#antoninotati — Public Fediverse posts
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Hit That Perfect Beat: The London Records Story – an awesome compilation of pop and indie rock songs of the ’80s and ’90s
I haven’t received a compilation CD to review in quite a while. The digital nature of music distribution today means most of my sampling of what’s new on the music scene – including the release of reissues and anniversary issues of classic albums – is pretty much all done online. So it was nice to receive a copy of the CD compilation Hit That Perfect Beat: The London Records Story – an engaging collection of songs that highlights the remarkable breadth of London Records during the 1980s and 1990s. Finally, a quality CD I can play in my car!
Scanning the tracklisting of this double-disc set and you might be surprised by the sheer diversity of artists who were on the London Records label. From Bananarama to Bronski Beat, All Saints to New Order, every genre of the times – from pop to early EDM – makes an appearance.
A lot of these songs I’ve heard before, of course, most of them actually, and it’s so good to hear them again, seemingly mastered so that I’m hearing subtle nuances that I didn’t pick up when they were first heard. Blancmange’s Living On The Ceiling kicks the proceedings off and the version of that song alone reveals beeps and buzzes I’d not picked up on previously. Bananarama’s Cruel Summer follows – a pop classic if ever there was one. And then everything Jimmy Somerville has touched appears to follow – LGBT-proud anthems by Bronski Beat, absolute grooves by the Communards, and even a Somerville solo single. You might suspect, actually, that Jimmy had shares in the production of this compilation, his vocals appear so regularly.
Then there are the huge hits – like Fine Young Cannibals’ She Drives Me Crazy; Armand van Helden’s You Don’t Know Me (a massive one in the clubs that one was); Shakespears Sister’s You’re History, All Saints’ Never Ever, and Sugarbabes’ Overload.
And if the songs themselves don’t seem like they’ve left a major mark on the pop and indie maps, the artists certainly do. New Order’s Regret kicks off CD two with that guitar riff, and while it wasn’t as big a hit as, say, Bizarre Love Triangle or the band’s legendary Blue Monday, it has all the hallmarks of a New Order classic and it’s a nice surprise to see on here (I had forgotten the band had links to London Records). Then there’s Happy Mondays’ rave favourite Stinkin’ Thinkin’; Echo And The Bunnymen’s dream pop gem Nothing Lasts Forever; Gay Dad’s alt-rock ode To Earth With Love; and Dannii Minogue’s classic club staple I Begin To Wonder. Even without Dead Or Alive’s You Spin Me Round Like A Record – which features on an alternative version of that latter song, it’s still a good, hooky number that sits nicely amid the broad artistry here.
That sheer diversity of London Records artists also meant artists were free to move around, test the solo life, move into other fields. It’s because of the chilled vibe of the label that lead singer of Fine Young Cannibals, Roland Gift, was able to go do runway work for big designer labels; why Siobhan Faye of Bananarama was given the chance to move on from her bubblegum blonde roots and into darker, gothic-romantic territory as half of Shakespears Sister (their name taken from a Smiths song, the apostrophe and letter ‘e’ purposely missing); why the Mike Flower Pops were allowed to absolutely crucify Oasis’ sacred Wonderwall (that’s on here, too).
The London Records Story moves confidently through synth-pop, nu-wave, indie rock, dance, electronica, ska, and other alternative sounds, demonstrating how the label consistently embraced artists who reflected bold and changing musical trends.
Familiar hits sit comfortably alongside deeper cuts, making the collection appealing to both casual listeners and longtime fans.
The sequencing keeps the energy flowing, with polished pop anthems giving way to club classics and guitar-driven tracks that capture the evolving tastes of two transformative decades. The mastering is generally strong, allowing songs from different years to coexist without sounding jarring. More importantly, the compilation illustrates how London Records balanced commercial success with artistic ambition, signing acts that often influenced the direction of popular music, not merely followed it.
As a summary of the 1980s and 1990s, however, it is best viewed through the lens of one label rather than as a complete portrait of either era. What this compilation does well is capture many defining styles and moods but inevitably omitting major movements and artists released elsewhere (not much New Romantic on here, put it that way). Even so, it succeeds as a vivid snapshot of its catalogue and an enjoyable journey through two decades of memorable music.
A great double-disc set that’s still regularly rotating on the car stereo.
‘Hit That Perfect Beat: The London Records Story’ is available on CD and in digital format through London Records (naturally).
The label also presents a beaut podcast which you can subscribe to here.
Curating the Ultimate Luxury Weekend Getaway in the Heart of Sydney
Still loving this track.
Hands in the air for a ‘Romy and Michele’ movie sequel is finally in production
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#AllSaints #ANTONINOTATI #bananarama #BREATHE #breatheRedux #bronskiBeat #communards #compilationAlbums #compilationCds #CREAMMAGAZINE #DanniiMinogue #e #echoAndTheBunnymen #happyMondays #hitThatPerfectBeat #indiePop #indieRock #jimmySomerville #londonRecords #marcellaDetroit #MUSIC #musicReviews #newOrder #POPCULTURE #popMusic #popReviews #REVIEWS #shakespearsSister #siobhanFahey -
Why Madonna is worthy of being the first star to have a bronze statue of her likeness standing on Hollywood Boulevard
This photograph is pertinent in so many ways. Every element of it looks as if it were positioned / posited / mis-en-scened to the Nth degree – as though Ryan Murphy himself had directed and post-produced it. It’s what Hollywood should look like today. Clear-skyed. Glossy. Its vintage sign not faded, just weathered enough to look classic-fabulous. The main attraction 45 degrees south-west of it, Madonna possessing possibly the most famous face in pop culture history.
Madonna has sung for film many a time – won an Oscar for one of them. She hanky-pankied her way up the music ladder but found the film industry’s climb was splintered with more sordidity and caveats than even she could cope with. She just wanted to be up on that big screen and display some good old-fashioned glamour and fun. But even this aspiring actress wouldn’t s#ck certain d1ck to get where the likes of Marilyn and Mae got. Although she did borrow lots from the big dress-up box of Studios Conglomerated, injecting classic Tinseltown looks into her music videos and album covers.
She’s been in some pretty good movies (Evita, Desperately Seeking Susan) and some very bad ones (Body of Evidence, Shanghai Surprise) and a couple of flicks that ought never have even made it outside of the editing suite (Who’s That Girl, and the very early A Certain Sacrifice in which she had an egg fried on her stomach). But you’ll see none of these in those 1001-Movies-You-Must-See-Before-You-Die tomes.
The palm trees on either side of the above picture are perfectly aligned, like backup dancers in one of the icon’s videos, but here she is the main attraction, just left off centre, holding big red scissors and having the final cut – a music industry martinet but the movie industry’s she-looks-good-but-can-she-act? excuse to avoid auditions altogether and just assume she couldn’t give as good as Garbo, Detriech or even Brando. She could, if there were strong enough a director.
Madonna might never have had an all-access pass to the big Hollywood after-party (and who would want one now that the film city’s reputation has a certain tarnish?). She may not be celebrated for her celluloid contributions, or dollied up on promotional posters plastered along the Boulevard, but she does wear the pants when it comes to being in control of her image and reputation. Sometimes that image is made a mockery of on newer media like TikTok and Facetagram (by her own hand, mostly) but when you look at the bigger picture, Madonna is one of the only stars whose name you could mention anywhere in the world – from Tokyo to Tanzania to Toowoomba, Woop Woop and beyond – and the person being vox-popped would be able to immediately picture the star.
So yes, the woman is worthy of being the first pop icon to have a bronze statue erected in honour of her contributions to modern entertainment. Though the crowd gathered around her looks as artificially inseminated as some of the support players in her latter-day music clips, the fact remains that the real audience is still here, still watching her every move, still criticising her any fault (them’s the breaks when you’re this big a star), the fans still waiting with baited breath for the next big record release.
While many a performer has sung about Hollywood with high praise and a touch of cautionary warning – as if making it there were the pinnacle of success but with conditions (from The Kinks’ Celluloid Heroes to Lady Gaga’s The Fame), Madonna ripped the city to shreds in her irony-laden pop-dance track that took its very title from the sign that stands behind her. To her, Hollywood has meant failed (or lack of) auditions, disappointing reviews, horrible talk around town, and dismal dollars at the box office when you compare takings of her total commercial and arthouse oeuvre with the insane amount of bums on seats just one Marvel movie might score.
The fact that this star hasn’t even featured in a film since 2002’s romantic comedy Swept Away, directed by her then-husband Guy Ritchie, and that she barely even bothers to look at scripts today – yet is standing tall in bronze in the middle of acting city – speaks volumes about her popularity and pop cultural prowess. She may blink too much in certain scenes of a film where the actor is required to just stand there and look shocked or in awe at her leading man. She may be too bossy for directors to be able to control onset or off. But when it comes to calling “cut” on her star power and global ubiquity, she’ll be the one making that director’s statement, honey.
In the company of muses and gods: an interview with rock poet Patti Smith from the Cream archives
The Touchless Tan: no sun, no creams, no stress and yet perfect tanning results
Elevating Your Projects: The Essential Guide to Sound Effects in Creative Media
Time to hang up the mask? Why ‘Scream 7’ didn’t really need to made
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#ANTONINOTATI #bronzeStatue #CREAMMAGAZINE #FILM #hollywood #hollywoodBoulevard #madonna #MUSIC #POPCULTURE #ryan