swing out sister

[14] Sophie Ellis-Bextor, ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’

Polite reaction for a polite girl; Junior shimmied her shoulders briefly before refocusing attention on her Rice Krispies. At the end of the track she turned around and asked, “Did you like that song, Mummy?” – and Mummy admitted that she did. In all, a rigorous assessment befitting our faintly schoolmarmy disco diva.

After the misfire of theaudience, Soph was fortunate to meet 12-foot DJ Spiller who helped her find her niche immediately. It’s beyond question that Janet Ellis’s willowy, prim and stunning daughter was born to be a dance-pop queen of some stature – all icy style and no weighty substance – and ‘Groovejet’ sealed the deal. That she attempted to go all Swing Out Sister with solo debut proper ‘Take Me Home’ was a damp squib of a miscalculation, but ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’ was swift to claw back the ground.

It’s an odd single – on the face of it, it’s bloody ridiculous, but if you squint just a little and swallow the haughty “real Posh Spice” shtick whole, then you can pretend it’s a glossy sliver of genius. We’re concentrating hard.

[19] Dusty Springfield, ‘Am I The Same Girl?’

When Junior heard we were about to put a record on, she was expecting something a little more nursery rhyme than this. “My song! My song!” she yelled and fished Party Songs out of the rack. Dusty had no answer, and soon we were bopping away to ‘Old MacDonald’ instead.

It’s a shame, because ‘Am I The Same Girl?’ is bright and airy, despite the yearning of the lyrics – is he going to wise up and rekindle that flame? It sounds like he might. Dusty’s isn’t the only great version of this song; in fact, its register is possibly a little too high for her. It’s not even the only 1969 version, coming as it did hot on the heels of Barbara Acklin’s arguably superior original – but, come on, it’s Dusty. The song was covered again in 1992 by the almighty Swing Out Sister who, although largely faithful to the earlier efforts, added a splendid ad lib at the end – “Have you ever stopped and wondered what it is you’re searching for?” – and disgraced no one in the process. It’s that kind of record.