RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

Sugababes have had six number one singles, eighteen top-ten hits and have sold over seven million records. I'm sure many of you that are American might be asking, "Who are Sugababes?" Well, they were a very popular British female pop act formed in 1998 who not only had this incredible success in their native country but also throughout much of the rest of the world with the notable exception of the U.S. where they never charted. There have been singers that have come and gone in this trio but the most popular line-up included Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Heidi Range. With all of the founding members gone by 2011, Sugababes eventually faded away and ended. For American ears, enjoy a brief sample of the best of Sugababes:







Here are a few new songs I'm enjoying right now:









If this new song by Céline Dion called "Ashes" makes you think of her classic love ballad from the movie, "Titanic", well, it's actually intentional. David Leitch, the director of the upcoming sequel to the smash, comedic super-hero movie, "Deadpool", explains that they wanted a highly melodramatic song for the film and approached the singer to perform the track. And she delivers some remarkably beautiful vocals, taking this ballad to incredible heights. It will be interesting to see how this will be used in the movie but I'm sure it will be both moving and hilarious. Leitch also directed the music video which features an interpretive dancing Deadpool. Be sure to check out the very funny ending of this clip:

Finally, one band from the past I've been thinking about recently are Fine Young Cannibals, a British group, lead by the distinctive vocals of Roland Gift, who had worldwide success throughout much of the '80's and had such hits as "She Drives Me Crazy" and "Good Thing" which both reached the top of the U.S. pop chart. Taking their name from a little-seen 1960 Natalie Wood movie, bassist, David Steele and guitarist, Andy Cox had left the ska band, The Beat (The English Beat in the U.S.) and came together with Gift who had departed his ska outfit, Akrlykz in 1984.  The trio released their self-titled debut the following year and found international success with the singles, "Johnny Come Home" and a cover of Elvis Presley's "Suspicious Minds" . The glaring exception was in America where the group only achieved a cult following. But that all changed with their next album. "The Raw and Cooked" that brought Fine Young Cannibals to everyone's attention in 1989 and the album went on to sell over three million copies worldwide. But by 1992, the group had disbanded and each moved on to other less high-profile musical directions. Let's take a look back to the sounds of Fine Young Cannibals: