London Punk Rock 70s Under Neon: "As My Wife Says" by The Only Ones (1978)

The Last Days of House Weekly Track: 'Insomnia (Monster Mix)' by Faithless (1995)

So now this is happening...posts for Dance/House hits from new to old so get ready. To start it off is a classic 1995 track by British electronica/house/dance group Faithless called Insomnia (Monster Mix). Now I am sure there are heaps of remixes and versions, but the Monster Mix is the one I am preaching about today. Faithless originated out of London, England and consisting of members Maxi Jazz, Sister Bliss and Rollo, and according to their Wikipedia Page they have actually officially split up just this month of April 2011. The group has sold over 15 million records worldwide and this particular remix version comes off of their 1996 release album titled Reverence. So that is the first dance-house-trance track to be featured here, but many more to come, and hopefully even some new ones, and that's all she wrote..

Feature Song of The Day = 'Dancing With The Devil' by Wolf Gang (2011)

Today's feature song is Dancing With The Devil, by English indie-rock band Wolf Gang. Wolf Gang is a relatively new London-based project headlined by singer/guitarist/songwriter Max McElligott. Dancing With The Devil is a single off of their self-titled EP, which was just released in the USA on March 15th, 2011. Wolf Gang have also recorded their first LP titled Suegro Faults, which is set to be released sometime in mid-2011, so stay tuned for that, I know I am.

Song for November 22nd, 2010: "Palaces of Montezuma" by Grinderman

And today's song is...Palaces of Montezuma by English rock-band Grinderman. Grinderman was formed back in 2006 in London, UK and it consists of members Nick Cave ( on vocals, guitar, organ, and piano), Warren Ellis (bouzouki, Mandocastor, violin, viola, acoustic guitar, and backing vocals), Martyn P. Casey (bass guitar, guitar, and backing vocals) and Jim Sclavunos (drums, percussion, and backing vocals). All members in Grinderman were also members in the former group called Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, basically it was a name change. Palaces of Montezuma comes off of their latest album release (September 2010) titled Grinderman 2. Nick Cave has those very unique sounding vocals, and the band is obviously multi-talented, so check them out!

Song of the Day for September 15th, 2010: "The Bike Song" by Mark Ronson & The Business Intl

And the song of the day is....The Bike Song, by English guitarist/producer Mark Ronson & The Business Intl. Now I have done a previous post for his recent hit song titled Bang, Bang, Bang, so to expedite this process the rest is just a simple copy and paste from the previous post: Mark Ronson is known for working with other artists, primarily as a DJ and producer in producing hit pop-hop and electronica tracks such as his 2003 release Ooh Wee (feat. Ghostface Killah, Nate Dogg & Trife) which appeared on the Hitch movie soundtrack that year. Mark Ronson has released 3 studio albums, and has won a BRIT Award for Best Male Artist in 2008. The Bike Song comes off of his still unreleased Record Collection album, due to come out sometime in this year of 2010.This song features singer Kyle Falconer from indie rock band The View and rapper Spank Rock. This video is pretty cool, especially the beginning bits with the flashing lights reminiscent of japanese animation and 80's cartoons the likes of Voltron and Thundercats. It is a bit different from his last one though, not quite as instantly catchy, but it will grow on you. The song itself is set to be released on September 19th, 2010 in the UK, so it will probably be on itunes and amazon by then. Enjoy!

#75 of VJ Samsonite's Top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown!

Here we are again folks, now presenting #75 of the Countdown, and the song is...Tonight I'm Yours (Don't Hurt Me), by British singer/songwriter Rod Stewart. Rod Stewart comes out of England, and is of English and Scottish decent. Stewart was born in London way back in 1945 at the close of WWII, and he started his music career with the Jeff Beck Group in the late 1960's and early 1970's. In 1969 he also officially began a solo career with his first debut album. Stewart has had something like 62 hit singles over the 5 decades of his music career and he was voted the 33rd Greatest Singer of All Time by Q Magazine. Stewart has a memorable voice and has always had a memorable hairstyle. Tonight I'm Yours (Don't Hurt Me) is a song that came into my awareness not all that long ago, but it was the title track for his 1981 album of the same name. The album and the song were some of the first of Stewart's where he began adding some synth-pop and an 80's New Wave flavor to his sound which so defined his 80's musical style, and was different from his previous work for sure. Tonight I'm Yours reached #11 on the US Pop Albums Chart, and ended up going platinum. The album generated 5 big singles, and incidentally the biggest hit single from that album was Young Turks which reached #5 on the Pop Singles and Mainstream Rock Charts. Well, enough data, now for the song, enjoy yourself some Rod the Bod!
Rod Steward - Tonight I`m yours - MyVideo

VJ Samsonite's "Hot New Music" song of the day is....

...Odessa, by Canadian electronica artist Caribou. Caribou is a one-man-band by the name of Daniel Victor Snaith, originally from London, Ontario. His original stage-name was Manitoba up til 2004 when he was threatened with a lawsuit by Richard "Handsome Dick" Manitoba. Oh my, you have just got to love us Americans and our extremely litigious ways, I mean can't we all just get along (oops better not say that, I might get sued). Which reminds me, did you know that the dude who does boxing and pro-wrestling intros actually owns the copyright to his (ready to rumble) speech?? How far is too far folks?? Anyways, getting on with the song of the day...it comes off of Caribou's 20th album called Swim, released in April of 2010 (this very month!). The music video is a bit eerie at best, and the song is definitely different. Blah blah blah! (oh crapola, there's another lawsuit waiting to happen, I can already see the Lawyers flying lazy circles.)

#92: of VJ Samsonite's Top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown!

Welcome back to VJ Samsonite's top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown! Today we are presenting #92 of the top 100 countdown!And the song is...Dancing With Tears In My Eyes, by 80's British new-wave rock band Ultravox!. According to wikipedia they were one of the primary bands involved in the Brit-electro-pop of the early 1980's. They were considered to be associated with the new romantic and the new wave movements. The band was originally formed in 1973 under the name Tigerlily. In 1976 the lead singer changed his name to John Foxx and the band changed their name to Ultravox!  The actual evolution of the band and its members is rather convoluted and if you really want to know the details then I suggest you check out their wikipedia page. Dancing with Tears in My Eyes is a great dance track, and was the second single release off of the band's 7th studio album, Lament (released in 1984). Dancing with Tears in My Eyes hit #3 on the UK single charts, thus effectively putting Ultravox! back on the radar. Apparently (again according to wikipedia) the song is about nuclear power plants and the possibility of nuclear meltdown, which is depicted in the music video. I find that kind of strange now, seeing that the Chernobyl disaster occurred just two years later in 1986, but I suppose that would have made their message regarding the risks of nuclear power even more significant. There are a few different versions of the song, including the 7" and 12" vinyl versions. Enjoy!

VJ Samsonite's "Hot New Music" song of the day is....

...Always More, by London-based electro duo Autokratz. Autokratz are a relatively young duo, and had their original debut just 2 years ago in 2008. They are signed to a French electronic label called Kitsuné Music. The Autokratz have a definitive heavy electronic sound with dark undertones, in that it is not upbeat eletronica, but lends something more towards a robotic-industrial-techno-esque sound (thus the name Autokratz), but it is one of those things that is difficult to desribe, and in the end you just have to listen to it yourself. Always More has some definite post-apocalyptic energy to it as well, and it was released originally as a single in 2009, later to be added onto their studio album release entitled Animal. Well, enjoy the song and try to get a bit supasonic, or something like that...Ahghh!

And the Random Music Post of the Day is...

...The World Was a Mess But His Hair Was Perfect, by London-based indie-rock group The Rakes. The title says it all doesn't it? I had the pleasure of seeing this band at the 2008 V-Festival in Melbourne, and they are quite a good live act, as many are. This song comes off of their Capture/Release album, which I recommend, clearly. Big Ups Yo-self!

VJ Samsonite's "Hot New Music" song of the day is....

...Bonkers (with Armand Van Helden), by London, U.K. rapper Dizzee Rascal. Dizzee has partnered up with the legendary American DJ/producer Armand Van Helden on this track (which incidentally reached #1 on the U.K. singles chart in 2009).  I have posted a song by "the Diz" a few weeks back, but as I said then there will be more posted by him as he is an excellent new electro-rap artist. This song is one of the three #1 hits that comes off of his Tongue N' Cheek album (released in September of 2009), along with my earlier post of the song Dance Wiv Me. The 3rd hit will be posted here at a later date, so stay tuned or just go check out the album yourself!