Tag: Melanie C

Melanie C – Who I Am

“Fits the nightmare art-gallery-of-self music video.”

Tom: She’s back! Well, actually she was back in December but we didn’t notice.

Tim: Hmm. That did not start out in the genre I was expecting, given the last time we featured her (which still holds up).

Tom: A “very personal song” to her, apparently, which fits the nightmare art-gallery-of-self music video.

Tim: Lyrics certainly hold that up as well.

Tom: I don’t really know what to make of it: it sounds a lot like something that could have been on a Mel C album a couple of decades back, which is not necessarily a bad thing for the fans. I do wonder if anyone else is going to pay much attention to it — although, frankly, if you have an audience, aiming directly at them isn’t a bad strategy.

Tim: Yeah – I’ve always enjoyed her music, and it very much feels targeted toward my tastes. THere’s very little for me to complain about here.

Tom: And hey, I could sing the chorus after one listen, that’s always a good sign.

Saturday Flashback: Melanie C – I Turn To You

“TOTAL. BANGER.”

Tim: So a couple of weeks back some random on Twitter posted that

https://twitter.com/Swank0cean/status/1001667827697422336

Tom: The thankfully forgotten Gym & Tonic by Spacedust.

Tim: Oof, blimey.

Tom: Yeah, never mind. What did you get?

Tim: This TOTAL. BANGER.

Tom: I had forgotten quite how much NINETIES SYNTH there was in that. Actually, I’d forgotten most of it, but especially the NINETIES SYNTH.

Tim: Isn’t it fabulous? Now, depending on how you frame it, you can logically make a case for several of the Spice Girls to have had the most solo success, with the possible exception of Mel B.

Tom: Harsh. Judge on America’s Got Talent, presenter in Australia, television host in the UK? In terms of how many people around the world would recognise her in the street, I reckon she’s probably in the lead right now.

Tim: Ooh, hmm, maybe a bit harsh, then, I guess.

Tom: How about the others?

Tim: Geri Halliwell had the most number 1s, Victoria Beckham’s married to, well, David Beckham, and Emma Bunton’s got a steady gig on Capital Radio. On the other hand, Mel C has three of the top 5 best-selling solo singles, and came out with Northern Star, an album with one of the best killer:filler ratios ever; it is LOVELY, with the title track being criminally underappreciated at the time.

Tom: Or, you might say, even now.

Tim: And then there was this, a BRILLIANT dance pop number that I just couldn’t get enough of at the time, and to be honest still can’t now I’ve started playing it again. YES to this defining my life.

Matt Cardle & Melanie C – Loving You

“It sounds like it could be from a High School Musical film.”

Tim: Matt Cardle: one of the less impressive X Factor winners. Melanie C: easily the best post-Spice Girls Spice Girl. So let’s combine the two, and see what happens.

Tim: I promise I mean this in a good way: it sounds like it could be from a High School Musical film.

Tom: Crikey. I know you mean that as a positive thing, but it’s a difficult sell.

Tim: Admittedly “I wanna get under your body” probably wouldn’t make it past the Disney execs, but for comparison, I recommend Can I Have This Dance, the peak of the franchise in terms of cheese (so much so that if you stay with it until the two minute mark you’ll hear Gabrielle singing in harmony with herself).

Tom: More than that: Cardle and C have a patchwork of musical… well, shall we say “homages” to other tracks? I’m sure I’ve heard most of this before, just in a different form, and not put together quite as slickly. You’re right: it’s a Disney number.

Tim: It didn’t hit me until the second time I heard it come back from the middle eight, but it’s got all the hallmarks: a vibrant chorus with a decent earworm for a hook, a pause before said chorus to emphasise said vibrancy, instrumentation that’s as standard as it possibly could be, a quiet middle eight coming back into a triumphant closing section, and then the killer feature of two people singing at each other and not really paying attention to what the other is saying.

Tom: Russell T Davies describes dialogue as “just two monologues clashing”. This pretty much sums that up.

Tim: Top that off with a slight laziness when working the harmonies, and you’ve got everything you need. This is a textbook Disney song, and it’s pretty great for it.