Whenever I have written about songs that are due to become hits again through the magic of cover versions, i’ve always featured a variety of artists. Today, it’s all about the genius of one album that was practically unheard of in England – Sweet Sensation’s Love Child cd. I remember buying it from Esprit Mail Order back in the early 90s after hearing If Wishes Came True on the US Top 40 countdown and deciding that they would no doubt be the next big thing in England. They weren’t. That didn’t matter though as their sophomore album (though only 9 tracks long) was packed with gentle ballads mixed among latino inflected dance numbers. All anonymous enough over here that acts could cover them and not even publicise they are cover versions. I’m going to dole out some key tunes to my 11 in 07 and other acts that are up and coming...
~ If Wishes Came True: A great power ballad all mournful and sad, but with swirling strings and a soaring chorus. Contemporise the production a little bit and you have an aces Christmas tune for a boy band like Billiam or Pacific Avenue. Ah, i can just see the lads running through the pine trees now. And if they are smart they can attach it to some Disney DVD sequel!!
~ Destiny: One of my favourite tracks on the cd and a song so catchy and immense, i’m amazed no one thought to cover it before now. Again, a tiny bit dated but with some fine Jadion production values this could be a stomping Britney-esque club track that would work ideally for a girl group like Bliss. Or even for Britney’s comeback single. Should she ever put her foo away long enough.
~ Each and Every Time: Another uptempo corker that could easily be transformed into a cool slice of electro-millenium pop put in the right hands. If Hilary Duff is serious about her pop career, she should chuck this on her album. Or if they wanted to do something a bit different and daring, with all the resources on hand the X Factor production family could make this into an amazing I’m Your Baby Tonight-esque gem for Leona Lewis.
~ Pleasure And Pain: A darker, more sinister number that could benefit from a sparse production, a pounding beat and a strong voice to carry it off. Throw in a pseudo s&m video and you could have a comeback hit that is dancey enough to appeal to the masses but different enough to cause lots of newspaper controversy – so ideal for Gareth Gates and SO much better than anything on his myspace site currently... (Simon Curtis also could do this, but i think Gareth needs it more ;) )
~ He’ll Never Know: This would be a safe pleasant ballad choice for people like Leona Lewis, Gareth and Shayne Ward. Yawn – girls aloud are always pretty bad at choosing ballads other than Whole Lotta History so they could do something similar sounding to that with this pretty song. Clever production values will keep it a notch above Atomic Kitten status...
