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...

Last year I wrote a couple of posts about the solo careers of the members of American girl group Fifth Harmony. You can read them below:  Fifth Harmony Girls' Solo Careers- Part 1: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2023/11/fifth-harmony-girls-solo-careers-part-1.html Fifth Harmony Girls' Solo Careers- Part 2: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2023/11/fifth-harmony-girls-solo-careers-part-2.html   I thought it would be cool to do one for the members of Korean boyband BTS as well. The group consists of 7 members- leader RM, formerly known as Rap Monster (real name Kim Nam Joon), SUGA (Min Yoon Gi), Jin (full name Kim Seok Jin), j-hope (Jung Ho-seok), Jimin (Park Ji Min), V (Kim Tae Hyung) and Jungkook (Jeon Jung Kook).* Since making their debut in 2013 and rising to fame in South Korea, they have since gone on to achieve global success. They are probably one of the most well-known Korean boybands (and groups in general) internationally. BTS are not currently releasing music a...

Christmas is just over a week away, so today I'm sharing some festive music! :) I've previously written two other posts/round-ups featuring Christmas songs, which you can see at the links below: Christmas Music: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2018/12/christmas-music.html Christmas Music Round-up:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2021/12/christmas-music-round-up.html For 2023 I'm sharing some new festive songs. :)   Brandy- Christmas Party for Two  American singer Brandy (full name Brandy Norwood) released her first Christmas album (and 8th studio album overall) Christmas with Brandy on 10th November. It contains 12 tracks- 6 classic Christmas songs, plus 6 original ones. Brandy is also co-starring in the new Netflix film Best. Christmas. Ever! , alongside Heather Graham , Matt Cedeño and Jason Biggs .  Christmas Party for Two is a smooth R'n'B love song with chilled vibes. It's the lead single from Christmas with Brandy and came out on 3rd November. Brandy ...

Sorry the 2nd post is later this week; I didn't manage to get it finished yesterday. :) Something a bit different today! In the music world songs often get "recycled" or certain music inspires new songs. I think it's cool how music is interpreted in a new way. Here are a few songs I like that are covers, or sampled older songs. In most cases I hadn't heard the original before the newer one, so it was good to discover something new. :) Note: I've listed the original songs first, apart from Sugababes' single, which sampled more than one.   Summer Madness by Kool & The Gang The instrumental Summer Madness by American soul/jazz/disco band Kool & the Gang is a very popular song for sampling! It was on their 1974 album Light of Worlds and released in 1975 as a B-side to the single Spirit of the Boogie. It's been called one of the most sampled R'n'B compositions of all time and according to Wikipedia , it was estimated to have been sampled 14...

A year ago, when we'd all been going through a stressful time in the world, I wrote a post called Chillout Songs. I shared the music that helps me to relax. You can read it here: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2020/06/chillout-music.html As things still continue to be stressful in 2021 (although perhaps slightly better), I'm sharing more chillout music today! :)    A.CHAL- Pink Dust Last year I featured Pink Dust by the Peruvian American singer A.CHAL as a Weekly Music Video. The song has a laid-back vibe and the video is slightly "trippy"! You can watch it here: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2020/09/weekly-music-video_16.html   Jhené Aiko I recommend basically anything by Jhené Aiko for chillout vibes! In last year's Chillout Music post I linked to several of her songs and also featured the music video for Magic Hour. Here are a couple more of her songs.   Surrender feat. Dr. Chill This is one of my fave Jhené songs of the last year and features vocals...

I thought today I would post a couple of videos from the 1983 film Staying Alive (sequel to Saturday Night Fever ). It's a good film (I actually prefer it to Saturday Night Fever) and the soundtrack is good too. First up here is Finding Out The Hard Way sung by Cynthia Rhodes , who played Jackie, the girlfriend of John Travolta's character Tony Manero, in the film. As well as being a dancer, Jackie sang in a band with Carl (played bu Frank Stallone , brother of Sylvester ).                                    And here is I Hope We Never Change and Waking Up. Waking Up is a duet sung by Jackie and Carl. I like I Hope We Never Change (at least what I've heard of it because it isn't the full song) but it wasn't included on the soundtrack and I don't know if the full song was ever available anywhere. Cynthia Rhodes was a good actre...

Staying Alive is the 1983 sequel to Saturday Night Fever (1977). It follows John Travolta's character Tony Manero now he's moved from Brooklyn to Manhattan in New York, to get work as a a professional dancer. He's auditioning for Broadway shows during the day and working as a waiter and teaching dance classes in the evening. And he's dating Jackie ( Cynthia Rhodes ) a fellow dancer. One night Tony sees lead dancer Laura ( Finola Hughes ) in a show and becomes enthralled by her. Both he and Jackie are cast in her latest show Satan's Alley as chorus dancers but Tony ends up becoming the lead male dancer alongside Laura. Since he's become involved with her and is more interested than she is, the situation becomes complicated! I like Saturday Night Fever but Staying Alive is my favourite. I like the storyline of the Broadway show and the songs are good too. :) The Bee Gees (who of course also sang for Saturday Night Fever) and Sylvester Stallone's broth...

Sorry this week's post is late. I wasn't feeling well yesterday. Today's video is for the song (If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want To Be Right by Luther Ingram . Luther was an American singer and songwriter who started making music in the 60s and carried on releasing records until the 80s. His first successful single was My Honey and Me which got to No 55 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart in  February 1970. His other songs include Ain't That Loving You (For More Reasons Than One), Be Good To Me Baby and Let's Steal Away To The Hideaway. Luther died in 2007. (If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want To Be Right is Luther's most well known song, it was No 1 on the Billboard Hot R'n'B/Hip Hop Chart and No 3 on the Hot 100 in 1972.  I first heard it years ago in the film A Very Brady Sequel , during the Marcia and Greg scenes , lol. But only the bits that they played. I heard the full song last year I think; when I looked it up on YouTube. It's...

Here's another one of my favourite Delilah songs, Inside My Love. It was the 4th single from her album From The Roots Up and was released in July 2012. Inside My Love was originally sung by American singer Minnie Riperton in 1975. I really like this song. :) The video is a bit weird though, lol. Watch Minnie singing her version here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFMQWE92g8A

I was going to do this week's post on New Year's Eve because it was New Year's Day yesterday but I wasn't able to get online, so I'm doing it today instead. :) This week's video is All Night Long by the Mary Jane Girls .They were a 1980s girl group formed by musician/composer Rick James . The original members were Joanne "JoJo" McDuffie (lead singer), Cheryl Ann "Cheri" Bailey/Cheri Wells, Candice "Candi" Ghant and Kimberly "Maxi" Wuletich, session vocalists the Water Sisters (Maxine and Julia Water) were also part of the group. Cheri left in 1985 and was replaced by Yvette "Corvette" Marine. Apparently Mary Jane Girls was basically a launching pad for JoJo to get her career off the ground and the other members couldn't sing very well! Kind of like how the Pussycat Dolls was said to be a vehicle for Nicole Scherzinger. The Mary Jane Girls released two albums Mary Jane Girls (1983) and Only Four You (1985)...