THE POLICE

There have always been boy bands – teenage phenomenon’s with overly styled hair and cheesy dance routines, who are flocked by millions of young girls everywhere they go.

It is one of those facts of life we have come to accept.

But The Police, well, they were a MAN band. Yes they did have the millions of young female fans and were a phenomenon (thankfully the cheesy dance routines were a no-no and their hair was just blonde) but they were men. Continue reading “THE POLICE” »

TRACY CHAPMAN

Tracy Chapman’s another artist whose career I’m too young to have witnessed in person: her first album was released the year after I was born, while the last one I heard of, Telling Stories, came out right when I was starting to despise commercial pop and engage with my first love, punk-rock. I found out about Tracy Chapman’s most known singles much after they were released, thanks to the afternoon radio programmes that my parents used as background noise at home.  Bless the radio, yeah – I don’t listen to it much these days, but it saved me from death by boredom lots of times when I was a kid.
Tracy Chapman, Tracy Chapman. Despite her name, I thought for quite a long time that she was a actually man.
I don’t mean to be offensive, here; on the contrary, my mistaken impression was due to the depth and power of her voice, which I absolutely admire. And to the fact that back in the day I barely saw her face, and first got to know of her through her music and voice alone. Plus, her hair’s quite short on the cover of the first album, isn’t it?
Well, nevermind. What really matters is her music, and who cares if she has a deep voice, if it conveys intense emotions and tells meaningful tales? I surely don’t.
Let’s take Fast Car, for example. Fast Car sounds a little bit like every girl’s story – or, in a way, a story every girl would like to tell. Drunk father, dreary life, unhappiness everywhere…until, suddenly, someone truly beautiful saves it all and provides a means of escaping to a brand new life.

Again, no offense, no sarcasm: I love that song. I have found myself a million times dreaming of the Right Guy with a Fast Car, and every time I thought I’d met someone who could fit the description I hopelessly daydreamed about finally finding out how nice his arm felt around my shoulder. Or where we could run away to, what would our tiny and cheap apartment look like, how long it would have taken us to finally settle down – together.
Yes, I was that kind of daydreamer, when I was younger. Hopeless, did I already mention that?
Just like the girl in the song, I guess. And a million other girls out there.
Tracy’s deep, moving voice sings the story of all of us, with the words we’d use ourselves to tell it. And that’s why Fast Car is precious – as much as Baby Can I Hold You, for that matter, or any of her other songs. They possess the right balance between intimate feelings and universal meanings, they show us both life as it is and as we would like it to be. And that’s what makes them worth to be listened to again, and again, and again.

Federica Silvi

LISA LISA & CULT JAM – I WONDER IF I TAKE U HOME

One of my favourite songs of all time period is Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam’s I Wonder If I Take You Home. Whenever I hear it, it instantly takes me back to my childhood. I still remember hearing it for the first time in 1985 while on a school trip at the final day disco! And it still remains a tune which gets rinsed in the clubs till this day. And is a staple tune, during summer barbecues!
Continue reading “LISA LISA & CULT JAM – I WONDER IF I TAKE U HOME” »

HANSON

Having just performed five back-to-back shows at Kings College London Student Union, kiddy-pop band Hanson are back…

I remember purchasing Hanson’s single, the oh-so catchy Mmmbop, on cassette, back in 1997. I vividly recall walking up to the ‘H’ section and picking up the cassette thinking ‘wait a minute I thought Hanson were a boy band. These girls have lovely thick blonde hair.’ I seriously went home and listened to the tape thinking, ‘well they have high pitched voices, they could be girls’, but thanks to Top Of The Pops magazine I found out that their names were Isaac, Zak and Taylor, three brothers from Oklahoma. I then immediately felt jealous because they had way nicer hair than I did, whatever their sex. Continue reading “HANSON” »

BLONDIE – AUTOAMERICAN

God, I love Blondie. Maybe this is based on the fact that lead singer Debbie Harry is the epitome of glamour with her iconic platinum tresses, framing those fab cheekbones and wildly expressive eyes… She’s my ultimate girl crush. However, she’s not just a pretty face! She also lent her voice to some of the most amazing tunes ever recorded.

It’s time for me to take you back to 1980. Blondie’s new album, Autoamerican, is due to hit the soundwaves this November… and it’s going to utterly transform the face of the music industry FOREVER! Continue reading “BLONDIE – AUTOAMERICAN” »