#cgyoomh

Kylie performing Can’t Get You Out of My Head on Top of the Pops.

2001

> CHARLI XCX “BOYS”

One of my favorite smart, young singer-songwriters has just unleashed this cheeky, seemingly mindless summer single. And it’s one hell of an earworm. 

Though she is a proper big star in her native Britain and beyond, Charli XCX is best known in the US for contributing the vocals to the chorus of the once ubiquitous “Fancy” by the oft-maligned Iggy Azalea. She has her fare share of other accomplishments, of course -- did you know she wrote Icona Pop’s “I Love It”? -- but this new lazy ode to lust could bring her back to the spotlight.  (Also, doesn’t that video game blip noise sound like Mario or Luigi grabbing a coin in the Super Mario Bros games? Brilliant.)

All that aside, the video is campy yet clever. It features dozens of dudes of all colors, shapes and sizes in role reversal mode -- think guys in pillow fights, playing with puppies, and eating ice cream seductively. The twist? It includes some majorly famous hotties including Joe Jonas, Tom Daley, Ty Dolla $ign, Brendon Urie, will.i.am, Diplo, and Charlie Puth, to name a few. I have a feeling this will get plenty of exposure at gay video bars across the world. Yowza! 

> AIMEE MANN “THAT’S JUST WHAT YOU ARE”

You may know this awkwardly endearing singer-songwriter from her work on the magnificent Magnolia soundtrack. If you’re an ‘80s kid, you definitely remember the soaring “Voices Carry,” her only top ten hit with former band ‘Til Tuesday. I became a big fan of her music thanks to this track, released in 1995. Full disclosure -- it first appeared on the Melrose Place soundtrack, and you know I was all about that shit as a 16-year-old fagling in training. 

But let’s talk about this video for a minute. It reminds me of something that Ben Stiller’s misguided character in Reality Bites would produce. The stylist must have turned up with all the quintessential ‘90s outfits, from the mismatched over-sized flannel & plaid to the torn, sheer sweater over the bikini top (surely from dELiA*s). And what about the stop-motion filming and the superimposed face in the sky? Aimee’s record label obviously had creative control over this, and she just looks uncomfortable, bless her. At least it provides a kitschy bit of nostalgia, albeit cringe-worthy.

> TEXAS “WHEN WE ARE TOGETHER”

Though this band never broke through in the US market, the Scottish pop-rock group Texas made quite a splash in the UK and Europe in the late ‘90s and early 2000s. This track, from fifth LP The Hush, always stood out for me thanks to frontwoman Sharleen Spiteri’s lithe vocals, the song’s buoyant, spirited chorus, and of course the lush string arrangements paired with electronic drum beats.

But let’s get back to Ms. Spiteri. I have always been entranced by her playfully androgynous image, and it’s no surprise that she became a lesbian icon at home and abroad. There are even a few sapphic embraces in the video above if you watch closely! Sure, it’s not “Cool For the Summer,” but it was edgy in its day.