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2014 ➤ Who’s Hot and Not in Popjustice annual music awards

Posted on 31 Dec 2014 | Leave a comment

◼ HOT HIGHLIGHTS from the annual Popjustice Readers’ Poll nail exactly who mattered on the UK music scene in 2014, plus frank verdicts on those acts you really want to see turned over. We’ve avoided too many spoilers here – mainly teasers to send you to PJ for the teeming madhouse of Joe P’s opinion. . .

BEST SINGLES OF THE YEAR

Sia – Chandelier
Charli XCX – Boom Clap
Taylor Swift – Shake It Off

[Full chart online at PJ, along with Worst Singles]

BEST ALBUMS OF THE YEAR

Taylor Swift – 1989
Sia – 1000 Forms of Fear
Ariana Grande – My Everything

[Full chart online at PJ, along with Worst Albums]

MAJOR ARTIST WITH DISAPPOINTING MUSIC MOST AT ODDS WITH ABILITY TO ACHIEVE BETTER

Cheryl
Calvin Harris
Lady Gaga

Popjustice Readers’ Poll, 2014, pop music, Jesse I, Only The Young,

Match these acts to the remaining awards

➤ It may be winter outside but here’s a feast of girl groups who put spring in our hearts

Posted on 25 Dec 2014 | 1 comment

1974: Oo-oo-oooo-oo!

1961: But will my heart be broken?

1962: chugga chugga motion like a railroad train

1963: Shooby-dooby-dooby-dooby doo wah bah

1963: Da Doo Ron Ron

1964: Woh oh oh – the things he likes to doooooo

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Posted in North America, Pop music, Youth culture

Tagged 1960s, Chiffons, Crystals, girl groups, Little Eva, Love Unlimited, Ronettes, Shirelles, soul music, Video

➤ Wise words for Only The Young from PJ (he’s The Daddy)

Posted on 24 Nov 2014 | Leave a comment

Only The Young, X Factor, Popjustice, pop music, TV,Parisa Tarjomani,Charlie George, Mikey Bromley, Betsy-Blue English

Exiting the X Factor: a month ago Only The Young were tipped to become the best pop group in the country. (Photo: Syco)

◼ THERE’S NO JUSTICE IN POP – usually where Simon Cowell is involved – until Popjustice has spoken. And the nicest thing to happen to the ubertalented act booted off The X Factor finals this weekend – two girls, two boys called Only The Young – is to be told today exactly how to plan their career by Peter Robinson, the Svengali behind the brilliant comment website Popjustice, whose whole existence is “all about giving pop precisely the amount of respect it deserves”. And that demands more real deep-down loving for the daffy world of tinsel tunes and unrequited fan worship than dishing out easy kicks to the gut. PR is The Daddy and we don’t mean patronising, we mean paternal. He is a saint and PJ is a miracle melange of twitchy gotta-dance feet and non-cynical sarkiness. The real clue is in its name.

PJ’s editorial stance

So what can Only The Young discover today after their long dark Sunday of sobbing into their pillows because there’s no justice in TV talent contests? If they google themselves now they will find that Popjustice has rushed boldly into print with a letter of pure lurrrve and really shrewd advice drawn from years of knowing its way round the demented biz of pop.

PJ doesn’t rant on saying “They wuz robbed”. Instead it explains odd facts of life of about how a TV talent show can miscast an act, how it juggles its roster and how other talent-show rejects have shipwrecked their careers within five minutes. Then PJ tells Only The Young how brilliant they are and delivers a six-month action plan:

“Think of yourselves as a Wall’s Viennetta. Imagine that you are amazing, which shouldn’t be hard because you are, indeed, amazing. And imagine that you are in the freezer. You will still be amazing when you’re taken out of the freezer in six or eight months.”

This masterclass of pure-pop careers advice (easily worth 10% of their future contract) goes on for 1,000 words about which label to sign to, which producers to call, which acts not to emulate and which two to follow. The best tip of all is about haircuts.

Our synopsis does not contain spoilers and you really should click through to the full monty now.

➢ Enjoy the real Popjustice experience. Wow!

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1983 ➤ Video gem unearthed from the Blue Rondo vaults

Posted on 18 Nov 2014 | Leave a comment

◼ AIRED TODAY AT YOUTUBE: A long-lost live performance by London’s Latin jazz-soul band Blue Rondo à la Turk on German TV in 1983 complete with classic dance breaks from Moses and Sullivan in Aubrey Beardsley hair-do. The line-up dates from about 1982–3: Chris Sullivan and Christos Tolera (vocals), Moses Mount Bassie (sax), Art Collins (sax), Peter Tsegona (trumpet), Geraldo Darbilly (percussion), Greg Parker (guitar), Robin Jones (congas/percussion), Kito Poncioni (bass) and Daniel White (keyboards).

At this time Sullivan says: “Mark Reilly had left to form Matt Bianco. Kito carried on for a few months as he needed the money.” Then he and Daniel White left to join Matt Bianco which enjoyed several UK hits. By the time Blue Rondo released its second album album, Bees Knees and Chicken Elbows in 1984, the band had sadly disintegrated. Their first album Chewing the Fat was easily the best new album of 1981 in terms of musicality and attitude. Sullivan of course went on to run Soho’s Wag Club for 19 years and make it a legendary showbiz rendezvous.

24 NOV UPDATE FROM THE VAULT ♫ CHANGE ♫

➢ Previously at Shapersofthe80s: How Blue Rondo à la Turk created a buzz in clubland

➢ In June 2014 a double-CD entitled Chewing the Fat was issued by Cherry Red Records (CDBRED621) – They include 29 tracks, which are all of the group’s recordings on the original album, and various bonus tracks, 7in and 12in specials, plus remixes.

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➤ Celebrating Midge Ure: the big-hearted old poser behind Band Aid

Posted on 16 Nov 2014 | Leave a comment

Band Aid 30, pop music, recording, Midge Ure

Band Aid 30: Midge Ure yesterday conducting the artists for a new version of the song Do They Know It’s Christmas? Photograph: Band Aid Trust/Brian Aris/Camera Press

◼ TODAY AT 8pm ON THE X-FACTOR BAND AID 30 airs the fourth version of its pop smash hit, Do They Know It’s Christmas? So let’s remember the lifelong contribution of the quietest man in pop, Midge Ure, who is the true brains behind the charity project. As Bob Geldof described him on This Is Your Life: “He’s a great guy, hilariously funny though you wouldn’t know it from his old New Romantic posing. He’s got a great heart and is a great all-round good bloke.”

➢ Previously at Shapersofthe80s: 1984, Band Aid, when pop made its noblest gesture but the 80s ceased to swing

➢ Previously at Shapersofthe80s: How Midge Ure helped shape the British New Wave

Midge: “There’s no doubt the early 80s was a golden age of music made by real popstars who created themselves. It was more than just padded shoulders and asymmetrical haircuts. It was a pivotal moment in our cultural history when new tech mixed with new ideas to create something really good. All in the pressure cooker environment that was the Blitz club”