Here is the video clip for the upcoming McFly single, "The Heart Never Lies," released in the UK on the 22nd of October 2007. As previously mentioned this song is very, very good and is by far their best song to date.
The video? Well, let's have a look...
It's all a bit doom and gloom really but, all in all, very good. I'm not sure if I should crack any jokes about anyone getting wet during the video, but I'm sure you can pretty much guess watching Danny & Dougie get soaked in the rain was almost too much to handle for a Monday. In fact, it's fairly common knowledge that I wouldn't actually say no to any of them really.
Got the Parklife review coming up this week. The story-making event of the festival came from M.I.A. who, quite controversially, set fire to her Australian Visa Agreement on stage during a very political chat with the audience. More on that - with photos of the burning - in a couple of days.
Long post, but I'm hoping that even those of you from overseas who've no idea the impact Hitz FM had on Melbourne & Australian radio will still read on and watch the attached YouTube clips. If it were not for this now defunct, monumental radio station, there is every chance in the world this website would not exist.
In November this year, it will be 6 years since former aspirant radio broadcaster Hitz FM last graced Melbourne's airwaves. If the Hitz were still around, 2007 would have marked their 15th birthday. Hitz FM single handedly changed the face of Melbourne--and in a lot of cases, Australian--radio during their time in our lives, which was cut short by only a few months shy of 10 years. For those of you who don't know, Hitz FM was the only station you could hear the latest dance & pop music from all over the world non stop, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Unlike the commercial networks, who placed their attention to new music on weekends for a 4 hour long Top 40 Countdown which--in most cases--was just exported from another country, Hitz FM was a non-profit community broadcaster being run FOR the youth of Melbourne BY the youth of Melbourne, providing them with the music they wanted to hear, but were simply unable to previously. It was also an excellent breeding ground for the nations best up and coming producers and artists who were not even looked at by stations like Fox FM or TT.
Hitz began broadcasting for a couple of weeks here and there, beaming their sounds from the halls of a couple of Melbourne high schools through the years of 1992 & 1993. But it wasn't until the now iconic Summer of '93/'94 three month broadcast between December and March that really placed Hitz FM on the map. Hitz wasn't just some radio station going out to a few suburbs in Melbourne. It was now widespread; from Melbourne's inner suburbs, to the Mount Dandenong's, all the way through Geelong and the Surf Coast. Hitz FM became the soundtrack to the summer of thousands of young people in Victoria during those three months. Songs like Tevin Campbell's "Can We Talk" rocketed up the Australian charts after being played on Hitz FM. The now momentus Quench track "Dreams" was played for the first time in the world on Hitz FM. Hitz played Delirium's remixed "Silence" a good 12 months before it would become a Top 10 hit across the globe. If it weren't for Hitz FM, that outstanding pop group the Rogue Traders would probably not exist; James Ash got his immediate introduction to the world of radio and dance music through Hitz FM, the station which would later help him in securing his first recording contract. Dance, pop & RNB artists who had otherwise been ignored by Australia's rock-focused commercial networks were finally getting the recognition and airplay they deserved. I, along with so many others, was obsessed with Hitz. I would spend hours sitting in my bedroom, putting up with the ridiculous heat, taping songs from 89.9 Hitz FM whilst all the other kids from my school were probably riding their bikes, swimming at the pool, playing cards or all that other shit kids apparently do during school holidays. Me, I was never one for outdoor adventure because MY choice for adventure was always through music, and Hitz was quenching that thirst of mine at full throttle.
Then the unthinkable happened. I was completely unaware that my new flame had an expiry date. The Australian Broadcasting Authority were taking Hitz FM off the airwaves after their 3 month test transmission. The ABA promised Hitz & its listeners that by 1994 a decision on full time, Melbourne wide community broadcasting licenses would be made official. Then in 1994, it was decided the outcome would unravel in 1996. Then in 1998. Then 1999. Then 2000. Then 2001. Nine years later, broadcasting for three months out of every twelve months of the year, Hitz FM, being the very first of the community broadcasters who had applied for licenses, easily being the most popular and generator of the most media buzz, was denied their request. Even though the facts and figures proved that a station like Hitz was necessary in Melbourne. That day in December 2001 was an emotional day for anyone who'd been affected by this radio station. I'd walked into that ugly lime green building countless amounts of times, had been greeted by the friendly staff there and shown the ropes; I was never intimidated because the people within those walls were just like me; young teenagers and very young adults who shared the same passion for music as I did. To hear the news that the station which helped refine my music tastes into adulthood was no more... it was incredibly sad. "Something touched me deep inside, the day the music died." A lot of conspiracy's surround Hitz's demise. They usually involve commercial networks like Austereo or DMG, and throw together words like 'blackmail' and 'Australian Broadcasting Authority' around in the same sentence. I'm not saying they're true, but even if they were there's really no point in dwelling on it 6 years later. But do take this into consideration: the nightly Hot 30 countdown you hear on the Austereo network would not exist if it weren't for Hitz FM. DMG - who run the Nova networks across Australia - would not have had such success if it weren't for them completely ripping off Hitz FM's radio format for the first 12 months of their run in Melbourne. Notice how the minute Hitz FM was out of the picture, the station which claimed to "sound different" began to sound like all the other stations? For the sake of their legal team, and for the sake of my own arse, I'm sure it was just a coincidence.
I could go on for paragraphs and paragraphs about the Hitz and the injustice of their outcome but I wont. I plan on commemorating the final ever test broadcast in November by doing a feature on all of the compilation CDs they released over their 9 year history, which were as iconic to Melbourners as the station itself, so it's not the last you'll hear on this topic. I do really want you to watch these two 5 minute videos on YouTube though; they're a 2 part documentary on Hitz FM made in 2000 (just a year before they would find out their hard work had been for virtually nothing.) You'll get to hear the people who were such an integral part in Hitz's success discuss their thoughts on the ABA's handling of the license application fiasco, and you'll also see Paul Dowsley, a man who - along with the likes of Cameron Adams, Peter Robinson - inspired me to become a journalist. Paul, along with pretty much everyone at Hitz, (notables such as James Ash, Lisa Foley, Adele Cookson, Rod "The Talking Man,"Julie Doyle, The Pete Repete's et al) are also responsible for my violent interest in radio. Not sure if that's something any of them are aware of, but there you go.
The fiery European inside of me has not been this satisfied in years.
As someone who has never actually visited the country both his parents called home for the early years of their childhood (Bosnia), my emotional pull to it and, in general, European music, has grown over the years. As I've gotten older I've found myself appreciating the 'narodne' and 'zabavne' songs my parents would force upon me as a child. A lot of the European sounds borrow quite heavily from the musical stylings of Gypsies, a sound which I associate with my childhood almost as much as the sounds of Madonna or The Doors resonating from my Auntie's bedroom.
I spent a large portion of this weekend with the TV on, waiting for Madonna and her set at this weekends Live Earth, which I had worked out would start about 6:30am my time. At about 2:30am I couldn't handle it anymore and went to sleep, purposely leaving the TV on (what would Al Gore say?) and setting my alarm for 6:25am. You can probably guess that when 6:25am came round, I did not. I cannot recall switching the alarm off but I must have, and ended up awaking at about 10:30am.
I was pretty upset, annoyed that I'd have to download her set and watch it on my computer... I wanted to see it on my television, not on my monitor. Anyways, I began to rub my eyes and, out of the corner of my eye I see Madonna's name scrawled across the bottom of my television screen (I have this alarming, er, talent, to spot Madonna's name or a picture of her face from miles away. Honestly, it's a gift.) Fox8 began showing Madonna's set all over again. It was almost as if it had been set up to coincide with me waking up. I totally spun out.
So I sat there, at the edge of my bed, watching her sing "Hey You" and "Ray Of Light." Not checking the net for any spoilers, I was not expecting any sort of surprises, especially not in the form of a remodeled "La Isla Bonita." When the Gogol Bordello guys came out, I initially thought they'd just be there for backing vocals. But when that gypsy madness kicked in, well, fuck me. I was instantly zapped out of sleep mode, completely alert and focussed. Was this really happening? Was my favourite Madonna song of all time actually being fused together with sounds of the Balkans? As it all kicked in, my emotions totally took over. And when Mo started singing in Romani, I, very quietly, totally lost my shit. The goosebump factor was intense.
I've always thought that Madonna's performance of "La Isla Bonita" at the Drowned World Tour was the definitive version, but now I'm really not sure. This Live Earth remodel is simply another spin on the Confessions Tour version, which took a while for me to appreciate. But the whole Gogol Bordello touch... it was like she had figured out there was something missing from the CT version, and knew exactly what ingredients to add in order to make the finished product better than any previous version of the song. If that's what went through her head, then she was right on the money.
I am totally overwhelmed at how beautiful it all was. The dancing, the music, it not only connected me to Madonna (you're all well aware of the effect she has on me), but connected me to the Balkans, to Europe, to the music my grandparents and their parents would listen to at gatherings around a lamb on the spit, playing cards in the backyard of a small Bosnian cottage. It was pretty ace.
I'm sure this is just a bunch of nonsensical rambling, but I just had to share how I've been feeling all day. I swear to god, there is nothing better than when music makes you feel like this. I'm seriously on top of the world.
This will most likely turn out to be my favourite live Madonna performance of all time I'd say.
Watch and love.
COMING THIS WEEK:The release of Harry Potter V this Wednesday will see some seriousRedknob appreciation. And some of that other shit I promised you all two weeks ago.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007 GENIUS ADVERTISING ALERT!
How was I completely unaware of this? One month into the campaign and I only just found out about it 10 minutes ago... and all my thanks must go to the divine Will from Fop, everyone's favourite, most loved and most missed Aussie-cum-Londoner. Sophie Monk, she of Bardot fame, she of Benji Madden love and, more importantly, she of "Come My Way" brilliance (DOWNLOAD IT), has covered Salt 'N Pepa's "Push It." FOR A BRAND NEW PUSH-UP BRA RANGE THROUGH MYER DEPARTMENT STORES!!
WATCH!
I can, quite literally, barely hear myself think.
"Sale starts Friday."
It's totally fabulous without actually being any good. I have been listening to this absolute gem for a good 35 solid minutes on repeat so far. Why not do the same?
At the moment, this isn't available for purchase, though there is talk it may be getting an official release due to in-store demand. CAN YOU BELIEVE OUR LUCK?!
MORE YOUTUBE SOPHIE APPRECIATION:
Sophie's first debut single, "Inside Outside," quite possibly the worlds most adorable video clip ever.
Sophie's shining moment in Date Movie is the Kill Bill/Paris Hilton homage to cheeseburgers.
Sophie and the girls from Bardot covering "Go West" at the 2001 Goodwill Games. I KNOW.
Sophie in some Blink 182 video clip.
Bardot's video clip for the OUTSTANDING "I Need Somebody." Watch out for Soph's motorbike inspired dance.
This is why the female cast of Saturday Night Live are among the best comics we have in this world. There's also the Drew-factor of this clip too which, you just cannot deny, is hard to resist. Keep an eye out for the background "Woo!" from Maya Rudolph.
Sunday, April 08, 2007 It Ain't Easy Being Green...
If you've ever wondered what Kermit The Frog got up to after the death of his creator Jim Henson, look no further than YouTube. According to www.sadkermit.com; "Kermit turned to a life full of drugs, alcohol and sex. His fall to rock bottom was quick and unrelenting."
The shocking revelations sink themselves deeper as the story continues. Kermit spent quite a substantial amount of time recording his own interpretations of Radiohead's "Creep", Elliott Smith's "Twilight", and this... a cover (with video clip) of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt".
Good grief, isn't that something? Obviously not as good as the Johnny Cash version, but absolutely an improvement on Reznor's, yes? Aside from how hilariously terrible it is to see Kermit channel his inner-Courtney Love-circa-1994, please take special note of the first ever sighting of Kermit having a wank... to a picture of Miss Piggy. It's almost like when Michael Hutchence died jerking off to photos of Paula Yates, isn't it?
Visit Sad Kermit for audio downloads and hilarious write up's.
