Now I can be committed, I'll work that body like a 9 to 5

Whoever did this is someone after my own heart...

The fact that Darin's song "Want Ya" has been covered by German boy band Part Six and Japanese boy band W-inds isn't news to me, but the fact that someone put this mash-up video of the three versions together is so cool--it switches back and forth between the three, with each part subtitled. It's a really neat thing, and I can't imagine how must time it must have taken.



The only thing? There's at least one more version out there that I know of: Israeli singer Daniel Zilberstein/Silverstein's version, "Elayich."



Daniel's also covered Darin's "The Anthem" and Danish singer Jon's "Right Here Next To You" (and probably other songs as well).

"Want Ya" is a great song, so I'm not surprised it's been passed around so much; what does surprise me, though, is the lack of covers of "Step Up"--surely there must be some?

I would give you every minute

To begin with, a few days ago I promised a better quality, non video-rip version of Part Six's "Drive So Far"--here it is.

As for today's song, I really don't know anything about it; it is a dance song and, like many (though far from all!) of the artists that have dance hits, the actual singers don't seem to have done too much else (though iTunes has a song by a group of the same name called "B Where I'm At"). It also isn't new, and I have a feeling anyone into dance music already knows it, but I just heard it recently. Anyhow, the group itself is Natural High, but I think (though I haven't heard the original) that it's the remixers who probably really deserve credit for this song.

Live For One Day (Haji & Emanuel Remix)--It's the middle of winter (and finally starting to feel like it), but maybe that's why I'm loving this song so much at the moment--there's something about it that just feels like summer to me. I don't know that I can really say that it feels like it's going anywhere, but I can imagine that, for four minutes, this song would make you feel amazing on the dancefloor. Basically, it makes me happy, and I love it--I want to live somewhere where life feels like this song.

To buy Clubber's Guide 2006, which has this song, go here (physical) or, if you live in the UK, you can buy a longer version of this song from iTunes here.

Do you know what song I really like at the moment? Katharine McPhee's "Over It" (which you can get over at Poptastic)--who'd've guessed? We'll see how it holds up over time, but, for the past day, I've been really liking it--there's something laid back and almost soothing about it, despite it being about a breakup.

Next up: I am really excited to get to write about that Swedish singer--he's pop/rock, though maybe I can write about a very poppy Swedish singer soon, too--but writing about Invertigo has got me listening to their album an awful lot now, and I want to make sure I give him his full due, so he probably won't get his turn until Friday or Saturday. Maybe a song that did really well in the UK but I just heard. And I still want to get to those Danish songs soon, too...

Baby, we can make it through these hard, hard times

It's been too long since I posted something from a full-fledged, out-and-out, there's-no-disagreeing-with-it boy band...and luckily, Part Six are stepping in to fix that. The German-based boy band (is there room for both Part Six and US5?) wasn't one I planned on paying any attention to; their first single was a cover of Darin's "Want Ya" that had nothing on the original--and I mean absolutely nothing. Sometimes boy band covers can work great--I really like A1's cover of a-ha's "Take On Me," for example. This one, to say the least, did not. The singing, the power, the fun--nothing could measure up to Darin's version, and it just sort of all felt awkward to me. That's not to say I held a grudge or anything against Part Six or anything--I just wasn't interested in them. Their most recent single, though, has caught my attention. Before we get to it, though, I want to point something out: what is the world coming to when it's easier to enjoy boy band songs when you don't know what the boy band looks like? There's something about how they're presented nowadays that throws me off. (By the way, if you need some amusement, you could watch the video for this song--standing in the rain! Classic. Though I have to to admit I like the dancing near the end, cheesy as it is. Plus, I can't be too upset with anyone who manages to find a way to work choreographed group dance routines into even a ballad.)

Drive So Far--this is a ballad, I guess, though it's got a back beat that's supposed to give it a little extra energy. What on Earth the whole talk at the beginning about "people on the streets all alone" who "lost all they had because of a loan" has to do with anything, I'm not sure--is it supposed to be social commentary? Just an easy rhyme? I'm not sure. This isn't exactly classy boy band stuff, but whoever wrote this song somehow managed to make it work, despite seemingly countless attempts to mess it up (more lyrical issues: the whole "you're like a nice surprise to my life" bit? And how it's delivered doesn't help--normally, lyrics don't matter too much to me, but how they're sung here really emphasizes them). It's got some pretty bits, but, most importantly, the chorus works (plus there's a really short musical part around 2:31 that I like), and the music is generally decent boy band ballad stuff--so, as much as I may criticize this song, it is cute, and I do really like it. The audio quality isn't top-notch, but I might have a better version soon--I'll post it if I get it (I do have a better audio quality version of the "X-mas Version," but it's not as good).

To buy Part Six's single "Drive So Far," go here (physical) or here (digital; you'll have to search for "Part Six").

I've been meaning to do some links for forever now, but I keep forgetting. Finally, though, here are some things worth reading around the web:

You all remember Anžej Dežan from Eurovision, right? He was from Slovenia and sang the great song "Mr. Nobody" (one of my favorites at the contest), but didn't make it out of the semifinals. Well, Goggle over at The Goggles Do Nothing has found out that his website has just been relaunched, complete with legally downloadable mp3's of some of his songs! Now, if only we could get an album from him...

Adem at I'm Always Right has an adorable post about Take That and growing up--definitely worth reading!

And speaking of nostalgia, after a great post about Darren Hayes, Raj of Electroqueer has a great and really interesting post about music and growing up--how he got into music and all the stages he's gone through.

Trixie of Karinski likes Go:Audio, which means anyone who was worried about losing too many hipness points by liking them can breathe a sigh of relief. Plus she's also coined the word "emop"...

Craving more boy bands? Then check out the Zapping's three day feature on the Irish group D-side, the original singers of Clay Aiken's "Invisible."

Don't Stop The Pop is celebrating its one year anniversary--congratulations! Can't wait for another year of amazing pop discoveries.

Have I mentioned A Kind Of Love In here yet? It's the newest project of PinkieDust from PopEatsPop, and it's brilliant. Anything's fair game, so you'll get random but clever musings from him and Robpop (and I'll chip in something sometimes, too). It's a lot of fun--check it out if you have time!

Digital Technique continues to be as brilliant as ever, now featuring bunches of reality TV show contestants.

Continuing with reality TV, have you seen Poptastic's Popstars special yet? You're guaranteed to be introduced to some new--and great--pop songs.

The incredibly wide-ranging Enthusiastic but Mediocre reveals the top song of 2006--have you heard it?

I don't know if I've mentioned yet on this blog how much I'm enjoying Mika's music, but it's really great--you can listen to two of his best songs over at the Eye-pod, and definitely pick up his album when it comes out.

Talent In A Previous Life continues its excellent coverage of Celebrity Big Brother.

You see, that's what happens when my awful memory prevents me from doing this a bit at a time (and I'm sure I've forgotten some sites I meant to mention, too)...but all those sites are worth visiting!

Next up: maybe more songs from Germany, or a "we're not really a boy band even though we sound like it!" group from Australia.