This article is a regular monthly contribution, published exclusively in the Sound Café magazine with the intention of providing you with information on artists that you might not have heard of, but I think are truly worth exploring further.
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE
I think the name speaks for himself, but the song is so good I had to do it. I would need a lot of pages, but I'll put a few words that maybe you don't know about Justin.
Justin is often referred to as the "Prince of Pop" he is one of the most influential entertainers of his generation. He is a singer-songwriter, record producer and actor. Born in Memphis, Tennessee he was in the groups, N Sync, The Y's and Jawbreakers. Justin is the recipient of many awards, including ten grammy's, four primetime Emmy Awards, Brit Awards, nine Billboard Awards, contemporary Icon Award by the songwriters Hall of Fame, and MTV's Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, to name a few, (dozen) lol.
Dick Clark created The American Music Awards in 1973, Justin has won seven awards out of thirteen nominations. Apple Inc releases its own year end best of lists for the most downloaded content in 2013 Justin won that also. In 2016 BBC Music Awards are a celebration of the musical achievements over the past year, Justins song "Can't stop the Feeling" was nominated. He was also niominated for the CMT Awards in 2018 with "Say Something" featuring Chris Stapleton.
Like I said, I don't have enough pages for Justin's accomplishments.
I hope you enjoy "Selfish"
SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR
Bextor is an English singer-songwriter. In the late 90's she was the lead singer for the indie rock band Theaudience. After they disbanded, Ellis- Bextor went solo and achieved success starting in the early 2000s. Her music is a mixture of mainstream pop, disco and nu-disco. Her debut solo album was released in 2001, called "Read My Lips" ; it peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart. It went double platinum by the BPI, and sold 1.5 million copies world wide. Three of its four singles were "Take Me Home" the Cher cover, "Murder on the Dancefloor" and a double A-side "Get Over You" / "Move This Mountain" reached top three in the UK.
In recent years from 2020-2023 during Covid lockdown, Ellis-Bextor Performed live weekly "Kitchen Disco '' featuring herself and her family. They streamed live from their kitchen on Instagram. Bexter also started a weekly podcast titled Spinning Plates with Sopihie Ellis-Bexter, she interviewed working mothers. Songs from the Kitchen Disco were performed on her tour of the UK in 2022. A live album was released in November 2022, called Kitchen Disco - Live at the London Palladium.
"Murder on the Dancefloor" was featured in the 2023 film Saltburn. The song re-entered the UK singles chart, peaking at number 2 and most global streams on Spotify, receiving more than 1.4 million. Her first ever US single chart entry, reaching number 51. Following "Murder on the Dancefloor" Ellis-Bextor signed with Universal Music Group and is working on a new album.
I hope you like "Murder on the Dancefloor."
"My collection of K-TELS playing on my portable candle record player is where my relationship with and love for music of all genres began. It continued throughout my life, from going to concerts through to my more recent luck in being involved in an album production, from studio recording to mastering. WOW! What an experience, and from it I've gained an even greater respect and appreciation for what it takes to make great music!
Couple that with my air guitar acumen, and that of course makes me a consummate professional in bringing 'Jo's Picks Of The Month' to you.
All kidding aside my repertoire of songs is vast and what an honour it is to share my picks with the readers of The Sound Cafe Magazine!" - Jo.
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