Star Sparkle Blog

In the past, I've written a couple of posts about songs that samples older tracks or were covers of previous songs. You can see them below: Samples and Covers:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2021/08/samples-and-covers.html More Samples and Covers: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2023/06/more-samples-and-covers.html   My last post was nearly two years ago, so I thought it was time for another one! This post mostly features sampled songs (however there is a bonus cover! :) Note : As with the previous posts, I've listed the original song first.   Carly Simon- Why American singer-songwriter Carly Simon released the single Why back in August 1982. It was written by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards (co-founders of the band CHIC ). Why is a pop/disco style song with reggae influences. It was from the soundtrack of the film Soup for One . Although the movie didn't do so well, the single was successful, reaching Top 10 in the UK Charts and doing well throughout Europe. Th...

There's some good music coming out lately, so I thought it was time for another New Music Releases post! I've written two other ones this year, in May and August . I'm featuring a mix of genres, Western and Asian pop style. :)   Katy Perry feat. Doechii- I'M HIS, HE'S MINE First up is a new song by American singer Katy Perry . It's called I'M HIS, HE'S MINE and features rapper and singer Doechii . It actually came out on 13th September, so isn't really new but I just came across it on MTV recently! I'M HIS, HE'S MINE is the 3rd single from Katy's 7th studio album 143, which was released on 20th September. It follows previous singles WOMAN'S WORLD (released in July) and LIFETIMES (released in August). It's a dance ( house ) and pop song where Katy and Doechii warn other women off their men! The track samples Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless) , the 1991 single by American singer Crystal Waters .  Gypsy Woman was also sampled by bo...

This week's video is Getting Late by Tyla and featuring Kooldrink . Tyla Seethal is a 19-year-old South African model and singer who is coloured (South African mixed race) and has Mauritian, Indian, Zulu and Irish heritage . She started out in music by posting videos of herself singing on Instagram and then made her music debut with the single Getting Late. Her latest release is the song Overdue with DJ Lag and Kooldrink.  In addition to singing and modelling Tyla writes, paints, acts and dances. She has a big following on TikTok . Getting Late was released last year but the video came this January and went viral on YouTube. I actually only just saw it the other day on an African music programme on MTV Base. Tyla reminded me of Ariana Grande and I see she's been called the "South African Ariana"!  Tyla collaborated with producer Kooldrink on the song, which she describes as "fusion music". It's a mixture of pop, R'n'B and the South African gen...

Today's video is ADDICTED by Nigerian singer NINIOLA . Her full name is Niniola Apata and she is from Ekiti State . Her younger sister Teni is also a singer. Niniola sang from a young age and was nicknamed "the human radio". She started out in the music business in 2013, as a contestant in Season 6 of music reality show MTN PROJECT FAME . She came 3rd and released her debut single Itura in March 2014. Her other singles include her first official single Ibadi, Gbowode, Maradona and Sicker. In November 2017 she brought out her debut album This Is Me. Niniola is known as the "Queen of Afro-House", and her music is a mix of Afrobeat and house. Maradona is her most successful single to date, it inspired American singer Beyonce's song Find Your Way Back (from The Lion King: The Gift and Black is King ) Niniola just released her second album Colours and Sounds on 7th October. Her latest single is Look Like Me Addicted is from Colours and Sounds and was released i...

Today's video is ONLY by ZHU featuring Tinashe . ZHU (real name Steven Zhu) is an American musician and singer who started his career by releasing music on Soundcloud in 2014. He released his song Moves Like Ms Jackson (a mashup of OutKast songs) anonymously in February 2014. In March that year ZHU released his debut single Faded, followed by his debut EP The Nightday in April. Since then he has brought out 3 more EPs- Genesis Series (2015), Stardustexhalemarrakechdreams (2017) and Ringos Desert Pt. 1(2018). In July 2016 he released his first album Generationwhy. ZHU's other singles include Automatic with AlunaGeorge , Generationwhy, Nightcrawler, Coming Home with Majid Jordan , Came for the Low with partywithray and ONLY. His latest album is Ringos Desert, released in September 2018. ONLY which features American singer Tinashe, is ZHU's latest single and came out in May. For more on ZHU visit these links: Official site: https://zhumusic.com/ Official FB: https://www.face...

Latest music and videos I've been listening to/watching lately! :) (Some are just new to me). Zara Larsson- Lush Life Selena Gomez- Hands To Myself Troye Sivan- YOUTH Ameriie - What I Want Ameriie- Out Loud ZAYN x Usher x Chris Brown- Back To Sleep ZAYN feat. Lil' Wayne- Pillowtalk remix Years & Years feat. Tove Lo- Desire (new version of the original single ) Alessia Cara- Wild Things ZAYN- Like I Would  Ariana Grande - Dangerous Woman  Trobar de Morte- Summoning The Gods  K-pop Jay Park - All I Wanna Do Reddy feat. Jay Park- Think BESTie- Hot Baby Until next time!

Time for an update on new music and videos by artists I like. :) First up is the official music video for Mariah Carey's new single Infinity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO1CQhwCiG0 I also like Years & Years' latest single Shine. Check it out here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXTAn4ELEwM Justine Skye's A Train is good:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCsNYUfH9Uw And the video for Pia Mia's new single Do It Again featuring Chris Brown and Tyga has just been uploaded: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNw8A5pwbVI That's it until next time!

Today's video is Desire by Years & Years . They are a British/Australian group made up of 3 members, lead singer and keyboardist Olly Alexander, bass player Mikey Goldsworthy and synth player Emre Turkmen. Drummer Dylan Bells performs live with them. Their music is mainly electropop with some R'n'B and house. Years & Years got together in 2010. They started out with 5 members but the other members Noel Leeman and Oliver Subria left and they are now a trio. They released their debut single I Wish I Knew in summer 2012 and the following year signed to Kitsune Records and brought out their second single Traps. To date the band have released 5 EPs- Traps (2012),  Real, Take Shelter, Desire Remixes (all released in 2014) and Y & Y EP (2015) and 5 more singles, including Real, Desire and King which was No 1 on the UK Singles Chart this year. Their next single Shine will be released on 5th July and their debut album Communion is due out on 10th July. Years & Y...

Latest update on the 1000 Songs Challenge. :) I didn't listen to as many new songs over Christmas, so it's not as big a list but there's still 18 there, so quite a lot. 766. Asia Monet (from Dance Moms )- Christmas Time 767. Bobby Brackins feat. G. Eazy and Mila J - Hot Box 768. Tamar Braxton feat. Future- Let Me Know Pia Mia 769. What A Girl Wants 770. Shotgun Love 771. The Last Man On Earth You can listen to these songs on Spotify (sign up or log in): https://play.spotify.com/artist/1BhWF9W2PngtPSyobKg0rP?play=true&utm_source=open.spotify.com&utm_medium=open

Here are the latest songs I've been listening to as part of my 1000 Songs challenge. There are over 70 songs in this post! I watched the Eurovision Semi Finals and that pushed the number up. Random music videos on 21st Century Bliss 119. Rae Morris- Do You Even Know 120. Foxes- Holding Onto Heaven 121. Anastacia- Stupid Little Things 122. Sara Bareilles- Brave 123. Molly- Children of the Universe (2014 UK Eurovision entry) 124. Iggy Azalea- Pu$$y Akarri 125. Comet Down 126. Rolling Stone 127. Last Call 128. Black Widow 129. We On Top Listen to Akarri's music here:  http://www.akarri.com/music/

This week's video is for the song Thinking About You by Calvin Harris feat. Ayah Marar . It's one of my favourite songs at the moment. Calvin Harris (real name Adam Richard Wiles) is a British DJ, singer/songwriter and music producer who released his first album I Created Disco in 2007. The first single from the album was called Vegas and was released as a limited edition vinyl, but it was the second single Acceptable in the 80s that was most successful, it reached No 10 in the UK singles chart (March 2007).  Calvin has produced music and written songs for quite a few artists, including Kylie Minogue , Dizzee Rascal and Rihanna . He has two other studio albums, Ready For The Weekend (2009) and 18 Months (2012). A few of his most popular singles are I'm Not Alone (his first No 1 in April 2009), Ready for The Weekend (No 3 in August 2009) and Bounce featuring Kelis (No 2 in June 2011). His latest single is Under Control with Alesso featuring Hurts . Ayah Marar is a Jor...