The single is dead? Ten pop singles of 2008.

I mentioned this here recently and, since Friday afternoon is often a good time to do such frivolous things and the opportunity presented itself, I mentioned it - albeit in slightly different terms - to my colleagues at work.

"What? pop... singles... in 2008?"
"Yes, that's right."

They were probably protesting their innocence but I added "if that's too much choice then that's fine, let's only consider ones by female artists or all-female bands!"

Pop, in all its disguises, has returned in 2008 and here - according to the above criteria - are ten singles (in alphabetical order) that I think matter in this respect.

• Disturbia - Rihanna
• I Kissed A Girl - Katy Perry
• Issues - The Saturdays
• It Was You - Sharleen Spiteri
• Keeps Gettin' Better - Christina Aguilera
• Nothing Sweet About Me - Gabriella Cilmi
• Piece Of Me - Britney Spears
• Rain On Your Parade - Duffy
• So What - P!nk
• The Boy Does Nothing - Alesha Dixon
  

Pop is back for sure and, although it takes a lot from the past, it also offers something new. That is why, after over half a century, pop still matters.

Genio atrapado y las consecuencias.

As a single 'Genie in a Bottle' was pretty remarkable and, perhaps more surprising still, although it was released almost nine years ago it has proved a blueprint for many very successful pop songs since.
Be that as it may, and the above is true, I think that the version released on the 2001 album Mi Reflejo, sung in Spanish, is actually far better than her original version sung in English!

Then, somewhat later, there was a cover version of note, released as a single by short-lived Scottish band Speedway, and also included on the album 'Save Yourself' (2004).

The English language version soon got a second chance but with a very different artist in charge... Jill Jackson 'punked' it and it has never sounded better. While Speedway soon split this might, in retrospect, be regarded as a statement of intent.
Christina Aguilera's career has gone from strength to strength since then, albeit with a time-out for her first child, a 'greatest hits' collection out imminently and a new studio album due in summer 2009. You might be forgiven for thinking that Jill Jackson has quit the music game altogether.
That is, however, far from the truth...

In the meantime here are the lyrics to Genio Atrapado, as found on Mi Reflejo.

Genio Atrapado

Vamos, vamos... uh, oh, uh, oh, uh, oh
Vamos, vamos, ah

Un siglo llevo en soledad,
atrapada queriendo escapar.

Soñando que alguien... me libere
Me lanzas un beso y yo te quiero amar
Pero hay un precio que tendrás que pagar
Para que me entregue, para me entregue

Oh oh oh oh oh (mi cuerpo dice quiero)
Oh oh oh oh oh (Pero mi alma tiene miedo)

Si me quieres junto a tí, frota bien y ya verás
Como un genio liberado haré tus sueños realidad
Si me quieres junto a tí, gánate mi corazon
Tres deseos te concedo, si me juras tu amor.

Como um genio atrapado espero
Liberarme con tu amor sincero
Como un genio atrapado espero
ven, ven, sacarme de aqui

Bailando nos domina la pasión
nuestros impulsos fuera de control
Es tan dificil... contenerse
Piensas que hoy tal vez sucederá, pero yo sé que nada pasará
Tienes que quererme, tienes que quererme...

Oh oh oh oh oh (mi cuerpo dice quiero)
Oh oh oh oh oh (Pero mi alma tiene miedo)

Si me quieres junto a tí, frota bien y ya verás
Como un genio liberado haré tus sueños realidad
Si me quieres junto a tí, gánate mi corazon
Tres deseos te concedo, si me juras tu amor.

Como um genio atrapado espero
Liberarme con tu amor sincero
Como un genio atrapado espero
ven, ven, sacarme de aqui
Oh oh oh oh oh (mi cuerpo dice quiero)
Oh oh oh oh oh (Pero mi alma tiene miedo)

Si me quieres junto a tí, frota bien y ya verás
Como un genio liberado haré tus sueños realidad
Si me quieres junto a tí, gánate mi corazon
Tres deseos te concedo, si me juras tu amor.

Como un genio atrapado espero
ven, ven, sacarme de aqui

[No importa que es música pop!]

My current play list...

I'm soon going to attempt to trial something approaching the title of this post. It is the result of a suggestion from the, much appreciated, input of a reader of this blog. That said I'm not exactly sure what it will turn out to be, or indeed quite how to do it yet, but I've decided that it is certainly worth a try. The one thing I can promise is that it will not incorporate downloads.

If there are functional problems with anything I add please let me know and, should it actually work, I'd be pleased to receive any feedback regarding your thoughts on what I have done. I'm not sure quite how long it might take me to do this either; it may happen tomorrow, next week or sometime. I'm planning to give it a good shot but there may well be some trials, tribulations and outright revisions to the plan along the way - you have been warned!
At least I can tell you exactly what I'm listening to right now and it is what I regard as one of the 'Lost Albums of 2007' - and not just despite the fact that was a major label release (Mercury, Universal).

The album artwork may not be very sophisticated but that is part of the charm of this recording. Electro-pop is just meant to be like this and after a few listens the facts of the band's formation seem slightly less strange; Dan (guitar) and Martina (lead vocals) met by chance at a gig in their home city, Toronto, swiftly abandoned their former musical alliances, got married and moved to London in search of their real musical destiny!

The artwork of the promo CD was spartan in the extreme, as was the promotion of it by the label.

Dragonette - Galore --- the artwork of the promotional CD.

What is the logic of signing a band and then apparently failing to make any obvious effort to promote their début album?

My considered verdict is that this album was criminally under-promoted and also vastly under-rated. The other thing is that it is good music for spring; its often postponed release last year did not help either, as it came out late summer, which was I suspect rather symptomatic of perverse major label priorities.
See them live if you can - it is a really stunning show and the lyrics are often amusingly cheeky too. I Get Around, the first single from the album, was quite the part but did not make its presence felt in the UK chart.

Also Mi Reflejo (Christina Aguilera, 2000) - not least because the Spanish Genio Atrapado still seems much better than Genie In A Bottle to me. I'm sorry but I have already admitted to liking much pop and also music in foreign languages and sometimes both happen at once.