Lopez Blogs

Sometimes (and on a “quite often” basis) record companies get it VERY wrong when promoting a bands album. They either abandon it far too early (commonly known as the Westlife/Liberty X factor) or pick entirely the wrong singles (poor Magic Numbers/Ordinary Boys et al). Or sometimes don’t even bother promoting great albums in the UK at all (Danny, Ola, et al, I’m coming to you soon). A great example of elements of all three of this are aces but now defunct boyband V. They came at a time when McFly and Busted, along with their guitars, were dominating the charts. V were a Take That for the new millenium (before Take That became the new Take That for the new millenium) - fun, uptempo songs positioned alongside Westlife-esque ballads and all done with a cheeky grin, costumes and rain on top of the pops. In picking singles, the record company actually made an ok start. Blood, Sweat and Tears was an excellent introduction to the band, while Hip to Hip capitalised on the funky pop sound they produced. However, instead of making Hip to Hip a double a side with discotastic Can You Feel It, they should have taken a leaf out of the Steps rule book: leave the aces cover version off the album and spunk it on a double a side with a ballad at Christmas. Had V been given the opportunity to do this with the elegant You Stood Up, it may have faired a little better in the charts. Instead it “only” got to number 11, which of course is a flop in pop world and the boys were unceremoniously dumped. However, had their star continued to shine, there were at least two other corking tracks destined to become singles - the xenomania produced Fools and singalong anthemic Earth Wind and Fire. Then they could have come back the next Christmas and ruled the charts with a cover of Living In A Box’s Room In Your Heart, but sadly it was never to be…