'd enjoyed her star turn on 'Groovejet' but extending the same style to her subsequent records never seemed to have the same magic. Maybe it's because she can't write music and is thus at the mercy of collaborators, but I think the big problem is that there's always an atmosphere of self-conscious kitsch about her music that seems to spoil the fun somewhat.
All of which said, I had cause to listen back to 'Murder On The Dancefloor' a couple of weeks ago, and found it had aged rather better than I expected. This relatively forgotten debut hit has too, it turns out. Only for the purposes of this post have I ever listened to Cher's original, never a hit in the UK. It's surprisingly similar in style, although the lyrics were partly re-written for this version. It's more pleasant now I don't hear it with the same air of disappointment, but I still feel like it's not the best music she could make and worse, it seems like she knows it too. The fact that she's made effectively the same record for the subsequent ten years is a bit gruelling too.
Also appearing on: Now 51, 52, 53, 56, 57, 66
Available on:Read My Lips
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