Monthly Archives: August 2003

August 2003 Dance Charts

A little later than normal (due in part to the recent power failure in NYC!)(well, it’s a good excuse to use, isn’t it?!) are the August 2003 Dance Charts. So, before something else happens, here’s what’s in the charts:

For this first track, I was going to make a joke along the lines of “something happened on the way to …….”, but I couldn’t really think of anything witty. So instead, I’ll just tell you that Deborah Cox’s “Something Happened On The Way To Heaven” is firmly on top of the charts this month. The main mix is the “Valentin Club Mix” which just has sound of NYC written all over it. Pretty much NYC song of the summer for me. Cool catchy lyrics (you can’t run, and you can’t hide!) which you literally can’t escape from since this track is everywhere! Also check out Nic Mercy’s Epic Anthem. I’m not sure why none of Deb’s trax ever made it big in Europe, given how radio-friendly her stuff is. Anyway, the track is taken from her “Remixed” album which is out now. Check out Deb’s homepage here.

Next up is one of my fave tracks from the past 4 years, out again in a refreshed format. Breathing by Rank 1 brings some new lyrics and an updated sound to their track “Airwave” – it’s NICE! 🙂 And talking of fresh tracks, “As The Rush Comes” by Motorcycle is just the dogs. If I only had my MG again I am sure I would be cruising around with this on in the background – somehow it doesn’t have the same effect on the subway! A slower track with a great baseline and strong female vocals – cool in the hot summer sun!

At number 4 is a very commercial pop/dance track – Lucy Carr – This Is Goodbye (Kenny Hayes Club Mix). It’s the follow-up to her last single “Missing You” which featured in the dance chart late last year. Check out Lucy’s homepage here. Out enjoying the sun and feeling laid back? Then check out Double Dee – Shinning (Original Mix) – it’s been out on promo for a while but may be getting a release soon. It’s a nice laid-back summer choon.

I’ve added some International flavour to this month’s chart by including a track in Turkish (Uzak by Tarkan) which reminds me of my trip to Turkey this summer, and one in Italian (Vivo Per Lei – The Sicilians) – as always, I’m pleased to hear any good tips for tracks in whatever language, so please mail me.

That’s about all for the August Chart – next month’s will be a smaller chart, but I will try and publish it around 9 September. Stay chooned! 🙂

Table Tennis Matrix Style

OK, so I haven’t made any witty postings for a while (in fact, maybe none of my postings have ever been witty!!) but here are a couple of amusing things to keep you occupied and coming back to this site screaming for more!

First up is this very silly video clip from Japan. It’s a matrix version of a game of table tennis! It’s kinda funny, especially when you see the start for the first time, then it gets just plain stupid! Here’s the link – you’ll need Microsoft Windows player for it!! Click here.

Sticking with video’s, I was reading this story about some poor Canadian kid who made a silly homemade video which became so popular throughout the web that he’s now launched legal action against his classmates because all the attention is stressing him out! Why so popular? Well, he was at home, pretending to be a Jedi (hey, we’ve all been there, done that) but his mates (enemies) filmed him doing this and posted it on the web. Star Wars Kid was born. Click here (video 1) and here (video 2) to see the video with some special effects added or visit JediMaster.net for all the other vids!

I must admit, I don’t think I was ever that good when I was practising my Jedi moves.

Do you like wine? Ahh, the joy of sitting back, relaxing with your mates, sipping on a gorgeous bottle of your favourite vintage. Well, if you’ve got great wine, you’ll need a great set of glasses – and I recommend you get some of these! NOICE 🙂 Each glass holds over 13 bottles of wine, so no need to keep getting up for a top-up! (Although maybe you won’t be able to get up at all after 13 bottles!). Order them here.

Oh yeah – is anyone looking for weapons of mass destruction? If so you can find them here.

Enjoy the weekend everyone 🙂

Astral – Now And Forever

As you’ll see from the July 2003 Dance Chart, Astral have taken joint top position with their awesome, uplifting dance track “Now And Forever”.

This week I got an e-mail from Chris and Stephen McHugh – two of the three Astral band members – and so I have some more information about this awesome track!

Astral was formed back in 1998, by British brothers Stephen and Christopher McHugh – originally under the name Tempest. They subsequently teamed up with another member, Andrew Bush, and built themselves up as dance and trance act. In 2002, they worked closly with Jon Paul Campbell of The Time Frequency and they came up with the awesome “Now And Forever”. The track was originally released on promo during the autumn of 2002, and it made number one on the October promo chart.

It took some time, but the track was finally released as a retail/commercial single in May 2003, and also appears on two of the best-selling summer dance compilations, Summer 2003 Clubbers Guide (Ministry of Sound) and Clubland III.

So who is the talent that provides those strong, awesome vocals? Well, that would be Debbie Millar of The Time Frequency. She’s also done the vocals for Nexus’ amazing Trance Anthem: The Sound of Goodbye (a different version of the track by Perpetuous Dreamer).

Anyway, if you want to listen to a sample of Now And Forever, click here.

And to find out more about Stephen, Chris and Andrew, check out their fantastic website at www.astral-music.co.uk