Lopez Blogs

Blimey. Even though it's 71 days til Christmas (and I promise not to bombard you before December this year!) there is still an air of festive preparation floating about. Fight past the ghost and ghoulie costumes in the stores and there are a plethora of christmas purchasings just tempting you to dip into your wallet. March into tesco and the traditional tin of Roses (so much better than Quality St) whose wrappings litter the floor on Santa's birthday are half price! Even i'm busy planning for the following "events"...

• A day trip to London on either the 5th or 12th December to go shopping and visit Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland! Woohoo! The ace gang all together and skating outside :)
• The annual christmas party combined with the x factor finale party - just got to work out which date the finale will air on! Anyone know?!
• Flying to vegas on Christmas day so planning out that little trip - just spent a fortune on Bette Midler tickets on New Years eve for DazdivinemisterS.

Of course, one industry planning for the christmas period way in advance of any other (ooo that sentence is very X Factor Dermot "one act who wants it more than anyone...") is the music industry in the UK. They will have been carefully selecting albums and singles from artists that have the best chance of getting a slice of the christmas spending pie (Mmmm, pie) for ages now. Everyone is pulling out the big guns to be the Christmas number 2 (of course the X Factor winner has the Christmas number one sewn up. Sigh) - so with that in mind, here are some slightly off the wall suggestions for acts not really in the running in the UK....

5 COVER VERSIONS THAT WOULD BE BRILLO AT FESTIVE PARTIES:

Song: One Night Only - it's no surprise that I'm suggesting the wonderful Elouise release a brilliant discotastic studio version of this because it's already a staple of her live shows. It's fair to say that when she performs this tune, she takes on the persona of the lyrics and you can almost see it build from within her during the ballad part before exploding in a cavalcade of glitter as the beat kicks in. Just marvelous.
Song: Cool Rider - while I'm delving into the archives of musicals, I was in a bit of a Grease 2 mood today and was listening to some of the underrated tunes from that film. When Cool Rider came on, I thought that in the right hands it would make a rather great pop song. Maybe Dolly Rockers could punk it up to beef up their Boys Will Be Boys with it? Or Red Blooded Women could turn it into a electro-pop wonder! Or perhaps Mini Viva could get Xenomania to work their magic on it in a Girls Aloud-St Trinians sort of way. Just putting it out there - it could be the best musical girl group cover since Play did Hard Knock Life (vid above of that epic classic)!
Song: Chocolate Box - One of Bros's greatest moments is a pop-rock song neatly dressed in synthy dance trimmings and to my knowledge hasn't been covered by anyone. It's the perfect tune to be updated whether it be as funky prince-esque jam ("") or a solid 80s tribute dance tune. Who better than to step up to the plate for the job than the one and only ex Digital dude Dean Lennon? He looks good in a waistcoat, has the vocal capacity to tackle it and would sound quite foxy doing the "rurrrrrr" bit. Perfect :)
Song: Shock Your Mama - if I was less lazy I could find out in the annals of the blog that I had bemoaned the fact that someone (preferrably Simon Curtis or The Killers) needed to cover Debbie Gibson's Electric Youth. I don't want to bleat on about it, so let's concentrate on the excellent Shock Your Mama instead. Full of sauce and sass, it's the precursor to Love Game but without being a complete alley cat about it. How about one of the swede boy-pop sensations like Danny or Ola putting a fun twist on this and whipping it out there.
Song: In My Dreams - ah The Party. They were the almost Disney sensation of the early 90s that never really happened. That doesn't mean that they didn't pop out some stomping classics though and this is as good as anything they did (almost up there with the lovely I Found Love or cutesy Sugar Is Sweet). After the brillo dance remix of Burn that they put out, I can't think of anyone better to cover this than the lovely guys and gals of Industry. Pop it on the double A of the forthcoming In Your Arms and you got a winner :P

5 EURO POPSTARS WHO WOULD POSSIBLY CHOOSE THESE TRACKS IF THEY WERE BIG(GER) IN THE UK:

Alcazar - Thank You: Frankly I sometimes forget that Disco Defenders came out this year and that I like it so much. I return to it quite often, but not as often as I'd like. I really think they could've mined it for single after single, but none suits the spirit of the Christmas number two better than this Abba pastiche at the end of the album. A virtual remake but not quite of Thank You For The Music, it's schmaltzy, cheesy, wonderful and entirely uplifting. Approach with caution - you may develop develop diabetes just from listening. For a proper party, pop Funkytown on the flipside :)
BWO - Kings of Tomorrow: In the past I've been loving myself sick in a BWO ballad around the season of goodwill. They sort of churn out a classier version of the type of ballad Steps would attempt (never their strong point other than Mars & Venus; oh and It's The Way You Make Me Feel) and i've sipped many a mulled wine to the strains of Destiny of Love and Will My Arms Be Strong Enough (still perfect for someone like Leona to cover). This of course is their latest from Big Science and while not as hamazing as Destiny... it's still a corker and comes in both ballad and disco-ified form so everyone's a winnabego.
Mans Zelmerlow - A Stranger Saved My Life: Oh sweet sweet Mans, you perfect specimen of a man! Sure the MZW project has suffered slightly from the wrong single releases (Hope and Glory should have been followed by Home, then Forever&Rewind as a big remix package double a side and then this), but this ballad was tailor made for singing loud and you could easily have a video filled with snow and dangerous icy roads (or put it to a montage of Grey's Anatomy and that girl that George saved before getting hit by a bus!). Key changes, inspiring lyrics that JLS would kill for, a choir - it's cheesier than a 4 week old jock strap but it works (for me anyway!) That or sell it to Westlife...
Marit Larsen - If A Song Could Get Me You: 18 months on and I'm still completely and utterly smitten up to my ears by this gorgeous piano driven tune. Europe is slowly being won over by it and it could be one of those songs that surprises everyone in England by coming from nowhere to be a massive smash. It's the crashing piano chords that get me every single time. Every. Single. Time. Get the point? Good. Let's dance (ooo JJ reference). Fin.
Alien Beat Club - My Way (vid above): Oh they were just ever so good and entertaining on Danish Idol. They tackled everything from I'm Yours to Just Dance and threw themselves into it with "gusto". So I was initially a bit surprised by their debut single being less in your face pop and more of a sleek, classy, sneaks up on you and politely taps you on the shoulder type tune that just gets better each time I hear it. It's Liberty X meets JLS and I like it. Now something upbeat next time around please :)

QUICK BITS:

• Best songs that should be covered by a boyband: A Shoulder To Cry On (Tommy Page); Room In Your Heart (Living In A Box)
• Best song already covered by a girl group: In Your House (Originally Alanis Morrisette; gussied up to perfection by Shine4)
• Best seasonal tunes not already overbaked: Doesn't Often Snow At Christmas (Pet Shop Boys); Happy New Year (Abba)
• What the X Factor should do: Final 12 should record Second Best To None (the Hotel Rival song - perfect lyrics give or take for the competition); Winner should record Story Of A Heart (Benny Andersson Band)