Lopez Blogs

THE WAY I WOULD WORK SIMON CURTIS:

Alter Boy is coming, have no fear of that people. And not before time. Simon’s assault on the world of pop will be swift and merciless and no one will be left standing in his wake. In fact you will all be bowing down before him. It’s hard to believe that it’s almost 15 months since I first wrote about Simon and that now I know his Alter Boy collection of songs inside out. And though they still sound as amazing and fresh as the day I first heard them, it’s getting difficult to think of new ways to write about my fave young new star. So I thought, ok, what if I were Simon’s record label boss. How would I want to market his career? And I came up with the following…

First off, there would be the download only single Resist, available with some stomping remixes that give Simon’s growing fanbase something new to buy and get his name out there. For the first single proper, I have to defer to Simon’s wisdom and go with the electro-pop stomper Answer, complete with eye catching video and X Factor live shows appearance and performance. This is a single that will hang around for a while, so the second single is all important. To showcase another side of Simon, I would pick the infinitely poppy Put Your Makeup On, based around the Popjustice/Xenomania theme tune. Again, remixes are the key here and I’m sure that Xenomania themselves would be obliged to help out. And of course, the lyrics are enough to secure him prime opening slot on the Sugababes tour… Time for the album to drop (dream tracklisting below) and a third single Broken (in it’s glorious Show Mix) hits the charts. For me, this is one of Simon’s most accessible and amazing pieces of work, and I never get tired of listening to it. Just to be a bit controversial at this stage, I would love to go for Sugar Sugar White as the fourth and final single. Not only does it showcase his whipsmart lyrics, but would draw attention to some of the bigotry that goes on in the world… And, although I think it may end up on the first album, I would be pushing hard to hold back the anthemic Pop Messiah for his comeback single from the second album. It’s a mission statement that by then he will have more than earnt.

ALTER BOY TRACKLISTING (not official!):

1. Intro
2. Left Right Left
3. Answer
4. Sugar Sugar White
5. Vicious
6. Broken
7. Put Your Makeup On
8. Bones
9. Religion Reduced
10. Capricorn Disease
11. Alter Boy
12. Resist
13. Bonus Track: Flashback