Trigger Inside: A countdown to Jeremy: P.M. Dawn

25 January 2013

A countdown to Jeremy: P.M. Dawn - "Set Adrift On Memory Bliss"

Spandau Ballet - "True"

Surprised? Oh, you shouldn't be. P.M. Dawn is a hip-hop act, right? So it should be obvious they are copycats ripping off true artists, like (almost) all rappers do. And the above song is not the only one used in the P.M. Dawn's hit. It contains samples from The Soul Searchers' Ashley's Roachclip and the main drumbeat also samples from Eric B. & Rakim's Paid in Full. Even the lyrics are heavily inspired by other songs. The opening verse is influenced by the Joni Mitchell song The Boho Dance. The original "A camera pans the cocktail hour/ Behind a blind of potted palms" becomes "The camera pans the cocktail glass/ Behind a blind of plastic plants", and the line "Subterranean by your own design" is echoed as "Subterranean by design". In the second verse, they mention two hit songs from 1985. "Careless whisper from a careless man" refers to Careless Whisper by George Michael, and "A neutron dance for a neutron fan" makes reference to Neutron Dance by The Pointer Sisters. The line "Christina Applegate, you gotta put me on" is a reference to the song Bonita Applebum by A Tribe Called Quest.

But, surprisingly and contrary to the majority of their fellow "MCs" (fuck you Coolio, fuck you Puff Daddy), they happened to be talented enough to add some value to the borrowed mixture of samples. And even more - Set Adrift On Memory Bliss is much much better than the bland Spandau Ballet's song. It is a truly nice catchy pop tune. With a classy well-fitting video by Mark Pellington (you lucky bastards!), still waiting for his Jeremy. But with the great gift of YouTube, you don't have to believe my words. You can check for yourself. Just push play.

Oh, one more thing. Spandau Ballet lead singer Tony Hadley made a cameo in the video, appearing near the end of it. He had to be jealous as hell, but he masked it well.