Following Let's Get To It, Kylie Minogue released a retrospective of songs comprising her hit-making years with British bubblegum pop machine Stock-Aitken-Waterman on their PWL label. A whole pack of bubblegum? Well, it wouldn't be such a big deal were it not for the fact that Kylie's first six singles debuted at #1 or #2, and her first 11 singles made the Top Five.
Six songs are taken from her debut, hardly surprising, as that album went diamond worldwide (10 mill. copies sold). Her cover of Little Eva's "The Locomotion" spent 7 weeks at #1 in Australia, her home, and darned if her cover outdid that of the original and Jackie and the Raindrops' rendition. The equally infectious "I Should Be So Lucky," simultaneously at #1 in the UK and Australia, broke her worldwide, while I first heard of Kylie via her UK #2 hit "Got To Be Certain." "Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi" French for I Don't Know Why, was another UK #2, and "Turn It Into Love" went to #1 in Japan.
From Enjoy Yourself, we have her first hit duet, the ballad "Especially For You," sung with Jason Donovan, which was the UK's first #1 song of 1989, the #1 UK "Hand On Your Heart," classic S-A-W, "Wouldn't Change A Thing," the vivacious "Never Too Late," and her cover of Little Anthony and the Imperials' "Tears On My Pillow."
The singles from Rhythm Of Love continue the formula, especially with "Better The Devil You Know," a song later covered by Welsh group Steps, and with its "I wanna funk, I wanna F-F-F U-N-K" intro and vivacious beat, "Step Back In Time," replete with references to 70's soul titles and even the O'Jays. "Shocked" became Kylie's 13th hit and 13th Top Ten single in the UK. Quite a record! What's not apparent here is that on some non-single tracks, Kylie actually began her hand at songwriting, co-writing with Steve Bray
From Let's Get To It, which showed Kylie co-writing some songs with Stock and Waterman, there's her best ballad, another duet, the regret of "If You Were With Me Now" with R&B singer Keith Washington, a strings and piano ballad that was a Christmas 1991 release. Another highlight: the bouncy horns in her cover of Chairman of the Board's "Give Me Just A Little More Time," a #2 hit that became her 15th UK Top 5, and another ballad, "Finer Feelings."
The new songs: "What Kind Of Fool (Heard All That Before)" harkens to the early bubblegum of her first two albums, with more sophisticated synths. This and the ballad, "Where In The World?," whose lush strings, horns, and drums recalls the pop of Petula Clark and Dusty Springfield, with a nod to 70's disco, were both written by Stock, Waterman, and Minogue. And what a way to end the album than with her cover of Kool and the Gang's "Celebration."
If anything this collection is quite a legacy. Kylie's a pop institution in Europe, Australia, and Japan, and while it's sad that she never broke through with most of these hits in the US, perhaps now there's some redress of the situation with her two most recent albums, Fever and Body Language, but this is the better material, people. Following this compilation, Kylie would enter a transition period, trying out new sounds with her self-titled album and Impossible Princess, before returning to disco, but sans Stock-Aitken-Waterman.
Another obscure artist. At least here in the states. Not many know her now. The disc is in great shape. Plays well. Try it for yourself.
This CD makes you want to get off the couch and move! It is fabulous. I've always enjoyed Kylie Minogue's style of music, but I think this is my favorite CD. A great companion on a long road trip.
In 1980's Britain, the most successful pop record producers were the team of Stock, Aitken and Waterman. Many of their singers faded from popularity as quickly as they emerged, leaving a legacy of doubtful importance. A rose above the rest but the star that shone the brightest was Kylie. This is the definitive compilation of Kylie's music from that period, notably including her UK chart-topping duet with Jason Donovan, Especially for you, which originally appeared on one of his albums but did not appear on any of Kylie's original albums.
Nobody who was around in Britain in the late eighties will ever forget the chorus line of her first hit (one of several British number one records) - I should be so lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky - it's the kind of song you either love or hate. Many hate it, and I sometimes feel I ought to - but no, I love it. There was always something about Kylie, even then, that set her apart as something special.
Most of these songs were written and/or produced by Stock, Aitken and Waterman. There are a few covers and it was two of these - Locomotion (the Little Eva sixties classic) and Tears on my pillow (the Little Anthony fifties classic) - that aroused my interest in Kylie's music. They are both brilliant - indeed, Locomotion provided Kylie with her only huge American hit during this period. As to Tears on my pillow, I've heard several versions. Kylie should be proud of her cover, which gave her another huge hit. Give me just a little more time (Chairmen of the board) and Celebration (Kool and the gang) provide further evidence of Kylie's ability to revive oldies and take them high up the charts.
Je ne sais pas porqoui (an English language song despite it's chorus line), Got to be certain, Hand on your heart, Better the devil you know and Wouldn't change a thing are among the other classic UK hits to be found here.
While many will continue to dismiss Kylie (especially these early hits), she is much better than many of the singers she is sometimes compared to, and has proved it by lasting longer than any of her critics thought possible.
Just a warning - if you got into Kylie's music because of her more recent material, you will find that her early music is very different. It is possible to enjoy both her recent music and her early music (as I do) but not everybody does.
