Kylie.
The ultimate pop princess. She's one of very few acts who've managed to
transition from pop puppet to pop legend. Despite some misguided attempts at
credibility, acting sometimes like a teenager who needed to show the world how
mature she was, she appears to have come to terms with what her audience wants from
her and balance it with enough creativity and style to still be herself.
The key
to Kylie's early success was of course the behemoth that was The Hit Factory.
Stock, Aitken and Waterman are among Britain's top producers, and Mike Stock
one of the best British songwriters ever. Their legacy should be similar to
that of Michael Gordy's Motown. Yet the latter get critical acclaim and radio
play and the former gets derided, endlessly referred to as cheesy, naff,
throwaway, and forgettable, with radio all but banning them. Even 80s radio
stations stay away from them - trying to erase a legacy of literally hundreds
of hits - with very few exceptions which don't stretch much further than Better
the Devil You Know, This Time I Know It's for Real, Never Gonna Give You Up
and, rarely, Say I'm Your Number One.
I always
loved the bit at the beginning of the video for Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi where
Kylie is waiting (stood up by some moron who clearly hasn't realised he's
keeping KYLIE MINOGUE waiting) and - after doing that thing that French people
do of replying in English when you're actually doing your best to speak their
language - a wise "old" French woman offers the timeless advice:
"if a man is involved, do not be so sure". I also absolutely love the
bit in the out-takes of "Kylie - the videos" where we see Kylie
getting her umbrella jammed in the door, but I digress.
All feedback welcome.
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