Duffy, The Campfire Slayer
- 11 Dec 07, 10:39 AM
In January 1991, when number one hit records were still something exciting and aspirational, Iron Maiden reached the top with ‘Bring Your Daughter to The Slaughter’. Some of us were outraged. How could such a rubbish metal act rule the pop charts without our permission? We thought about it for a second. And then the answer became plain.
Chart sales in January are always poor. Money is tight and prospects are sober. But if a band with a dedicated, niche audience comes along, then those concentrated sales can yield spectacular results. Since then, record companies have used this scam to showcase cult acts and new bands.
The first NME cover of the New Year was traditionally a breaking band – the anointed hopes of the season. This idea was extended in 1993 when the NME Awards were launched, complete with a Brat Bus tour of upcoming acts, which would tour the UK and excite a weary landscape.
Since then, January has become a critical time for record companies, music mags radio tipsters, hairstyling products and sundry bits of the industry. It worked for Snow Patrol and ‘Run’ in 2004. And in 2008, the smart money is on a torch singer from north Wales called .
Her voice is impressive, and no-one is coy about the references to Dusty Springfield. She’s got heavyweight management that’s been involved with the likes of Pulp, The Cranberries and The Smiths. And her opening song, ‘Rockferry’ is a sustained smouldering ballad, the farewell to a gigantic love affair.
All good then. But the worry is that Duffy is pushed too hard, too soon, and that any mystique is all used us before we’ve seen her evolve. Lily Allen was commodified in an instant, and Duffy could easily go that way.
Anyway, she’s playing Auntie Annie’s in Belfast, March 3. By then, the hysteria should be well advanced. I kinda hope she burns brightly into the festival season, so that my ridiculous, punning headline may actually make sense...
Stu Bailie presents The Late show on Radio Ulster, every Friday from 10pm until midnight.
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