#soon! Part Un - The 60s-00s Girl Band Debut Breakthrough Rate

D

Deleted member 29256

the terrible accents, the weird lyrics and the utterly bored singing style.

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londonrain

Staff member
But that's what it's all about? This sir wants more (talking, walking and what ever the 70ies thought you can't name) and she just very politely tells him off.

You really can't blame them for their accent, they are Spanish?
I guess I just find it hard to really enjoy the song, especially as it’s meant to be an uptempo track. Perhaps if I had nostalgia attached to it I’d feel differently.

I can definitely blame them for their accent. Shakira is Colombian and has always had a strong accent when she speaks, but I cannot imagine her singing “boooogie voooogie”.
 
D

Deleted member 26234

I can definitely blame them for their accent
Did you ever listen to Frida in ABBA? Sometimes even Agnetha?

Oh my god this is so incorrect and discriminating. How annoyed do you have to be? I'm sorry I love that.

But you're right again: in my case there is much nostalgia applied to this song ...
 
I guess I just find it hard to really enjoy the song, especially as it’s meant to be an uptempo track. Perhaps if I had nostalgia attached to it I’d feel differently.

I can definitely blame them for their accent. Shakira is Colombian and has always had a strong accent when she speaks, but I cannot imagine her singing “boooogie voooogie”.

I don't have any nostalgia attached to it and I still think it's a 10! I think the accents actually add to the song's charm.
 
He/Him
And the controversial song that got all the way into the top 10 is!!!!












































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#9
00s Bronze Medalist
t.A.T.u – All The Things She Said

Average Score: 8.269
Highest Score: 11 x 2 (@GhettoPrincess, @Remorque) 10 x 10 (@saviodxl, @SuperNerd, @spillett, @soratami, @Sprockrooster, @Untouchable Ace, @tylerc904, @ufint, @unnameable, @DJHazey)
Lowest Score: 0 x 1 (@ohnostalgia)​

If you had told me when we first started that t.A.T.u would have steamrolled the competition so effortlessly, I would have been gobsmacked! Seriously, the girls were never at any point outside the top 15! The Spice Girls and All Saints were not in the top 30 but t.A.T.u were firmly in the top 10. @ohnostalgia was one of the last to vote and the zero really derailed t.A.T.u’s plans for a top 5 finish, so here we have them at #9!

Now, what to think of All The Things She Said? I have to admit, it is undeniably quite an intense bop. I would even say I love it? It’s not quite a 10 since it does go into overdrive in a lot of spots but I cannot deny it is an extremely well crafted song. The girls emote this sentiment (I felt growing up, as a gay man) of confusion, frustration with oneself when faced with attraction to the same sex very well, this is where the intensity kinda works. The 'shouty' parts that have a lot of people calling for them do work in this context, I recall being a teenager and having so many different feelings I wanted to address about my orientation and not knowing which way to go. Now, just because I can relate with my own experience, doesn't mean others do or have to like the song, in fact Ellen DeGeneres is no fan!

What is a little disappointing perhaps is that this did not genuinely come from the heart but rather was a calculated gimmick to make the girls stand out with this subject matter? A few of you might think it is a little hypocritical of me to have a debrief on all the damaging subtext of Don’t Cha and not All The Thing She Said but I think the message rings true in its depiction? It captures the sense of what I went through in a relatable way without a false-sounding result? Very odd to try and describe, I must say!

All The Things She Said isn’t only controversial in its message but in its video as well. The music video was banned in several countries due to its depiction of underage lesbianism (including having the girls in school girl outfits for full on fetishism too to go with the fact they were 14 at the time of shooting). Many channels cut the scenes of the girls kissing when screening it for a number of years til more recent times. The song itself is one of the most successful from a Russian act, reaching the top spot in several countries including Australia and the UK, and reaching the Billboard Top 20. It is also the first Russian video on YouTube to get a VEVO certification for over 100 million views. All The Things She Said was also ranked #452 in Blender’s 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born & #8 of AOL’s Top 100 Pop Songs Of The Decade.

t.A.T.u is made up of Lena Katina and Julia Volkova (originally of Neposedi) and were formed in 1999 by Ivan Shapovalov and Alexander Voitinskiy. They went through the recording of their first album and released the Russian version of it and All The Things She Said to huge success locally. This prompted them to record the English versions we are more familiar with on our side of the world. The girls would continue to be successful (although never to the same degree as with All The Things She Said) until embarking on solo projects in 2011 and then reuniting in 2012.

Over to PopJustice!

DJHazey (10) is quite a stan for them - Definitely in the running for my coveted 11 on the back 'THIS. IS. NOT. ENOUGH." alone. Wow what a scintillating moment that continues to be for me. I love their music so much. "How Soon is Now?" and "All About Us" are both in my Top 100 songs of all-time and the former IS in my Popjustice Top 20. Unnameable (10) has some interesting perspective for us – this had instant impact when it was released. I finally watched “Finding t.a.t.u.” on DVD this year and its madness didn’t disappoint.

Ufint (10) is a really big fan - YATH at this being such a ginormous bop. Probably one of my most listened-to songs in the last decade. Mess at me learning most of their songs in Russian thinking that I had the right pronunciation and knew what they were singing… Iheartpoptarts (8) draws a fascinating and quite true comparison - The ‘…Baby One More Time’ of the post-pop princess era. I don’t really check for that era, but you know. DominoDancing (8) is very insightful for us - Disregarding the whole controversy about image and marketing, this song has one hell of a chorus, and Trevor Horn punched up the original version's production a good deal.

Untouchable Ace (10) is here for the production - The production is spot on. Trouble In Paradise (8) finds the production a little dated on the other hand - 8th Grade Me really wants to give this a 10, if not an 11, but let’s be real, this is wicked dated. Filippa (7) is on the inauthentic call out trail again! - The song sounds as fresh as it sounded then. No comment to all the stories around those girls. Just another example of an artificial product.

Spillett (10) may not know much about the backstory - (amazing. credible pop). Saviodxl (10) bopped regardless - Repetitive chorus worked for the fake lesbians! I remember listening to this and dramatizing in my room, specially in the part they sing "yes I lost my miiiiind". ComeOnGloria (6.9) rates based on the song and the song alone - Heard the song before I saw the video or learned anything aboutt he performers.

Riiiiiiiii (8.9) controversially reaches into his ohnostalgia for a score very unlike hers - Feel guilty scoring this one so high because of their whole backstory, but the song + video is pure MTV nostalgia. They were so fascinating back then. Kermit_The_Frog (8) is all about the glass half full - All of the harrowing real-life drama aside, I can still appreciate this for what it is. A bloody good song. Zar-Unity (7) is back to favourite scores - A interesting mix of rock and electropop. Nice kissing! Tech: 4 Taste: 3 = 7 points.

GhettoPrincess (11) takes us away with this one as our 11er! - The controversy mixed with one of my favourite pop songs ever. The music video is great and it's genuinely a song full of powerful & beautiful moments. The production is top notch and it'll always be their best in my eyes. I always love Lena's "this is not enough!" moment.










And thus the 00s battle for the crown is a Sugababes vs Girls Aloud one!

On *MY* PopJustice???
How unexpected!!


Who are you all rooting for? (Yes I know - Baccara!)
 
He/Him
Very happy this managed to stay in the Top 10 despite that zero. Rooting for Girls Aloud to win the battle of the 00's but not quite so sure with all those #soon hints @berserkboi has planted in this rate.
Beauty like you never saw! Take your number, never call!

This has been in my head all day now and look at this funny thing I just found on their wiki page:

According to Fraser McAlphine from BBC, "About a Girl" rivals "Get Sexy" in terms of the overall noise levels.[8]
 
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londonrain

Staff member
Thank you, @ohnostalgia. Clearly I should have been harsher with my score, especially with that two-note chorus that is screamed all the way through without really seeming to evoke real emotion.

For those of you in the back:

LESBIANISM.

IS.

NOT.

A.

GIMMICK.

(And we should not be rewarding people for pretending that it is... I mean, hello, I Kissed A Girl.)

Also, bloody hell at the idea that their version of How Soon Is Now is better than the original by the Smiths or even the cover by Love Spit Love.
 
D

Deleted member 26234

For those of you in the back:

LESBIANISM.

IS.

NOT.

A.

GIMMICK.

(And we should not be rewarding people for pretending that it is... I mean, hello, I Kissed A Girl.)

Also, bloody hell at the idea that their version of How Soon Is Now is better than the original by the Smiths or even the cover by Love Spit Love.

I really emphasize all that you say. Most of all because some statements of Julia Wolkowa are very doubtful if not homophobic. And apparently she ruined her voice with all this shouting ...at least Lena said that in an interview that the shouting was something they were told to do but she didn't if I remember that correctly ...

I love How Soon Is Now from the Smiths or Love Spit Love but t.a.t.u's version completely destroys what the song is all about - hoping, despairing, being lonely ...

There are three songs 'though I really like: "All the Things She Said" and "All About Us". Two songs that are very similar, I know ... I like Lena's voice on "All About Us". The third song is Lena's farewell song "Never Forget".
 
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londonrain

Staff member
t.A.T.u.'s version of "How Soon Is Now?" is superior in every way possible though. Sorry bout it.
I’m not really a Smiths stan myself (and the less said about Morrissey the better) but I felt the Love Spit Love version did a better job than the tATu version of capturing some of the rawness of the original while also delivering on the vocal front.

 
he/him
On the faux-lesbianism situation. I was pointed to their music after they had any popularity and didn't know anything about it until well after I'd become a big fan of their music. Obviously all of it is troubling of course, but I still can't help but enjoy the music aside from it.

I had "How Soon Is Now?" at my #12 placing when we were asking to send in our Top 20 songs of all-time. I just think something about their 'shouting' work best for me and how it plays with the lyrics and the story. It almost comes off sounding like a defense mechanism or someone snapping after being pushed or questioned about how they act or why they are closed-off or if it is hinted that someone thinks something is wrong with you and you only react with the "shut your mouth.." part when in all reality you know something is wrong with you, or must be because you always end up alone and have nobody. That situation where all the people in your life spend more time trying to fix you instead of just offering their love and support because you're human like everybody is. That descriptive storyline in the bridge of going to the club and ending up home in your room alone, wanting to die always kills me too. I don't know there's just something that captures the feelings perfectly from their mixture of defiant shouts and the melancholy parts inbetween.

tldr = I love the song.
 

ohnostalgia

Staff member
She/her
but t.A.T.u were firmly in the top 10. @ohnostalgia was one of the last to vote and the zero really derailed t.A.T.u’s plans for a top 5 finish

I feel accomplished. The whole concept is utter trash. I briefly went to a coming out support group and a member brought up the whole fake lesbians craze of the early 00s and how damaging it was to her. This song definitely got a negative shoutout.

And yeah.... I’m not really thrilled about gay men saying it feels true to them. But I don’t want to get in an argument about this for the hundredth time. I’ll just say it’s disheartening when people in your community don’t see how hurtful something is to others in the same community.
 
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