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Kim Sozzi "Alone", and other questions

J

Jammerz

OK, Kim Sozzi is a TOTAL hottie and I love her voice. No complaints there at all. I've always liked Heart's power ballad "Alone" and had to play it on piano for some solos way back in high school.

But are remakes the only way that dance music can impact CHR at all? Madonna will always be there because of her name, but just about most of the major dance hits to impact CHR have been remakes (DHT "Listen", Cascada "Everytime", DJ Sammy "Heaven" -- haha, all Robbins releases. Go figure.)

Looks like Kim and Ultra Records is going to follow John Parker and Robbins' route of offering ballad versions of the song. Ah, the covert attack method. LOL

When will dance music start churning out SOLID dance hits that crossover into CHR through their originality alone, and not depend on remakes or lifting infinite loops of samples of older songs?

And why didn't Bodyrockers "I Like The Way" cross over? Strong cut, featured in the Victoria's Secret runway show, featured in the Diet Coke and iPod commercials... It's also on a major label (Mercury/Universal).

Makes me long for the early 90s again. Sigh...






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I agree completely.
I don't mind covers and remixes here and there, but it's pretty bad when that's what a format has to rely on in order to get some attention.
I think it does more harm than good.
If the cover songs are all that gets through to mainstream audiences, the format runs the risk of being seen that way for good.
Unfortunately, I don't know how this can be changed.
There are some good songs out there, but they just don't seem to be breaking through.
People respond to what they respond to I guess.

In defense of Cascada though, it's not really a straight cover.
I had asked about the chorus line a while back and John Parker said that the chorus was used from an old soft rock song (that I later found and it's actually a pretty good song) but the rest is original.
You may have already known that, though.
Anyway, even though it might be considered a partial remake, it's not as obvious as Listen to Your Heart or Heaven.
Play the originals anywhere and people will instanty recognize them.
Play the original Every Time We Youch and probably not many will know who or what it is.
So in a way, the Cascada track did crossover on its own.

> OK, Kim Sozzi is a TOTAL hottie and I love her voice. No
> complaints there at all. I've always liked Heart's power
> ballad "Alone" and had to play it on piano for some solos
> way back in high school.
>
> But are remakes the only way that dance music can impact CHR
> at all? Madonna will always be there because of her name,
> but just about most of the major dance hits to impact CHR
> have been remakes (DHT "Listen", Cascada "Everytime", DJ
> Sammy "Heaven" -- haha, all Robbins releases. Go figure.)
>
> Looks like Kim and Ultra Records is going to follow John
> Parker and Robbins' route of offering ballad versions of the
> song. Ah, the covert attack method. LOL
>
> When will dance music start churning out SOLID dance hits
> that crossover into CHR through their originality alone, and
> not depend on remakes or lifting infinite loops of samples
> of older songs?
>
> And why didn't Bodyrockers "I Like The Way" cross over?
> Strong cut, featured in the Victoria's Secret runway show,
> featured in the Diet Coke and iPod commercials... It's also
> on a major label (Mercury/Universal).
>
> Makes me long for the early 90s again. Sigh...
>
<P ID="signature">______________
Because you dance to disco but you still like rock.</P>
 
> But are remakes the only way that dance music can impact CHR
> at all? Madonna will always be there because of her name,
> but just about most of the major dance hits to impact CHR
> have been remakes (DHT "Listen", Cascada "Everytime", DJ
> Sammy "Heaven" -- haha, all Robbins releases. Go figure.)

No, dance records can climb to the top without being remakes and it's be a lot easier if some programmers weren't so anti-dance. We have charted a bunch of those over the years too.

Let me ask you this about remakes, would you consider every Hip Hop record that contains a sample, a remake? Is the new Rihanna "SOS" record a remake? Not really, they have taken elements of the original and done their own thing with it. Same with Cascada. "Everytime we touch" only uses the chorus and the verses are original. The music is totally different. So in my book it's the same as the above examples and should be consider in a different catagory than straight up covers like "Heaven" and "Listen To Your Heart". ;)

Thanks for noticing that we put out hits too. :)

jp
 
> > But are remakes the only way that dance music can impact
> CHR
> > at all? Madonna will always be there because of her name,
> > but just about most of the major dance hits to impact CHR
> > have been remakes (DHT "Listen", Cascada "Everytime", DJ
> > Sammy "Heaven" -- haha, all Robbins releases. Go figure.)
>
>
> No, dance records can climb to the top without being remakes
> and it's be a lot easier if some programmers weren't so
> anti-dance. We have charted a bunch of those over the years
> too.
>
> Let me ask you this about remakes, would you consider every
> Hip Hop record that contains a sample, a remake? Is the new
> Rihanna "SOS" record a remake? Not really, they have taken
> elements of the original and done their own thing with it.
> Same with Cascada. "Everytime we touch" only uses the
> chorus and the verses are original. The music is totally
> different. So in my book it's the same as the above
> examples and should be consider in a different catagory than
> straight up covers like "Heaven" and "Listen To Your Heart".
> ;)
>
> Thanks for noticing that we put out hits too. :)
>
> jp
>

Hey John, maybe this would be a good time to think about trying to push onto CHR/Pop radio older Robbins releases like some of Ian Van Dahl or Lasgo's records. Both acts have a similar sound to DHT and Cascada, have big hooks, and aren't focused on doing coverts. How many CHR stations played "Castles In The Sky" for example? Someone on this board noticed that The Zone in Norfolk recently started playing it (as well as a Lasgo tune).

Again, if I may revert back to 1995 when 2 Unlimited's "Get ready For This" charted pretty big on CHR/Pop radio...a good 4 years after its first release and push onto radio stations.
 
That track is smoking!


I dont care if it is a remake. If its good Ill play it and add it into rotation. I agree with John about Hip-hop. Most of it is resampled so that to me is a remake as well. There are a ton of great dance tracks out there. Programmers have to realize that and start adding them. There is a lot of junk on Top 40. Some good dance tunes would help make Top 40 hot again
 
> Hey John, maybe this would be a good time to think about
> trying to push onto CHR/Pop radio older Robbins releases
> like some of Ian Van Dahl or Lasgo's records. Both acts have
> a similar sound to DHT and Cascada, have big hooks, and
> aren't focused on doing coverts. How many CHR stations
> played "Castles In The Sky" for example? Someone on this
> board noticed that The Zone in Norfolk recently started
> playing it (as well as a Lasgo tune).
>
> Again, if I may revert back to 1995 when 2 Unlimited's "Get
> ready For This" charted pretty big on CHR/Pop radio...a good
> 4 years after its first release and push onto radio
> stations.


Not really something that we would do, especially when we have so many great records about to come out. Also there really isn't a great shot of it working, especially because those groups were already so big in NYC. Z100 played "Castles..." and "Something", etc.

My next move is to get radio ready for "Waterman" by Olav Basoski featuring Michie One. ;)

jp
 
I love "Waterman!" What a STRONG record! Whoa! The hook is a killa!<P ID="signature">______________
Rob Austin
Vice President
JamTraxx Media Inc.
http://www.jamtraxxmedia.com
"Major Market Solutions for Your Radio Station's Needs!"</P>
 
Maybe by using the familiarity of the older songs, the format may draw more attention to itself, eventually developing hits of its own without the sampling, etc.

Programmers are looking for those mass appeal songs, and maybe this is just another way to give them just that. Listeners, as a result, may already feel connected to the song, since they've heard it in a previous form, which could lead to greater performance in the call out.<P ID="signature">______________
Rob Austin
Vice President
JamTraxx Media Inc.
http://www.jamtraxxmedia.com
"Major Market Solutions for Your Radio Station's Needs!"</P>
 
That's a good one.
Hopefully they'll pronounce the name right, haha.
>
> My next move is to get radio ready for "Waterman" by Olav
> Basoski featuring Michie One. ;)
>
> jp
>
<P ID="signature">______________
Because you dance to disco but you still like rock.</P>
 
> Let me ask you this about remakes, would you consider every
> Hip Hop record that contains a sample, a remake? Is the new
> Rihanna "SOS" record a remake? Not really, they have taken
> elements of the original and done their own thing with it.
> Same with Cascada. "Everytime we touch" only uses the
> chorus and the verses are original. The music is totally
> different. So in my book it's the same as the above
> examples and should be consider in a different catagory than
> straight up covers like "Heaven" and "Listen To Your Heart".
> ;)
>
> Thanks for noticing that we put out hits too. :)

Okay, I agree that "Everytime We Touch" is NOT a remake. I put together the message quickly between producing mix sets for RadioMixes Dance. While scheduling tracks, I noticed so many remakes/samples/covers were popping up in my scheduling program: Judy Torres "Faithfully" (which is a fun track by the way), Hi-Tack "Say Say Say", Cabin Crew "A Star To Fall", Kim Sozzi "Alone", Deep Dish featuring Stevie Nicks "Dreams", etc.

I was just waxing for the days back in the 90s when artists like CeCe Peniston, Lisette Melendez, Black Box, 49ers, Lydell Townsell, and so many other dance artists were making major impacts with original dance tracks on CHR. It was about 1994 when alternative came in to drown the happy sounds of dance with angst, loud guitars, grunge, and sarcasm. Then hip-hop rose to even greater heights, some of it with the wannabe gangsta image. Bring back more of that happy vibe to CHR, dammit!

Alright, my B&M'ing are over. Back to work!
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>>>Bring back more of that happy vibe to CHR, dammit!>>>

An unpredictable sound that included dance as a key element made CHRs more fun and interesting to listen to... Bring it back.<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by saladdressing on 03/04/06 07:20 AM.</FONT></P>
 
We've been trying for 10 years. ;)

But it's really up to radio to support the sound.

jp
 
Radio is in a very SAFE state currently. Let's be honest. With research and proper extrapolation there of, there is no reason why a station can fail in its target demo. Thus, you do not have PDs and MDs that are willing to bet the bank and jeopardize their high salary positions. They would prefer to test textures that have been winning the battle from familiar artists who are marketable by forums such as MTV and rarely think about a dance record UNLESS another station has taken a chance on it and it has proven itself in market after market, i.e. DJ SAMMY, KYLIE MINOGUE, DIRTY VEGAS, D.H.T., and Cascada.

In this day and age, it's very rare to see a programmer get a CD or MP3 download that moves them so much that it's popped into regular rotation in a matter of 15-30 minutes. It's all about testing and making sure that the song appeals to the target demo. Radio has given itself so many safety nets in an effort to make sure that it doesn't fail. There are millions upon millions of ad dollars at stake!<P ID="signature">______________
Rob Austin
Vice President
JamTraxx Media Inc.
http://www.jamtraxxmedia.com
"Major Market Solutions for Your Radio Station's Needs!"</P>
 
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