janet kay--"silly games" classic or dud?

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she sounds to me like a man singing in falsetto (almost horace andy-ish), except of course for those terrifying high notes.

this record is something special, but hardly anyone in the usa seems to know it.

amateur!!!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 31 August 2004 03:18 (twenty-one years ago)

classic, classic, classic!

this got to no. 2 in the uk charts in the summer of '79 in the uk. it was on the radio ALL the time and at the age of 11, i totally fell in love with it. the first reggae song i probably ever heard. i still listen to the 12" from time to time.

the story goes that ms. kay had a really bad cold on the day of recording which allowed her to accidentally reach those high notes - something she could never achieve again.

stirmonster, Tuesday, 31 August 2004 07:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh yes, total classic.

Dr. C (Dr. C), Tuesday, 31 August 2004 09:04 (twenty-one years ago)

Classic.

Dennis Bovell told me that originally wrote the song intending to get Minnie Riperton to sing it - but when Ms. Riperton sadly died, he asked his teenage schoolgirl cousin if she'd like to have a go at singing it instead.

Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Tuesday, 31 August 2004 09:33 (twenty-one years ago)

more opinions please.

this song reminds me of nitsuh's description of "the long and winding road," the way the arrangement seems to announce the HUGE chord changes in a slightly retarded way. however i like "silly games" a lot.

amateur!!st, Tuesday, 31 August 2004 16:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Like all great songs it fills your world for as long as it's on.

wtin, Tuesday, 31 August 2004 19:02 (twenty-one years ago)

a thing of wonder - the best bit is at the end fade and the whole song slowly teases to get there - time almost stops

Paul (scifisoul), Tuesday, 31 August 2004 19:33 (twenty-one years ago)

one year passes...
heard this for the first time the other day - when the song ended i ended up saying out loud that it was the best lovers track ever recorded. Love the awkward chord changes towards the end.

dog latin (dog latin), Wednesday, 3 May 2006 11:20 (twenty years ago)

love it. gorgeous and plaintive.

jaime, Thursday, 4 May 2006 04:30 (twenty years ago)

when people say they dont like reggae, its cos they haven't heard this. a gorgeous record.

mark e (mark e), Thursday, 4 May 2006 05:56 (twenty years ago)

one year passes...

"I've got no time to play your http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NteFmrIN-VM

Daniel Giraffe, Saturday, 8 December 2007 00:11 (eighteen years ago)

This song keeps popping up recently. It got a mention in a cab in London when the driver stuck on a lovers rock mixed tape. It then came up in that Top 50 of 1979 ILX poll; was it really one of the 50 best sellng songs of the year? By coincidence, I also bought a cheapo reggae compilation from Asda the other day, including Silly Games.

Daniel Giraffe, Saturday, 8 December 2007 00:23 (eighteen years ago)

a cab in London when the driver stuck on a lovers rock mixed tape

not to be all robert elms about it, but this sounds like bliss.

r|t|c, Saturday, 8 December 2007 00:33 (eighteen years ago)

heh heh yes, it was lovely, and I was just the right side of drunk to appreciate the moment.

Daniel Giraffe, Saturday, 8 December 2007 00:39 (eighteen years ago)

anyways yeah, 'silly games' is just the best. can't add to what's been said already re awkaward chord change, tease to the fade.

been meaning to do a proper lovers thread for ages. would like to come equipped first though.

r|t|c, Saturday, 8 December 2007 00:39 (eighteen years ago)

six years pass...

this really is one of the greatest songs ever. the LP it's on (Capricorn Woman) is pretty awesome as well; nothing's as good as Silly Games, of course, but the whole thing is pretty fun.

a duiving caTCH, a stuolllen bayeeeess (jamescobo), Monday, 26 May 2014 19:09 (twelve years ago)


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