Eileen's Top 128 Favourite Artists Ever

[straightorbroken]

[straightorbroken]

I love how Marcella cops a feel of Ben at the end. We all would I guess.

[That One]

Ben Shepard is so hot

[Eileen]

Oh yes. Go LOOK for it.

Found it. I can't find a comment on the youtube clip yet that states they're ACTUALLY FAMOUS.

[Mugatu]

Oh, no thanks - I always imagine him to be a shiny Schofield-esque eunuch created in a lab somewhere at ITV.

[Eileen]

Oh you beat me to it.

[Eileen]

I also fancy Ben Shephard, although I know what Mugatu means. He'd be very VANILLA.

[That One]

He looks like he smells amazing though - I'd love to lick him all over

[Andricicle]

*reads and learns*

I'm hoping for nothing short of a Top 5 finish for Erasure (and possibly a Top 50 showing for Andy Bell solo, he HAS released two albums and a handful of singles on his own after all).

"Find Me" (and its all-important bracketed subtitle "Odyssey to Anyoona") is my Jam & Spoon fave as well, sadly unavailable on iTunes though And at the time I never bought a Eurodance compilation with it on CD (I do have it on cassette somewhere), so it still eludes my iTunes

I'm NOT gonna tell you what I want.
I'm NOT gonna show it to you.
Find-a me baby, oh no no. Find-a me baby, oh no no.

Was it Kim off the Vengaboys who actually did the Alice Deejay vocals then? Or some other anonymous studio minion who did BOTH?

[Eileen]

I think Kim was the only vocalist on the Vengaboys records. I think it really was her. Because else she'd sound completely different on Rocket To Uranus.

Andy Bell does not feature, I'm afraid. I own both his albums and Crazy on CD1 and CD2, which only makes a total of 4. You'll have to wait and see where Erasure end up.

[VoR]

God I LOVE Beautiful by Matt Darey & Marcella. Amazing tune.

[straightorbroken]

Where were Jam & Spoon. They were exceptional at their peak, and Find Me would be my fave too - I absolutely adore the instrumental on the album and played it on the loop reading 1984 in its entirety (which suited the book eerily well).

[Eileen]

Where were Jam & Spoon.

You lazy BITCH. Scroll BACK.

[Eileen]

91. ART OF TRANCE



Including 1 disc under the name Poltergeist and 1 under Vicious Circles, it's someone who was at the birth of the trance genre back in the early 90s: Simon Berry, founder of the Platipus label. He's probably most famous for his track Madagascar, which charted THREE TIMES. The Ferry Corsten remix was probably the most famous.

Art of Trance were more Goa Trance / Psy-trance than the europhoric ibiza stuff people probably think of when they think of trance music.

Here's Easter Island:

[Eileen]

90. CHEEKY GIRLS



Probably easier to justify than Crazy Frog. Here are the perennially awful Cheeky Girls with a far too many 9 discs. They turn 30 this year.

Here's one you may have not heard in a while, Cheeky Flamenco:

[Eileen]

89. 187 LOCKDOWN



Consisting of 6 discs under the name 187 Lockdown, 1 as M Factor, 1 as Nu-Birth and 1 as Stella Browne, this garage act consists of Danny Harrison and Julian Jonah. Probably most famous for the track Gunman, their track that they did under the name Nu-Birth: Anytime, is definitely worth a listen.

Here's top 10 hit Kung Fu, with it's hilarious video. In case you're wondering, the band themselves are the construction workers.

[Eileen]

88. ALEXIA



All the newer pics of Alexia make her look like a lesbian. She was gorgeous back in the day. Thankfully, she ditched that awful casio keyboard sound that marked the original versions of her hits for a disco-house-lite sound in the UK. The original of Gimme Love borders on Vanilla in how tacky the backing is.

Most famous for Uh La La La and Gimme Love in the UK, the following was a UK b-side but I think it's amazing. The Summer Is Crazy:

[Eileen]

87. DEEP DISH



Iranian house duo who met and are based in the US. Originally more famous as remixers (the version we all know of De'Lacy's Hideaway is not the original but their remix), they became famous as artists in their own right by the mid 00s. Then they split up and Sharam became the purveyor of cheesy party tunes and Dubfire went hardcore underground producing minimal techno.

I thought Flashdance was a bit poop myself but this is wistful and sublime. Here is Say Hello:

[VoR]

As I mention every time she's brought up, Alexia went on to have some FABULOUS hits in Italian. Her greatest hits set 'Da Grande' is one of my best blind-purchases ever.

I don't think they'd be up your street though Eileen, they're very Eurovision.

[Eileen]

86. IAN VAN DAHL



Probably the original "cheap trance" act, as Castles in the Sky was released in 2001, just before it all kicked off in 2002 with the likes of Flip 'n' Fill.

Muzik magazine at the time stated about their front woman from their second single onwards Annemie Coenen "she's got a man's name and quite frankly she looks like she used to be one". Her features are quite masculine (I think it's the jawline) but in hindsight I think she's actually a statuesque woman.

Apparently the band are now known as AnnaGrace. Who knew?

Here's one you may not have heard for a while, here's fourth single Try:

[Eileen]

As I mention every time she's brought up, Alexia went on to have some FABULOUS hits in Italian. Her greatest hits set 'Da Grande' is one of my best blind-purchases ever.

I don't think they'd be up your street though Eileen, they're very Eurovision.

What sort of Eurovision?

[VoR]

What sort of Eurovision?

Well this is her best IMO. It starts out as a ballad then goes dancey. Reminds me a bit of I Will Love Again by Lara Fabian.

[Eileen]

85. BASSHUNTER



Yeah, I know - don't judge me!

My favourite Basshunter story involves my mate Lee, who you may have seen in my recent pic in the Community Forum. We both know Basshunter's then manager and so he was backstage with them both at Newcastle Pride. Poor little Lee had finally had his anal virginity taken after 21 years on the planet. The manager told Basshunter and so he toasted the loss of his virginity to the whole of the backstage area <3

Here's my favourite, it annoyed Lady Sovereign for an entire night in the Big Brother house, here's All I Ever Wanted:

[Eileen]

That Alexia song is OK. It's probably the sort of track I'd grow to like if I heard it over and over on the Eurovision CD.

[Eileen]

84. 4 HERO



The highest placed act on the countdown to have just 9 discs to their name is Mercury Music Prize-nominated 4 Hero. They had their first Top 75 hit as early as 1990 with the rave track Mr. Kirk's Nightmare but by 1998 (when they got their nomination) they had moved into slick drum 'n' bass with orchestral arrangements. Subsequent albums continued with the orchestra but the productions because a bit more jazz / funk / breakbeat oriented.

Here's the sublime Escape That:

[That One]

Say Hello by Deep Dish is amazing. I also love "Stranded" from '97 but like you I'm not a huge fan of the big hit.

Art of Trance are just basically one (amazing) tune released over and over for me.

Obv. I love mad old Basshunter, even the new (buzz) single Northern Lights which could never have been a hit but I love it.

[Eileen]

Say Hello by Deep Dish is amazing. I also love "Stranded" from '97 but like you I'm not a huge fan of the big hit.

Art of Trance are just basically one (amazing) tune released over and over for me.

Obv. I love mad old Basshunter, even the new (buzz) single Northern Lights which could never have been a hit but I love it.

I've not heard Basshunter's new single.

Have you heard any of Art of Trance's earlier work? It's BRILLIANT. I wouldn't bother with his only other hit Love Washes Over, myself.

[Eileen]

83. DELERIUM



This is the lowest placed act to clock up 10 discs - all singles, I don't own an album. Delerium themselves are a Canadian production duo who actually sound quite a bit like Enigma. The radio edits of their singles, however, were always trance remixes, giving us some of the most iconic hits of the genre.

This one has been a bit forgotten really, probably because Silence came directly after it, but it's by far my favourite. The drop at the end of the chorus is orgasmic. This is Heaven's Earth:

[straightorbroken]

I love Alexia. Number One and Me & U were the songs I'm most surprised weren't given a chance in the UK. Yes, some of the material was formulaic, but she has plenty of amazing material before she went MOR. Her last album Stars was actually quite good, but not dance, and the title track even had an Almighty remix, which was one of the biggest passion killers since That One sent me a link to his recon profile, especially since the Uh La La La edit is so special and did the Spice Up Your Life thing before even the Spice Girls. Her adult-contemporary material isn't all bad at all - The Real Thing is Celine Dion worthy, and Se Un Giono is DIVINE. And I agree about looking like a dyke, but I think she put extensions in for the Stars campaign although not the artwork. She IS working on a new dance album though.

[straightorbroken]

Deep Dish also did a rather FINE job on Billie Ray Martin's Honey.

[Andricicle]

Apparently the band are now known as AnnaGrace. Who knew?

AnnaGrace is just her on her own, after she broke away from the main producers of Ian Van Dahl (who presumably owned the name).

She had a Flemish Top 5 hit a few years back with her finest single to date, "Let the Feelings Go", but she can't get into the sales Top 50 for love nor money anymore now. Still, even at the time of their UK chart success they never did much business in Belgium (unlike Milk Inc., who hold the record for most Top 10 hits in Flanders!).

I've never cared much for her voice, 'singing' anything in the same bored monotone drone (ironic coming from a Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Françoise Hardy fan, I guess, but still ). At least the Kim Wilde soundalike from Lasgo poured a bit of EMOTION into it all!

Also, that Basshunter pic won't load for me. I presume it's one of the ones then?

[straightorbroken]

Find Me is one of my top ten favourite songs of ALL TIME

Okay, you're back in my good books for this. It's an amazing vocal from Plavka. My old best friend's flatmate and I started calling her Plavcoff when I was drunk because of Jam & Spoon (that's Jam AND Spoon), and it stuck

[straightorbroken]

AnnaGrace's Ready To Dare wasn't bad really. There's some Lasgo involvement too. Love Keeps Calling and Should Have Known Better were my favourites.

[Eileen]

Also, that Basshunter pic won't load for me. I presume it's one of the ones then?

Nah, it's just a face shot.

[That One]

What's a recon profile?

[Eileen]

Hark at That One and SorB using MY THREAD to get COCK.

[Eileen]

82. TALL PAUL



Paul Newman (not the actor) had quite a few hits in the mid to late 90s, both under his own name and the pseudonyms Camisra, Escrima and Partizan, which bring his total up to 10 discs.

Here's his biggest (and in my opinion best) hit, sampling Sandy B's Make The World Go Round, here's the noisy Let Me Show You:

[Eileen]

81. FRAGMA



German production outfit consisting of brothers Dirk Duderstadt and Marco Duderstadt and Ramon Zenker, who will be appearing in another act shortly, hit #1 in 2000 with a mash up of their previous hit Toca Me and the acapella vocal to Coco's I Need A Miracle.

They ditched Coco after one single, got in Maria Rubia, ditched her, then continued with Damae from then on.

I'm sure all their big hits are more than familiar to all of you, so here's their best album track, Everybody Knows:

[Kalabaliken]

Everytime You Need Me is my favourite Fragma track, though I liked You Are Alive and Toca's Miracle too. Don't really know much of their other stuff...

[Eileen]

80. KELLY LLORENNA



As if this countdown wasn't going to have a bit of K-Llo. 3 CDs with Flip & Fill and 1 with Force and Styles (but none with N-Trance as she was never given an artist credit) make up her 10 CDs here.

We've said all we can on this bitch already on moopy, so here's my favourite, I Will Love Again (don't tell Sheena):