Friday 4 March 2011

Kylie Minogue and the battle of the singles

In all honesty, there isn't anybody on this earth that doesn't love Kylie Minogue (even just a little bit).  She is a legend, and of course a mahoosive gay icon.  From the early days of Stock, Aitken and Waterman, this tiny pop princess has captured the hearts of many.  Whilst other popsters have fallen by making bad life choices, rampant tabloid criticism and terrible haircuts (Kelis - what were you thinking?, honey) - Kylie has been relatively consistant.  She has created some of the finest pop songs that have ever existed.  She always looks gorgeous.  She's untainted.

Apparently, Kylie recently told a magazine that she is unhappy with the performance of the singles from her joyous current album, Aphrodite.  It's understandable that some artists are struggling because the music industry is desperately trying to keep up with technology, the internet and modern marketing techniques.  According to reports, Kylie has recognised that artists such as Britney and Lady Gaga are playing the game by releasing songs with very little pre-release promotion - sometimes hitting the stores at the same time as the radio.  It's a modern concept and it appears to work as both Britney and Gaga have reaped the rewards of high sales by using this method. 

Though nothing beats a heart-stopping live performance, such as what Adele gave at the recent Brit Awards ceremony.  That performance (and many others since) have blasted the singer to the top of the charts all over the world.  It's nice to see that raw talent is still the basis of success - but it's not always that simple.

Social networking, portable devices (ipads/phones, android phones etc..), online television, YouTube - are still growing and changing.  You can capture your audience in so many ways - perhaps too many ways as this comes with lots of competition - and even established artists can sometimes struggle a little bit to keep on top.

The news that Kylie will not release any more singles from 'Aphrodite' is not a suprise. Though she shouldn't be too disheartened by the lack of success of those recent singles.  Kylie's new tour is enormous - and that's where the real money is.

When it comes to the next album, a new strategy is needed.

Tuesday 1 March 2011

Florrie

This the second 'shout out' I've given to promote the fantabulous 'Florrie'.  Here is a nice pic of Florrie taken by Karl Lagerfeld.  Nice, huh?

This is my favourite 'Florrie' song:



However you really should go to Florrie's website as it is packed with lots of news and mp3 downloads.

AGGGGHHHHHH!!!

If I receive one more e-mail from someone telling me that I have won 1,000,000 £ or $....or that someone wants to invest 1,000,000 £ or $ in me...... I may scream.

Xenomania


If you're a fan of production wizards 'Xenomania', check out this blog: http://xenomanianews.blogspot.com/ ...or...check out their official site: http://xenomania.net/

That is all.

Bananarama - Twisting

Listen to this: http://www.we7.com/#/song/Bananarama/Twisting

It's a track from Bananarama's last album 'Viva'.  Unfortunately the album didn't set the charts on fire despite its brilliance.  'Twisting' was a highlight and I think that the song should be given another chance to shine - but by a different artist.  I can quite easily imagine Britney singing it.  With some further production, I don't see why 'Twisting' wouldn't be a hit.

Monday 28 February 2011

Lady Gaga - Born This Way



Here is the video .....

Lady Gaga: Born This Way, The Video - Do you love?

It's here!  The video has finally surfaced - but what do you think?  I can't find it on YouTube yet as all versions violated copyright.  However, you can watch here:

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/watch-lady-gagas-video-for-born-this-way-2228347.html

If I'm honest, I'm underwhelmed.  Is that harsh?  I don't think it is because I had hoped that it was going to be a colourful, ballsy video that reflected the joy of the song - rather than a video that is dark and science fiction.  It's actually taken away some of the things I like about the song.

Whatever I think is not important as I'm sure the fans love it.  Once again, she has made a video that is edgy and unusual and she should be applauded for that.

If you disagree, please leave your comments below.

Sunday 27 February 2011

Wine, bad tempers and Lady Gaga.

Something horrible happened in the early hours of this morning.  I realised that I can occasionally be perceived as being a 'killjoy'....but it's not my fault!!!!

Picture this; Two friends are staying with us for the weekend, mainly to discuss their 'civil partnership' arrangements, but also because they can be fabulous company.  They arrive late on Friday as other friends drop in unexpectedly.  Much fun is had.  It's a great night and everyone is tucked in bed at 4:00am in the morning - which is a rare late night for me. 

Saturday; shopping, a Japanese lunch and we make a knock-out three course dinner - and then the fun ends.....  It's late again and there are many empty wine bottles on the table.  The discussions about the 'civil partnership' became heated and the future grooms are snapping at each other.  I decide to leave them to it and head for bed at a perfectly respectable 12:30am.  Two hours later and I wake to the sound of raised voices.  They have moved onto the subject of 'politics' and the the voices become louder and louder.  This is where everything went a little bit fuzzy.  In my head, I turned into a character from a Tarantino movie, performing complex karate moves and expertly removing wine glasses from the hands of the culprits, whilst throwing impressive punches with the other hand.  However, the truth is more scary.  I turned into the mother of every teenager across the land.  Nobody was safe.  With a steely stare and a voice that sounded like my own mother, I cleared tables of wine glasses AND people.  The party was officially over. 

I'm not a boring person, but I do object to stupid conversations about politics in the early hours.  I wouldn't have minded if they were singing karaoke at 4:30am in the morning.  I wouldn't have minded if they were sharing stories of sexual escapades.  BUT I do object to being woken up to the words 'David Cameron' at 2:30am!!!!!!!

BTW - on a totally different subject, the Lady Gaga video should debut tomorrow.