Alphabeat, "Boyfriend", and the SAW sound.

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Deschanel
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Alphabeat, "Boyfriend", and the SAW sound.

#1 Post by Deschanel »

Swedish group Alphabeat recruited Pete Hammond to re-create the Stock/Aitken/Waterman sound for a remix of "Boyfriend". It's sort of irresistibly good pop. And it's interesting to hear from DJ's I know, that young 20-somethings enjoy that late-80's SAW sound. It's retro and a bit camp for them, they say, but I think it's because they were also pretty great pop songs.

Even the video tries to seem 1988:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stO8ZlS8XWE

All those cassettes. Intro sounds very Domino Dancing.. it will be stuck in your head for days.

What kicked it off? The phenomenon of "Rick-rolling". Sending a friend a link to something serious, only to be confronted by "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley.

This hit new heights recently when some genius chopped up Obama's speeches to have him "sing" it. Behind a sad old McCain. You might have seen it, but if not , it's hilarious:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TiQCJXpbKg

Edit: Danish, not Swedish! My apologies to Lush and sexy Danes everywhere.
Last edited by Deschanel on Sat 20 Sep 2008, 10:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Lush
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Re: Alphabeat, "Boyfriend", and the SAW sound.

#2 Post by Lush »

Deschanel wrote:Swedish group Alphabeat recruited Pete Hammond to re-create the Stock/Aitken/Waterman sound for a remix of "Boyfriend".
Why is it that every time Denmark produces something that gets international recognition, then everyone thinks its Swedish? Like Alphabeat for example.

Anyways, the Pet Hammond mix of "Boyfriend" is indeed very good. Still does not change the fact that Alphabeat are extremely bland and pointless.
"Unprofessional? Us? Sir. Might I with due respect remind you that Mister Vandemar and myself burned down the City of Troy? We brought the Black Plague to Flanders. We have assassinated a dozen kings, five popes, half a hundred heroes and two accredited gods. Our last commission before this was the torturing to death of an entire monastery in sixteenth century Tuscany. We are utterly professional." - Mr Croup
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Your Funny Uncle
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#3 Post by Your Funny Uncle »

I prefer "Fascination" myself. It is brain-dead but it's fun...
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BlueSwan
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#4 Post by BlueSwan »

Excellent remix, but actually another danish band did a PWL-ish remix before Alphabeat: http://blueswanremixes.mymusic.dk/disko ... ?id=110673
http://www.soundcloud.com/blueswan (Blue Swan tracks, my solo tracks and remixes)

http://soundcloud.com/groups/inspired-by-pet-shop-boys (A collection of various artists PSB covers, PSB remixes and original songs inspired by PSB - anyone interested can contribute tracks)
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BlueSwan
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Re: Alphabeat, "Boyfriend", and the SAW sound.

#5 Post by BlueSwan »

Deschanel wrote:What kicked it off? The phenomenon of "Rick-rolling". Sending a friend a link to something serious, only to be confronted by "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley.

This hit new heights recently when some genius chopped up Obama's speeches to have him "sing" it. Behind a sad old McCain. You might have seen it, but if not , it's hilarious:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TiQCJXpbKg
That was brilliant!
http://www.soundcloud.com/blueswan (Blue Swan tracks, my solo tracks and remixes)

http://soundcloud.com/groups/inspired-by-pet-shop-boys (A collection of various artists PSB covers, PSB remixes and original songs inspired by PSB - anyone interested can contribute tracks)
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Vince
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#6 Post by Vince »

Nice song!! :) Good t0 hear 80s style music again :)
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Deschanel
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Re: Alphabeat, "Boyfriend", and the SAW sound.

#7 Post by Deschanel »

Lush wrote:
Deschanel wrote:Swedish group Alphabeat recruited Pete Hammond to re-create the Stock/Aitken/Waterman sound for a remix of "Boyfriend".
Why is it that every time Denmark produces something that gets international recognition, then everyone thinks its Swedish? Like Alphabeat for example.

Anyways, the Pet Hammond mix of "Boyfriend" is indeed very good. Still does not change the fact that Alphabeat are extremely bland and pointless.

Lush, that was my momentary lapse when i wrongly said "Swedish". I'm all for the good (and great-looking!) people of Denmark getting their due, I do apologize.

But you hate them! So blame it on the Swedes, eh?
;)
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shamelessbehave
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#8 Post by shamelessbehave »

Your Funny Uncle wrote:I prefer "Fascination" myself. It is brain-dead but it's fun...
I love that one, I watched it (the remix version) on VH1 a couple of hours ago.
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Naughty Zoot
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#9 Post by Naughty Zoot »

I don't wander over here vry often. Nor sure why cuz I frequently find something of interest like this thread. The Pete Hammond remix is wonderful! Much better than the plodding original. Of course, I'm a huge SAW fan anyway. Even though they didn't get nearly as much onto the charts here as they did in the UK, I've still tracked down lots of their stuff & play it fairly often, too.
Thanks, Deschanel, for the heads up.
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Lush
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Re: Alphabeat, "Boyfriend", and the SAW sound.

#10 Post by Lush »

Deschanel wrote:
Lush wrote:
Deschanel wrote:Swedish group Alphabeat recruited Pete Hammond to re-create the Stock/Aitken/Waterman sound for a remix of "Boyfriend".
Why is it that every time Denmark produces something that gets international recognition, then everyone thinks its Swedish? Like Alphabeat for example.

Anyways, the Pet Hammond mix of "Boyfriend" is indeed very good. Still does not change the fact that Alphabeat are extremely bland and pointless.

Lush, that was my momentary lapse when i wrongly said "Swedish". I'm all for the good (and great-looking!) people of Denmark getting their due, I do apologize.

But you hate them! So blame it on the Swedes, eh?
;)
No need to apologize. Most Danish people cannot tell the difference between Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, and those countries are right around the corner, so to speak, so it's not surprising that the Scandinavian countries often get mixed up by foreigners. Still annoys the snot out of me, though :wink:
I have nothing against the Swedes, mind. Their girls are almost as beatiful as ours :D
"Unprofessional? Us? Sir. Might I with due respect remind you that Mister Vandemar and myself burned down the City of Troy? We brought the Black Plague to Flanders. We have assassinated a dozen kings, five popes, half a hundred heroes and two accredited gods. Our last commission before this was the torturing to death of an entire monastery in sixteenth century Tuscany. We are utterly professional." - Mr Croup
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Vince
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Re: Alphabeat, "Boyfriend", and the SAW sound.

#11 Post by Vince »

Whoa! I'm totally hooked onto Boyfriend!! Absolutely poppy!! :)
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Re: Alphabeat, "Boyfriend", and the SAW sound.

#12 Post by DavePSB »

I saw Alphabeat play last night. Great live act.. very entertaining.
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Vince
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Re: Alphabeat, "Boyfriend", and the SAW sound.

#13 Post by Vince »

^^ Cool!!

@DeschaneL: owe you one for this heads-up! Looking forward to more albums by Alphabeat..
BTW i heard the mixes of Boyfriend.. all sound awesome!!

Does anyone have an idea of who did the radio edit? because the album version is different..

Oh, and the Pete Hammond mix is so 80s :D
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DJ_Couture
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Re: Alphabeat, "Boyfriend", and the SAW sound.

#14 Post by DJ_Couture »

A S/A/W revival? Alright, whose been reading my wish list?

In all seriousness, it's a fun track.
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