HAPPINESS AND BLISSED OUT

I missed out on the club scene of the late 80s and early 90s.  You could put it down to me having gap years as a result of getting married and trying to settle down (only for the best laid plans and all that to be blown out of the water by meeting the now Mrs Villain just a few months after my first wedding day).

Indeed, if it wasn’t for Jacques the Kipper and his very welcome C90 mixtapes then there’s every likelihood that I’d have no knowledge at all of some 2-3 years worth of really decent indie and dance music including the tremendous pieces of work that are Happiness and Blissed Out by The Beloved.

The former was released in March 1990 and was the first release by the band since it had slimmed down to a core of Jon Marsh and Steve Waddington.  The synth sound was still there but was now increasingly influenced by acid house and techno, and the duo were able to fuse the sounds with some fabulously catch pop tunes and so take the music out of the clubs and onto the airwaves of popular daytime radio and in due course into the singles charts:-

mp3 : The Beloved – Your Love Takes Me Higher
mp3 : The Beloved – The Sun Rising
mp3 : The Beloved – Hello
mp3 : The Beloved – Time After Time

The first of these singles was a flop first time round in January 1989 but its re-release in March 1990 saw it hit the top 40.

The increasing attention the band were attracting led to a decision to record and release Blissed Out in the summer of 1991, it was a series of remixes of songs from Happiness Some worked better than others:-

mp3 : The Beloved – Your Love Takes Me Higher (Calyx of Isis)
mp3 : The Beloved – The Sun Rising (Norty’s Spago Mix)
mp3 : The Beloved – Hello (Honky Tonk)
mp3 : The Beloved – Time After Time (Muffin Mix)

But having said that, the remix album also provides this great tune:-

mp3 : The Beloved – Up, Up and Away (Happy Sexy Mix)

Now if that doesn’t cheer you up on what is likely to be a dull, cold and dreary November Monday morning then there’s no hope for you.***

Enjoy.

*** see what happens when you draft things days in advance??  It is far from a dull, cold and dreary day here in Glasgow.  Indeed, it is positively as unseasonal as can be imagined!!!  Still, the music should cheer anyone up no matter the circumstances.