A RE-POST TO BUY MORE TIME (7)

FORGOTTEN BRITPOP CLASSICS (Part 8 )

from 29 September 2008

The back of this CD single says:-

“It’s creamy but inedible
It’s pop with a healthy hatred of all things normal
It’s a man on a car in a bikini – getting beauty sucked out of him
By a woman with a Nikon.
But more than that, much more than that
It’s the second single by Babybird”

So….its simply wrong that happy loving couples want this played at their engagement party or wedding reception…..in the same way so many have misunderstood the real meaning behind The One I Love by REM. What’s even funnier is when its used as background music on some sort of TV documentary/reality programme, chosen by some numpty or bimbo who only hears the chorus and thinks to him/herself….’oh, that’ll be the prefect accompaniment to the glamour shots we’ve got in the can….’

Babybird, in the beginning, was just the name used by singer-songwriter Stephen Jones, a native of Sheffield. I remember in the mid 90s there was a real buzz about him in the music press, based on something like three or four demo-type LPs that were doing the rounds. In due course he put a band together and got a record deal with a subsidiary of major label Chrysalis Records, and in September 1996, it looked as if all the hype was justified when this fantastically catchy single went Top 3:-

mp3 : Babybird – You’re Gorgeous
mp3 : Babybird – You’re Gorgeous Too
mp3 : Babybird – Hong Kong Blues
mp3 : Babybird – KW Jesus TV Roof Appeal

Disappointingly for all concerned, many of the best tunes seemed to have been left behind on all the demo albums, as the first ‘proper’ LP didn’t go down well with either the critics or public, and before too long, the band were being labelled as one-hit wonders.

I say disappointingly, simply because I think You’re Gorgeous was one of the best singles of its era – really catchy and radio-friendly but with such a twisted subject matter. It was the sort of lyric that fellow resident of Sheffield, Jarvis Cocker, would have been proud of.

JC