The traffic to the blog slows up over the Festive period, and it’s therefore something of an opportunity to take a bit of a breather. Unchanged: The traffic to the blog slows up over the Festive period, and it’s therefore something of an opportunity to take a bit of a breather.
Over a period of 26 days, I’ll be posting a single never previously featured on its own before – it might have sneaked in as part of an ICA or within a piece looking at various tracks – with the idea of an edited cut’n’paste from somewhere (most likely wiki) and then all the songs from either the vinyl or CD. Unchanged: Over a period of 26 days, I’ll be posting a single never previously featured on its own before – it might have sneaked in as part of an ICA or within a piece looking at various tracks – with the idea of an edited cut’n’paste from somewhere (most likely wiki) and then all the songs from either the vinyl or CD.
Y is for Your New Cuckoo released by The Cardigans as a single in August 1997.
Your New Cuckoo was the third single lifted from the album First Band On The Moon. The fact that it appeared a full year after the album had been released verifies that the record company was really keen to cash in on the new found fame and success of The Cardigans. Added: It really is incredible how quickly the way music is consumed these days. Back in 2009, streaming didn’t exist, but there were a proliferation of websites and mediums through which unsigned bands could look to grab someone’s attention.
The band had been enjoying some minor success in the UK, always on the end of critical acclaim for their brand of intelligent and upbeat Scandi-pop, but the move to the major label Mercury Records in 1996 had upped the ante in terms of expectations. Their first release for the new label was the single Lovefool, which reached #21 in the singles chart in September 1996.
Its follow-up was Been It, which stalled at a disappointing #56. Meanwhile, the album First Band On The Moon had entered the charts at #18 but had dropped out altogether after just four weeks, an indication that nothing was selling much beyond the established fanbase.
Towards the end of 1996, a new film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet became a box office smash. Directed by Baz Luhrmann, it was a modern take on the Shakespeare play, and it came with a pop-based soundtrack, with one of the tracks being Lovefool by The Cardigans. Cue some new interest in the band……
Lovefool was re-released in May 1997, entering at #4 and eventually reaching #2, and in many people’s eyes, making an overnight sensation out of the band. There was a minor spin-off in that First Band On The Moon came back into the album charts for a couple of months, and to help further with its marketing and promotion, the decision was taken to belatedly release a third single:-
mp3: The Cardigans – Your New Cuckoo (radio edit)
It’s about thirty seconds shorter than the album version, and the majority of the edit comes towards the end with the flute outro more or less removed as it was likely deemed to be too quirky for radio.
Your New Cuckoo was issued on 2xCD format and generated enough sales to enter the charts at #35 before disappearing almost immediately. At this stage, it was still fair to say that nothing was selling much beyond the established fanbase….although that would all change when the band went for a harder, more rock orientated sound by the time they released their next album…..
Here’s the extra pieces of music on CD1….it’s just a couple of remixes, neither of which sound anything like the original track!
mp3: The Cardigans – Your New Cuckoo (Hyper Disco Mix)
mp3: The Cardigans – Your New Cuckoo (Super Stereo Mix)
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 