A Journey Through SAW

The early days there was the Hazell Dean/ Whatshisface backing track recycling, remember
Oh that's a point. I suppose they had a sonic signature but overall there was plenty of variety.

I do think you get a real sense of the two of them being quite talented musicians and certainly songwriters of that genre.
 
The Sybil episode was indeed a great listen.

The European Good N Ready album isn't even on streaming. I assume there are rights issues, or Cherry Pop surely would have done a reissue years ago too.
 
They really do get all the HOT GOSS on this. They seem to have access to almost everyone.

I’m currently listening to the Especially For You episode which I was gutted to hear that Kylie and Jason really didn’t want to do it. I love that song so :D
 
The Sybil episode was fantastic! Love her and the story was great. Felt a bit bad for Mae and Miriam basically being told they were too white for her, though she acknowledged that at least.

It also NEVER dawned on me that THAT West End was the same West End that eternally remixed, er, Eternal, Dina Carroll and the rest of the First Avenue brood until I questioned it in this episode and which Gavin thankfully confirmed towards the end.

And WHY HAS NO ONE ASKED FOR A PLEASE YOURSELF TRACK BY TRACK? It's not like there's an alternative, GIVE US MORE CONTENT!
 
I was a bit unclear on what version of the backing vocals they actually used in the end? It seems like there was the initial version with Miriam and Mae, and then one with Silvia Mason James and someone else. But then they seemed to imply that Mike Stock pulled rank and reinstated the original white girl backing, or possibly some combination of the two, for the UK radio edit?
 
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I was a bit unclear on what version of the backing vocals they actually used in the end? It seems like there was the initial version with Miriam and Mae, and then one with Silvia Mason James and someone else. But then they seemed to imply that Mike Stock pulled rank and reinstated the original white girl backing, or possibly some combination of the two, for the UK radio edit?

They said they were unclear and no one really knew what the final version was.

To be fair, I listened to it this morning thought it didn't quite line up with Sybil's recollection of it being big, black voices...
 
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The backing vocals do sound a little different on this version, but I agree there isn't a whole lot in it:



I think maybe there is a bit more oomph on the "No, No! Never!" responses on the single version. The switch to the 'Donna Summer intro' and updated production definitely make more difference.
 
Just finished the first 2 episodes that discussed Big Fun and man that was kinda sad. I’ve never heard of them before but they really were shit on quite a bit. Also the blood test thing pissed me right off.
 
I ended up googling Phil Creswick after listening to one of the Big Fun episodes where they referenced that amazing interview he did about getting stoned with Sinitta and being horrible to Ian Levine. (Full version here)

If you thought the Big Fun stuff was depressing, you might want to avoid reading about what became of him afterwards. :(
 
So was “Word Is Out” really that much of a WTF back then?

As someone who only knew her from the first few singles that got released here and then after I rediscovered her years later on import for the Confide In Me era, most of this stuff on the podcast is things I saw/heard in the internet age.

This is a really great podcast and I think I’ll go back and listen to all the episodes even though I won’t know most of the songs.
 
To be fair, I would have been their target audience as I’ve always been a sucker for a boy band even with dodgy vocal ability :D
They continued as a masc duo after the departure of Jason and had a (Big) Fun for America Top 12 US Dance Chart shart hit with a cover of The Brother Johnson's "Stomp!" which failed to chart anywhere else. :bruised:

 
So was “Word Is Out” really that much of a WTF back then?

As someone who only knew her from the first few singles that got released here and then after I rediscovered her years later on import for the Confide In Me era, most of this stuff on the podcast is things I saw/heard in the internet age.

This is a really great podcast and I think I’ll go back and listen to all the episodes even though I won’t know most of the songs.

Word Is Out was just a complete shift in direction. Even the house influences on the Rhythm of Love singles were still basically rooted in pure pop. This was a complete reshuffle from that and it was also entirely unrepresentative of the rest of the album.

I remember a lot of bemusement at the time, but mainly because of the video, which was just plain odd. It felt tacky rather than sexy, there appeared to be zero budget, after what appeared to be four much higher budget RoL singles.

I’ve always thought it was interesting how different the four Let’s Get To It singles were- there’s few pop acts with that level of diversity- new jill swing, an epic grandiose ballad, a 50s/60s pastiche and an introspective mid tempo. The album itself was such a hodge podge of styles that I guess that was inevitable.
 
I can’t find @Sheena ’s original post about Bananarama/SAW shamelessly farting out an extra ‘original’ verse for More More More to claw back some royalties, but it’s basically confirmed on this week’s episode as Mike Stock admits he has zero memory of writing/recording it. :D
 
I can’t find @Sheena ’s original post about Bananarama/SAW shamelessly farting out an extra ‘original’ verse for More More More to claw back some royalties, but it’s basically confirmed on this week’s episode as Mike Stock admits he has zero memory of writing/recording it. :D

I love that “story” so much. It supposedly took four people to scribe:

And if you want to know
What it means to me
Just hear the rhythm grooving
Get your body moving
Baby you know my love for you is true
Any time you want to
Do what you gotta do

:D
 
2. I honestly had no idea about the Bananarama and Shakespears Sister connection :shy:
You know it’s strange how many people (who would be of a certain age who maybe might or should) don’t. I went to the Bananarama original trio reunion concert with 4 other people and 3 of them had no idea that Siobhan was Shakespears Sister so the Stay cover had to be explained.
 
Since I finished all the Kylie episodes I went back and have been burning through the episodes. I’m up to 14 already. My only quibble is they sound very robotic at times but I guess they have a lot of info to get correct so it’s probably pretty well scripted.
 
This week's episode finished off the SW singles. A few post-Mike Stock PWL and Love This epilogue episodes and that's it :(

They were teasing what they will do next, it definitely sounded like they have some plans.
 
I missed that there was another episode up. I'll ready myself for more grumpy Mike Stock.
 
Was it known before the latest epilogue episode that Girl@play’s Airhead was (presumably briefly) considered for Light Years? :D

To be fair, didn’t he say he wrote it for that rather than it actually being “considered”? The “country Kylie” thing was interesting, though. I could have seen some of that stuff on Light Years or the bsides, considering the varying styles it covered.

In other news, this Ultimate SAW countdown. 1.) where the fuck do you find the list of all the songs (I like the idea of editing them down as suggested and 2.) how do you actually vote?! It feels fairly poorly organised…
 
I must get into the bonus material (them saying that phrase every episode is still ringing in my ears).

I've been catching up with lots of SAW stuff I missed at the time, but was surprised I didn't have any Lonnie Gordeon beyond the main single because it was on the SAW Gold album - the @Sardonicus thread prompted me to have another look. So now I've got an almost brand new, all SAW album to work discover with "If I Have To Stand Alone".
 
I made it to the end and wow that WAS a journey. I’m very tempted to get the bonus stuff now

I've subscribed for a while and I'm very near the end now. Unsurprisingly they do pick the best and most relevant bits of the interviews for the main episodes, but the full interviews are usually still very interesting and the deep dives/rates a lot of fun.
 

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