THAT'S ALL RIGHT

Elvis Presley

It's difficult for me to express to you just how important this song is as regards the history of music today. That's not because this song is massively important, but more because I came into the world twenty years after this was recorded so I'm not overly familiar with fifties music. Now, I'm not a big fan of Elvis Presley, it has to be said, but I do know the world of popular music would be very different if he hadn't popped into the Sun Recording Studio fifty years ago to see if he could make a better singer than truck driver. For example, look at the sort of thing that was making the charts before he turned up. The Banjo's Back In Town - it's all there in the title. Never Do A Tango With An Eskimo - dear God. Piano Medley No. 114 - at this point your reviewer holds his head in his hands and starts to weep. This is the best one though - How Much Is That Doggie In The Window actually spent a full week as Britain's best selling-single in April 1953. All of a sudden I can now understand why Elvis had to make it big. He had no choice. He along with Buddy Holly, Bill Haley and all the rest helped clear away all the dead wood that was making the airwaves safe, friendly and uninteresting and helped usher in a new era that has ultimately given us an array of brand new dead wood (lest we forget, Gareth Gates put a gun to the head of Suspicious Minds and mercilessly pulled the trigger). Everybody's got to start somewhere and this is where it all began and there's not much to it. One singer, one electric guitar and (I think) a double-bass and it's all over before the two minute mark. It's not bad though. It's not what I'm used to, but it passes the time and it has a very different sound to songs he put out not long after like Jailhouse Rock and Heartbreak Hotel. This is edgier and more off-the-cuff and, to be honest, it sounds like three blokes performing a song purely because they like music and at the end of the day, when you take away the royalty cheques, the mansion in Luton and the early morning appearances on kids telly, that is what being in the music business should all be about.

JIGGA JIGGA

Scooter

It's difficult for me to express to you just how important this song is as regards the history of music today. Because it's not. Perhaps if this was released ten years ago it'd sound cutting-edge, it's practically a tribute to rave records from the early nineties albeit with the usual slow bit in the middle that all Scooter singles seem to have these days. On the bright side, at least the token female guest star doesn't sound like a smurf on helium this time, but unfortunately it still sounds as though it takes more imagination to read a newspaper from back to front than it does to create a Scooter single. I should've known what I was letting myself in for from the title, but no, I still went in with an open mind. Silly me.

SPITTING GAMES

Snow Patrol

Let's not mess about. I like this one. It moves along at a decent pace, contains enough ideas and original thinking to warrant repeated listening and there's a bit at the end that sounds like the singer and the guitarist are standing at either end of a deserted warehouse. Imagine if the guitar wasn't plugged in, then imagine that the microphone is at the guitarist's end, so all you hear from the singer is a faint echo. That's inspired, that is. Definitely the best single off the album so far for me.

SUMMER'S HERE

Magnus

Soothing, mellow, relaxing, soulful, this would be great if it didn't have daft electronic things done to the vocals. I can't stand it when they do that (see Cher, Eiffel 65 et al), but even with that downside, this is still good. And summery. Which, given the title, is quite handy.