Posts Tagged ‘Kylie Minogue’

Kylie Kontest!

Sometimes, it’s good to be a Popdose reader, and this is one of those times…if you’re a fan of Kylie Minogue, that is.

As you may or may not know, Kylie’s new album, X, finally hit our shores this past Tuesday, courtesy of Astralwerks/Capitol, and in conjunction with its release, we’ve been offered the opportunity to give away a Kylie prize pack: the U.K. Enhanced CD single of “2 Hearts,” stickers, postcards, and a poster.

Do you care? Maybe, maybe not. If you do, then you’ll want to pay very close attention right now…and if you don’t, you’ll probably still want to pay attention, because we suspect you’ll enjoy this challenge whether you want the prize pack or not.

To win the prize, here’s what you have to do: connect Kylie Minogue to The Smithereens in ten moves…no more, no less. We’re looking for actual musical collaborations that connect these artists, be they vocal or instrumental. Whoever fills in the last blank wins the prize pack.

UPDATE: And the prize has been won! LuverOfLuv came up with the following connection:

1. Kylie Minogue collaborated with Manic Street Preachers on Impossible Princess.
2. Manic Street Preachers‘ “Your Love Alone is Not Enough” features vocals from Nina Persson.
3. Nina Persson sings the theme song to “Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased),” which was composed by David Arnold.
4. David Arnold composed the song “The World Is Not Enough” for Garbage.
5. Garbage collaborated with Tricky on the song “Milk (Wicked Mix).”
6. Tricky’s song “Keep Your Mouth Shut” features vocals by Bjork.
7. Bjork composed the song “Bedtime Story” for Madonna.
8. Madonna’s song “The Power of Goodbye” is a collaboration with Rick Nowels.
9. Rick Nowels provided vocals to Belinda Carlisle’s album Heaven on Earth.
10. Belinda Carlisle contributes backing vocals to The Smithereens11.

Absolutely valid, and congratulations!

For the record, this was how we’d had them connecting:

1. Kylie Minogue collaborated with the Manic Street Preachers on The Impossible Princess.
2. The Manic Street Preachers‘ song “Your Love Alone is Not Enough” features vocals from Nina Persson, lead singer of The Cardigans.
3. Nina Persson also contributed guest vocals to Shudder to Think’s soundtrack to the film “First Love, Last Rites.”
4. Also contributing guest vocals to the soundtrack was Billy Corgan.
5. Billy Corgan contributed guitar work to Enuff Znuff’s Paraphernalia.
6. Also appearing on Paraphernalia was Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick.
7. Rick Nielsen contributed guitar to Hall & OatesAcross the Red Ledge.
8. Also contributing guitar to Across the Red Ledge was George Harrison.
9. George Harrison also contributed guitar to Belinda Carlisle’s Runaway Horses.
10. Belinda Carlisle contributes backing vocals to The Smithereens11.

Hooks ‘N’ You: Kylie Minogue, “Light Years”

hooksnyou.jpgStop laughing, you bastards!

A few weeks ago, I was having a conversation with David Medsker – my comrade in arms both here and over at Bullz-Eye.com – about Kylie Minogue. He’d just heard “Wow,” the first single from her new album, X, and in the process of researching a post he was writing about the song, he learned that Kylie had gone to Number One in every major country in the world…except, of course, for the US.“Here,” he informed me, “she has two Top Ten singles, which are also her only two Top 20 singles. In England, she has seven Number One singles, 30 Top Tens, and 40 Top 20 singles. Forty. Here? Two. Jesus.”

I totally get his frustration, but I also understand why Kylie ended up being shunned by American audiences.

In 1987, Kylie was already a proven entity in both the UK and her native Australia, courtesy of her years spent as a cast member of “Neighbours,” so it was easy enough for her to score attention with her first single, the dangerously catchy “I Should Be So Lucky,” and take it to the top of the British charts. Stateside, however, it only crawled to #28, so Geffen played the cover-song card and giggled gleefully as Kylie’s take on the Little Eva classic, “The Locomotion,” soared to #3. Unfortunately, instead of making her into a household name, it merely served to transform her into an instant novelty; the follow-up single, “It’s No Secret,” struggled its way into the lower reaches of the Top 40 before dying a quick death soon after, and if Geffen bothered to release any singles from her second album, 1989’s Enjoy Yourself, they didn’t manage to chart. It took the U.S. twelve years to renew their membership in the Kylie Minogue Appreciation Society, and they only did it then because it was painfully evident that no-one…no, not even slope-browed American radio listeners…could deny the brilliance of “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head.”

Well, that and the fact that she looked like this:

It was more than half a decade prior to that, however, when I first began to realize that there was very possibly more to Ms. Minogue that I’d originally been led to believe. I’m sure we’ve all found ourselves prone to appreciating someone’s work simply because of the company they keep, and that’s what started me on the road to rediscovering Kylie.

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