Big Fun--Stock Aitken Waterman at their most commercial and
Daniel W. Kelly | Long Island, NY United States | 05/28/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"While their biggest productions to hit the charts in the US were by Donna Summer, Dead or Alive, Kylie Minogue, Rick Astley and Bananarama, the number of hugely successful artists Stock Aitken Waterman produced in England is astounding. SAW also had a couple of different sounds--hard, aggressive hi-nrg (Dead or Alive) and disco-influenced bubble gum pop (Rick Astley), which eventually segued into a heavily house-influenced sound with later acts, such as the three boy band "Big Fun"--who kind of look like three Jason Donovans (another SAW act). By the time Big Fun had completed their album, it was 1990, and the classic SAW sound had seen its heyday, and was being replaced with more of a `technotronic' sound, which is a majority of what you get here, along with a whole lot of cover versions of 70s tracks. Yeah, the 80s SAW productions were definitely gone.
House, disco, and bubble gum pop with high falsetto male vocals (reminiscent of Jimmy Sommerville) are what you get with this squeaky clean boy band. While it came after some of SAW's bigger stuff, it somehow sounds much more dated and just doesn't really hold its appeal. It sounds completely manufactured for a specific era, where as Donna Summer and Dead or Alive tracks have remained staples of pop music as a whole.
Even so, if you want everything SAW produced on CD at last, this is another welcome release. Cherry Red records has been bringing back numerous SAW records by Sinitta, Lonnie Gordon, Mandy Smith, Hazell Dean, etc, and loading these albums with numerous previously unreleased tracks and crucial 12" mixes that never made their way to CD before, and this release is no exception. Plus, the sound quality is fantastic, retaining the heavy, thumping bass of the recordings (something the Hazell Dean reissue failed to do).
Track listing:
1. handful of promises (3:18)
2. blame it on the boogie (3:38)
3. can't shake the feeling (3:43)
4. fight for the right to party (4:49)
5. not that kinda guy (3:25)
6. we're in this love forever (3:31)
7. why did you break my heart (3:10)
8. bring your love back (4:09)
9. the heaven I need (3:42)
10. hey there lonely girl (3:45)
11. you've got a friend (original track) (with Sonia) (3:37)
12. I feel the earth move (club mix) (7:56)
13. blame it on the boogie (PWL mix) (6:33)
14. can't shake the feeling (12" remix) (5:51)
15. handful of promises (12" version) (6:37)
16. I feel the earth move (techno mix) (6:55)
17. you've got a friend (cover version of Carole King song) (with Sonia) (3:44)
"
Track Listings (17) - Disc #1
