More Eurovision madness. When I'm going through my Eurovision collection I can't really skim through the songs, because (A) it doesn't really do them justice, and (B) initially a lot of them do not stand out enough for me to get just how good they are. Of course I'm only posting my favorites, and sometimes a song just swallows you in the first seconds, but after listening to piles of conceptually bulimic creations you kinda become numb to the brilliant brilliance. The point being that I have to Listen to these suckaz, and Listen Good, so I hope you do exactly the same. Let it flow, my friend.

UK 1983: 6th place out of 19 entries

Sweet Dreams - I'm Never Giving Up
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A mega-poppish and "rather" generic group that I think only released two 12" with a total of four songs. The only noticable part about the group itself--the only reason why I'm posting the song (and why I like it) is not it's extravagant originality (I hope you had that one already figured out) but rather that it's everything that the Eurovision is about--is one of the singers: Carrie Grant.

After getting that song to 21st place on the UK chart she became a gospel singer, but more importantly (sorry, God) a session singer and a vocal coach for a gazillion pop stars and Pop Idol and magical stuff like that. Besides singing with Diana Ross, Roberta Flack, Rod Stewart, and Fatboy Slim, she has autotuned peeps like Take That, S Club, Atomic Kitten, and fattie poom poom Mel C.

It's taking pop to the stars.

Spain 1986: 10th place out of 20 entries

Cadillac - Valentino
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Aahh, Cadillac. What's not to like? It's a hotel. In Madrid. Starry road. A play my bytes so well? And the fire. Oh, the passion. Just a spark! Leading to the action.

Enters: Valentino, with roses and a tango and a kiss.

And the orchestra will play all night long.

Spain 1983: 19th place out of 19 entries

Yeah! 0 points!

Remedios Amaya - Quién Maneja Mi Barca
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OK, not only is this song one of the best Eurovision songs to appear from the sky since the birth of vocal chords, but, and get this: the dude singing? It's a woman!

That scruffy, rather dramatic wobbly flamenco singer, father of three, truckdriver and a smart handwrestling champion that I envisioned after listening (several times) to this song, is after all a lady! Someone's mommy! Sister! Daughter! And only 21! With that voice!

And what a life story!

Apparently we can divide her career into two parts: before Eurovision, and after Eurovision.

Before Eurovision: she (haha, I can't get over it!) "gambled" with "so-called" flamengo-rock. (the words in the quotes come from the Internet, thus I do not lie, stranger). That led to Eurovision, which led to the great song, which led to the 0 points (the only time Spain has not received a single point since 1975), which led to her decision to retire...at the age of 21!

After Eurovision: She had a comeback (or, at least she came back) in 1997, and scored big with some album that...something. I don't really care, as I know that the song above is probably the best she's ever done.

Just listen to it. You can't make up stuff like this. These things just happen. Crawl out of someone's broken soul and get no recognition.

Until now. Let's all praise the reason for her retirement!

(p.s. this version is super-synthesized (and much better for that), and different from the "original" version she performed at the competition. The electronication adds a nice layer of greatness.)

The KLF is a band you should know. Read this if you don't.
(click 'full review' for all the glorious text)

The Moody Boys is Tony Thorpe, longtime KLF collaborator. As Tony Thorpe he provided breaks and scratches for '3 A.M. Eternal' and co-wrote a few songs (and more). As The Moody Boys he released brilliant stuff of his own and remixed a lot of KLF songs (most of them really, really, really good), including an ambient-ish remix of 'Last Train to Trancentral' called 'Mu Vari'd Speed Version'. As Children of the Revolution (with some other guys) he (they) appeared on numerous KLF releases, and remixed '3 A.M. Eternal' and 'What Time is Love'.

OK?

KLF featuring The Children of the Revolution - What Time Is Love (Moody Boys vs. The KLF mix)
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The song above, which is a kind of remix, contains a lot of stuff from The Moody Boys song 'Jammin (Ital Mix)' from the 'Funky Zulu' EP (1990), but the beat has a similar feel as the original mix of 'Funky Zulu' from that same EP:

The Moody Boys - Funky Zulu (You're So Fresh) (Original Mix)
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It's a really nice release with good mixes, get it if you like his other stuff.

Holy Ghost Inc. released their first album in 1989, and are still making music. I have only heard some of their songs (the 1991 release below is my favorite) but I hope their other stuff is just as good.

Holy Ghost Inc. - Mad Monks On Zinc (Original Mix)
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Very different from the stuff coming out at the time, super simple, and every element so effective. Very laid back and nice.

And gets better every time.

Tunng is a band from the UK. The first song I heard was the excellent 'Pioneers' which got me hooked; I rushed out and got all their releases. Just today I found out that it's a cover of a song by Bloc Party, who I neither like nor listen to. If you already like Tunng, don't bother listening to the original; if you've only heard the original, go and get the Tunng version. Simple.

I love Tunng's music. They are all over the place--in a good way--and their songs filled with details and sounds that I sometimes forget are there until I listen to the song again.

This is from their first album, 'Mother's Daughter And Other Songs', from 2005.

Tunng - Mother's Daughter
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Brigitte Fontaine is a french singer whose career started in the 60s, and has recently collaborated with Stereolab and Sonic Youth. Both her music and lyrics are somewhat weird, especially the english versions of her songs (the lyrics usually make little or no sense), but her songs are incredibly beautiful. I prefer her first albums from the late 60s and 70s.

She has released all kinds of songs: spoken word, poetry, jazz, poppish, rockish...whatever.

This song is from her album, 'Brigitte Fontaine', probably released in 1972.

Brigitte Fontaine - Brigitte
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David Zed really really wants to be a man.

This is written and arranged by the brilliant Claudio Simonetti, who was a member of the amazing band Goblin who wrote and performed a few soundtracks for Dario Argento, and also 'Dawn of the Dead'. Later, Simonetti produced songs by Kasso and Easy Going, who released one of my favorite songs, 'Fear'. (I'll post that later).

Ooh I like
all the fashionable things
I'm very stylish
they're lubricating me
I am a robot
but I'll change into a man

I f'in love this song and you can't really go wrong with emo-poetry like that. Funky disco with bleeps and dramatic singing, and a chorus which goes 'I'm a funky robot...I'm a funky robot...'

There are two versions of the song, in English and Italian.

Here's the Italian (vocoder sweetness):

Here's the English one:

David Zed - I Am A Robot
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The songs I'm posting are from 1980, but recently a 'Mister Zed' has been appearing as a comedian all over the world (including Jay Leno, Cathy & Regis and other US shows, and a bunch of UK, Japanese and Italian shows). I don't know whether this Mister Zed guy is the original dude from the video, or if it's his spawn. And I'm not sure what he is...a robot comedian butler?

Here's his website (it's weird stuff).