Here are my favourite dance singles of summer 2005 so far:
Tina Cousins – It’s A Wonderful Life
Louise lookalike Tina is back and in case you hadn’t worked it out yet, this is brilliant news! She released some great singles in the late 90s such as Killing Time and Angel and most famously worked with Sash on his hits Mysterious Times and Just Around The Hill. Her new single is a cover of Wonderful Life by Black and it is my favourite of her singles so far. It’s currently doing fairly well in her home country of Australia and a UK release is promised soon. I can’t wait!
Uniting Nations – You & Me
Or “Untying Nations” as I seem to prefer to call them. This is even better than Out Of Touch which is one of my favourite recent dance singles. It is supposed to be an original composition but anyone who knows the song Learning To Fly by Tom Petty will certainly agree with me on their huge similarity. I also recently learned that Uniting Nations is a pseudonym for pop’s Jack of all trades, Daz (from Rikki and Daz, also behind basically every cheesy dance or novelty single of the 00s).
Dancing DJs vs. Roxette – Fading Like A Flower 2005
There have been a few mixes of this around in the past year but this is the one that looks set for success and it is a really great remix. So many of these remixes of old songs that are around at the moment do absolutely nothing for me but there have been a few fabulous ones and this is one of them. It’s very fun and cheerful-sounding and you can sing along – what more could you ask for!
?? – The Riddle 2005
I don’t even know who is releasing this – it may even be Nik Kershaw himself but the vocals sound different. I haven’t been able to get hold of an mp3 so if you have it and could send it to me I would love you quite a lot!
Alcazar – Start The Fire
My joint favourite Swedish group of all time (joint with their pals BWO of course!) are still releasing singles from last year’s sort-of-greatest hits, Dancefloor Deluxe, but who cares because this song is one the very best things on it and very much deserves to be a hit single. Apparently Alcazar are taking a break after this single, so lets hope they are back soon and on top form (I don’t think we’ll have to worry about that!).
September – Satellites
Female Swedish pop singer September has been a favourite of mine since I discovered her a year or so ago. She released 3 excellent singles last year and now she’s back with a brand new release and it is definitely my favourite yet. This should be huge. Her voice is just perfect for it and makes the song just that extra bit better than any of the other dance-pop songs out currently in Sweden (apart from Alcazar of course). It sounds like so many fantastic Swedish groups from BWO to Ace of Base and it will be very popular with any fan of Swedish music.
In-Grid – Mamma Mia
I posted this recently on Into The Groove and it had a pretty good reaction. Deservedly so because it’s a fabulous summery pop song. You may remember In-grid’s previous single, the big European hit Tu Es Foutu. That was good but this is far better.
Dimension-X feat. TF – Why’d I Fall In Love With You?
This was posted by Edward O on his new blog Umlauts in May and I’ve been listening to it ever since – it’s a real grower and considering I loved it on first listen, that’s a lot of love! This has been a hit in Greece and the surrounding area but hopefully it will spread further soon as it deserves to be much bigger.
Velvet – Rock Down To (Electric Avenue)
Yes, this is a cover of the Eddy Grant ‘classic’ but please don’t be put off by that because I hate that song and yet I think this is absolutely ACE! It’s done pretty well in Sweden as well as other countries. I don’t know much about Velvet apart from that she was a backing singer for this year’s Swedish Eurovision entry, Martin Stenmarck, but I hope to hear much more from her in the future because like September she has a great voice for dance-pop music.
LMC vs. New Radicals – Don’t Give Up
I hated LMC’s last hit but this is surprisingly fantastic. I am fan of the original New Radicals song but this brilliant remix has given it a whole new lease of life.
Inaya Day – Nasty Girl
More pop than dance but since it’s being released on AATW I have decided that it counts. This has done really well, especially, a little surprisingly, on Radio 1, although it has been treated as a bit of a novelty “gay song”. I only recently found out that it is a cover of a song written by Prince and originally released by a girl group called Vanity 6. It is a great cheesy-pop cover and should have definitely been no.1 last weekend.
Plastic Dreams – Fuse (Move Your Body)
This track got very little attention at all – I only heard of it due to it’s few plays on various music channels. There is something extremely 90s about the song, singer and especially the video (which is very worth seeing if you can) but it still fits in well with current trends. It’s a huge shame this didn’t do better as it is extremely catchy and manages to also be rather cool.
Big Ang feat. Siobhan – It’s Over Now
Fans of 90s dance hits such as those by Alex Party and Robin S (so that’s everyone, then!) should listen out for this track which would have been a massive hit then and should be just as big now since as this post proves, dance music is back and on top form. So what if we have to wade through some Erik Prydz and Audiobullies to get to it – I think you’ll agree it’s very much worth it!