Given all of the sampling of 80s music done by modern rap artists, it’s refreshing to listen to an 80s song that was actually inspired by a rap hit.
Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, the writers and performers who made up Pet Shop Boys, have said that their 1985 hit ‘West End Girls’ drew inspiration from ‘The Message’ by Grandmaster Flash.
If you listen to it with that in mind, it totally makes sense.
It’s taken me a long time to realize that there is no shame in liking something you really have no good reason to like.
I guess you can call that embracing a guilty pleasure, but I don’t see it that way exactly. It’s more a matter of deciding once and for all that taste is subjective and if some cheesy soft-rock ballad works for you — against all logic — well, then it works for you. No need to second guess it.
I’ve always wondered why one-hit wonders, if they’re capable of writing and recording a song worthy of hit status, aren’t able to keep it up? Do some bands really just have one good song in them? That doesn’t make sense.
Recently I realized that at least a few of the one-hit wonders I’ve always assumed were original composition were in fact covers of old pop standards. Soft Cell’s ‘Tainted Love,’ for example, was first recorded as a B-side by Gloria Jones in 1965.
No wonder Soft Cell didn’t go on to greater things… they weren’t even responsible for the one hit they did have!
The latest Facebook obsession spreading among my friends is SongPop, basically an Internet version of Name That Tune.
What makes the game fun is the wide range of categories from which it culls the songs. You can play rounds centered on ’90s Alternative,’ ‘Love Songs,’ ‘Metal,’ ’80s Hair Bands,’ ‘Melancholy Tunes’ (a personal favorite), ‘Today’s Hits,’ ‘Punk,’ ’60s Collection’ and dozens more.
The rise of iTunes and the MP3 as the cheapest and easiest way to purchase music led to an increase in bonus material paired with physical CDs.
It might be expanded liner notes, including artwork or photos not otherwise available. A DVD of live performances of the album’s songs. A dorm room-ready wall poster. That sort of thing.
