Back to 1990 today and a hands in the air piano rave moment from N-Joi. The vocal track on the original version of the song was made up of samples from 3 different sources- Gwen Guthrie, Soul II Soul and Darlene Davis- which singer Saffron mimed for TV and sang live for performances, as seen here on Top Of The Pops...
Anthem
Saffron went on to find fame as the singer of Republica, a group that included a former member of Flowered Up (Tim Dorney on keyboards) and a former member of Soul Family Sensation (Jonathan Male on guitar). Back in the late 90s I wrote some reviews and articles for a Manchester based magazine and got to interview Saffron (on the phone not face to face). I don't think the Saffron interview was published (probably because my interviewing skills were limited and the whole thing was a bit uncomfortable). Later on I co-interviewed Bez in a bar called The Temple Of Convenience. He was promoting his book Freaky Dancing. This interview went much better. Bez offered to take us out for the night with, and I quote, 'some classical music fella and the King of Cumbia squeezing fuck out of a massive squeezebox'. His opening gambit when we all sat down was to tell me that I looked like 'I smoked loads of smack' (which I didn't I hasten to add). Good fun and highly entertaining. Happy days.
Wow, a night out with Bez. I think I'd be intrigued but a little bit scared at the prospect...
ReplyDeleteThat's it exactly Robster.
ReplyDeleteAnthem, one of the well, anthems really of 1990. I remember seeing them do this live on some Channel 4 programme which also had Jam on The Mutha on it and other Balaeric bands from that year.
ReplyDeleteRepublica were pish
Fantastic tale, SA.
ReplyDeleteAs for the clip, wow Saffron is a real ball of energy! I confess I only knew her from Republica and didn't know she had that past. Republica headlined a small festival this year that's held a few hundred yards from my house (as the crow flies) and I heard the whole set from my back garden (really enjoyed it actually!)
Someone ought to publish a book of off-the-cuff Bez remarks. I still remember his classic quote from The Happy Mondays Do Most Haunted: "there's some proper goings on going on".
ReplyDeleteI'm enjoying the current run of blog illos, for obvious reasons.