Tuesday, March 04, 2008

And you know you've got disco fever when you long for next Saturday night

Yes, I realize Dutch group Ch!pz (or Chipz) are supposed to be for kids. That doesn't mean they can't end up with a good song--and today's song definitely is that. Cheesy? Yes. But still good. As far as I know, it's the most recent single they've released, though that's not to say it's new at all--it first came out on an EP released in November of 2006. They did sing another song at Junior Eurovision, "Make A Big Splash," but I've got no idea if that's actually come out as a single or what (I'm not particularly bothered, though, because I don't really follow them and it's got nothing on the song I'm posting today).

Studio 54--really, how can you go wrong with a song that opens with a filtered-to-sound-old voice saying "It's 1979, and Chipz gooooesss discoooooo!"? You can't, that's the answer. I'm sure it's heretical and all that, but you could easily put "Studio 54" in a playlist with, say, Alcazar's "Rendez-Vous" and it wouldn't seem out of place at all. Sure, the singers do have a little bit of that "we're doing this for the kids" tone around their voices, but ultimately the song is way too catchy to let that hinder it. Plus, it's tough for a modern pop group to go wrong by letting the sound of disco influence them...and I'll admit it, any song that manages to namecheck this many disco clichés has an automatically better chance of winning me over. In other words, toss your credibility to the side for 3:30 and, as Ch!pz say, "bring out the glitter and glamour/Get dancing and you'll be all right."

You can buy Chipz's greatest hits album here (physical) or you can buy the full Past:Present:Future album ("Studio 54" was originally released on the second Past:Present:Future EP) here (digital).

Much credit to the much missed PopSound for introducing me to this song.

Next up: maybe that British singer.

7 comments:

Alexander said...

LMAO! The Swedish Chipz is way better. Long live Kikki and Bettan.

Mike said...

That is seriously the best thing I've heard in ages! It's like Aqua and Cartoons never left us - STUNNING!

madforsadler said...

I love Chipz! I found one of their cds in EMI Austria a few years ago and have been hooked ever since. My personal favorite, though, is Captain Hook- a little bit of my guilty pleasure. :)

D'luv said...

HA HA! I was literally about to email this post to Mike @ Pop Trash Addicts, knowing it'd be right up his alley... oh, and that'd he'd like the song, too.

Discotrashtwizzly!

Yuяi said...

Pass the Ch!pz while I get my leisure suit on! :P Great stuff!

Anonymous said...

Nice to see some love for Ch!pz :)
However, they're two best songs by a mile are...
"One, Two, Three" and "Ch!pz In Black (Who You Gonna Call?)".
All of their singles were quite good actually with the exception of that crappy Christmas single they put out!

Poster Girl said...

Who knew Chipz would get so many comments?

Alex, I don't think I know more than...umm...one, maybe two songs by the Swedish Chips, so I don't think I can weigh in ;) I'm very behind in my older Melodifestivalen and Swedish pop acts knowledge.

Ha ha, Mike, I'm glad you like it! Yeah, that's exactly what it reminds me of--I'm glad someone else can appreciate their high-class artistry! And D'luv, "Discotrashtwizzly" is almost as good a word as "schlagerbebis." Almost.

madforsadler, I don't know too many of their songs, but that one is good! Side note: I went to go look it up on YouTube and ended up watching this video--now I really want to go to Disneyland Paris. And I'm going to have the song stuck in my head for the rest of the day--I hope you're happy ;)

Glad you like it, Yuri! :)

I know "Ch!pz in Black," but I don't know "One, Two, Three"--clearly I have to do some more investigating!