Madonna – WelcheMusic.com

Bangles’ Eternal Flame Turns 25 This Week

Time does fly. This week, Bangles’ ‘Eternal Flame’ made its leap to the top of the Swedish singles chart. Included on the 1988 album “Everything,” the track was written by Tom Kelly, Billy Steinberg and Bangles’ singer Susanna Hoffs. Kelly and Steinberg have written numerous hits such as Cyndi Lauper’s ‘’True Colors’ and ‘I Drove All Night,’ The Pretenders’ ‘I’ll Stand By You’ as well as Madonna’s ‘Like a Virgin.’

Back then, The Bangles was only the third girl group to hit No.1 several times following The Supremes and The Shirelles. Originally issued in February 1989, the track topped the Billboard Hot 100 in April when it succeeded Mike + The Mechanics’ ‘The Living Years.’ It was a UK No.1 in April, while it reached the top in Norway and Australia in June.

The track returned to No.1 in 2001 with the girl group Atomic Kitten as part of the re-issue of its “Right Now” album.

Atomic Kitten – Eternal Flame

It has also been covered in Japanese by the singer Tomoya Nagase, together with Michael Jackson’s nephews 3T. That 1997 version was included in the TV drama DXD where Nagase starred.

In 1999, Australian group Human Nature covered the track reaching No.8 on the national ARIA charts. Haven sold more than 1.6m records in Australia, the group was originally named The 4 Trax. They currently perform Motown songs on the Las Vegas Strip.

Human Nature – Eternal Flame

When All Saints Reached the Pure Shores

CHART REWIND. Time to take a trip down memory lane. In February 2000, “Pure Shores” was released as the first single off the All Saints sophomore set Saints & Sinners. The track was produced by William Orbit, who recently had worked with Madonna. It was also specifically written for The Beach, the Danny Boyle-directed piece based on the 1996 novel with the same name. The soundtrack included music from Blur, Faithless and Orbital. The film score was composed by Angelo Badalamenti of Twin Peaks fame.

“Pure Shores” topped the UK singles chart, becoming the second biggest selling single of the year. All Saints succeeded Oasis “Go Let It Out,” only to be replaced by Madonna’s “American Pie” (also produced by Orbit). “Pure Shores” was a hit across Europe, topping the tallies in Belgium, Ireland and Italy. The single peaked at No.10 in Sweden.

Formed in 1993 as All Saints 1.9.7.5, the members were of British and Canadian origin. Their breakthrough came in 1997 as “I Know Where It’s At” reached No.4 in the UK. That hit was succeeded by “Never Ever” – their first chart-topper. Highly successful, the group racked up no less than five UK No.1s throughout the career.

Lady Gaga Goes Country

CHART SPOTLIGHT. We all knew that Gwyneth Paltrow is a country gal, but who knew that Lady Gaga had that within her. The singer tweeted yesterday morning (Mar.24) that a Country Road version of “Born This Way” will be released on Twitter this Friday.

The track was released last month and immediately critics claimed that it was a rip-off of Madonna’s “Express Yourself.” Less likely, the country version will be accused of that.

“Judas” will be the next track to be released off the upcoming album. The track reunits Gaga with Swedish producer RedOne. WelcheMusic promises to report when Swedish House Mafia goes country!

Helena Paparizou’s Back with Baby It’s Over

CHART SPOTLIGHT. According to the eminent music blog Scandipop, Helena Paparizou recently performed her latest single “Baby It’s Over” on the Greek version of X Factor. WelcheMusic actually thinks the track is worthy Madonna herself, so hopefully this will become an instant floor filler across the nation. The track will headline an upcoming Greatest Hits compilation to be released via Sony Music.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt8ADZSNKL8

Helena Paparizou won the coveted Eurovision Song Contest in 2005 with “My Number One,” competing for Greece. The song became an international success, even managing to reach the top ten on the Billboard dance chart in 2006. Born and raised in Sweden to Greek immigrant parents, Helena Paparizou first rose to fame as part of the duo Antique. They had their breakthrough in1999 when became a giant hit in Sweden and Greece.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5Sju9fTLUk

The 2005 victory was a revenge as Antique competed for Greece back in 2001 with “(I Would) Die for You.” Despite failing to win – it came third – the track became a cross-over hit in Europe, peaking at No.9 on the pan-European singles chart. It topped the charts in Greece and Turkey, peaking at No.3 in Sweden and even charted in the UK.