Video Killed The Radio Star

(Download - thanks to KimBim)
This, as you can guess from the title, is a TOTP performance by a band called Deuce, who long-term pop fans and avid Popjustice readers will know as one of the least successful yet most brilliant girl/boy bands of the 90s. They were, as this clip claims, the predecessor to Steps, as managed by Tom Watkins, the man behind PSBs, Bros and East 17. They could and should have been huge. They were often mentioned in late 90s issues of Smash Hits as the band beaten by Boyzone to the Best New Act award at the 1994 Poll Winners' Party. They were also known for their Song For Europe entry, I Need You, although they didn't get through to represent the UK in Eurovision. Sadly they split up in 1996, but Lisa from the band still gets in the gossip mags occasionally as girlfriend to Ant of 'and Dec' fame.

(Stream: Real/Win)
The Knife are this year's Therese. They are becoming well-known in the UK without anyone actually knowing who they are. Mention the Sony Bravia advert, which features their fellow Swede José Gonzales' cover of their song, Heartbeats, and everyone will be enthusing about how much they love the advert (it is gorgeous) and probably the song too, which is a really lovely acoustic version. But mention The Knife and you'll probably get a blank look, or be pointed in the direction of the kitchen drawers. However, one member of the Knife is having some success in the UK with the new Royksopp single, on which Karin (the sister of this sibling duo) provides some fabulous vocals. The version which soundtracks the video is ace enough, but listen out for the Thin White Duke remix of the song, which sounds like Kate Bush if she were to work with Daft Punk ie. utterly fantastic! Hopefully it'll do well enough for The Knife to get to release some more of their own singles, although a re-release of Heartbeats may be a little redundant if José gets in first.

(Stream: High/Low)
What on Earth has happened to Charlotte Church? I appreciate that she is releasing a ballad (and a quite lovely one it is too), and the skimpy/slutty outfits she is often seen in would be inappropriate, but is there really any need to dress and look like a 40 year old? She's only 19, still a teenager! She has darkened her hair colour considerably, which shouldn't look as odd as it does considering she is naturally a brunette, yet a few weeks ago she looked like this - is she really expecting everyone to have forgotten already?

(Download)
This is the 3rd single from the BSBs' fantastic latest album, Never Gone. It's a powerful rock-tinged ballad, very much reflective of the rest of the album, yet certainly different to I Want It That Way and Quit Playing Games. I think AJ got a bit confused at the beginning of this video and thought they were actually releasing Climbing The Walls instead of I Still, as he actually does try to climb a wall. Sadly the rest of the video is much more serious, the total antidote to Just Want You To Know. It's quite dark, and obviously cold because you can see Brian's breath, and the boys all look very smart in their matching suits. It's just like the olden days! Kevin goes into a bar, Howie's car breaks down and Nick sits in a bus shelter. The boys all perform in an alleyway and try to ignore the red flashes that are zooming past behind them. As usual, all five of them are in love with the same girl. There are all the trademark boyband moves - Kevin spreads his arms as though trying to fly, Nick holds open his jacket for a bit. What more could you possibly want?

(Stream)
This is the American edit of the video for the Faders' debut single. Yes, you read that right - the American edit! Despite their lack of UK success, the girls are being launched in America with the help of the semi-popular US teen show Veronica Mars, on which the band recently played - guess where? At the prom, of course! This version of the video seems to be exactly the same as the first one, but has snippets of Veronica Mars intertwined. I can hardly see it going to number one, but I suppose it's nice for the Americans to get some quality pop music, even if it's by these boring, instrument-playing, dance routineless girls. Amazingly, they seem to have released an album, called Plug In & Play, somewhere (probably Asia?), as it appears on Amazon.com as Import.

Welcome to Video Killed The Radio Star, a video blog by the maker of Into The Groove and Dirrrty Pop ie. me! I must be mad to start up yet another blog, but I always enjoyed the Video Killed The Radio Star posts on Dirrrty Pop, and I think we might as well make the most of pop videos on the Internet while they're still available for free. So, in the words of many a Xenomania protegée, here we go!