Talk:Theme from S-Express

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Dubious section

In the edit made here by anonymous User:86.167.57.81, it is claimed that:-

The song prominently sampled Karen Finley and her "Drop that ghetto blaster/suck me off" vocal formed something of a chorus in the song, The high-pitched scream was controversially provided by the BBC's Caroline Wyatt. The song's predominant "I've got the hots for you" hook has been described as "campy".^[1]

First off, a reference *is* provided, but it's unclear as to whether it's meant to cover all three facts or just the last (by far the least controversial). Given that the former two are somewhat distinct, they should have been referenced separately (even with the same citation), and the given citation doesn't quote or give context to make clear what it supports and how it supports it.

Given the unlikelihood of Ms Wyatt (the BBC's religious affairs editor with no indication of previous involvement in the music business) having done this and nothing else to indicate this online, I'm removing that sentence.

Although the Karen Finley line does appear to have been used in the mentioned song ( link here, NSFW ), and may have originated there, it's not clear whether S-Express sampled or redid it, as theirs sounds slightly different and there's no sign of the music that overlapped the original. Also, the "formed something of a chorus" is dubious- it's a single, brief line that occurs only once- and a matter of opinion, so has been removed.

Ubcule (talk) 13:02, 22 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I'm new here, so not sure if I'm doing this correctly. In any event, Karen Finley was indeed sampled for the "Drop that ghettoblaster" moment. The original 12" vinyl release of "Tales of Taboo" contained an a cappella of the song. I know this because I own the 12". See here for verification: http://www.discogs.com/Karen-Finley-Tales-Of-Taboo/master/56999 (note, though the 4 titles are different, they are simply reworkings of the Title song). I hope this satisfies at least one of your concerns here. I'll leave it to the pros here to fix whatever needs fixing. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Zippyphonic (talk • contribs) 20:59, 5 December 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Ubcule, you do realize that samples such as a vocal figure, a beat, an organ/piano riff etc can be isolated from the music surrounding them in the source track mix, "washed clear" at the edges? Or a vocal sample can be sped up, filtered, get more reverb etc. That's common practice in making more advanced, professional mash-up and mixing work. For instance Massive Attack did that all the time on their early records; the two key James Brown samples on Protection (1994) don't sound precisely like snippets of the source track The Payback, they have been isolated and tinkered with a bit to fit more clearly into a new, slower rhythm track. That kind of thing had been going on for a long time by the late eighties and Moore certainly knew how to do that. 83.254.154.164 (talk) 16:27, 26 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

References

^ Reynolds, S., (2013), Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture, Faber & Faber, ISBN 978-0571289134, Chapter Two.

Acid House?

I like The Theme from S-Express and yes it was a pivotal moment in the development of dance music in the UK and the 1988/89 summer's of love. But I'm not really sure it can be called Acid House in the sense of what came before it from Chicago. Also records made in the UK later on in '88 like S-Express' Rhythm King label mate Baby Ford, Stakker Humanoid and the Manchester based scene coming from A Guy Called Gerald and 808 State had a much more obvious acid influence in them than "Theme" does. I reckon "Theme" is more of a House/Dance/Disco track sharing some of the sampling culture M/A/R/R/S and Bomb the Bass ushered in. It can also be seen as the prototype to the French Filter Disco House scene which emerged a decade later with Daft Punk and others too. As said I do like the track 27 years on and acknowledge it's influence in kick-starting interest in Acid House in the UK.

[1] Reynolds, S., (2013), Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture, Faber & Faber, ISBN 978-0571289134, Chapter Two.

[1]