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Xenomania flashback: Cadence - Japan (2004)
Posted at 2:10 PM, 28 April 2010 - 1 Comments



"Japan" is the song that would eventually become Girls Aloud's "Memory Of You". It was released in 2004 by a trance project called Cadence. "Japan" was written by Xenomania and produced by Cadence, with vocals by Louise Griffiths.

Girls Aloud's "Memory Of You" (2009) retained the melody and lyrics, but everything else changed: new verses were added on the second part of the song and the backing track is also completely different.


Cadence

Cadence consisted of Mike Koglin (Grammy-nominated producer, remixer and DJ), Darren Edge and Paul Woods. At one point, Paul Woods was also part of the Xenomania team, having co-written and programmed a few Girls Aloud tracks, as well as Frank's "All I Ever Do" and Kylie Minogue's "Giving You Up".

They released three 12'' singles between June and July 2004, on Famous Inc, a label set up by Xenomania. The 12'' of "Japan" included two versions: the "Club Vox" and the "Koglin Dub".

"Japan" was written by Brian Higgins, Miranda Cooper, Giselle Somerville, Tim Powell and Mike Koglin. It was the third and final release by Cadence, after "Don't Say It's Over" and "Stay Tonight".


Louise Griffiths

English pop singer, songwriter, model and actress, Louise Griffiths was a contestant in the BBC television series Fame Academy in 2003.

Louise was also a member of the girlband Orchid, who originally recorded Girls Aloud's "Sound of the Underground" in 2001. Orchid's version was never released, but their voices can still be be heard on the chorus of the Girls Aloud single.

Orchid were Louise Griffiths, Eve Bicker (the female voice on the Xenomania-produced "7 Ways" by Abs Breen) and Giselle Sommerville (who co-wrote "Japan" and several Xenomania songs, besides being one half of the pop duo Mania).


"Memory Of You"

Written by Brian Higgins, Girls Aloud, Giselle Somerville, Miranda Cooper & Tim Powell and produced by Brian Higgins/Xenomania. "Memory Of You" was the b-side of the single "The Loving Kind" (2009) and initially was only available on a limited edition 7'' vinyl picture disc, sold exclusively through Girls Aloud's online store.

Girls Aloud's fans were disappointed that the song was only available on vinyl format, which led to the creation of campaigns for the release in CD or digital form. The Sun even ran a story about Girls Aloud's fans having "gone mad" for the b-side.

It was later included in high quality on the official Girls Aloud singles box set.

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1996: Sexus via Xenomania - How Do You Kiss?
Posted at 8:15 PM, 18 April 2010 - 0 Comments

[Flashbacks from Xenomania's past. We start in 1996, the first year of Xenomania.]

"How Do You Kiss?" was the single that was never released by British duo Sexus. One of the promos had four remixes done by Xenomania, who at the time consisted of Brian "Higgo" Higgins and Matt Gray (with production assistance by Stuart McLennan and "Mad" Tim Powell).

Listen to two of those mixes: How Do You (Spanish) Kiss? (Xenomania Club Mix) and How Do You (Dutch) Kiss? (Xenomania Hero Dub) (thanks to Xavier for the audio)

 


"How Do You Kiss?"

Popjustice mentioned this 12'' yesterday in a post about Record Store Day and independent music shops. It was Sexus' third and final record, only available as promotional copies. Besides Xenomania, the track was also remixed by Trevor Horn and Narcotic Thrust, without Sexus' knowledge (and they weren't happy with that).

There were also two CD promos with the b-sides "Joe January" and "Beaten Up By Girls". You can still find most of these releases on second-hand shops like eBay.


Sexus

Sexus were a duo from Manchester comprised of David Savage and Paul Southern. Their first independent single "Edenites" sparked the attention of a manager who signed them to ZTT. The follow-up single, "The Official End Of It All", was critically acclaimed, being chosen as "Best Single" by both Smash Hits and Melody Maker. During their time with the label they recorded a full album with Trevor Horn, which remains unmixed and unreleased. You can download some unreleased Sexus tracks here. The duo would later team up again musically under the name Psychodelicates.


The Romo movement

Romo ('Romantic Modernist') was a short-lived music movement in the mid-'90s. It was essentially a derivation of New Romantic-era bands such as Visage and Soft Cell. The name first appeared on the cover of November 25, 1995 Melody Maker.

Inside, Simon Price lavished an unheard crop of bands with an eight-page spread. Yet six months later, Romo generated little recorded music and most of it unremarkable.

Sexus were the first Romo band to get signed, being snapped up by Trevor Horn's ZTT, the label that was originally home to Frankie Goes To Hollywood. The most successful project associated with Romo ended up being Orlando, who released several singles and an album, Passive Soul.

Besides Sexus, Xenomania also remixed another Romo song, "Apocalypse Kiss" by female duo Hollywood (Hannah Edgren and Stacey Leigh).


Links
» 'How Do You Kiss?' on Discogs
» More about Sexus
» More about Romo
» Romo on Wikipedia
» Video: Romo on BBC2's The Sunday Show (1996)
» Goldmine Trash: Wherefore Art Thou, Romo?

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