Kylie's 11 album, out July

[EricMontreal22]

Despite what I said about deaths on those Who specials--I do agree that I found hers surprisingly touching. I guess a part of me thought maybe it was just all the emoptional connection I have to Kylie, so wasn't sure. But, yeah agreed. (And like you said, that kinda role is good for her--even if she did make her name playing a tom boy mechanic on Neighbours lol...)

Donna often sings one or two standards live, and I mean she has a good voice that I'm sure they'd be worth hearing (I do pull out her Xmas album at the holidays) but I agree--she's an accomplished enough songwriter, and many young producers and songwriters wanted to work with her, that doing a standards album would have been a mistake. I actually like Linda R's as well, too often though they're unimaginatively produced, sound cheap and like money grabs (and yes, sorry Rod fans, I'll put his huge hit standard albums in that category). And I think for Donna to do that now, even though she doesn't seem to want a full time career anymore, would be basically the same as saying she's totally given up. (Besides which I often find them silly--if you're gonna sing a Sintra song with a cheaply ripped off Sinatra backing track--why not just listen to Sinatra?)

[EricMontreal22]

Way too much.....

[EricMontreal22]

DigitalSpy continues their revisiting Kylie's past albums series with Let's Get To It, her last album with PWL/Stock Aitken Waterman and her lowest charter for a while. After the pop perfection of Rhythm of Love, this album has always felt a bit tired to me--Kylie does get to help write the music (she was only contracted to PWL for 3 albums, but with their success on the way out they were desperate to hang on to her so allowed her anything), and it does have some gems, but is an odd mix of New Jack Swing style music that was in at the time, and sorta light rave style techno (!). Still Digital Spy brig up some good points and rate it highly. (Actually most of the album was with Stock--Aitken had gotten so fed up with Waterman's impresario antics that he had left by now...

"We're gonna do it, let's get to it," commands Miss Minogue on a standout track from her fourth album, and we'd hate to be accused of riling Kylie, so without further any waffle, here's the lowdown on Let's Get To It.

Release date: October 14, 1991

Songwriting/production cast: Stock & Waterman twiddling the knobs, with Kylie claiming co-writing credits on six of the ten tracks.

Chart performance: Let's Get To It stalled at #15 on the UK albums chart upon its release - after trailer track 'Word Is Out' had peaked even lower on the singles countdown. However, subsequent spin-offs fared better, with 'Give Me Just A Little More Time', 'If You Were With Me Now' and 'Finer Feelings' charting at #2, #4 and #11 respectively.

The sound: Don't let the Stock Aitken Waterman production credits fool you! This is Kylie's most diverse set of songs yet, taking in everything from new jack swing ('Word Is Out') to housey floor-fillers ('Too Much Of A Good Thing', 'Right Here, Right Now)' to acoustic balladry ('No World Without You') to 2 Unlimited-sampling techno-pop ('I Guess I Like It Like That') to a slushy duet with R&B singer Keith Washington ('If You Were With Me Now').

Standout track: It's not our favorite track on the album, but Kylie's chirpy cover of Chairmen of the Board's 'Give Me Just A Little Time' is probably its most obvious "hit".

Hidden gem: At least five tunes are in contention, but 'Finer Feelings' sneaks it for showing that Kylie could be sexier and more sophisticated than ever before without skimping on the chorus.

Lyrical nugget: Remember the girl from the Kylie album cover? Well, now she's posing questions like this: "But what is love / Without the finer feelings / It's just sex / Without the sexual healing." Poor Pete must have spat out his pasty!

Fascinating fact: One of the dancers from the 'Word Is Out' video went on to host a little-known reality TV show called Big Brother.

Our verdict: Let's Get To It lacks a moment of pure pop brilliance to match 'Hand On Your Heart' or 'What Do I Have To Do', and it takes a few plays to reveal its charms, but once you get to grips with the genre-hopping and often quite surprising production, it's a thoroughly satisfying listen with no shortage of dance-poppy delights. We've even fallen for the 2 Unlimited sample.

Star rating: **** (out of five)

[DRW50]

That's a fascinating rundown. It's nice to know DS does that type of thing.

So this is Sonia? It's a good song, she has a very good voice, but what an alternately awkward and terrifying video, and poor Sonia seems too desperate with that lipsynching. Why did they want her to look like a blowsy 45 year old woman for most of the video? I think poor Megan Follows inherited this wardrobe when she was on Second Chances. The peach outfit makes her look like Emma Snyder.

And here's Big Fun...the crotch thrusting and totally random butt shots are hilarious. I guess they knew their audience.

[EricMontreal22]

HA I never got the appeal of Big Fun--all that falsetto (they dueted with Sonia! lol). With Sonia it was because Kylie was adamant that she had to grow up her image (she was right) but SAW still wanted someone on their roster who could sell that "girl next door" image. Sonia won some talent comp. She *can* sing, she has a stronger voice than Kylie, but she's kinda really scary--her image is way too smiley (even in the sad songs) which was exactly what Kylie managed to avoid--she felt forced, like a kid from a stage mother. But they gave her one of their stronger albums (SAW often would have 3 good singles on an album and tons of filler) and she had a few hits till the album flopped and she was dropped.

I love this one particularly cuz it has one of the typically bizarre lyrics Mike Stock did--many of his songs have happy tunes, yet the lyrics sound well either sad (Nick Cave said Kylie's Better the Devil You Know has one of the most self defeating and masochistic lyrics in the pop cannon lol), or, as in this case, like a deluded stalker! At least the video seems to recognize the fact and have a sense of humour of it (her clinging to the random, oh so typically SAW backing dancer, and then them messing up with the cheezy arm routine). Most SAW videos missed that sense of irony, except for of course the outrageous Bananarama ones which were always filled with half naked muscle men who serve their every need (the girls did it before Madonna even!)

And if you ever wanna go on SAW overload, someone has painstakingly made an endless megamix... Starting

(he won't allow the videos to be embedded) and I think going for about twelve volumes (though the later ones aren't all SAW, some are acts PWL produced with their other B level producers like Ian Curnow)... Warning though, I've learned that listening to that much SAW back to back can give you one hell of a headache

I actually liked Mike Stock's early sound at SAW. When they started in 1984, they based their music on gay HI NRG (their first two hits were Divine's You Think You're a Man and Hazell Dean's Wherever I Go, which they later did with Laura Branigan--followed by Dead or Alive's You Spin Me Right Round). It was more clubby and "harder" by the time they got to Jason Donovan and Sonia in 1989, that sound had morphed into a much lighter take on Hi Nrg which was much less adventurous (despite their great record for Donna Summer, their club hits for Kylie like Better the Devil and Lonnie Gordon's classic Happening All Over Again). I think that kinda did them in--well that and Waterman's control over everyone else.

[DRW50]

I'm not sure of their appeal either, well, I can guess their main appeal but I'm surprised they ever had a big success. I have to admit I've never been a big fan of that song so when some of the Youtube comments went on about the sacrilege of covering BIOtB, I kind of laughed.

Sonia also reminds me of Doris in Fame, remember her?

The desperation is just OTT. The story of the video is a good fit for her desperation, but still, wow. She's very talented, I wish she hadn't been so eager. What is she doing now?

That was a big hit, right? I've heard that song somewhere before. Either that or it just sounds very Kylie-esque.

Don't you love that totally pointless shot of that guy's nice butt when he's stretching. I really have to wonder how many gay men realized what they were thanks to SAW.

Was Cruel Summer a SAW song? I always liked that song, although the video is a bit drab for them. Not a bad video though.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

No, that was produced by Tony Swain and Steve Jolley.

Though I do like their SAW stuff, to me, Banananrama were always their best pre and even post SAW. To this day, I still love them.

[DRW50]

Thanks. Did they (Tony Swain and Steve Jolley) have a lot of hits? That song is good stuff, it gets into your head, it has a very laconic charm.

Is the Ace of Base version any good? I loved Ace of Base in the mid-90s...

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Funny enough, my favourite Bananarama album is their big flop and the one that contained their last collaborations with SAW (they produced only two songs on the album) - Pop Life.

I thought it should have been a bigger hit than it was, and Preacher Man should have been a bigger hit than it was.

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[EricMontreal22]

Cruel Summer was just before Bananarama joined SAW.

SAW knew that a huge part of their audience was gay (as were their influences as I said in my edited post above )and they never played that aspect down, even at their most huge and mainstream era from 87-90 when their fanbase was obviously much more than just little girls and gay men. I have a gay friend from England who's about ten years older than me and knows all the Bananarama routines who says that he first knew he was gay while watching their SAW videos.

The Sonia was a big hit, all her singles were bit, it was her album that flopped (something that plagued many a SAW act). But yeah that stalker theme can be found in a number of SAW songs (Sinitta--who dated Brad Pitt!--has a classic bizarre SAW song with Cross My Broken Heart). I actually recently found a great Mike Stock interview done when he left PWL to form his own studio (they had some minor hits like the ridiculous dance cover of Total Eclipse of the Heart for Nicki French). He gets into a lot of this and it's actually a really interesting read. He does rather unfairly seem down on Kylie for her wanting to leave the PWL team, and mentions how Waterman started wanting to make it all about him (he famously said that he was Walt Disney and Stock and Aitken were minor animators--which is ridiculous seeing as Waterman didn't have a creative bone in his body). Anyway it's here http://stockaitkenlovethis.itgo.com/interviewms.html

PopLife is a huge fan fave though I admit I prefer their all SAW album Wow, just cuz it's what I grew up with. Preacher Man though (flawlessly produced by YOUTH) is a HUGE fave of mine. Love the video too. I saw Bananarama at Van pride last year promoting Viva I think their last release (which I admit has some catchy songs--done by Ian Masterson who usually works with Dannii Minogue, lol).

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I appreciate a lot of Bananarama's SAW stuff, but creatively, I think they were better away from that hits factory.

[EricMontreal22]

I first heard it from Ace of Base. It's a decent cover I think, it has a smoother production than the original which has a sorta clunky, charming homemade feel (like much of pre SAW Bananarama). I love some Ace of Base--Beautiful Life, their late hit Everytime it Rains--even if they're responsible for unleashing Max Martin on us

Swain and Jolley had a lot of hits--Spandau Ballet's True album was their production for instance. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jolley_&_Swain I guess one of them was in jail recently on charges of sexually molesting a young boy...

(Bananarama always cowrote their stuff--they may have had no real vocal talent but...--which was rare at SAW, so they did largely write Cruel Summer)

[EricMontreal22]

Most fans say that--and of course that's largely why Siobhan left to form Shakespeare's Sister, but... I'm sorry, I prefer most of their polished SAW stuff--to me they're about fun, nothing more. (Even the kinda tired sounding Stock/Waterman album, Please Yourself is not without its charms, though it's ironic that it took Steps covering the flop single Last Thing On to make it sound like a hit)

[DRW50]

Was it at SAW that they had the video with French and Saunders? It's a cute video but it sounds very dead.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Ace of Base released two versions of that song, a standard pop one for the US market, and heavier dance-infused Latin-pop sounding one for the rest of the world.

The international version:

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The US version:

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