Shakin' Stevens, real name Michael Barratt, is another singer who has quite not made my blog yet. He has a total of four UK number ones, and is currently still going. He was originally in a band called Shakin' Stevens and the Sunsets. I know him for this song alone, and this song has to be one of my favourite Christmas songs ever sung, it's cheerful and I just can't help singing a long to it.
"Merry Christmas Everyone" was written by Bob Heatlie. It was originally meant to be released in 1984, but it was held back a year to prevent it from clashing with Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas Time?", which was a good call, because in 1985 this soared to the top spot. Recently, since downloads has been included in the charts, this song has managed to chart in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 with chart numbers being 22, 36, 49, 73 and 42 respectively. This year (2012), it shall be charting once again, but will it chart higher than last year, or will this slowly dissipate?
This music video is probably one of the oldest I have reviewed, and it slowly doesn't make sense. It's all about fun but a possible narrative that hooks me right from the start, disappears, making the focus on Shakin' Stevens, and even though the video does relate to the song, I just feel that we're given an insight into a narrative that never has an ending.
This leaves me disappointed. We follow this person's journey to Tomteland, and then we never see this person again or we do but only in the background.
Focus shifts on to Shakin' Stevens and attempts to make a direct link with the song, which is done pretty well, and I have fallen in love with the snowman, I want one. But it's missing the narrative it began with, and that is key in this video. Either you put it in and finish it, or you leave it out.
Overall a great song, and I have to admit, it is one of my favourites. The music video is good to an extent, but it misleads the viewer by starting a narrative without finishing it. I like the inclusion of snow, and the snowman, and of course seeing Santa Claus, what Christmas music video would be complete without him? But this is still missing a lot.
Kids In Glass Houses has gone back to what they were and truly are back with a fun little Christmas song, which is perfect to kick off my Christmas 2012 special. As I have mentioned a dozen times before, but I shall again, I met these guys at the 2008 Paramore tour in Birmingham with Tink09 and Hollagram Star, they were a support act, who we had never ever heard of and they came out and greeted the Paramore fans waiting outside. The band consists of Aled Phillips, Iain Mahanty, Philip Jenkins, Joel Fisher and Andrew Shay. They haven't had much of a charting success, and their most recent singles have failed to chart. Their highest charting single charted at number 62 with "Give Me What I Want" and "Undercover Lover (Featuring Frankie Sandford)". But this song is climbing up and up and might be their best charting single! I have to admit, I like the fun side of this song, they clearly did it because they wanted to, and it feels like their previous music that charted, so could this show what we are to expect from them with their new album?
This music video is an insight into the Kids In Glass Houses Christmas party, and I really want to be there. It looks like a lot of fun, and relates to the song perfectly, including an out-of-place flamingo, which somehow fits exactly the way it is supposed to.
I like the presents and the Santa Claus that appears. But my favourite bit has to be when they are holding the signs up that is part of the lyrics of the song, for those who don't catch it, it reads "Who is my secret Santa baby?". Also for those of you who miss the joke from the cracker, it is "Where do snowmen go to dance? To a snowball."
There are a few things that is missing, such as when the bow and arrow is fired, they could at least have made it stick to the camera. And the mistletoe isn't so great either, although I do like that scene. I just feel something more important is missing, that makes this video lacking.
Overall, a great song that keeps climbing up the iTunes chart, and I'm hoping that it doesn't stop climbing, it deserves to chart really high. The accompanying music video is great to watch and makes you want to join in as there is a lot of fun going on. But there's just something that is missing, but what that is I'm not sure. It's not quite worth five stars, but I'll give it what it deserves.
The Fairchilds were introduced to me thanks to this amazing collaboration. They consist of one person as far as I can tell, who is Cyril Niccolai. However there is more behind this "one man band" than what is perceived with various producers and instrument players, however after a lot of searching I only ever come up with Cyril Niccolai leaving this band pretty mysterious, which is always a great intriguing factor. They have released a few singles and albums world-wide, but none have charted in the UK. Orianthi, full name Orianthi Panagaris, is the amazing guitarist in this video and used as the love interest of Cyril Niccolai. I have been following Orianthi's career since 2010, and I'm a really big fan, she just needs to be more known, however she is already getting the credibility she deserves. This song is extremely catchy and should've charted high, however the collaborators are not known enough and hence this great song failed to chart.
This music video is more performance-based, with an added extra of a narrative, which is a nice surprise that makes you more interested. This is definitely a favourite video of mine already, and I've only watched it once at the moment.
The performance side is calm and peaceful, which goes perfect with the piano, and even though you would think the guitar would be out of place, it moulds well with the whole tranquil side of things.
The narrative, also follows this theme and manages to intrigue the viewer even more as it connects to the song perfectly, not only that but Orianthi and Cyril suit one another so much, it's surprising to think they aren't actually together.
Overall, a great song that if it were sung by Nickleback or another well-known artist, would have surely got high in the charts all over the world. However since The Fairchilds and Orianthi are not known enough as they should be, this song failed to chart. The music video is just as great as the song, and I have no choice but to give this video the rating it clearly deserves.
JoJo, real name Joanna Levesque, has been planning her comeback for some time, and there's still no sign of it hitting the UK. She recently released "Disaster" world-wide, but for some reason completely missed out the UK, leaving the UK fans waiting endlessly, for something that might never be. But I have my fingers crossed that at least something comes this way, we've been missing JoJo, and kind of need her back.
"Too Little Too Late" was written by Billy Steinberg, Josh Alexander and Ruth-Anne Cunningham. The former two have featured on this blog before, and I bet they will pop-up a few more times. As for the latter, she has written for quite a few people, and I bet we'll be seeing her name again. The song is about getting over your first love and about the disappointment that may come with it. The song is extremely catchy and a few of my flatmates were playing it today and I couldn't stop myself from singing a long too. See Brits are still listening to her music, so come on JoJo, release and promote in the UK, please.
The music video is a great narrative based video that correlates perfectly with the song. The theme of football (or should I say soccer?) was used because it was released around the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The team used in the video was UCLA Bruins men's team, and the main actor was Mike Zaher, who is also on the team, and in being a professional footballer (soccer player), he was unable to receive money for his role.
There is a lot to like about this video, it feels real and right in so many weird ways. The video also includes pathetic fallacy, as when she decided it's finally over, it starts to rain.
Overall an extremely catchy song, that has made this song become JoJo's most successful single in the UK even though "Leave (Get Out)" got to number 2 and this song got to number 4, this song has sold more and was in the charts for a lot longer. The video shows off the song perfectly, and it couldn't have been done any better. The are no faults with this video, and it works effortlessly, so clearly another high rating is deserved. And she has now become the first artist to have their music video reviewed by me twice! "Too Little Too Late" first review.
Taylor Swift has been in my head all day, especially this song since some of my flatmates were "Mean" to me yesterday, however I'm complaining about nothing, I'm just not into practical jokes. Anyhow, Taylor Swift has lined the way for country stars in the UK. Most recently her album "Red" sore to the top of the UK charts, and it begs to question, will she be able to influence country artists into releasing in the UK? And possibly make the UK enjoy country music? This is something we're going to have to lye in wait and see.
"Mean" was written by Taylor Swift. It is about a critic who was a bit too harsh on her during a performance. This is what I like about Taylor Swift, she'll take anything that has happened to her and make it into a song, and usually it's bad things, sometimes it's best to stay away from her, oh wait! That didn't work for the guy in the song "The Story Of Us".... Hmmmmm.... Well clearly you are meant to make friends with her, and always make a good impression. This song was never released in the UK, and that is understandable since it is an extremely country song, and it would have been unlikely to chart, however it was released elsewhere around the world, so why miss us? It could have charted, but that's a big maybe.
The music video is simplistic, and very theatre-like. But this is what makes it stand out. It looks like it was made on a low-budget side, but to have been able to pull this off is amazing and I doubt I'll ever get bored of watching it.
The narrative evolves around bullying. This is one of the biggest impacts of the world, and it's impossible to stop it, but people always have a shot at it, and I think it does work. I like how the song also relates to bullying as well, and it was definitely the first thing that came to my mind when I first heard it, and I bet others thought the same. I particularly like how it shows that the bullied usually triumphs, and ends up in the "big old city" and the bully is forgotten and has disappeared but will forever be "mean".
There is a great performance side added to this video that makes me want to see Taylor Swift live for a 2nd time. I went and saw her at the LG Arena, Birmingham, UK in March 2011 with Edges. And she was remarkable, and she is just as great in this video, I feel like I'm back there watching her.
Overall, a great song to listen to when someone's being mean to you, it should've been released in the UK, but kind of understand why it wasn't. The music video is exactly what I wanted and more and I couldn't have asked for anything better. So after I've finished this review I shall be off to watch it again.
