Mixed Pop Groups & Duos Rate • WINNER ANNOUNCED
- Thread starter Doodvid
- Start date
Hastily adds to post...
she/her
*looking through the thread.*
Did you option PJSC' rIVerse and Loote?
He/Him
*looking through the thread.*
Did you option PJSC' rIVerse and Loote?
These are the adverts I am getting on Facebook now! Can I blame you? Ddddd
he/him
*high five* we know our turn-of-the-century hip hop artists.
he/him
I wonder if that's why this was around the time Ace of Base took off.
Also, we did this song dirty!
he/him
10 months later...
“Maybe it's a lonely life but there's…”
#70
Deuce - ‘No Surrender’
Average score: 6.795
High scorers: @Doodvid (10) @idratherjack (10) @berserskboi (9)
Low scorers: @DJHazey (1.3) @j267 (3.5) @iheartpoptarts (4)
Notable achievements:
Reached #29 in the UK singles chart in 1996
Released in Australia in 1997 as a remix (and reached #115) with a new male dancer replacing Craig on tour
First effort by Mike Stock (and Matt Aitken) at dabbling in mixed pop groups
Drew on points with #71 but achieved more 10 point scores
Ok, this one hurts a bitsy.
I mean, is it objectively the worst of the four Deuce singles? Yes.
Do Stock & Aitken fundamentally get the whole premise of the group wrong? Yes.
Does the act basically fall apart without the powerhouse vocals of ex lead singer Kelly? Yes.
What even is this genre - 'MOR Gary Barlow-lite' maybe?
In spite of all this, I just can't shake my love for 'No Surrender' although its placing in this rate seems fair considering the competition (we won't dwell on the fact that it would've placed significantly higher had it not been for one ballot but anyway) This single was supposed to be Deuce's big return to the charts 10 months after the release of their last track 'On The Bible' and the album 'On The Loose!' but well...ouch.
Despite a more 'mature sound' and look, new girl Mandy flashing a nip through her crocheted top on the free poster with CD1, and Paul shoe-horning the new catchphrase "Deuce are back and there's NO SURRENDER" into every damn interview, the long break had killed off any momentum especially now Spice Girls and Gina G had conquered the pop-scene. A frustrated Craig, with a defiant new brunette 'do (!), left just after the single crashed out of the charts and, ignoring a brief reprieve in Australia 12 months later, that was that for the foursome.
WHY DIDN'T THEY RELEASE ONE OF THE REMIX EDITS INSTEAD?
I did ask Mike Stock this once in a question and answer feature years ago on his old website and he dismissd it as manager Tom Watkins' decision.
Voters say:
@Doodvid 10
I remember literally running into Woolworths to buy the CDs on the Monday they were released and was happy to see the store had predicted them as being a new entry at #20 on their made-up chart. That Sunday I didn’t bother listening from #40 - #20 on the Radio 1 chart show thinking, “PAH! Deuce would never miss the Top 20”. As the countdown progressed I got more and more excited. Eventually Mark Goodier reached the #2 announcement and for a split second I thought Deuce had made #1…only for the full rundown to reveal I’d missed their new entry at #29 AND the host mis-pronounced the title as ‘Surrender’. Tragic.
@berserkboi 9
Very pretty little track!
@Ezz 7
Chorus could do with being more than 2 words
@Hudweiser 6.5
I prefer the Down to Earth poppers o'clock mix. Really nice backing vocals though.
@DJHazey 1.3
Oh hello Stock and Aitken, this does sound like one of Kylie’s dull album tracks from the 80’s, if they had male vocals.
There are no dull Kylie album tracks from the 80's.
The Motiv-8 style mix released in Australia
(I always worried they'd get cricks in their necks thanks to that choreo...)
Typically shambolic Deuce live performance in Oz with dance moves for days, a random new member (Calvin or Clinton), and Paul's microphone being turned on unexpectedly mid-song:
Paul having to pretend to fancy Mandy:
Behind the scenes of the music video:
Old Popjustice forum says:
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Ouch! Now this one hurts!
Admittedly I did base my 10 on the Ace Radio Mix (hey it was the single version somewhere!) but I love Deuce so much I'd have given the UK mix a 9 anyway. I remember my excitement that they were back after 10 months (which in pop years felt like an eternity to young me). It's a shame Stock & Aitken didn't give them something a bit more poppers o'clock like Nicki French's Total Eclipse of the Heart or Newton's Sky High and that they didn't persevere and record a second album at Love This. Hopefully we won't be seeing their other 3 singles until the Top 20!
Admittedly I did base my 10 on the Ace Radio Mix (hey it was the single version somewhere!) but I love Deuce so much I'd have given the UK mix a 9 anyway. I remember my excitement that they were back after 10 months (which in pop years felt like an eternity to young me). It's a shame Stock & Aitken didn't give them something a bit more poppers o'clock like Nicki French's Total Eclipse of the Heart or Newton's Sky High and that they didn't persevere and record a second album at Love This. Hopefully we won't be seeing their other 3 singles until the Top 20!
he/him
Me again (sorry - more back to back posting)
Some Deuce related bits & pieces from the archives related to ‘No Surrender’.
“Lovely” outfits:
The ‘risqué’ free poster that came with the CD:
My prized huge signed advertising poster that came through after I’d written to them (!) to say how sad I was about the break-up:
Some reviews that suggested maybe the reviewers had been sent dance remixes instead of the released version:
And finally (phew) ex member Craig’s scathing interview published just a month after the band split which he’s since claimed was his way of rebelling!
Some Deuce related bits & pieces from the archives related to ‘No Surrender’.
“Lovely” outfits:
The ‘risqué’ free poster that came with the CD:
My prized huge signed advertising poster that came through after I’d written to them (!) to say how sad I was about the break-up:
Some reviews that suggested maybe the reviewers had been sent dance remixes instead of the released version:
And finally (phew) ex member Craig’s scathing interview published just a month after the band split which he’s since claimed was his way of rebelling!
he/him
Oh yes there damn well are dull album tracks for Kylie in the 80's, in fact most of them are and I stand by that. This song and pretty much all of Deuce should be gone by now as that band didn't hit with me at all. No regrets!
Just look at the last Kylie Discography rate, my opinion is far from a solo effort.
Just look at the last Kylie Discography rate, my opinion is far from a solo effort.
he/him
Oh wait, this is an edit of the mix I have. A definite 10.
Did the not-Paul and Kelly members actually do their own singing too?
he/him
Yeah, the Australian ‘Ace Radio Edit’ was a chopped up version of the ‘Down To Earth Mix’.
I think they should have released this edit of the ‘Dream Mix’ in the UK which kinda felt a bit Robert Miles-y (it was only available on the European release, picked up from Lucky Records in Paris). Please excuse the graphics - I’d just discovered Movie Maker…
Regarding the other members, let’s say I think the microphones were turned down for a reason. Case in point: listen carefully and this backing track retains either Lisa or Mandy on the chorus and…I…
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