Kylie Minogue releases her 11th album Aphrodite this week. The follow-up to her 2007 set X, it features wall to wall dance-pop bangers and collaborations with the likes of Calvin Harris, him out of Keane and Jake Shears, and it’s produced by Stuart Price who has sprinkled disco magic over Madonna’s recent Confessions On A Dancefloor and Scissor Sisters’ Night Work. To celebrate the release of Aphrodite, let’s flick through the Kylie catalogue for some highlights and hidden nuggets of her career.
After the initial burst of Kyliemania, when she threw the boiler suit of soap stardom aside for the delights of a top pop career, she started to minx up her sound a bit. Still produced by Stock Aitken & Waterman, Shocked proved a turning point away from the girl-next-door image, and also because it sounded like she was singing something else on the chorus.
When Kylie fled the clutches of SAW, she went down the rave-up, had a bit of a thing with the late Michael Hutchence and quite literally set fire to her past with this, one of the best singles ever to be made* (*in the ‘called Confide In Me category’).
During Kylie’s ‘indie phase’ (AKA being photographed with Primal Scream and having her head done in with a rock by Nick Cave), she also had the Manic Street Preachers write a song for her. It wasn’t one of her biggest hits sadly, and is seldom performed, but we think it’s a cracker.
By 2000, Kylie had had her fill of dallying with unsuitable types, and returned to her comfy ground of pop with Spinning Around and THOSE gold hotpants. Amazing. Tucked away on the accompanying album Light Years was what was one of her greatest singles. Alas it wasn’t released everywhere (eh Britain?) but her fans reckon this Robbie Williams written affair is among her best tunes ever.
Also in 2000, Kylie performed at the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympics. Performing Abba’s evergreen Dancing Queen classic. It is possibly the most fantastic thing to have ever been seen in an Olympic stadium EVER.
Another hidden gem from the Kylie archive is this single The One, which bafflingly was released way after anyone was bothered as the fourth single off her X comeback. Quintessentially Kylie, her post-illness arrival would’ve been slightly more triumphant had this been the first tune back.
And now, in 2010, we have the new single All The Lovers, in which her hero crawls up a mountain of semi-clad sniggers, but alas the official video is unembeddable, so here’s her making Friday Night With Jonathan Ross slightly watchable.
Comments
Add a comment