Nova Posted September 26, 2012 Posted September 26, 2012 If you grew up in the eighties, you would probably know the hit single '19' by Paul Hardcastle, a British music producer. I didn't here this song till 1993. Having found it on an instrumental mix tape my father had, the song was catchy and the lyrics stuck with me. I had no clue who the producer of this song was. Nostalgia kicked in, after all these years when I thought about this tape, a few days ago. I still have it in my possession but no tape recorder to play it. One day, I hope to digitize this analog recording and reminisce about the music I so liked to listen to. Those days we didn't have the mp3 revolution, which meant that my music collection was limited. Any music tape would get repeated listens, the joy of which seems to be lost nowadays, but I digress. Now about this song. All I could remember was, that the song was about the Vietnam war. Couple weeks ago, I casually googled about it in the hope of finding some details, without much luck. Although I have to admit, I didn't seriously look for it. Last night, I happened to read the latest issue of DJ Magazine, which is about EDM. As I flipped, or should I say clicked, through the pages, I came across an article, by Carl Loben, titled "Game Changers: Seminal Tracks that altered dance forever: Paul Hardcastle 19". The first line in the article I read was "In 1965 Vietnam seemed like just another foreign war, but it wasn't. It was different in many ways, as were those that did the fighting. In World War Two the average age of the combat soldier was 26... In Vietnam he was 19. N-n-n-n-Nineteen". My eyes lit up. I had found the name of the song I was looking for, by sheer coincidence. This put a huge smile on my face. Ahh.. the joy of rediscovering lost music was very heart warming. Paul Hardcastle's anti-war single '19' was a worldwide smash in 1985, soaring to No.1 all over the world. The article went into more details about the man behind this phenomenon and how the song came out to be. It was the most played record on Radio 1, and the biggest played video on MTV. It went on to become the biggest selling record of the year. It did not become #1 in the US, as some radio stations refused to play it, because of the anti Vietnam war message. However, war vets loved it. They liked the idea that some young British guy had highlighted this, and they thanked him for it. The Vietnam Vets used '19' on their annual march when they marched through Washington, and it remained a part of Paul's life ever since. Well, let's listen to the song..... JcFFEjq5Ap8 "In Vietnam the combat soldier typically served a 12 month tour of duty, but was exposed to hostile fire almost everyday. N-N-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-nineteen." The article went on to say,"Layering choice dialogue by narrator Peter Thomas from the Vietnam Requiem documentary over electro-pop beats and synth melodies to highlight 'Nam post-traumatic stress, Hardcastle brought in female voices for a chorus to ram the message home. Destruction of men in their prime, whose average age was 19, they sang, with Paul chopping up the first syllable of Destruction into a staccato stutter." I kept on reading the article. And this is where things got more interesting. The article mentioned that not long after the huge success of this song, impressionist comedian Rory Bremner came up with a '19' spoof based on the England cricket team's woeful performance against the West Indies that summer. England got mauled and whitewashed with a 0-5 series defeat. Bremner impersonated BBC television and radio cricket commentators such as Richie Benaud, Brian Johnston, Jim Laker and Fred Trueman, replacing Hardcastle's references to the Vietnam War with references to the 1984 Test series between England and the West Indies in which the England captain David Gower had averaged 19. The recording was in the UK Singles Chart for 7 weeks, peaking at Number 13. The funny thing is that Paul Hardcastle himself was the producer of this single, against his record label's advice. His record label didn't want him to be involved in it whatsoever. They said to him, 'You have made a big statement and now you're making a parody of it'. But he thought, it was fun and went ahead with it, with the comedian Bremner singing. Here is Bremner doing a live version of it: XT3XcmGGqtI Lyrics: The Commentators (w/Rory Brenner), N-n-nineteen Not Out: N-n-n-n-nineteen. Nineteen. N-n-n-n-nineteen. Nineteen. They fought the most disastrous series in test history.. They fought the most disastrous series in test history. In 1984, the test series against the West Indies seemed like just another runner. But it wasn't. It was different in many ways, and so were those who did the batting. In 1933, the England captain's average was 35. In 1984, it was n-nineteen. N-n-n-n-nineteen. Nineteen. N-n-n-n-nineteen. Nineteen. (Nineteen) Nineteen. N-n-n-n-nineteen. Nineteen. N-n-n-n-nineteen. (Good vintage!) (Nineteen) (Lords, Heddingly, Oval, Cucumber sandwich) And the heaviest defeat of the series ended at Old Trafford today, with England beaten by an innings of 64 runs. (Video: "continued", not "ended".) Wasn't really sure what was going on. Wasn't really sure what was going on. In 1933 the Australian batsman typically stood at the crease for 12 overs, but was exposed to hostile bowling every minute. It was the bodyline series. (Video: and was exposed to hostile bowling every minute.) And now he's taking a long run up, he's bowled straight into the (?1:15 in the song, 1:30 in the video?), he's caught rather a nasty one on the back of the neck, he's gonna need quite a lot of stitches in that, I'd say about nineteen. All those who've forgotten the score, They still remember the team. Destruction, they called bodyline, Their captain's name was Jardine. He wasn't even aiming at the stumps. He wasn't even aiming at the stumps. What a marvellous day it's been out there today. England resumed this morning with an overnight total of 7. Gower was good to go for 3, and Gatting 5. Botham 4. Down to Nat without scoring. Bringing the total up to a miserly nineteen. N-n-nineteen. Nineteen. N-n-n-n-nineteen. Nineteen. (Nineteen) Nineteen. Oh, there's a bus just going down the road, turning left at traffic lights. I think, ah yes, it's a number nineteen. (Nineteen) I just said that! Who let that woman in here? (Video 2:15-2:20 definitely differs slightly from audio 2:00-2:05: Oh, there's a bus just going down the Edgeware Road, turning left at traffic lights. I can't see what the number is, I think it's a number nineteen!) In the fifth test, England scored 202 in their second innings. Which is an average of just under nineteen. The West Indies scored n-n-n-n-three hundred and forty six. The only batsman able to cope with a new attack was Chris Broad, who adopted a new stance: S-s-s-s-side on. Side on. (Appears in live video, not the mix I have on an ancient tape) "S-s-s-s-side on. Side on. Bodyline. Bodyline. S-s-s-s-side bottom. Side bottom. Bodyline. Bodyline.") None of them received a standing ovation. None of them. None of them. None of them received a standing ovation. None of them. None of them. N-n-n-n... -I think you've made your point actually. -Well, there was one- Shut up, Bill! And sitting with me in the commentary box is Jim Laker, who holds the record for the most wickets taken in a test match. How many was it, Jim? Nineteen. (Silly question, really!) It's a long, slow, lazy delivery. But it's the best I can do. Mike Gatting's just hit a four, It's the best drop we've seen, Reduction of the enemy lead, Now it's down to nineteen. Bowled. L.B.W. Caught, Run out, Hit wicket, Stumped, Retired hurt, Howzat? Not out! Lyrics credit: Foo bar http://www.inthe00s.com/index.php?topic=3174.msg2817317#msg2817317 I wanted to share this with all of you. Hope you found it interesting. I sure did! :) :regular_smile:
Rajiv Posted September 26, 2012 Posted September 26, 2012 Opened a thread long time back on this, could have been old ICF actually. This was so cool back in the day Vietnam one was break dancers practice song ( aka Javed Jaffrey's lil clip in Meri Jung )
Nova Posted September 26, 2012 Author Posted September 26, 2012 Opened a thread long time back on this, could have been old ICF actually. This was so cool back in the day Vietnam one was break dancers practice song ( aka Javed Jaffrey's lil clip in Meri Jung ) Awesome. It's cool that you remember this. I just had to look at the Meri Jung clip. Here it is.... HyhIlaoLHRY&t=44m49s :two_thumbs_up: edit: Video not playing for me here, just go here: Javed Jaffrey's dance was the craze back in the day. I remember going to a college gathering, and some student was performing break dance to Bappi Lahiri's Habiba, similar to Jaffrey's performance on Doordarshan on new year's eve.
Rajiv Posted September 26, 2012 Posted September 26, 2012 He's from my school, our guru - got into break dancing a lot ( actually I was the best but now if I dance, I will break something ), did charity show for Bhopal gas tragedy with him as well. Javed had a big hand in exposing breakdance in India Habiba was a challenge, coz it was amongst the 1st Hindi track where u could break dance, lotta caterpillar and egg roll moves involved
Rajiv Posted September 26, 2012 Posted September 26, 2012 here, this was the track http://indiancricketfans.com/showpost.php?p=1637593&postcount=5 Whenever I heard the song, reminds me of the echo in the school hall, Mr hartmans chamaat, chalk in hands and vasugiri
Nova Posted September 26, 2012 Author Posted September 26, 2012 Oh wow.. Kya baat hai Rajiv...:hatsoff: I always wanted to do break dance...it used to mesmerize me then. Still does. Now, we have liquid dancing/popping/locking. I am sure you will appreciate the clip below. That's Eric from Liquid Pop Collective, dancing to goa trance tunes: 1. Total Eclipse - Direct Motion 2. Electric Universe - Visiting Venus 9uSWfQzjahY
Rajiv Posted September 26, 2012 Posted September 26, 2012 Nice Breakdance has changed, I can't imagine trying somethings these guys do.. It defies everything The Flip @ 0.42 and no hand flip at 3:28 - seriously J3SlEc059EI
Nova Posted September 26, 2012 Author Posted September 26, 2012 Ahh... classic Axel F remixed. Yeah I have heard that before. It was on the breakdance mix tape I had. Wish you had a video of you dancing.. do you?
Rajiv Posted September 26, 2012 Posted September 26, 2012 Are woh time pe kya video recording - lotta memories could have been captured if we had cellphone Our school was pretty good in encouraging arts and dance
Rajiv Posted September 26, 2012 Posted September 26, 2012 Awesome. It's cool that you remember this. I just had to look at the Meri Jung clip. Here it is.... HyhIlaoLHRY&t=44m49s :two_thumbs_up: edit: Video not playing for me here, just go here: Javed Jaffrey's dance was the craze back in the day. I remember going to a college gathering, and some student was performing break dance to Bappi Lahiri's Habiba, similar to Jaffrey's performance on Doordarshan on new year's eve. Damn, now I can't get this song outta my head Zywy9lU2vOY
Nova Posted September 27, 2012 Author Posted September 27, 2012 ^ Awesome. Watching it for the first time. :D
Rajiv Posted September 27, 2012 Posted September 27, 2012 Flash dance - amongst the few break-dance movies from the 80s
coffee_rules Posted September 27, 2012 Posted September 27, 2012 They sing Rock 'n Roll, but are doing swing dance in that Meri Jung Song. Anybody know about this movie. It has a break dance battle in the climax. It was a big hit in India as well. B Subhash copied this move and made 'Dance Dance'. rG55x29b5VY&feature=related yqipbmqcMz0 kR1o-x_JHxM&feature=related Look at the copy of the 'Survive song".. Jvr4v8HQl9g&feature=related
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