Eternal Sunday presents yet another synthpop EP by Softcore Express,Memphis, Tennessee,this time a tribute to one of the most important (and forgotten) bands in the history of the genre: Silicon Teens. Silicon Teens
was one of the first virtual projects (this is, the band didn’t
actually existed) in the history of electronic music. They were created
in the UK by Mute Records owner, Daniel Miller, and they only released one album, Music For Parties, in 1980. The late Fad Gadget
provided the vocals. Though the project didn’t have a great success, it
paved the way for the early 80s synthpop revolution in the UK,
inspiring upcoming acts like OMD and Depeche Mode. Memphis, Tennessee features four cover songs that were part of Music For Parties. The song that gives name to the release (originally by Chuck Berry), “Let’s Dance” (a cover of the 1962 hit by Chris Montez), “Judy In Disguise” (originally by John Fred and his Playboy Band) and the Kinks’ hit “You Really Got Me”.
These four songs were recorded close to the Silicon Teens versions,
using heavily synthesized electronic sounds from (mostly) vintage analog
equipment.
Eternal Sunday releases a new version of the 1983 Mike Oldfield hit “Moonlight Shadow” by Canal Pop feat. Polette. The song has already been released in 2012 as the b-side of the single “Electricity”,
but the artist was not happy with that version.
“The version released
in 2012 was not finished, we were working on it and a hard disk crashed
so I had to use the only mix I had”, says Emiliano Canal,
AKA Canal Pop. “Luckily enough, we were able to recover the original
files and make a new version, the way I originally wanted it so sound”.
As usual, the song features the whole Canal Pop production package: carefully produced amazing female vocals and a synth-lead infectious rhythm that makes people want to dance.
Eternal Sunday presents a new single by Softcore Express,
the label’s exclusive tributes and covers makers. In this occasion they
present two songs made famous in the 80’s by the girls group Bananarama, “Venus” (which itself is a cover of the 60’s, the original version was done by the Dutch band Shocking Blue) and “Love In The First Degree”.
Both songs were classic examples of the sound of legendary pop producers Stock Aitken & Waterman, whose bands and artists dominated the teen pop/ dance music scene in the UK in the mid-80s (Kylie Minogue, Dead Or Alive, Rick Astley, Bananarama, Mel & Kim, Samantha Fox among many others).
“Stock Aitken & Waterman were criticized, both by rockers and by ‘serious’ electronic musicians, because they made pop hits for teens”, says Emiliano Canal, the label director. “But it is very difficult to come up for pop hits for teens. People not always realize this, and SAW did it worderfully for a decade or so”.
The vocals were provided by the very young and very talented Pauline Q, a 17-years old singer from Buenos Aires, Argentina, who also works as a voiceover artist for Disney
and other companies. This single is her phonographic debut and, judging
for the results, she’s got quite a bright future in her hands.
