Dave's Song of the Day
All the Things She Said – t.A.T.u.
Tuesday song of the day: Today’s song was a cynical – but successful – effort to create a hit based on shock value.
In 1999, Russian record producer Ivan Shapovalov came up with a concept for an act consisting of two teenage lesbians. He held auditions and finally settled on two 14-year old girls, Lena Katina and Julia Volkova. They had both previously been a part of the children’s singing group Neposedi. He called the pair t.A.T.u., which was an acronym for the Russian phrase meaning “This girl loves that girl.” Never mind that Lena and Julia were not lesbians. They had the right look and the lesbian angle would gain notoriety.
In 2000 t.A.T.u. recorded their first album, in Russian. The first single off the album was Ya Soshla S Uma (English translation: I’ve Lost My Mind), released in December 2000. The song was later reworked into English as All the Things She Said. Both versions, of course, were based on the two underage girls in love theme, as were the videos for the songs (The videos were essentially identical except one used the Russian song and one used the English version). The shock value worked, first in Russia where Ya Soshla S Uma was a hit, and then in the rest of the world when All the Things She Said was released in 2002. The song charted at #1 in several European countries, and when released in the United States, it peaked at #20 on the Billboard Hot 100, aided by heavy airplay of the video, and t.A.T.u. appearing on several television shows to perform.
Eventually the fact that the girls were playing the role set up for them by Shapovalov became common knowledge. t.A.T.u. remained popular in Russia and much of Europe and released six studio albums before breaking up in 2011. In the United States, they are mostly remembered as fake lesbians who had a single hit based on that false premise.
View: https://youtu.be/8mGBaXPlri8
Ya Soshla S Uma
View: https://youtu.be/-F-JfWqMG6g
Tomorrow: In all my dark despair
All the Things She Said – t.A.T.u.
Tuesday song of the day: Today’s song was a cynical – but successful – effort to create a hit based on shock value.
In 1999, Russian record producer Ivan Shapovalov came up with a concept for an act consisting of two teenage lesbians. He held auditions and finally settled on two 14-year old girls, Lena Katina and Julia Volkova. They had both previously been a part of the children’s singing group Neposedi. He called the pair t.A.T.u., which was an acronym for the Russian phrase meaning “This girl loves that girl.” Never mind that Lena and Julia were not lesbians. They had the right look and the lesbian angle would gain notoriety.
In 2000 t.A.T.u. recorded their first album, in Russian. The first single off the album was Ya Soshla S Uma (English translation: I’ve Lost My Mind), released in December 2000. The song was later reworked into English as All the Things She Said. Both versions, of course, were based on the two underage girls in love theme, as were the videos for the songs (The videos were essentially identical except one used the Russian song and one used the English version). The shock value worked, first in Russia where Ya Soshla S Uma was a hit, and then in the rest of the world when All the Things She Said was released in 2002. The song charted at #1 in several European countries, and when released in the United States, it peaked at #20 on the Billboard Hot 100, aided by heavy airplay of the video, and t.A.T.u. appearing on several television shows to perform.
Eventually the fact that the girls were playing the role set up for them by Shapovalov became common knowledge. t.A.T.u. remained popular in Russia and much of Europe and released six studio albums before breaking up in 2011. In the United States, they are mostly remembered as fake lesbians who had a single hit based on that false premise.
View: https://youtu.be/8mGBaXPlri8
Ya Soshla S Uma
View: https://youtu.be/-F-JfWqMG6g
Tomorrow: In all my dark despair
