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International Pop Girlies (with Jesse Chambliss)
105 Plays2 months ago
This week’s podcast is a nostalgia-packed pop extravaganza! I’m joined by Jesse Chambliss, host of Jesse’s Girls Podcast and certified pop music aficionado, as we relive the joy of discovering our favorite international popstars growing up. From the edgy charm of Fefe Dobson and The Veronicas to the glittering hits of Kylie and Dannii Minogue, we’re diving deep into the icons who shaped our playlists. Expect shoutouts to Sugababes, Girls Aloud, Mis-Teeq, Utada Hikaru, BoA, and so many more. Plus, bonus love for Christina Milian, Willa Ford, Britney Spears, and beyond. If you’re ready for a trip down memory lane with a pop-loving twist, you won’t want to miss this one! 🎤✨
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Transcript
Catch-up and Banter
00:00:00
Speaker
You look very tan. um Yeah. You know, maybe I'm going to just keep it and I'll just stay really tan. I think that you're just a white woman of color is what it is. Well, me and Ariana. You and Ariana, early Robin. Pink. Pink. Iggy Azalea. Yeah, she is certainly certainly something. She's something. How are you? It's been so long. I know it has been a long time. um I'm doing well.
00:00:29
Speaker
You are surviving your master's program. Yes, I'm still on my little break, so I'm like loving this. Ready to record. Ready to record. You're recording five million episodes. i You know, I am maybe going to do that in the next couple of weeks, yes, before everything gets crazy. So your calendar open. I will i i will keep it completely open and nothing is going to be scheduled.
Pop Activism and Music Streaming
00:00:55
Speaker
i I think we should just talk about Samantha Mamba. I think it's just time. I'm just ready to talk about her. I think we should. Yeah. Oh my God. I think we should. And then just bully her to get on both of our shows. Exactly. I'll be like, we already talked about you. So now it's time for the interview, the follow up.
00:01:09
Speaker
It's the the follow up the rehab, the remix, the reboot. Yes, extended extended expanded deluxe. Yes, exactly. festa Extra festive edition. ah Exactly. um That just made me think, OK, wait, so do you follow pop activism by chance? I don't.
00:01:30
Speaker
pop activism. It's kind of like the best thing I've ever discovered on the internet. It's the site that dedicates their time to bullying record labels to release like music onto streaming. That's incredible.
00:01:45
Speaker
It's amazing. And so they have a Twitter account and they've gotten certain things on. Again, I don't know how much power they pull, but like because I don't know who they are, but like apparently they've got connects to like record labels around the world to get stuff on streaming. And it's like it's most of it is like super like obscure stuff that I've never heard of.
00:02:07
Speaker
that you've never heard of. That's it's like one hit wonder bands, one hit wonder girlies and stuff like that. But other but then there's also stuff like stuff like artists that we love and and whatnot and some stuff that I've like, like some of the rarities that I know.
00:02:24
Speaker
But like one of the things they they asked, they were like, what do you want to see gotten streaming in twenty, twenty five? And so people were like submitting their answers. And someone had said Samantha Mumbra's like all of her singles and like wow her unreleased album. I was like, that's probably not going to happen. The unreleased album. Yeah, that's gone. But yeah, so. Oh, OK. Interesting. Yeah. Well, now I will be following them because I'm sat.
00:02:53
Speaker
So I'm set. I'm sad. Yeah, I've been sad. And as soon as I saw it, I was like, Oh, this is good. This is like what I want. yeah Like, okay, so hold on before we like continue, like going
Introducing Jesse Chambliss
00:03:05
Speaker
Hi, everyone. Welcome back to Hope of a phonic. It's Zach, your boy Zach. And we're joined today with Jesse Chambliss. And yeah if you don't know Jesse, Jesse and I have been following each other on the socials for a few years now. Yeah.
00:03:20
Speaker
And weird, no, weird. And actually, now that I'm thinking, wait, wait, hold on. Whoa. I'm now having this realization. You had me as a guest on your podcast. Was it close to two years ago? Yeah, it was before you had a show. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. I'm decided to fly. She's fake.
00:03:43
Speaker
She is fake. She's not real. yeah She's not. She's like super real, but also completely irrelevant and not.
New Year's Eve Reflections
00:03:51
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Because I cannot believe that we are ah in 2025. We are after the new New Year's Eve has come and has come and gone. What did you do for your New Year's? My friend Connor typically has a house party.
00:04:09
Speaker
Love that. And every time I say that, people are like, oh, well, crazy. I'm like, it's not. It's actually like it's like not a sit around in Yap, but it's not a rager. It's like somewhere in between. and And I really like that because there's still like room to dance and kind of be silly, but everybody's just kind of like talking. And it's just like it's the the energy is very good. No one gets out of control. I love it. But everybody still has a great time.
00:04:39
Speaker
That literally sounds like my dream New Year's Eve because OK, what are your thoughts on like New Year's Eve and like the whole like New Year just stuff? What do you do you have thoughts? I am famously not a holiday person. OK. Yeah, famously.
00:04:58
Speaker
i Across the globe, people know this about me. There are rumors about this in Australia. Yeah. Yeah. And when I was filming those car commercials in Japan, I could hear the rumblings on set. You know what I mean? They were like, don't put him in the holiday one. Just put him in a general sale. Right? Exactly. Exactly.
00:05:21
Speaker
It's been really hard, but, um, no, I, for something like new year's, I am not a new year's resolution person. I think if you need to make a change, then you should do it. I understand the symbolism of rebirth and something is new. Um, but also no big change in my life has come with a new year. It has come with an event, a catalyst, um, or me just choosing to do so. So I don't really subscribe to that, but I understand that people really do love that.
00:05:49
Speaker
yeah I like wearing something shiny and like dancing, so um that's why I enjoy New Year's Eve regardless of setting. um Yeah, so not super strong feelings, but I have a stance.
00:06:04
Speaker
you have You have a stance, yeah. Because I am one of those people that, here's the thing, it's not that I like take New Year's seriously in the sense of like, new year resolution, new year, new me, that's not it. I do personally really like the symbolism of like, just starting fresh, fresh start, fresh year, like leave the past behind. yeah and And it has more to do with the fact that I'm very much a start a chapter, end a chapter person. I love being able to like,
00:06:34
Speaker
uh, compartmentalize my life in different blocks. Sure. And so, and that's part of that, right? and So yeah. Cool. I totally get that. Yeah. and love I love that. It's not for you and that's okay. That's okay. I went to a little like gay resort in Saugatuck, Michigan and a few friends. I'm familiar too. I'm familiar with. Yeah. Yes. Yes. With the Saugatuck, with the talking in the sauce. Um,
00:07:00
Speaker
And so I went with a gaggle of gays, some new friends of mine that I have been getting close with over the last couple of months. And it was a lovely time. Yeah, I won't lie. That's so great. Yeah, I had like a tiny little bit of anxiety like right before, just because one being a sober person, like going to a gay like overnight gay resort, like I was like, we know that that can get like wild, right? And so I was like, I just wasn't sure what I was getting myself into. Also, these are like a new set of friends, but they're absolutely lovely, lovely humans. And I had the best time. So oh my gosh, I love that. And I, I am grateful that more people are being less weird about sobriety, if that makes sense. Yes. Oh my God. Yes. Because let me tell you what, 10 years ago when I first became sober,
00:07:53
Speaker
People was not about it. It was weird. It was so weird because people I will never forget one time specifically. I was at a gay bar here in Grand Rapids. I will not ah name it because I still go to this establishment and we love them. But there was a server at the time where I said I just wanted water and they gave me so much attitude about it. And in my head, I was just like, I was absolutely planning on tipping you. In fact, when I ordered water at ah on New Year's, I gave them $5 because I was like, you're working on a holiday. Like I know that you're here to make money. Like I'm not dumb. Of course, but when that person did that, I was just like, I was like, wow, like way to make me feel just like absolute garbage. And for what? Because you think that I'm not going to tip you? I don't know. It was, it was a very strange thing. Yeah. Cause there's so much pressure to drink. And if you, and you know,
00:08:51
Speaker
especially like when alcohol makes up a huge portion of profit and everything like that. Um, they're like, we don't want to miss out on money. One, that server's not going to get a share of profit from a bar or restaurant.
00:09:06
Speaker
but they are probably conditioned to be told to do X, Y, Z, whatever. Okay, I look really tan, like unnaturally tan. I promise I am not this color. I'm like really, what I'm really wanting to reevaluate my choices. It's like whenever you see someone and they're a different shade the next day and you're like, that's not what you look like. um I love it. Anyway, you look I mean, you look you look great. I look pasty as fuck, but i oh that's how I actually look. And now I feel like I need to represent. So this is like. ah You've got like like different colors and everything. Look at you. I'm so jealous. I'll keep it. I just might tone it. OK, this looks like a little less crazy.
00:09:48
Speaker
Um, so sorry, you can take all of that out if you want to. I just was really, I caught a ah look and I was like, wow, who, who is she? Because who is she? I mean, I was into it. So am I doing the sweetener press tour? um Oh my God. Have you seen the new video of Ariana? Like that's been circulating where it's like her in a wicked interview versus her on the Zach Sings show, I think promoting sweetener.
00:10:14
Speaker
Oh, I love those. Those have been happening for a minute. And I'm I love every single one of them. It's incredible. It's really incredible. And like the thing is, is like people are were like
Cultural Appropriation and Music Influences
00:10:25
Speaker
really giving her shit for it. And I'm always just kind of like for me, it's not that serious. Like it's like she was how old when she started like like 17 and like during a sweetener, she was what, early 20s. Yeah. Here's my thing.
00:10:40
Speaker
I am not going to be the police on appropriation as a white. So um if people if people are upset about that, I know don't look like it right now, but if people are are upset about that, then they have every right to be. I am going to, if if if people have a lot of strong feelings on either side, whatever.
00:11:00
Speaker
Knocking things over. Yeah, so strong enough to my microphone over. Mm-hmm. What's wrong feelings about that? I'm just gonna listen I'm gonna listen and I'm gonna learn and I'm gonna just let that happen. I don't think that she should be Switching races every few years personally um Is it the end of the world? No? Yeah, ah but you know, there's a conversation there and There's a conversation. My thing is, is that the people, especially younger people, you know, I always feel like every couple of years we get the new, the new kids who just, whose parents just let them get on the internet for the first time, get the, got all the apps. So they're like discovering everything all over again. Right. And, and I just have to remind people that like, there was a time in the music industry, in fact, for a very long time where it was very much.
00:11:49
Speaker
encouraged to appropriate other people's cultures. So it was just like, like, I can't imagine that Ariana Grande between the ages of like 15 and 23, having all that much power to be like, no, I'm not doing this, right? Yeah. But it's also like who you surround yourself with and and things like that. Of course, it's going to be a ah barrage and a mixture of things. But yeah, and we'll never know because we were not there.
00:12:14
Speaker
with her when those conversations, because it was obviously a ah decision. yeah When those decisions were being made, I was not there. Someone made a decision to make himself look really tan today and I made a decision to make myself look really white. And you weren't here for this one. okay I made that choice. You did. You certainly did. Well, okay, so to go back to our conversation about you and you know the rumblings in Australia. Yes. You and I have been talking about wanting to do an episode for a while now. You've been a busy bee. You are in a master's program. Which one does that start back up?
00:12:50
Speaker
Uh, the 15th. Okay. So you got some time to chill. I got, I got a little time. Yeah. Are you working too on top of this? I do. I work full time and then I'm in a full load for my masters. Well, we love a full load. Yes. I don't know about that kind of load, but we love a full load. And apparently I do. I just loads, loads on loads.
00:13:11
Speaker
Loads on loads. And so, but you and I had talked about doing an episode and, and, and, and whatnot. And you had given a really good suggestion about talking about specifically you had mentioned Australian and pop stars, but to like broaden it a little bit more, just talk about like our love of international pop stars. Cause you and I are born and born and raised and I was almost said born and bred in America. ah Well,
00:13:37
Speaker
Born in white bread in America. That's right. That's right. And but it is funny how much we love these like international pop stars. And right now, I'm going to tell you right now, my friend Jacob, who lives just on the street, he's going to love this because he, too, is also he loves like the UK girlies and loves like the Australian and girlies. So like, where do we even begin? Yeah, well, I think that There's some important lore here for both of us. Yeah, I thought about just saying like, you know, international pop stars that we love um that didn't necessarily like translate to the United States. Like, that's kind of where my mind is
Discovering Music and Online Communities
00:14:20
Speaker
thinking. and Things that I discovered on the Internet or, um you know,
00:14:25
Speaker
LimeWire days when I was downloading random shit and discovering. And for those who might be of a younger generation, LimeWire was a file sharing service that we illegally downloaded MP3s. An MP3 is a audio file. Yes. So um there's an MP3 and it's crazy. You like put it on your device. You don't even need a CD. Oh, a CD is a compact disc. Yeah.
00:14:55
Speaker
But yeah, I, and I think too, and you know, I've told you my story. I grew up in a really rural area, so I didn't really get exposure without cable or without, when you know, the internet. And when I was in middle school is whenever I got the internet, the internets. And so, um, it was like this whole.
00:15:16
Speaker
world of things that were opened up to me. Yeah. um I was gonna say getting the internet like Pete for those again for those who might be able of a younger generation if you don't under like when you got the internet when we were young that was a big fucking deal. Oh, yeah, it was like you it was like you touch it and you're like in like all the knowledge like all of the knowledge because we did not have that.
00:15:40
Speaker
Did you have like a, like a shared family computer that everyone logged onto my my whole time. I was at my home. I did not get like a personal computer or laptop until I went to college. That was like my, my birthday or my birthday, my graduation present.
00:15:55
Speaker
Yeah, um I was moving, you know, like two and a half hours away to go to college and I got a laptop and it was like it was a Toshiba. It was a fucking huge ass. I could have killed someone with this thing. Absolutely. Like I could have bludgeoned them. And and then I remember and this is to to give you an idea of my socioeconomic status. Give it to me. Growing up when I got to college,
00:16:23
Speaker
And I saw all these people with like Mac books. I didn't know what it was. I literally did not know what it was. Really? You had no idea what a Mac computer was. No. and and My only exposure to Macintosh was truly, and and i I went, I was in, you know, the 2000s is when I was in high school. So, um, I watched Drew Carey show.
00:16:43
Speaker
okay And yeah they had the desktop, the see-through ones that were colors, yes and they had those at their at their desks on the Drew Carey show. That is literally my exposure to a Macintosh, aside from the commercials, Mac versus PC commercials.
00:17:00
Speaker
and someone who famously Throws it into the pool Jennifer Lopez's pool and if you had my love video that too, you know It was like truly like on TV music videos something like that So I got to college and I was like, why does everybody have these laptops? Like ah what is this? What's happening? Is this a thing? And then I realized I I suddenly was placed in my appropriate class class So when did you then so you got the Internet, you're suddenly this like cultured human being savant and and you are just yeah savant status, Troy savant, if you will. And you started learning about different music from different countries. Yes. What was your introduction to this? Like who who did you discover and how did you discover them? Yeah. So growing up, you know, listening to the radio and popular music, there were a few acts who like
00:17:50
Speaker
made a splash in the United States, but they didn't really last or something like that, right? right um So I didn't really have an awareness of like who was from where or anything like that growing up until I got a little bit older. But I would say a couple of moments happened for me. One, I was a voracious consumer of Degrassi.
00:18:10
Speaker
Oh, that's right. Yes. Degrassi's part of my lore and they um showed on the N on the United States. Okay. The dash N. So like during the day it was Noggin for children. Okay. And at night for teens it was the N. Okay. Wow. So they distributed all the Canadian teen shows that were like too risque to, you know, show on in America, right? Right. So during the commercial breaks on the N they would play music videos.
00:18:40
Speaker
And this is where I first heard of Fifi Dobson. Wow. ah huh And the Veronicas. Oh, my God. Yeah. The Veronicas. Yes. So those are those are big people for me in in my my story. So yeah, then I started just discovering more and the end had these message boards where you could talk to other teens and you had an avatar. You could not show your face or give away any sort of like personal identifiable information. And so
00:19:14
Speaker
I would talk to these teens on these message boards about music and about everything that was happening at the time in pop culture. and They had little games that you could play and you could earn like money so you could buy more like things for your avatar. And I remember I had this specific like blue um the kind of like metallic blazer and these aviator shades and this like swoopy hair and I thought I was hot as fuck and you would like you know we're kids and so I'm like fantasizing about what these other people look like that I talk to all the time because I could only see their avatar. Oh yeah.
00:19:45
Speaker
So anyway, we there was a thread where we all broke the rules and spoke in code and exchanged our IM information. And then I got in this big group chat with all of these kids from across the country. ahhu I'm sure most of them were children. Right. Crossing fingers, hopefully. Yeah. I'm still friends with social with some of them on social media, so I know that they are like real humans, and I met two of them.
00:20:10
Speaker
Wow. Oh my God. I love that. So i'm much lore here, but anyway, because of them, I got exposed to more music and everything too. But yes, the end was a big one for me. So like seeing Fifi Dobson and like other Canadian acts, uh, because you know, it was Canada, right? Um, that was, so Fifi was a big one for me because she didn't, really break into the US like she didn't have like major chart success or anything like that at all here and not even like massively so in Canada but she's like a figure a Canadian like she is a Canadian figure for sure like if you're in Canada you know Fifi Dobson to a degree
00:20:48
Speaker
Right. Absolutely. I remember phovi because that what time period was that was that like 2003 four. So it was like Avril and Fifi. Yeah. Obviously Avril was huge here. But Fifi Dobson, if you don't know her, she's black. Right. And so she's making like pop punk music, pop rock music and she's black. And so, you know, there were people who were like, you shouldn't be making that kind of music to her. She's talked about that a lot. And that's why I bring that up. um So it was really cool to like see that as well, that representation. yeah and And for my little like child brain in an area that was very like homogenous and and seeing that and being like, Oh, like that's cool. Like yeah black girl rock music. Okay. This makes sense to me. Right. Yeah. Hopefully she gets the last laugh and she'll be featured on act three.
00:21:37
Speaker
Exactly. Like that would be that would be kind of that would actually be really insane. I would literally explode. ah That would be wild. Because so Phoebe Dobson, I remember she was an artist when she came out. I was ah probably about a senior in high school, given that timeframe that we just discussed and Her music never fully connected with me for some reason, but then I remember, and I don't know if she ever officially, but um I think she did, because I think it's a cover. She did the song, Don't Let It Go To Your Head, right?
00:22:09
Speaker
Yes. So she did first and then Jordan Sparks covered. covered it That's right. Yes. Yes. Yes. Jordan Sparks covered it for her battlefield album. Yes, I believe. Yeah. And so I remember hearing that song and I liked that song. What was her what was the beat up since other big song, though? That wasn't the big single, right? No. So like in the beginning, um she released a song called Take Me Away that I really liked. OK. Take me away.
00:22:36
Speaker
Take me far away from here. I will run. Yeah. So it was like that. And then um she had a song called Everything that was featured on some like MTV produced like film that actually went to um theaters. It was like ah I think it was the one about like the S.A.T. They're like hacking the S.A.T. or something like that to whatever. Anyway. Yeah. um But she had that song and that was probably like the one that she's most known for in the U.S. because it was featured on that movie. Yeah. And I feel like she was like a kind of a TRL girlie, right? Because like yeah she had a couple yeah TRL moments.
00:23:11
Speaker
Yeah, because I was going to say like she kind of falls into and this might be very blasphemous, but like hear me out. OK, so we've got figures like Hillary Duff, Lindsay Lohan, and I'm just speaking from a music perspective, not their acting careers. sure So so they like people nowadays like my age or maybe a little bit younger think of their music and they're like, oh, my God, they had these huge hits or whatever. And I'm like, sweetie, I'm so sorry to burst your bubble. Like like they've never had a massive single the way that you thought about it. It's just because it was a bubble. It was just because they were featured a lot on MTV. And that's like how we got the even our girl Brittany, right? Brittany, obviously, huge mega queen, you know, but like the songs that you think were like huge number one top 10 hits, not a single artist. She wasn't a single artist until the downloading and streaming era, really.
Fifi Dobson and The Veronicas
00:24:06
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:07
Speaker
because she was an albums girl. And, you know, if you were selling big with the albums, your label would not always promote your singles because they wanted them to buy that nineteen dollar CD. Nineteen fucking dollars if you were lucky. There were times where you would go to a five twenty five and it was. And did I spend that much money? You better believe it. You better believe it. I and did. I love the album. Maybe.
00:24:35
Speaker
that depended on who it was was. It was a risk, too. It really was. It really was. um Yeah. So but yeah, Phoebe Dobson. I remember her breaking out. I remember people. There was a lot of buzz about her at first.
00:24:51
Speaker
But then she just kind of faded away. Yeah. At least in America. Plagued by label things, of course. um like that Like every good act. You know, there's some conspiracy about um Rihanna taking some aesthetic and stuff like that. um Oh my God. Wow. is Now that you just said that, absolutely I can totally see that. Yeah. The good girl gone bad era. It was kind of like a take from Fifi, give to her type of thing. Like I said, just ah just a theory. just some There's some discourse about that. take Take what you will from that. Jesse, you just said that Rihanna owes her entire career to Fifi Dobson. and You literally just said that verbatim. Is this the clip that you're going to post? Absolutely. Sure.
00:25:36
Speaker
I'll go down and i'll go down in infamy. it'll It's not your first scandalous little thing on TikTok. It is not, no. Unfortunately, i have I've had a few ah scandalous moments that no one will remember but me, but still. it's a though i I will never forget the ones about Britney Spears and being in Mexico, and then people like, I forget the point that you were trying to make, but then people were trying to accuse you of like,
00:26:03
Speaker
somehow being like part of, was it a team, Lou Taylor or something like that? Yes. I was accused of being paid by her team um and her conservators to post about her being alive because she's a robot, apparently.
00:26:19
Speaker
so Long story short, I got first town firsthand videos from someone who owns a property on this resort that celebrities go to often. And then Britney Spears popped up and she was just kind of like out in the common areas where people like celebrities don't typically go. And so it was a big deal. So people were filming her. Right. And this is when she was with Sam. So she's with Sam, her ex-husband. And someone sent me the videos and they're like, oh my God, you have to post this because they knew I had like a little bit of a following on TikTok, right? And I was like, okay. So I did. And then I was like, for you AI conspiracy theorists, I was like, here's the video I got. yeah And the videos were like in good quality. They were just, ah you know, they were zoomed out because they were not close to her, but you can tell like it it was 1000 million bajillion percent her.
00:27:09
Speaker
And you can tell. And people freaked out and they were like, why does every other video look like it was filmed on a potato and like all this kind of stuff? And I'm like, I don't know, but she didn't control this video because it was sent to me. It didn't get posted by her team or whomever. It was like, someone sent it to me. So I posted it. Like, I don't have an explanation for anything else. All I know is what I have here. And it was like in real time.
00:27:34
Speaker
right And it was right after she had posted in this specific like bikini like and at that resort. yeah So it was verifiable. So, you know, whether you believe her poster in real time or her or not or whatever, it did line up to where she was horseback riding on this bikini. And I got videos of her in this bikini. It's like a teensy weensy yellow polka dot bikini, whatever it literally was. And i I had videos of her horseback riding. I'm like, well, here we are.
00:28:02
Speaker
Yeah, I will. I'll never forget that. I was like, like going through that controversy, like reading the comments and like it was just I was like, wow, people really just don't have time on like to do anything else. They were heinous to me. And this one person like she made a 10 minute like smear video about me. I've never talked to her in my life. Yeah. And just said like the nastiest things about me. And I just You know, sometimes I'm just like, whatever. I just let it go. I dragged her through the mud. I made her look so stupid. I love that. And as as as you should, yeah because she should feel that way. She has a Discord server, of this person I found out, because people started telling me about her, where if someone posts something that she doesn't like, she tells everyone in her Discord server to go comment on it and like harass them.
00:28:54
Speaker
Okay. What? Okay. Here's, I'm going to show my age right now. What is discord? I hear but people talk about it, but discord is just another platform where you can like connect with people as a chat function. And so like sometimes creators, celebrities, whatever a streamer, a lot of like, uh, streamers gamers use it too. Um, as just a platform to kind of talk, it's like a channel in which you can communicate with people, but it's not a one to many. Like you just posts it and everybody sees it. It's like. I really can talk together, like a chat room. Okay. Oh, I love a chat room. Love that. Okay. So, okay. So to bring it back now. Yeah. Sorry. Tangents over here. of The tangents and it's totally my fault because I brought it up. I, and so you mentioned another act.
00:29:41
Speaker
that you discovered through the N, which is ah the Veronicas who are not a Canadian act. No, they're from Australia. They certainly fucking are. Sisters. Sisters. And this is why we are sisters because I love the Veronicas. Probably not as much as you, but fuck do I love them. Okay. So let's talk Veronicas lore. Are you ready? Give it to me.
00:30:07
Speaker
As a child of the early Internet, I was chatting with strangers galore on there. And I used to play Yahoo pool. god bless this is incredible ah ah she is a pool diva and so i'm playing yahoo pool and i would chat with people and there were these uh people i was chatting with and apparently it was two teen girls the conversation never got weird or anything but they claimed to be two teen girls
00:30:38
Speaker
And once again, you can't show pictures or like send pictures on this feature or anything like that. You can, excuse me, you can just talk. Right. So I was like, where are you from? And they were like Australia. And I was like, Oh my God, I'm like in Arkansas. brown And I'm like, okay. And I was like, what kind of like music do you guys listen to? And so they were telling me,
00:30:58
Speaker
And I was like, well, how do I like learn more about like Australian artists? Cause like, you just didn't have the same sort of access, right right? And they were like, okay, go to this website and you can listen to the, um, like the top 40 countdown every week. And it was take 40.
00:31:15
Speaker
And I truly, I went to that website every week and I lived for it for like two years straight before they changed rules and it got more savvy and people outside of the country couldn't listen to it anymore. ah Um, but I listened to it truly every week.
00:31:32
Speaker
And um I listened to their music, their music countdown. And, you know, um what's funny is, of course, like a lot of it was American, you know, yeah a lot of American artists. um But I did like I was tuned into the Veronica's. That's where I learned about Delta Goodrum. That's where I learned about a couple of like punk ish bands, like post-punk bands too. A lot of it was like one-hit wonders that I picked up. So there weren't like ah a ton of specific artists, but there are some songs that just like really stick out to me. And whenever I hear them, it transports me back to this other place. So I really got invested in the Veronica's and then, um you know, often they were like my MySpace songs.
00:32:19
Speaker
oh I love that. Oh, my God, the chaos of Myspace songs. Wow. Yeah. And like trying to pick and I didn't want to look too gay because I was like, you know, a closeted teen or whatever. um So I was always like, I really want to post this song, but should I? Should I not? And I was like, ah screw it. Like I'm going to put the Veronica's on here.
00:32:40
Speaker
yeah You're like, come on, baby, we don't That talk about like, again, I've i've said this a couple of times now on the podcast, but like, never did I feel more metal or more rock than when I listened to forever for the number four ever by the Veronicas. Yeah. And that music video that they played on the end. Um, and yeah, they, and their musical evolution is just so cool, but they're, they're a group. So they're, you know, they're sisters. I know you know this, but they're sisters and they just have never broken into the U S.
00:33:21
Speaker
No. And it was strange. So what's really strange. So there. So it was forever and everything. I'm not both written and produced by Dr. Luke and Max Martin. Right. And this is and this is like 2005. So this is like Max Martin was having his comeback after like the team because he had this whole like teen pop brain with like Britney and the Backstreet wasn't in sync and then there was like a lull because teen pop went out but then he ah kind of rebranded and reinvented his sound with like this like pop punk rock type of vibe and which then we had Kelly Clarkson do some soup and gone and then that took off and then then all of a sudden Max Martin
00:34:04
Speaker
became the legend that we know of him today. And so this was a product of I would assume that these songs are a product of those sessions because it's very much in the same vein as Since You've Been Gone and Pink's Who Knew and like... And around the same era too anyway. So yeah, I was like all these songs came out between like 2005 and like 2006. So yeah. And for them too, they um you know, they were part of the process of of everything too. So you can just tell that they were often just making music that they wanted to make, which I thought was cool. Not that that it's bad if you record something that you didn't write or whatever, but it just felt like this was very them. Yeah. Oh, absolutely.
00:34:49
Speaker
And you know, OK, so it's been a minute since I've listened to this album and now I have to like revisit it ASAP. But I loved the song. um Oh, my God, what was it called? It was written by Billy Steinberg, ah who wrote Like a Virgin. He also wrote nothing on but the radio, the unreleased Gaga song that Addison Ray covered. um Yeah, you know how I feel about her. Love.
00:35:15
Speaker
love. Um, oh my god, what was it? like It was this way oh was always called I could get used to this because you wrote my name a across your head or something like that. And wow, that song, the way that that song captured my heart and soul as like a young gay man, like coming into his own.
00:35:33
Speaker
Wow. I love that. Yeah. um There was a point that I was crushing on at the time. His name was Jason. Jason something. Jason, if you're listening, I was in love with you back then. Jason, where are you? Where is he? I loved him. I would literally he worked at Best Buy in Benton Harbor, Michigan, and I would go to Benton. I would go to Best Buy just to see if he was working.
00:35:56
Speaker
creeper. I'm so creepy." And then he and I had mutual friends and I went to a party where he was at once and I was so excited that he was there, but nothing ever happened. Yeah. I know. And that's perfectly capturing their whole vibe of angst and teen yearning and all that kind of stuff. And on that album too,
00:36:19
Speaker
Billy Steinberg also wrote one of the best tracks on that album, When It All Falls Apart. I used to listen to that and just Like I was just so in my feelings about that's when that song would come on. Is that the song that starts? I'm having a day from hell. Oh, my God. Yeah, I never felt more. Never felt more. Mm hmm. Yeah. When that start, I was like, you're right. I am having a day from hell. Literally. Oh, my God. And it was literally actually like the best day I've ever had. But yeah, right. I was going to say and like nothing bad happened.
00:37:01
Speaker
But they also have a cover of Mother Mother. are you Have you heard their cover? Oh yeah, by Tracy Bottom. i remember So it's crazy because I remember when I heard that song because I remember listening to the album and when I got to that song, that was like a song that I had completely forgotten about.
00:37:19
Speaker
And until I heard it and then I was like, I remember my sister watching this music video at our our grandma's house and her like loving it. And she was like in her like teenage, like middle school, like angsty phase with Tracy Bottom. And so that it was just like one of those things where I was like, I completely forgot about this.
00:37:40
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. But um just to wrap up the Veronica's talk, I would say their song that probably most people know is Untouched from their next album, which was Hook Me Up, which is a perfect album front to back. yeah yep But I actually got to see them in concert, I guess it's last year now in 2024. In April, they did a U.S. tour and I said absolutely bet they came to Dallas, which most people come to Dallas. But, you know, I just was it was a little unexpected for me. Yeah.
00:38:08
Speaker
And I got my fucking life. I can't even imagine. They sounded incredible. They're great singers. Yeah. They're great singers. they're they they are They're vocalists who don't get enough credit because they don't sing in a traditional like vocal ballad style, whatever.
00:38:25
Speaker
and But their voices are just so suited for the music that they make, whether they're doing rock, pop rock, whatever, or like they're kind of grimy electro stuff that they do sometimes. They can just sell it all. Yeah, they're so talented. What was the other single from Untouched? Was the album called Untouched? The album is Hook Me Up. Hook Me Up. Oh, the single was also called Hook Me Up. They had a single. Yeah, they had a song called Hook Me Up in it. Yeah.
00:38:54
Speaker
I remember when they actually re like re-release that album in the U.S. because they were trying I think their label was trying to do a second like we're going to try to push them again because that because Untouched did was like probably their biggest hit here. And it had like some version of like viral success. um And then they re-recorded forever and put that on the album. And then that became like the second single from the album here in the U.S., which is confusing. Yeah. Which is that song also like sounds nothing like the rest of the album. Yeah, no, it doesn't fit at all because they really went with a different sound. Yeah. But um yeah, but they it actually like charted here, which is crazy. um But that was the only thing that like really made ah a splash, I guess, with chart success.
00:39:44
Speaker
Yeah, would you say that the Veronica's have a very specific audience in the US, aka a man of a certain sexual persuasion? You know, what was wild is I didn't know what to expect whenever I went there. And it was a lot more of like a soft goth kind of crowd and gays. But there were a lot of there are a lot of women and female presenting individuals at the concert. And so I was like, this is pretty cool. And I was one of the oldest people there. Well, and you're like, excuse me. bitch I was here from the start. Exactly. Like get in line. Oh, my God. I'm so glad that you got to see them because I was going to say because ive I would imagine given their limited success in the US that their tour would probably be like scaled to like, you know, L.A., New York, maybe Chicago.
00:40:41
Speaker
Yeah, so they went around. Wow. And I'm so grateful. I'm so grateful. What are their names? It's Jessica and. Oh my god, now you're going to make me look like a fake fucking fan. Fake fan. Flop. And Lisa. Lisa. Lisa. Okay. Jess and Lisa. Jess and Lisa. Yeah, and they wrote Untouched with Toby Gad too. They wrote with him on the first album, which is cool. Great producer who does not get his flowers. Does not get his flowers. So, Zach, I've talked a lot. Okay. Who are some of yours?
00:41:14
Speaker
Okay, so similar time period. Again, like I know just like deep breath. Okay. So I was part of a talk music forum called Oh my god, I'm already living for this. I know. And yeah this is I am so fucking gay. Like, I'm so gay. It was called Madonna talk.
00:41:37
Speaker
And so I remember just chatting with people. Obviously, it was predominant. There was the main Madonna board. Of course. And there was another board that was dedicated to other musical artists. Yes. There was also another and I'm b blanking on the name of it. It's something music boards.
00:41:57
Speaker
and I don't remember what it was called. Anyway, there was both of them, but ah specifically on Madonna talk. That's how I learned about Kylie Minogue.
Kylie Minogue and Willa Ford
00:42:05
Speaker
My intro, my introduction to Kylie Minogue was butterfly from light years, because I believe what was happening was.
00:42:13
Speaker
Butterfly was serviced to DJs here in America by Mark Picciotti, who produced the song. And there were official remixes commissioned, which is where like the sandstorm dub of the song, you know, I love my long remixes. And I just got really excited. And um I just remember like, so that was like my introduction to Kylie. And I wasn't like, I liked it, but I wasn't completely sold. Like I wasn't like, whatever, right? And then, um and then came along,
00:42:42
Speaker
can't get you out of my head like approximately like six months to a year later. who And then I was like, I can love her. Um, so that was my introduction to Kylie. But then they also just kind of in that same time, I was like introduced to everything from like Danny Minogue Kylie sister to Um, Holly valence, which I believe is a UK artist to Stephanie McIntosh, who I believe it, I don't remember if she's Australian or UK to the sugar babes. yes Um, who I'm wearing brought me the sugar babes, by the way.
00:43:15
Speaker
Yeah, to, um I believe her name is pronounced Jamelia. Oh, superstar? Yeah, superstar. But specifically, there's a song called Thank You that I liked by her. um And then a song called DJ. Okay. And Yeah, and that that kind of just was like my introduction. So it was a very much all like all of these different artists. I remember loving a specific like, oh, and girls allowed as well. um I was loving the electro sound of like the early 2000s. Did you do like the Saturdays as well? Or?
00:43:52
Speaker
I got into the Saturdays. I never like fully got into the Saturdays. The Saturdays, they hadt they there's a song um that I love by them. um And I don't even think it was a single. um I'm trying to remember the name of it. It's like, you're the reason. Oh, hold on. That was bad. That was terrible. You're the reason I'm here. I don't know them that well. I know so many songs.
00:44:17
Speaker
I think it was called Here Standing, and the and the reason why I was introduced to that song was it, and I cannot find it now on the internet. I'm i'm fairly certain I have it as an MP3 on my old computer. I'm fairly certain Brandy recorded the demo for the song, and that's how I was introduced to it. Yeah, yeah. And I know it's different because the version that's on streaming is different from the MP3 that I have on my computer. Like the the vocal, like the person singing, I was like, no, the person singing on the song is at least partially Brandy.
00:44:47
Speaker
So, and it's called, yeah, I think this song is called Here Standing. It came out somewhere between 2009 and 2011. And, um, But yeah, but no, but when I got the when I first discovered all of these other artists, I was very much into like this electro sound that was coming out of like the UK specifically. So like there was a song called State of Mind by Holly Valance that I loved. I think that her bigger hit was Kiss Kiss, which was like, I think also a cover or this was also during a time where record labels were being like sneaky little bitches and they were giving people this same song. OK, you will probably know this. Yeah, Chris, Chris in a million. OK, this song. No, wait, sorry, Rachel Stevens, the song. Wait, which who's what who did it first? This is where I'm getting it for Brittany and it went to Rachel. Are you talking about that one? Well, it was a song called Glide. No, I don't know that.
00:45:47
Speaker
Okay, hold on, I have to look this up. Okay, pause. Okay, this was a song. k Christina, it was on Christina Milian's album. And it was produced by Bloodshot and Yvonne, who we can, everyone can thank them for, Toxic. Okay, the Rachel Stevens song was called Glide. okay And the Christina Milian song was called I Need More.
00:46:15
Speaker
And they are the exact same instrument, the exact same instrumental, like no variation whatsoever. Like a Halo already gone situation. Not even that it is literally the exact same instrumental. Like there's zero deviation. And it's like, it's like, if someone took the instrumental to toxic and saying a completely different song over it.
00:46:38
Speaker
but at the same time and not treating it like 10 years later, like a, like a sample. Yeah. At the exact same time. So even like during this messy, so even in like this time of discovering all of these artists from different countries, I was also discovering US artists like k Christina Milian,
00:47:02
Speaker
who were not able to release their albums necessarily or had that like a huge delay with their American releases. So like they had like releases either in different countries prior or like their albums were released first in other countries and then here later. um So yeah, like Anastasia is another one. We love Anastasia. Yes, I know you do. And VH1 pushed her so hard on me. They pushed her so hard on me. Yeah. She didn't connect with me. Maybe if I revisit as an adult, but VH1 was like, we're going to make her a thing in America.
00:47:37
Speaker
And they failed and I am going to sue them for failing. They did fail. I don't, I don't want to forget to mention though, the Rachel Stevens, the song sweet dreams, my LAX that was written for Brittany and Rachel ticket. And so that's what I was referencing before. Yeah. we and No. And Rachel Stevens was another artist that I loved. She was from S club seven, which you were an S club seven girl, right?
00:48:01
Speaker
Well, they're also another one of my artists that I would talk about. I've never had a dream come true, but they don't know the other, you know, the four albums that I know. Okay. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. I was big. I watched their television show in the US s and everything. And, um, and they impacted a small group of people who remember their TV show and just like know that they exist, but they don't really like know their music.
00:48:24
Speaker
right Honey, I know the music. You know the music. I took a solo trip to the UK to see their reunion concert to heal my inner child and I cried.
00:48:37
Speaker
Oh my God, as you should, because one of them recently passed or like within the last. Yeah. And so they and they did like a a dedication that they did because it was like right, right as they were starting to like get back together and do the whole thing. And so oh that's devastating. Yeah. Oh, wow. Yeah.
00:48:57
Speaker
Because they that was a group that they came out as I was like, again, lol to all of this, but like, I was getting into my quote unquote, edgy your music. like i don have fingerless yeah glos And fearless glu yeah, so I was like, listening to no will afford, you know,
00:49:14
Speaker
It was like, yeah and when I say will afford, I'm not talking about I want to be bad. I'm talking about fuck the men. Cheers to men. Yeah. toa and Yeah. um Boys with Dick straight boys with Dick's curvy, as Lady Mae would say in the song.
00:49:31
Speaker
but Iconic song, iconic song and it should absolutely have a viral moment. Maybe we can make that happen. She's very busy being a high end interior designer, so she will never get back to that.
00:49:44
Speaker
She, well, if she knows what's good for her, she's more than welcome. She's more than welcome. Willa Ford, this is your official invitation to come on my show, but we're not talking. We can talk about I want to be bad, but I want to specifically talk about your unreleased album, Sexy Sex Obsessive. Of course you do. And while she's hanging up like wallpaper, you're going to have like a mic in her face. it's Just please, please give me 20 minutes. it Just 20 minutes of your time. This is, you know. And record this ad lib so I can master this song that wasn't released.
00:50:14
Speaker
Exactly. Because I think that the song sexy sex obsessive was supposed to be the second single from that album. But fuck the men did not like farewell. And anyway, sexy sex obsessive is really that's a name.
00:50:31
Speaker
And let me tell you what, again, just like how the Veronica is, I was never harder, never edgier, never more rock. I never felt edgier than when I heard the title sexy sex obsessive. I was like, I never felt more puss than this. I was like, I'm basically a porn star. Yeah. Uh huh. Yeah. And I think the song leaked online. I'm sure it's on YouTube now, but like, I couldn't tell you how it goes. Oh, I love that.
00:50:56
Speaker
Also, I mean, this is not supposed to be about Willa Ford, but her debut album actually was not very good at all. Like other than I want to be bad. It was really bad. It was really, really bad. Like in retrospect.
00:51:10
Speaker
Same. ah I couldn't do it. Same. So i i so you know this. like I've been going through like my going back and like kind of revisiting all of these like late 90s Y2K dance remixes. And do you remember um DJ Scribble? like That sounds very familiar. Yes. He like had a moment on MTV. like He was like the in-house DJ. In fact, he's the DJ that's scratching in the I'm a Slave for You video. Yes. yeah I'm here. I'm with you.
00:51:36
Speaker
Yeah. And so DJ scribble and then another DJ Anthony acid would pair together a lot and do a bunch of different remixes and productions. And they did a song on her album. So I'm hit sitting here thinking like, Oh, this is gonna be like a really cool like Y2K dance remix type of song. Nope. Nope. Couldn't even tell you how it goes. But it was it was not good. Just that bad. Yeah, it was like the it was just like felt like cheap.
00:52:06
Speaker
I don't even know. I would say like generic, I can't even describe it. Like it just was like, like at some sort of knockoff off brand of an off brand type of pop song. It was terrible. yeah Yeah. Did you ever listened to, well, they only had like one song that really crossed over into the U S but did you listen to never ever all saints?
00:52:27
Speaker
Oh my God. Loved All Saints. Loved All Saints. Never ever was what introduced me to them. Yes, same. And I did a little discovery. I don't know them as, like, I'm not intimately connected to them, but I have found a few songs throughout the years that I keep in my little chest. Yeah, you know what? You just maybe gave me my inspiration for my songs we don't talk about enough in a minute because... Okay. You just gave me some inspiration. But I will say,
00:52:54
Speaker
I will say their album. Gosh, what a time period I because that album came what 1998, seven or eight. Yeah. And again.
00:53:07
Speaker
As people, as listeners know, my personal favorite time in pop music is between 1997 and 2000, but specifically 97 and 98 are like the soft spot. And I remember getting that album based off the one song again, we took the chance. We took the chance with Never Ever. And we said, we're getting the album.
00:53:25
Speaker
And they did not one, but two covers on it. They did a cover of Under the Bridge by Red Hot Chili Peppers. Oh my God. Yes. I've seen a a live performance of that. Okay. Yep. And then we also got a cover of Lady Marmalade, which, yeah. Did not know that one. Which I believe both were released as singles in the UK.
00:53:47
Speaker
And I remember, again, back to the going back to LimeWire, I remember trying to download Lady Marmalade, like the Christina Pink you know version and every like as the song was about to come out and every MP3 that I was getting, it was labeled as that, but it was really the All Saints version. Oh, my God. Right. The mislabeling, they would always label um anything is like Meredith Brooks. Yeah, like they would they would put like, you know, a land or the inverse they would any any Meredith Brooks song would always get labeled incorrectly as like Alanis Morissette. Yes. And that's why everyone in the world is like, oh, I love the song Bitch by Alanis Morissette. I know. And I'm like, no, no, no, no, that's wrong. I'm like, you are uncultured. That's why Meredith Brooks who co-wrote Party Up on Hilary Duff's debut album Metamorphosis. What? Oh, yeah. I did not know that.
00:54:38
Speaker
Listen, if you want to if you want something really obscure to know, here I am. I hear you are, baby. Also, just to talk about like the ah incestuous nature of the UK pop scene, her Tina from S Club 7 was in the girl group Mystique for 36 seconds too, if you never knew that.
00:55:00
Speaker
I never knew that. Wait, OK. they She didn't release anything with them, but she was with them as they were like forming and everything. Wow. wow Oh, my God. The more you know, the more you know, the more you know. OK. Yeah, go ahead. And I was just saying that a mystique is another band from this from this time frame that, again, had small success in the US with the song Scandalous Bop Bop.
00:55:28
Speaker
shout out to Stargate for producing that they did that shit. And wasn't it on the Catwoman soundtrack, the Halle Berry? I'm pretty sure we yeah Catwoman soundtrack. So I think what had happened was what so because when Catwoman was coming out, originally outrageous was going to Britney's outrageous was going to be like the theme song. And in fact, I believe early trailers of that movie featured the Junkie XL tribal remix of outrageous in the trailer. You're welcome. You are so everyone listening. You are so fucking welcome for that. yeah Release it to streaming. And um um, but then obviously Brittany had her knee injury, the single release was canceled. um The music video was canceled. And so I think that then they switched to scandalous.
00:56:19
Speaker
And so that's how that got a tie in. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and, um, they had those, uh, Coke commercials too. They were in some, they were in some Coca-Cola commercials. I don't remember those. Oh my God. Shout out to Mystique and their Coca-Cola. I know. Wow. So for the girl groups, I didn't really listen to Curls Allowed ever. They just were not on my radar.
00:56:44
Speaker
Um, and people on my show or people who listened to my show were like, you need to listen to girls allowed. And so I was like, okay, so I did. Didn't super connect with them. I found about like five songs that I liked, yeah but I did like Cheryl's solo career.
00:57:00
Speaker
oh yeah I did. I liked it. I yes. Yeah. Sure. We're talking Cheryl Cole or she Cheryl. Cheryl. I don't know where her life that she now just goes by Cheryl. by Yeah. Yes. Yeah. yeah Girls allowed. Yes. Absolutely. Yeah. Um, wait, what's so like, what was the song that hooked you?
00:57:22
Speaker
OK, so ah probably the thing that actually hooked me was watching her performance of um Love Made Me Do It, which is one of her later, later singles. And and she performed it on, ah you know, one of the shows on BBC, and she got so much flack for it being like too sexual. And it was so tame. Yeah, like it was so tame.
00:57:47
Speaker
which it's always makes me feel weird when I hear like the UK say something is too scandalous. I'm like, aren't you guys the ones that like put nudity on like primetime TV? And they're always calling people cunts and I'm like, okay, like why is this bad? It was kind of suggestive, but like lightly. I remember the Pussycat Dolls reunion um right before COVID and they performed in the UK and they got so many complaints. They like broke the record for complaints on a,
00:58:14
Speaker
prime time television show or whatever. Literally, maybe one of the last times I felt pure joy. What was that? Actually, despite the darkness of the Pussycat dolls, React got me through COVID, like quarantine for the, you know, six and a half minutes that Texas shut down. um React really got me through it.
00:58:36
Speaker
It made me react. Yeah, no, truly. I was doing the dance. Yeah. Oh, my God. Like I when they performed that little snippet, I played that shit to death. Oh, my God. That to death. I wasn't like but that was my early days of my meme page. Like I had like two thousand followers. I was just like, oh, my God, this is amazing. I was like it broke my heart that the like the echo effect that they did, the React react react react it was like not in the actual song and so I mean I'll hold that grudge for the rest of my life, but Yeah, I sometimes I sometimes still lose sleep over it but that's okay. Yeah. and Yeah though Yeah, was so that was a fun time Cheryl she she won me over because she got a lot of flack for no reason. Yeah
00:59:29
Speaker
So I started listening and, you know, i like once again, have a smattering of songs by her that I love. But for Girls Aloud, my favorite song by them was like on their last Greatest Hits thing that they did on the Metro. Like that's my favorite. And it didn't even get proper treatment as a single or anything. But that's my that is that song. They put crack in her. And yeah because some of their music, some of their music is a little campier because sometimes like the U.K. pop girlies, like they're a little campy. And sometimes I love that. um And sometimes I'm like,
00:59:59
Speaker
I want like Cuntie and that's like one of their Cuntier songs. Love. Yeah. Yeah. They're like, when you say campy, like, are you saying something like sexy? No, no, no. Yeah. Something like that. You know, the fact the fact that the song is called sexy. No, no, no. Exactly. Or like, you know, even like S club, there's a lot of like campy S club songs and Rachel's solo career campy things. You know, Emma Button has a lot of campy kind of music. You know what I mean? And sometimes I really enjoy that.
01:00:28
Speaker
it's homophobic that we haven't even brought up the Spice Girls and the solo careers in this. Well, sure. Yeah, because none of their solo careers hit over here unless you were watching a razor and tie compilation CD mix or dance songs and you saw I turned to you. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Which is why I knew that song because they weren't playing it here. And I'm like, wait, I love the Spice Girls. How do I not know this song? And it was because of one of those compilation CDs, I swear.
01:00:52
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. I remember buying the Northern Star CD at Do you know what Meyer is? Do you have a Meyer? And I know what it is. We don't have them here. But I lived in Indiana for years. I know what a Meyer is. yeah Okay, yeah. So we I went to Meyer and it would get my CDs there. And I got the Northern Star was the the deluxe wool.
01:01:11
Speaker
like a reissued version because it then had the single versions of I Turn To You, produced by um for everyone listening, Hex Hector. I bring him up every episode, I swear to God. And um then the also the single version of and what's it called? ah Never Be The Same Again with Left Eye. Mm hmm. Yep. Honestly, honestly, incredible album. Northern Star of MLC. Like I took half of it.
01:01:39
Speaker
I should go. It's a good revisit and it holds up. So honestly, like when you talk about quality, it's like, it's great. Mark my words, that's gonna be my gym album. Northern Star. Absolutely. I'm gonna go to the gym. I'm gonna listen to that album. Yeah, the it is so good. And in fact, going down, which is the lead single from that is like this like true alt rock song. That is like it was produced by Marius De Vries, who was a producer and songwriter on Ray of Light. um And then she also did a song with William Orbit as well. So ok head so now we're seeing it. Now we're seeing it. Yeah. see connection here I know why you love it. I heard Blame Orbit. I was like, okay, I know what's going on here. Yeah. Oh my God. um Wait, I wanted to revisit those Cheryl really quick because
01:02:25
Speaker
you brought her up. So her I love her. But it's yeah, you said a smattering of songs. And for me, yeah, like I think that what her biggest hit is fight for this love never connected with me. Never. connected I don't like that one. But the song three words on the other hand, oh my god, that's one of my smatterings.
01:02:43
Speaker
I love that we smattered together. We smattered. We painted. We painted. It was, I got a little bit on my face and I was not mad about it. And, but let me tell you three words is one of my winter songs. I don't know why it reminds me of Christmastime, but like it, for me, it's played best in the winter.
01:03:05
Speaker
and at night, especially. And but that song hypnotic, hypnotic. When people when people say try to shit on will I am he's not my favorite person in the entire world. He's not my favorite person. He hits a night on that song. He hit hard. Hence why we smattered on our faces.
01:03:24
Speaker
Uh-huh. Yeah. No, that that's definitely one of them. Yeah, Five for This Love was is not one of them. um I did really like um from that same album, though, is ah Rain on Me. Do you know that one? I don't know that one very well. i That's one I like, too. OK. Yeah. Not to be confused with Gaga, obviously. No. No, no, no. Or Ashanti. Oh, that is on that. Like, I do listen to that song when it rains. Rain on Me by Ashanti. I love that song.
01:03:55
Speaker
um Yeah. And everyone I know that Jesse is trying to act like he can't sing. Jesse. I like don't even know how to even say this like in front of you, but like his voice is sexy as fuck. What are you saying? I am not kidding and when you say you just like casually. OK, you are like in your stories one night. You were like, oh, at karaoke or something. And so I'm like opening my stories and I'm like, oh, cute. Jesse's like out of karaoke fun. I can't wait to see what he's going to say. And then you open your fucking mouth.
01:04:31
Speaker
I am sorry. like you were saying I want to say it was Usher. Yeah, that's my go-to. yeah And you sounded like Usher. No, that's not true. um i'm I made your expectations. No, no. I am not kidding right now. like He's tan for a reason right now.
01:04:50
Speaker
I'm about to have my bangers era and just record an Usher style album. Yes. Okay. One more, one more show a song. I want to mention really quick yes is that I would be just remissed if I did not mention this. I love her song waiting, which samples Vanessa Carlton's thousand miles. yeah find yeah um Yeah, that's a good mention. Um, I, I think that's enough on Cheryl for me. I think I like her. I just think that she gave me a little bit more, um, what I wanted.
01:05:21
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. She did like a little, little R and B and pop and stuff like that, which I enjoyed, but. Yeah. She had a little like Calvin Harris moment with call on me, I think, which was a huge hit for her. That's cute. Yeah. She just didn't like, people don't know her and the United States. You know what I mean? Right. Right. There's a lot of British girl groups who just like, it didn't get their shine here. I mean, like most of them that we've mentioned, um, like the, the closest attempt that we've had in a while was a Little Mix. they They charted a couple of times here, but, you know, they never made it big. but um And then I would say like now people in America love Flow, but they have not hit the general public. I loved their album. Did you listen to it? I need to listen to it again. I skipped it briefly. I know people are loving it. They're obviously very talented girls. I do need to give another thing because it did not grab me the first time. Yeah. Well, I should say, yeah, I would doubt me. Yeah. And, and I will say though, like based on what I've seen chart wise, again, charts do not matter to me. People that think that they matter to me that they, they actually don't. But I will say if we're just talking success, that is a measurement of success. I don't think that they've like stormed the UK charts necessarily either. No, I think their album debuted at like number three or something.
01:06:40
Speaker
Okay, good for them. That's great. But single wise, I don't think that they've done much necessarily, not yet at least, hopefully. Not yet, but I hope they have their moment because I think I like what they're doing. And I think like they're going to have a fucking smash sophomore album. I just know it.
01:06:56
Speaker
Oh, I would love that. i i just i you know I love when an artist or group has like it takes a second to really like take off because I feel like I don't know that's how you really get ah a solid fan base going and I just feel like it gives you that permission I don't know if it's the label giving them permission or what but like they're able to kind of like really find their sound and really like experiment and just I don't know there's something magical about it I can't wrap my finger on it yeah yeah um there is one more person I wanted to mention give it to me and it's for a two two dumb reasons okay okay are you familiar with utada from Japan
01:07:38
Speaker
stop. Of course I am. I assumed. Yeah. But my, I don't, once again, a discography I really need to like immerse myself in, but two of my entry points are. Okay. The kingdom hearts song, simple and clean. Okay. I don't know that one. Oh,
01:08:01
Speaker
So it played on the Kingdom Hearts like commercials, okay, like advertisements in the US. And so it would just be like gameplay with that song playing over it. And oh, it is hip. That song is hypnotizing because she sings with like so much emotion.
01:08:18
Speaker
Okay. And so there's like a ton of remixes of that song too. So there's like the original, it's like more of a ballad, like a mid tempo type of song. yeah Um, and then they have like 86 remixes. So I'm sure that you would find something I was going to say, Jesse knows how to grab me. He knows how to grab me. He's like 86 remixes. They're 17 minutes each. god Yeah. I'm sold. Yes. If you put them all together, it'll be three and a half hours of your life.
01:08:41
Speaker
It's like watching Wicked. Yes, exactly. My other entry point for her though is a song called Apple and Cinnamon. Okay, so these are both songs. So I guess I'm a flop fan. I'm not familiar with these songs. I'm a flop fan too. These are like the two that I listened to really. um But do you want to know why I know that song? This is why I'm saying it's kind of stupid.
Music Discovery in Stores
01:09:01
Speaker
Give it to me. They would play it at Old Navy in like 2009.
01:09:04
Speaker
ah I love that. Come on, Old Navy being just like a ahead of the game. Bitch, if I hear a song in a store and I like it, cell phones going up to the speaker. I don't care. Oh, absolutely. I will stand there and I will stop what I'm doing. And I'm like, hold on, I got to get this and add it to my little list. I love that. Iconic. Iconic. I'm a Shazam bitch over here. OK. Yeah, I love that. Sometimes we just don't know and we need to know. I think I i think i um just because this was like pre that time, I think I like remembered the lyrics. I like.
01:09:34
Speaker
if if i'm If I'm in a situation where I can't like easily find out what the song is, I will listen so intently to get like five words being sung and then I'll type in takeck that into Google and then lyrics. That's what I used to do all the time. Yes, I do that too. I do that too. Yep. Oh my God. The things that we do to just get the most of our music. like Come on. I know, but but seriously, like mall stores often have smaller artists, it's cheaper to like play their music, international artists, whatever. But that has been a goldmine for me and discovering music like going to forever 21 back in the day or whatever. And I'm like, dance pop.
01:10:16
Speaker
ah Exactly. um I may or may not have been in a Forever 21 very recently, embarrassingly enough. And, and yeah, they don't, they definitely don't play like the fun songs anymore, but they did play it. They were, the other day they were playing some good bangers. I was like, okay. Yeah. So let's celebrate that. Listen, I need to get a weird outfit. You're going to find me in the women's section at Ross Dress for Less. Okay. So let's celebrate that. I'm thrifting or I'm going there. That's like,
01:10:44
Speaker
That's what's happening if I need to get weird gay things. That's right. That's right. That's where he that's where you go is to get weird gay things. That's what it's for.
Personal Stories and Music
01:10:53
Speaker
um My Utada songs are, she did that, she attempted to break into the English language regions, ah specifically America, and she had a song called Devil Inside Me, okay which was remixed by Richard Vision.
01:11:09
Speaker
Oh, who did a lot of Hilary's remixes? Who did a lot of Hilary? Also Madonna? All roads lead to Hilary in my book. so That's right. That's right. yeah yeah You taught Utada? Yeah. Let's celebrate that. And so that remix.
01:11:24
Speaker
I ended up becoming the definitive version of the song. Um, love, love that remix. I also love, there was a song, it was the title track of the album Exodus. Um, so, which also had a bunch of remixes that I love. And then there was another single, You Make Me Want to Be a Man, which is a blood shine Avant song that I really liked. Yeah. And so down I know you make me want to be a man.
01:11:48
Speaker
I'm like, oh, we're switching genders, baby. Let's go. Well, so she has I believe she's a non binary as well. Oh, really? I did not know that. Yeah. She's she's had like a um sort of public declaration about gender and everything. But I think she still uses she her pronouns.
01:12:08
Speaker
and if And if she does not, we we sorely apologize. and yeah Yeah, she uses both she, her, and they, them pronouns. Oh, excellent. Okay. Excellent. nothing Queen. We could go on and on and on and on about these artists now that we're like, we're literally opening up the floodgates because, okay, so you said you brought her up. So then that made me think of Boa.
01:12:30
Speaker
Do you want a boat? I'll eat you up. Yes. Like, come on. ener Energy or would energetic. That's what it was. I'm feeling so energetic. Don't think up and and it which was just a Sean Garrett song. my And like and that album was clearly like half of it were like blackout leftovers. hu I believe that even Britney co-wrote one. She did. It was the look who's talking.
01:12:59
Speaker
Was that what it was? I'll find out what it is. There was another song on the album that I loved called Touched. I want to be touched. I want to be touched. And it had this like glitchy like music box sounding thing and it had this like really hard beat. Fuck.
01:13:18
Speaker
Uh, makes me think of it like, like this was during a time. So this was like during a time of my life where I was technically homeless for, yeah, for about eight weeks. I um lived in the massage studio of the salon that I was working at.
01:13:37
Speaker
Um, yeah, the situation is, is that I was going to move back to my hometown of Benton Harbor from Grand Rapids. And my supervisor at the salon was like, no, we love you. She was like, but I didn't renew my lease. So I couldn't stay in my lease and I couldn't afford the apartment that I was living in. yeah And, uh, so she was like, you can live here in the massage studio for free. And so I say like technically homeless. I mean, I did have a place to sleep, but yeah I did not have a shower.
01:14:06
Speaker
I didn't have a car. And so when I like needed to shower, I would like ask friends and be like, hey, can I come over and shower? And there are times that people said no. So I went like sometimes days without showering. Yeah. But we can thank Boa for giving me music to live through these terrible times. Wow. And it's and and like you're always going to associate that memory with her too.
01:14:32
Speaker
I really do. I really associate her specifically living in that salon, um in that massage studio. um Yeah, the the whole environment. I mean, I'm really grateful that I had a place to stay, but like the environment was just crazy because then like that like I would wake up and like there would be people like in the salon getting their hair done. Like I just didn't have, like it was not a home, you know? Yeah, it's crazy. Wow. Crazy time to be alive. Yeah. I'm like, and I went to Old Navy.
Britney Spears and Robin's Music
01:15:02
Speaker
ah right did you Did you find the song that she co-wrote for Britney? No, like I'm sure I could if I looked harder. I was listening to your story. No, you're fine. You're fine. I want to say it was called Look Who's Talking. by yeah that sounds anyway That sounds right. yeah and I think that the Britney version leaked online recently.
01:15:22
Speaker
So Britney online, if you're a Britney fan and you love like leaks and all that kind of stuff, Britney online on Instagram is a great one to to listen to. And they make it pretty accessible. So you don't have to like do all the dark web shit that you have to do. Right. Yeah. And somehow it's just able to stay up. That's how I learned about exaholic. Yeah. he Yeah. I know. I know. Missed opportunity.
01:15:47
Speaker
Literally, it literally was. um But we could, again, go on and on and on about our international divas. But it's come to the time of the show where we need to talk about a song that we feel like is not talked about an enough amongst the masses, if you will. Jesse Chambliss, do you have a song that we do not talk about enough? I do. Give it to me.
01:16:10
Speaker
Okay. So, uh, to stick with the theme, talking about an international star. Um, I picked a song by Robin, andbracing myself not even a deep cut at all. Okay.
01:16:24
Speaker
It is just a song that I feel like gets overshadowed by the other single from her era when she was big in the United States. Yeah. So everybody talks about show me love. ah huh But I am a do you know in parentheses what it takes girl. Yes. Love. Love. That song I think has all of the makings of everything that I would want in a pop song.
01:16:53
Speaker
It's amazing. So, one, it has a parenthetical title. Yes, and we love that. We do love that. Not only do I love long songs, but I love long song titles. who I know you do. I know you do. And I think that it has um a little bit more of a How do I describe this? I feel like it just has like a little bit more vision as a qua about it okay it. It feels a little more.
01:17:30
Speaker
and not like sophisticated, if you will, but I just feel like it has more it has more complexity to it, whereas like Show Me Love just like fuels like a feels like a hit. It feels like it was absolutely doing what it was supposed to do when you listen to it. um When I listened to Do You Know What It Takes, although it was also manufactured and trying to be a hit and all those kind of things, yeah and I feel like it just has a little bit more of... It's it's less it's less predictable sounding, in my opinion.
01:18:00
Speaker
correct me if I'm wrong. I want to say do you know what it takes by Robin, what gave Max Martin his first top 10 hit in the US? It was either that or quit playing games with my heart by the Backstreet Boys, but it was one of those two. I'm fairly certain.
01:18:16
Speaker
and But yeah, and and you know I love, do you know what it takes? I remember the US version of the video, she's in that like white chair like with the red seats. It's like that big orb looking chair, you know what I'm talking about? It lookss like looks like you're like it looks like you're like in a Jetson yes television show. And she's like in the back of a van and then she like gets out of the van and performs in the middle of like the intersection. Skater boy found dead.
01:18:40
Speaker
like Dead. yeah like Yeah. What a song. Literally, that was one of the songs that like introduced me late they just like in the summer of 97. Again, when I got into music, like that was one of those songs that was in there that got me. Yeah. Also, when you're saying that it has a little bit of a je ne sais quoi, when I'm thinking about how she sings that song and how she sings Show Me Love,
01:19:04
Speaker
And we were like joking about like white women of color earlier. Like, is Robin white in Show Me Love? And is she kind of black? And do you know what it takes? Maybe that's why I like it. Maybe. Maybe. Because she's kind of like... Yeah.
01:19:20
Speaker
yeah dark yeah yeah Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. and And I did. And I liked her vocal delivery there. She just had a little more bite to it. You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. She had some swagger. Baby. Yeah. Yeah.
01:19:36
Speaker
Wait, it's like, don't waste my time with your love. Yeah. Yeah, baby. Yeah. Yes. Oh my God. Now I like. i canno out and and and and And right after that.
01:19:53
Speaker
Um, the, the I'll give you everything part right after where she's just like really punching it home. Like it just has more layers and complexity to me. And it it yeah takes has levels. It takes me places. Yeah, it does. Oh my God. That's a great choice. And I think that you're right. I think that I don't think that people do not recognize that song enough.
01:20:14
Speaker
No, and they don't, it's not talked about. Like really, if we're talking about, if, if we're going to talk about nineties, Robin, people do talk about show me love. And, and then of course we move into, you know, her evolution and, and Renaissance and all that kind of stuff. But yeah that's really the only thing that gets talked about. She doesn't, people don't talk about, do you know what it takes? And they also don't talk about some of the other songs on that album that are really great.
01:20:38
Speaker
I love that we were talking about this because the episode that I recorded before this, that's coming out before this, we also talked about Robin at the very end. And we were i and i we were talking about Show Me Love. And yeah, yeah we were talking more about like her Body Talk album. But yeah yeah, I love that. Robin, we love you. Dancehall Queen. But also like Robin, you need to also acknowledge your early work as well. She didn't. I've seen him Robin live. I've been very fortunate to see her. And she did not play anything from it. And it made me really sad.
01:21:08
Speaker
She has performed when she was doing the promotion for her, I wanna to say it was her self-titled album. um I believe that she did Show Me Love, like a completely new version. Like it was not the version that we know. um She did it live a few times. And that's like the one and only time in like the last 25 years that she's recorded or like done that. so Yeah, yeah. Well, Jesse, i you inspired me when you brought up All Saints earlier. OK. I am going deep and dark with this. So All Saints had two albums that came out ah like in the late 90s, early 2000s, and then kind of went away for a little bit. And I don't know if they had disbanded or what. But then they came back, I want to say, in 2006, 2007.
01:22:06
Speaker
with a couple songs. I want to say one was called chick fit. And I think another one was called shoot, I don't remember what the other one was called. But there was a On the album, they had a bonus DVD, okay which which I love when an album had a bonus DVD. We loved that because you got the music video, you maybe had an exclusive interview. And this was during a time when bonus bonus DVDs on albums had an exclusive audio track that could only be found on the DVD of the album.
01:22:47
Speaker
And there was a song that is an absolute bop banger. I do not understand why this was not released. It was a call song called Sexy by All Saints. and Writing it down. It is on YouTube.
01:23:04
Speaker
and it you're going to i mean Any gay man who loves a fun pop song will absolutely love this song. it release it to streaming immediately. I don't know who I have to blow. I will do it. I will do it. I'm not as scared of it. Do you hear that world? Who needs a blowjob because Zach is ready. Like put sexy by all saints on streaming now. Okay, you need to contact that account that you were talking about before. You're right. Oh my god. Yeah. I'm serious. Hit them up. Pop activism. Use your use your power.
01:23:39
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And, and offer my blowjobbing skills. Yeah. Blowjobbing. Blowjobbing. She said I'm employed. That unemployment rate is down. Right. Yep. Yep. Exactly. Do you know what I'm referencing when I say blowjobbing? No, I
Comedic Interlude and S Club 7
01:23:56
Speaker
don't. Are you a scary movie person? I am.
01:23:59
Speaker
Um, the accesses of Emily Rose. Oh my God. When, when she's like possessed and the the pastor's like talking to her and she's like, uh, she said, I think she says the phrase blow jobbing. And he's like, you, if you were really possessed, you you would know that that's not the right phrase. and Blah, blah, blah, blah. Anyway. So I've always thought like a blow. I was like blow jobbing is so funny. I really need to rewatch that movie because I always think about the part where she's, um, in the corner eating the spiders and scratching the wall. And she goes, don't touch me.
01:24:29
Speaker
yeah Yes. so Wait, sorry. I am getting this, this con confused. with I think this was shit. Which one was this? I just say, I don't remember that scene. Wow. I, I think I am getting this confused with the last exorcism. They came out. around the same time They came out and they're at the same time. I think I've seen that one. Yeah. But I do remember that girl, yeah ER, r she, she and I, I watched that movie a lot. Miss Emily. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Cause that was the one where she like was like in the dorm and then they like found her like all contorted, right?
01:25:00
Speaker
Yeah. which Well, she was like, they took her out to a farm. She was like in a barn for a while. I don't know. Yeah. OK. OK. They're basically the same movie. And so let's celebrate that. Exorcism movies are all kind of the same. they Yeah. But hey. and I have a quick honorable mention. can Give it to me. Yeah. Because since we're still on this theme of international stars. Yes. S Club 7 became S Club.
01:25:29
Speaker
whenever Paul originally left. okay And they, are on their last album, seeing double, they have a song called, Who Do You Think You Are? Okay. Not to be confused with the Spice Girls. Not to be, but also another banger song that I love. yeah But this is dance, pop, slinky production goodness, delight, like,
01:25:56
Speaker
I'm going to implore you to listen to it right after we're done recording. I'm serious because yeah that song are by S Club. And it made me want to go to a club in Europe. And really, yeah, just like do all the things, shirt off, sweating, jumping up and down. Yeah. OK, I will put this on here because, yeah, because I you know I need I need any sort of dance pop that I can get.
01:26:26
Speaker
I don't think there are um remixes for this very deep cut as club song, but um well, I think you will enjoy it. Homophobia is alive and well, baby. So we know. Yeah. Did they? I mean, who's the other UK band?
01:26:44
Speaker
I'm thinking of steps. Nevermind. I'm thinking of steps. better best forgotten Yeah. Yeah. I don't know much about steps. I just, I do remember, I think that they did a cover of, you know, the singer Vincent. He did a song a couple of years ago that they then covered, which I was like, Oh, that's cool. Oh.
01:27:04
Speaker
Yeah, it's incredible. Yeah, I was like, i've I'm blanking on the name of the song. um But then I was like, because I remember like hearing it, I like somehow heard the steps version. And then I was like, wait a minute. I was like, that is that is Vincent. um It was the song. Oh, my God. I'm like scrolling, scrolling, scrolling. ah Hard to forget. So, yeah. Anyway, go Vincent. Hey, that UK coin. Yeah.
01:27:33
Speaker
Yeah. Um, but also I just wanted to say too, just to strengthen the case for who do you think you are? Yeah. Kathy Dennis as a co-writer and Kathy Dennis is a songwriting queen. So I just wanted to want to throw that out there.
01:27:48
Speaker
Yep. We would not have toxic or I kissed a girl without her among or can't get you out of my head. Yeah. So she worked on multiple songs on this album. I really think that you would enjoy the singing double album because it's, it's got a lot of dancey cunty moments on it.
01:28:06
Speaker
And they love that.
Podcast Collaborations and Wrap-up
01:28:07
Speaker
It's like literally like my bread and butter. We love that. ah Jesse, I'm so glad that we were finally able to do this. Let's please do this. Let's do try to do one more before we go back to school. Yeah, absolutely. And you're coming on mine and I'm just going to put it out into the universe. So, okay. Yeah, excellent. Perfect. I can't wait. And then Samantha Mamba, get ready because we're going to get you. We're going to, we're talking about you and we're going to find this. We're going to find you and we're going to make it happen.
01:28:31
Speaker
Exactly. I love it. Well, everyone, thank you so much for listening. Until next time, peace out.