Lopez Blogs

I've had such a busy week that i'm not sure i'm caught up on everything enough to do a decent blog today! So I had a quick butchers at last years blogs to see what I was getting up to while I impatiently waited until it was feasible enough to start doing all the new Christmas music reviews (I'm giving at least one more week). And keeping with, but not quite, the festive spirit I was having a gander at what songs should be Christmas singles for todays popstars (none of them were. Bah. No one ever listens to me. So I present some songs that absolutely should be the big Christmas single promotional push for artists. But won't be...

THE CHRISTMAS CHART THAT WON'T BE...

• Jason Donovan ~ When You Come Back To Me (Yuletide Sleigh Mix): Should absolutely be rereleased to not only celebrate his new covers album I Love The 80s but also his brillo double cd rerelease of Between The Lines. It's as festive and jolly as you remember, but this lesser heard version has a entirely seasonal talky bit at the beginning which is as cheesy but delicious as some festive stilton. ESSENTIAL!
• Joe McElderry ~ Someone Wake Me Up/There's A Place For Us : Mercifully, this is the second single from Joe's album and is released the week before whatever cover version Simon foists upon this year's X Factor winner. It's the perfect chirpy follow up to Ambitions, but to give it some extra welly, it totally needs to be a double A side with the rather lovely traditional ballad from the new Narnia film (performed by EMD here).
• Bjorn Johan Muri ft Kelly Mueller ~ Nobody Knows: In a perfect world, Bjorn would have had some sizeable hits in the UK now with Yes Man and Once Upon A Time. But whoever said this world was perfect? This sparse, electro-tinged and slightly haunting but very pretty and melodic ballad duet would light up the ending of any Christmas party while drunken, ill-matched couples smooch away in their corner and cop a good feel. Lovely.
• Maroon 5 ~ Never Gonna Leave This Bed: What has gone wrong with the Hands All Over campaign? It's sort of fizzled out in the UK and the lovely Adam and his gang need something that's a bit familiar, a bit warm and a bit catchy to get it back on track. This radio friendly, singalong track would be perfect. How about some cozy hotel room ski lodge style video with a nice roaring fire to make it a bit more "tis the season"...Ta.
• Scissor Sisters ~ Sex and Violence: See above about latest Maroon 5 album campaign? Ditto the Scissters. Bah humbug I say, bah humbugger. Every Christmas needs a song that is so wonderfully not festive and such an antithesis to all the sleighbells and good tidings - this dark, disco tinged creation is just that and so exquisitely dangerous. Play loud.
• Le Kid ~ We Should Go Home Together: It's perhaps the perkiest pop song you've heard in the longest time - sort of a mix between Alphabeat's 10,000 Nights of Thunder and Britannia High's perennially amazing Start of Something (exuberant live version of course). Just the sort of skip along with happiness that you need when you've been splashed from head to toe by a bus driving through a slushy puddle. and need cheering up (yes this was my walk home from work)...
• Elouise ~ Massive Christmas song: That's not the title of the song of course but I need a nice festive single and while Bananarama and Mariah are doing that quite wonderfully (see chart below), I think Elouise could clean up with a rather heavenly Christmas album - all class and none of that shouty wailing that Mercedes is doing all over the Glee Christmas album. Give her an elegant version of As Long As There's Christmas and pair it with a heartbreaking ballad such as Deborah Gibson's Christmas Without You. There won't be a dry eye in the house...
• X Factor Finalists ~ All I Need Is You: Tragically this will never happen. Britain gets a dodgy cover of David Bowie's Heroes. I still maintain that Hotel Rival's Second Best To None should be the perfect X Factor finalists single that would linger in the charts for weeks. Swedish Idol has done the next best thing by putting out this gorgeously optimistic and uplifting tune. Just imagine how brillo this would be with Wagner doing a line, Nicolo Ford Fiesta being all bitter and Cher(yl)Clone being all rap-esque like Lady Sovereign in the middle somehow. It would be top ten for weeks.
• X Factor Winner ~ My Heart Is Yours/Story Of A Heart: How about being a bit daring and having a great double A side winners single like the glory (hole) days of William of Young?! One side could be the eurovision entry for Norway this year originally sung by the devillishly goodlooking Didrik Solli-Tang and the other side could be the yearning beauty of Benny Andersson Band's Story Of A Heart. Both epic. Both not v well known in the UK. And if they are too sweeping, the winner (aka Matt) can always do an acoustic version with some nice soprano here and there...

21 ~ Joe McElderry, Someone Wake Me Up (NE)
20 ~ Joe McElderry, Ambitions
19 ~ Grobbie, Shame
18 ~ Darin, Drowning
17 ~ Eric Saade, Break of Dawn
16 ~ Kylie, Better Than Today (NE)
15 ~ Ola, Riot
14 ~ A1, In Love & I Hate It
13 ~ Jessie J, Price Tag (VID)
12 ~ Robbie Williams, Heart & I
11 ~ Le Kid, We Should Go Home Together
10 ~ JLS, Love You More
09 ~ Westlife, Safe
08 ~ McFly, Shine A Light
07 ~ EMD, What Is Love?
06 ~ P!nk, Raise Your Glass
05 ~ Deborah Gibson, I Love You
04 ~ Andrea Lewis ft Simon Curtis, Talk To Me
03 ~ Shayne Ward, Gotta Be Somebody
02 ~ Take That, The Flood
01 ~ Gravitonas, You Break Me Up (2 weeks)

Christmas singles chart (full version coming next week) ~ 3 - Annie Lennox, Universal Child; 2 - Mariah Carey, Oh Santa; 1 - Bananarama, Baby It's Christmas (1 week)

What a week it has been. I'm absolutely shattered this early Friday evening to be honest with you. And this is going to be one of those mega giant ridiculously long posts that i'm so good at because there is so much going on this week that I'm behind with! Highlight of the week was definitely my latest slot on the Larry Flick show. I think the exhaustion of the week had caught up to me, so I took an hour's lunch and got a bit saucy on air. Check the comments if you want to hear it :P Right - most of the pop I've been interested in this week has been bought to us by the letter J! Let's see how this works out...

The week that was...

• J is for Jessie J (Price Tag): Oh didn't the world and his wife just fall for the extremely talented ways of young Jessie this week? The Doctor Luke (he always comes up with the perfect pop prescription) produced Price Tag just screams massive world wide hit. Jessie delivers a pop song that is essentially a social commentary with such gusto and brilliance that she puts to shame some of her longer established pop peers. It's a laid back groove, extolling the virtues of getting back to basics but without ever sounding preachy - rather it invites you in to it's simple but outstanding chorus and you just want to stay for days...Altogether now "we just wanna make the world dance/forget about the price tags"! Inredibly talented new act to watch (PS her song on the Step Up 3D soundtrack is TO DIE FOR)
• J is for new Jason Mraz duet (with Hope - Love Love Love): Hurrah! My beloved Jason Mraz has added his vocals to a single by delightful new artist Hope on her effervescent song Love Love Love. I've heard a solo version and this duet, and their vocals blend so well that at times I forget I'm not listening to a self duet (a la Janet's Love Will Never Do). It's musical alchemy of the highest order with a sweet as honey chorus that stays the right side of cheesy and just remains romantic. Quite heavenly. Perfect for the I'm Yours brigade. Keep an eye on Hope too - I really like her sound :)
• J is for Jordin Sparks (Beauty and The Beast): I actually mistyped that and put Beauty and the Beats, which - if it hasn't been already - would be a great girl group album title. But I digress. Anyway, Disney are putting one of my favourite movies of all time onto blu-ray and Jordin is joining Celine & Play in being the latest artist to cover the title track. It's got a lovely acoustic lilt to it for the first few bars which are so charming. Of course, it all then gets a bit A/C and Disneyfied, but that's to be expected and it's a fine version. Million miles from Battlefield of course but I'm so excited about the blu-ray that I can't help but not really care and sing along anyway.

• J is for Japanese comeback (Deborah Gibson - Ms Vocalist): Well bless my barnacles! 7 long years after her broadway album, Deborah is back to being Debbie and is releasing an album of Japanese pop songs! Apparently it was done fella style by Eric Martin (from Mr Big, 90s ballad fans) and now Debs is doing 10 Japanese hits and a new version of Lost In Your Eyes (it's been 4 years since she rerecorded this last as an acoustic song with The O'Neill Bros). I was mightily surprised by Larry Flick lason Thurs when a sexily purring Deborah spoke to me on the phone for a little while. I was so flabbergasted I came across as right blustering tit (see the comment section!) but it was quite lovely. I got the scope from Deb that she is working on adding her new song Rise to the cd (from her fella's new documentary and potentially one of the best things she's done in a long time) and looking for a US iTunes release. Brillo.
• J is for Japanese bonus track (Maroon 5 - Crazy Little Thing Called Love): I did quite a positive write up of the new M5 album in the week. Since then, i've got their acoustic version of the Queen classic. It's a pretty straightforward cover version, but Adam's vocals stand out and are quite lovely against the rockabilly vibe of the tune. Definitely worth a moment or two of your time...
• J is for Elton John (duet with Leon Russell - If It Wasn't For the Bad): Apparently Leon is one of those grizzled old American singer songwriters. He's teamed up with Reginald for his new album The Union, and this dark little ditty is apparently the first fruits from that collaboration. It comes across as a sort of nicer version of the True Blood theme tune, with lots of enjoyable piano and a sort of wisdom to the simple message of the chorus that younger singers wouldn't be able to convey. I really like it as it happens...
• J is for James Blunt (Stay The Night): La Blunt is back! I've never been in the "lets revile him" camp and found lots of songs I enjoy by him. His comeback tune is a very pleasant indeed, upbeat little swinger - powered forth by an energetic guitar riff and fun chorus, with chanty vocals during the middle 8 (which I always adore in pop songs). A couple of listens and you're entirely hooked. Aces.

21 ~ Brandon Flowers, Only The Young (NE)
20 ~ Alesha Dixon, Drummer Boy
19 ~ McFly, Party Girl
18 ~ Bjorn Johan Muri, Once Upon A Time
17 ~ Bright Light x 2, Love Part II
16 ~ Jesse McCartney, Shake
15 ~ Nadine Coyle, Insatiable (NE)
14 ~ James Blunt, Stay The Night (NE)
13 ~ Ace of Base, All For You
12 ~ DeeDee, Balls
11 ~ Kelly Rowland, Shake Them Haters Off
10 ~ Scissor Sisters, Any Which Way
09 ~ Jessie J, Price Tag (NE)
08 ~ Kylie Minogue, Get Outta My Way
07 ~ Sophie Ellis Bextor, Not Giving Up On Love
06 ~ Eric Saade, Masquerade
05 ~ Darin, Lovekiller
04 ~ Elouise, The Winner Takes It All
03 ~ Maroon 5, Give A Little More
02 ~ Gravitonas, Religious
01 ~ Robbie Williams, Shame (2 weeks/vid)

Next: X Factor double bill. Oh Lord...