Wow. That's... something. Never heard that before, and now I wish I could still say that. The original's such a great song - why would anyone do this to a poor defenseless hit?! Especially For You is on my Geffen Enjoy Yourself album. The first pressing in 1989 was the standard 10-track version, but it was re-released in 1990 with Especially For You added. Weird that they didn't do that to begin with - particularly if they kept it off the Jason Donovan album.
Glad you found the thread. I have enjoyed reading your thoughts in the various Kylie threads, so look forward to reading your thoughts here.
We can't forget about how S/A/W jumped on board charity singles, too! Band Aid II was pretty awful (although of course I bought the single), but I always had a soft spot for 1987's Ferry Aid. After the Zeebrugge ferry disaster, they rushed an all-star cover of Let It Be to market. It's a S/A/W production, and they certainly made sure their artists had prime featured slots in the song, but it also included lots of other well-known '80s artists (Andy Bell, Kim Wilde, Boy George, Paul McCartney, Nik Kershaw, among many others; Mark Knopfler and Gary Moore even contribute guitar solos) which I think made it a more broadly appealing track and less self-serving. Plus I'm a huge Kate Bush fan, so you can't go wrong if she's on a song. As far as S/A/W artists go, this was pre-Kylie days so she's not on here, but Mel & Kim give a really good performance (starting around 2:17 below). Ferry Aid - Wikipedia
What the hell, may as well share Band Aid II as well... By 1989, S/A/W artist ranks had shifted considerably, and the production was much more their now-established formula. Kylie was high-profile enough that she got to open the track and pop back in to duet with Jason; Sonia was now on the scene, and Bananarama were the only act included that had been on the original Do They Know It's Christmas as well. But there were still other well-known artists included. @Jarleboy, I'm sure you're well aware of Cliff's prominent role! Lisa Stansfield, Jimmy Somerville, Chris Rea, Wet Wet Wet, even Bros were included. It always felt a bit half-assed to me, but it raised tons of money and was a huge success - plus they'd pulled it together in just a couple of days, so you can't be too harsh on the song. The video's a bit weird - a somber intro about famine before Kylie suddenly pops in to start singing about Christmas. Occasional random jump cuts to starving children during this very poppy, upbeat song. It would be kind of comical if it weren't about something, you know, tragic. Band Aid (band) - Wikipedia
Oh yes, I have heard this song! I bought the 7", and hunted down the CD single later. And I agree - it´s not very good. It was a part of Cliff´s sensational run of singles in late 1988/1989: "Mistletoe & Wine" reached No. 1, "The Best of Me" No. 2, "I Just Don´t Have the Heart" No. 3, "Lean On You" No. 17, "Whenever God Shines His Light" with Van Morrison No. 20, Van´s biggest hit. "Do They Know It´s Christmas", the SAW version, reached No. 1, but I never think to count it among Cliff´s chart toppers. Of course, it´s not his, though he definitely leaves his stamp on it - and it´s not very good. Not terrible, not good. It did what it set out to do. Even though it does make the original sound like a piece of work by Mozart. I like a lot of those artists - Chris Rea, Lisa Stansfield and Jimmy Somerville are all great, but this is not the part of their careers I´ll remember.
Since I'm on a roll... I think Mel & Kim's F.L.M. is one of the strongest albums S/A/W ever produced, and there's not a weak track on the album (not even Kylie can say that!). It included some of the team's best songs - Respectable is obviously a huge favorite and has a classic video, but my favorite song on the album was the non-single (except in Scandinavia!) More Than Words Can Say. It's a ballad with surprisingly sensitive and non-formulaic S/A/W production, and a great lead vocal by Kim. F.L.M. had a 2-disc expanded release by Cherry Red in 2010, although it didn't include everything that was on the original CD so if you're like me you need both. Last year, Cherry Red also released a seven-disc Singles box set with oodles of remixes and b-sides. Both the album and singles releases are still in print. Well worth checking out if Mel & Kim somehow passed you by.
a little offtopic, but anyone like Pete Hammond remixes? here is one of his remixes for Alphabeat (Boyfriend) from 2007, song is not by SAW but the remix sounds like a lost SAW song, very fun Alphabeat - Boyfriend (2007) (Pete Hammond remix)
He also did this retro-poptastic remix of Kylie's Put Your Hands Up from 2011 - S/A/W in spirit if not in fact.
Here's a brief Village Voice interview with Pete Hammond about his time with PWL and his more recent retro remixes (the interview's from 2011, right after the Kylie remix). Some interesting tidbits in here. "There were a lot of sections to it. It was quite diverse. That’s the whole thing. People would say it all sounded the same, but to me, it all sounded quite different. I think we got too big. People like to shoot you down when you get big. I remember asking Pete Waterman one Christmas, “What are we going to do next year?” He said, “More of the same.” And it worked for another year or two, but then it just kind of died." Q&A: Pop Mixmaster Pete Hammond On Nostalgia, Boring Radio Songs, And Remixing Kylie | The Village Voice
Time for another classic S/A/W production - this one's been in my head for a while so I thought I'd share. In typical S/A/W fashion, the lyrics are so absurdly simple that they almost become profound. And Hazell can sing, but her dancing's not quite at the same level... Hazell Dean: Who's Leaving Who
again on a related note, Dutch pop singer Rene Froger released this track produced by PWL and mixed by Pete Hammond... fans of that sound might enjoy Rene Froger - Are you ready for loving me (1990)
Can I "like" this a million times over? Man, what a great album - it's ripe for a reissue. I really love the whole album; "Crunchy Love Affair" sounds like a great, lost ABC track. One of the best albums of 1988.
This completely passed me by, but it's like ABC produced by S/A/W (in this case Harding/Curnow). And Cyd Charisse in the video!
I guess there was only enough appreciation to make it to a fifth page... Here's a throwback to 1987 with a typical S/A/W "female empowerment" anthem that's also just incredibly silly. And there was a minor bit of controversy around the time due to inadvertent nipple display during the video, although that's probably the least embarrassing part of the production. This song also comes to us by way of Simon Cowell's involvement. And patented S/A/W hair-hat alert! Sinitta: Toy Boy - this made it to #4 in the UK charts and out-sold Michael Jackson's #1 I Just Can't Stop Loving You that year.
Yep. I try to avoid anything to do with his insane paranoid ramblings. His Twitter feed is a dumpster fire showcasing the worst of humanity.
I’m currently listening to “Another Place and Time” by Donna Summer. I think it’s one of SAWs most consistent albums.
I didn't like the overall effect they had on the charts here and it ushered in the age of manufactured pop dominating the charts. However, to be appreciative, there was good songs among them and, sadly, infinitely preferable to the trash that dominates the charts today. Kylie Minogue an obvious highlight. I always liked Never Gonna Give You Up. Always a good singalong at a party or a bar when everyone's had a few. The Reynolds Girls hit slating radio producers playing Fleetwood Mac and classic rock is ironic given 30 years later their hits are as popular as ever and much of SAW's hits were forgotten as quickly as they came. Rumours was barely 10 years old at that point. I've heard it said that because of the backlash to that song SAW ruined Reynolds Girls' career before it started and used them to make a statement.
Definitely one of their best - there was no way they were going to throw random filler tracks at Donna Summer the way they did with their lower-tier acts! This Time I Know It's For Real is a great song and generally gets all the attention (and I think it was posted earlier in the thread), but there were some other really good singles taken from the album, too. Donna Summer: Love's About To Change My Heart
God I hated that song when it came out! And I found both of The Reynolds Girls annoying - they were like a parody of S/A/W that you'd see on a TV comedy show rather than a legitimate act (I'm sure they're very nice women in real life, but that video was awful). I didn't even really pick up on the "message" in I'd Rather Jack at the time, but talk about disingenuous whining on S/A/W's part considering they'd already been dominating the charts for a couple of years when this song came out in 1989. I just listened to it for the first time in 30 years, and I must be softening in my mid-dotage - it's still not a good song, but I didn't have the same visceral negative reaction to it that I remember from 1989. Interesting point about Rumours only being a little more than ten years old at that point - even crazier, Fleetwood Mac had just had a few relatively sizable hits from Tango In The Night only a couple of years before I'd Rather Jack was released, so they were hardly over the hill by then. I suppose it was just that they weren't new and cutting edge enough for "the kids" - you know, unlike S/A/W...
I have to separate my dislike of their arrogance from the music. They did great music -Mel and Kim, Rick Astley, early Kylie. But they ran out of ideas quickly. Established artists with their own creative ideas (eg Dead or Alive, Bananarama) got more from them than the artists they "developed" in house. I remember them dominating the charts - they averaged 25% of the UK Top 40 for a three month period at their peak. For that year, they were the soundtrack to most peoples lives - anyone who had the radio on at work, anyone who went on a dancefloor. And they really deserved the hits. I use the quote marks for "developed" as they failed to develop really talented people, especially Rick Astley, who turned out to be a decent songwriter once he'd got away from them. That was their ultimate downfall, they stuck to a rigid formula. They kept comparing themselves to Motown, which just highlight's their failure even more, they even tried to copyright "The Hit Factory" as their slogan -the application was dismissed as the phrase had long established use in reference to Motown. Imagine how far Motown would have got if Berry Gordy insisted on writing or producing everything himself. Imagine if Berry Gordy had insisted that Stevie Wonder do what he's told and had blocked Marvin Gaye's What's Going On because he didn't get it. Imagine if Berry Gordy had blocked live appearances from The Four Tops, The Temptations and The Supremes because they wouldn't sound as good as the studio versions. Those were some of the working practices that led to them tailing off so quickly.
I disagree, Pop has been manufactured since the 50s (at least). Art is ultimately short for Artifice. Great "manufactured" pop is great art. SAW have great tunes amongst the hundreds they put out, but the longevity of the music just doesn't compare to the people that inspired them (Motown and The Beatles) , or the people they insulted (Fleetwood Mac). It's the difference, when you hear an old song, of thinking "that was a great tune" or "that is a great tune" The best SAW stuff was great at the time.
