Matt Cardle & Melanie C’s live performance of their new single ‘Loving You’ on This Morning

Loving You the new single by Matt Cardle and Melanie C should hopefully  be a top ten hit single this weekend in the U.K. It is a song that suits both music artists perfectly and is a continuation of the type of music that they both have been producing in their respective solo careers. It is a real radio friendly adult pop rock song. A huge part of the song’s success in the music charts this week is the amount of promotion that both Matt and Melanie have been doing either in person such as their recent appearance at the G.A.Y. club night in London or through their presence on social media sites where they have interacted with their many fans on line over the past few weeks.

Here is a great live performance of Loving You by Matt and Melanie when they guested on the UK television show This Morning earlier this week.

Here also is the interview with Matt and Melanie on the same show where they discuss working together, how the single came about and THAT kiss.

Loving You can be purchased on Itunes here.

Both clips featured above are via Melanie C Rock Youtube page.

Obsession – Tich

Earlier this year Tich released her debut single Dumb which reached number 23 in the UK charts. Her follow up single Obsession was released this week and has so far charted at number 35 in the mid week UK singles charts. Obsession starts out fairly formulaic and then becomes a very good pop song indeed. The UK singes charts has been dominated mainly by well established pop acts for the past few months so it’s good to see brand new pop stars having hit singles. this deserves to be a top ten hit and a guest appearance on the many forthcoming music talent shows this coming Autumn and winter should see Tich becoming more famous. Glee is clearly an influence in her music video.

Obsession is out now on the All Around the World record label and can be downloaded on Itunes here.

Tears for Fears cover ‘Ready to Start’ by Arcade Fire

Ready to Start was a single released by Arcade Fire in 2010 and featured on their album The Suburbs. Tears for Fears have recorded a cover version of it and it is one that suits them well.

100 ’80’s Songs #21: Duel – Propaganda

In April 1985 the German group Propaganda released their second single Duel. It reached number 21 in the UK charts and was their second top 30 hit in the UK following their equally excellent debut single Dr. Mabuse which had reached number 27 in the spring of 1984. It also got to number 30 in Germany, number 5 in the Netherlands and it’s highest chart position was in Italy where it reached number 3.

There are many songs that have stood the test of time since they were released in the 1980’s but Duel is one of those songs that still conveys the energy and brilliance since we first heard it almost 30 years ago. Claudia Brücken’s vocals were perfect alongside the synth pop sound that defined Propaganda. Duel was written by Claudia, Ralf Dörper and Michael Mertens and it was produced by Stephen Lipson.

It has been covered a couple of times including versions by Mandy Smith in 1987 and then twenty years later in 2007 by Sophie Ellis Bextor.

Duel was a work of art in 1980s pop and still is today.

Below are four music videos and versions of Duel. Click on each link for original Youtube link and as ever thank you to each person who uploaded the music clips.

Here is the original music video.

Here is an extended remix.

Their only ever appearance on Top of the Pops.

and also a live performance.

These Gods Will Fall – Marc Vedo & Federico Scavo featuring Boy George & John Gibbons

One of the great things about Boy George is how he constantly goes forward with the new music that he makes as a singer or DJ and also collaborates on as a guest vocalist. Boy George and John Gibbons are the featured vocalists on Marc Vedo & Federico Scavo‘s new song These Gods Will Fall. It is really quality dance music. While there have been several great dance songs released this year These Gods Will Fall is simply a stand out track.

The music video below brings the lyrics centre stage in a brilliantly subliminal way.

These Gods Will Fall is released on the Hotfingers Record label and can be purchased on Itunes here.

Once Upon a Time / The City of Lights – Comett

Comett are a band based in Paris and Tours. I recently heard their song Once Upon a Time / The City of Lights  for the first time and it’s now one of my favourite songs of this year. It was originally released in 2011 and it’s music video which is featured below is a little short film art work in it’s own right.

Comett’s Soundcloud page which features several of their songs is here and they are on Twitter @Comett_

My Girl – The Other Tribe

 

One of the best dance tracks from 2012 was Skirts by the Bristol based band The Other Tribe. Their new single is called My Girl and it is instantly likeable. It is released in the U.K. on September 15th on Relentless Records and can be pre-ordered on Itunes here. There is a recent feature on My Girl here on Earmilk.com.The music video for My Girl is wonderfully inventive and as ever it’s great to see a dance music video with creativity and imagination.

The Other Tribe’s Soundcloud page is here, their Facebook page is here and they are on Twitter at @TheOtherTribe

‘Same Love’ – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis with special guest stars Tegan & Sara at the Osheaga Music festival 2013.

To date the song Same Love by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Mary Lambert has reached number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles charts. In July it reached number 2 on the Rap charts in the U.S. Here in Ireland earlier this year in February Same Love had started selling as a separate non single download. I wrote a blog post about it here and the importance of  commercially successful music artists such as Macklemore and Ryan Lewis releasing a song whose lyrics centre on LGBT equality issues and why there has to be more songs like it.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis played at the Osheaga Music Festival in Montreal last weekend. The line up also included The Cure, Mumford & Sons, New Order, The Lumineers, Disclosure, Ellie Goulding and Imagine Dragons which is like almost all of the main Irish music festivals combined on one weekend.

Tegan and Sara were also music artists performing at this year’s Osheaga music festival and they were the special guest stars when Macklemore & Ryan Lewis performed their song Same Love. Tegan and Sara are themselves great advocates of LGBT rights and the fact that Same Love was sung by them with Macklemore & Lewis is another example of how popular music can be used in a positive way as another step forward.

100 ’80’s Songs #20: I’ll Always Love You – Taylor Dayne

In 1988 Taylor Dayne released her debut album Tell It To My Heart. It featured four consecutive Billboard Hot 100 top ten singles. Taylor’s first two singles were the dance pop hits Tell It To My Heart and Prove Your Love which both reached number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts and were also international hit singles. Her third single was not another pop dance song but was the ballad I’ll Always Love You which went to number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. It was written by Jimmy Green and produced by Ric Wake. Taylor’s fourth single Don’t Rush Me was also great pure pop and that song was her debut album’s biggest hit when it got to number two on the Billboard Hot 100.

While Taylor has had several hit singles since the release of Tell It To Your Heart her vocal was so powerhouse and memorable on her debut single that it has become the song she is most well known for singing but I’ll Always Love You showed that she could sing ballads just as powerfully. Us pop fans love when female music stars can be both a pop dance music artist and also a ballad singer and Taylor was both of those aspects of being a pop star back in the 1980’s and she still is today.

Taylor’s website is here which include her forthcoming concert dates and she is on Twitter @Taylor_Dayne

 

Sandi Thom covers ‘November Rain’ by Guns ‘n’ Roses

In 2006 Sandi Thom’s debut single I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair) went to number one in the UK, Australian and Irish singles charts and was also a hit internationally. Since the release of her debut album Smile…It Confuses People Sandi has recorded three other studio albums including her most recent album  Flesh and Blood which was released in 2012.

At the time of promoting her album Flesh and Blood Sandi performed a series of cover versions which she featured on her Youtube channel and one of those songs is her very beautiful cover version of November Rain which was originally a hit for Guns ‘N’ Roses in 1992. Sandi performance of November Rain is just her and her guitar and keyboards and I think that her version shows the power of how a singer songwriter can both pay homage and make a song her own.

Sandi’s website is here and she is on Twitter @Sandi_Thom where at the moment she updates about her current concert dates in the USA.