http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJQ4qMO0njQ&feature=related
Looking back at the charts of between about 1993 and 1995, one trend stands head and shoulders above anything else going on: This was the absolute golden age of Europop. Every week some delightful new diversion would arrive, be it from Holland, Sweden, Germany, Italy or Denmark; 2 Unlimited, Haddaway, Culture Beat, Urban Cookie Collective, Doop, Corona, Whigfield, Livin' Joy... Fresh, amusing, instantly memorable, fun - like pop oughtta be!
It couldn't last, of course. Two things eventually derailed it - the rise of trance music, and of dance reworkings of seventies choons designed to irritate pop swots such as myself. Neither genre could provide the sense of imaginative personality or the pleasurable potential of the classic Europop form.
Alex Party were Livin' Joy under another name; Italian brothers Paolo and Gianni Visnadi, DJ Alex Natale, plus singer-for-hire Shanie Campbell. Don't Give Me Your Life is a commendably functional record, in that it really serves its primary function of making you want to head to the dancefloor and start things going. This is achieved through the combination of two factors; pleasingly generic diva vocals, and - crucially - a spacious and uncluttered production, built around a few brilliant synthesised effects that any listener will automatically register and respond to;
Bloop! - Bloopabloopa - Bloop! - Bloopabloopa
Bloop! - Bloopabloopa - Bloop! - Bloopabloopa
You treated me baahad!
Now what can I say?
(miasmic) Wwuuwwuuwwuuwwuu!
Bloop! - Bloopabloopa - Bloop! - Bloopabloopa
Bloop! - Bloopabloopa - Bloop! - Bloopabloopa
You told me you loved me -
but it neverfeltthatway!
Wwuuwwuuwwuuwwuu!
The best synth effect of all is saved for the unambiguous chorus;
But don't you know?
I don't need -
I don't need your life!
Don't give me your life! Your life! Give me your life!
Bup bop! Bup bop! Bup! - Bup bop! Bup bop! Bup!
HEAAY AAY YOWH!
Don't give me your life! Your life! Give me your life!
Bup bop! Bup bop! Bup! - Bup bop! Bup bop! Bup!
HEAAY AAY YOWH!
Don't give me your life! Your life! Give me your life!
Bup bop! Bup bop! Bup! - Bup bop! Bup bop! Bup!
HEAAY AAY YOWH!
Don't give me your life! Your life! Give me your life!
Bup bop! Bup bop! Bup! - Bup bop! Bup bop! Bup!
HEAAY AAY YOWH!
Don't gimme - Don't gimme - Don't gimme - Don't gimme - Don't gimme your life!
There's something exceptionally pleasing about the Morse code "Bup bop! Bup bop! Bup! - Bup bop! Bup bop! Bup!" bit, in a way that triggers a childlike, instinctive, part of the brain. To be heard in optimum conditions, even better than on a transistor or in a disco, this would work brilliantly at the fairground.
It's not a song that demands lyrical close reading, but it is clear that the heartache of the singer is gonna get exorcised through the act of dancing; "I can't be doing with this anymore! Let's just drop this! Okay? Don't give me your life!" She hears the siren call of the Bloop! - Bloopabloopa - Bloop! - Bloopabloopa and rushes to the dancefloor to be done with this boyfriend complication, reaching out for a higher and more reliable form of affirmation, only to be found in the rhythms of the club.
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