GHOSTS

Siobhan Donaghy

Step forward Siobhan Donaghy, the red-haired one whose abandonment of the good ship Sugababes gave Heidi Range the opportunity to show what she could do in a job interview. The truth is though, that fate has not been kind to La Donaghy. While her erstwhile bandmates (and now bandmate) have gone from strength to strength, her decision to do the music she wants to do hasn’t been a resounding success thus far. Overrated was a good single that deserved better, the follow-up Twist Of Fate vanished from sight even faster than Toploader did (no mean feat, that) and as for the album… well, it bombed, quite frankly. There’s something not right here, folks, and I’ll tell you what, her luck’s not about to change anytime soon. I mean, look at this single. It won’t be a hit because it’s only coming out on 7” and everyone knows the kids don’t go out and buy records these days unless they’ve got McFly’s faces stamped in them… interesting mental image, think I might dwell on that for a second… right, I’m done. This shouldn’t be a 7”, this should have a full release with all the marketing clout that Parlophone can chuck at it and do you know why this should have a full release? Do you? No, probably not because you haven’t heard it yet, but then it’s my job to tell you so here goes. Because this is amazing, that’s why. It sounds like half of it’s being played backwards, it’s got loads of echo in it, I haven’t got the faintest idea what the lyrics are and it sounds like nothing else around at the moment. These are all good things when you put them together, believe me. I think the idea was to make it sound as haunting as possible, not a bad idea given the title, and it’s one of those songs where you can imagine the singer, the band and the production team listening to the end result and saying to each other “Yeah, I think that’s as good as it can possibly be.” My only gripe is that the version I’ve heard fades out, and a song like this needs a proper ending, but it’s another song that deserves far better than it’s going to get.

TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT

Gina G

Well, this is… er… this… um… hang on… who?…

TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT

Gina G

...well, that’s odd. I could’ve sworn that says Gina G. That can’t be right, though. Let’s try that one more time, my eyes must be deceiving me…

TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT

Gina G

…ooooookay. Alright then, if that’s the way you want to play it, I’ll assume this is really her then, although it’s highly unusual for pop singers to be massive for a while, vanish down the dumper for nearly nine years and then attempt a comeback when nobody knows who the devil you are. Except me obviously, but I write this stuff so I have to at least make it look like I know what I’m talking about, or at least bluff my way through so you don’t notice. For those of you unaware that pop music existed before Wannabe… as an Australian, Gina G was an obvious choice as the United Kingdom entry in the Eurodisney Song Contest way back in 1996. The song was called Ooh Aah… Just A Little Bit and with a title like that, it couldn’t fail to win, and accordingly she finished eighth. Still, it went to No.1 so she did alright out of it. The follow-ups didn’t do so well and her last effort only limped to Number 52 and that, for the time being, was the end of that. Except it’s not. She really has come back. That’s the good news. The bad news is the song. It’s not bad as such but it is bland, identikit, flat-packed house music with nothing that makes it stand out from the crowd, which is a shame really, if you’re making a comeback after so long away you’d want to let people know you were around, wouldn’t you? It’s better than Bananarama’s return last year though, so it’s not all bad news.