Welcome to Poptastic Confessions! This blog is dedicated to glorious, unashamed alternative pop music! We hope to share new music with you that you might not have heard before because it is usually overlooked by the masses. Of course, we'll always encourage you to buy the music legally to support the artists. Enjoy! —Davearama, editor of Poptastic Confessions
It’s our 8th Anniversary! Hooray! If you have been with us for the whole 8 years, we thank you tremendously! If you are new to the blog, we encourage you to explore the past 8 years using the Blog Archive Directory on the right. Welcome toPoptastic Confessions!
Our Mission
We highlight all types of music that might not be heard by the masses. We feature a lot of indie artists, as well as artists from various countries, or artists that might have been more popular in the 80s, 90s, and/or 00s. We like a lot of different types of music, too. Our goal is share with you to these songs and encourage you to legally purchase the music. That way, the artists (many of them self-financed) can make a profit so that they can continue making music.
Our History
When we started 8 years ago in 2011, the blog was called Davearama’s Guide to Poptastic Music. Davearama was the sole blogger and he didn’t really like the name or the focus on him. In 2012, he changed the name to be Poptastic Confessions. “Sometimes, admitting that you like pop music can be somewhat of a confession,” Davearama said. In 2016, he opened the blog to more contributors to expand the music selection.
Our Interviews
We used to do more interviews, but that sort of went away. Last year, we said we would bring them back, and we didn’t. Sorry. We’ve been working on one that we’d like to do so stay tuned. In the meantime, you can check out the following interviews …
At the end of every year, we do a countdown of our top songs of the year. We used to do just a top 20, but the last 2 years we have featured the top 100 songs of the year. We compile the songs at the end of November, and we spend most of December counting down the songs until we get to our #1 song of the year on New Year’s Eve. A lot of work goes in to it. However, we have the most visitors during the month of December. Check out the past countdowns …
We have Spotify playlists for all the years we’ve been around. Sometimes, songs aren’t on Spotify, so not every song is there. Click on the years to listen to the playlists: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, and 2010.
Podcasts
Davearama has represented Poptastic Confessions on a few radio interviews with John and Costa on the Neon Nights show on Joy 94.9, Australia's LGBTQ radio station. All of the shows were about Bananarama, but we are hoping to be guests on more shows in the future. You can hear the podcasts on Spotify! Here is the one from 2018, and the others earlier this year.
Our Inspirations Many music artists inspire us. Bananarama made their way in a male-dominated music industry and always followed their gut. Jody Watley followed her own path and stayed true to herself. Annikafiore showed us how to be a indie disco diva on your own terms. Gwenno and Ani may have captured our hearts in The Pipettes, but they opened our minds and ears to music sung in Welsh and Cornish. John from Parralox inspired us to follow our dreams, to make them happen. A very special thank you to Annikafiore and Arturo, who encouraged Davearama when he told them he wanted to start a music blog. Check out our very first post about Preaching To The Choir by Annikafiore.
Our Legacy
We hope that our legacy is that we’ve been able to share new music with you that becomes the soundtrack to your life. We’ve made friends through Poptastic Confessions, whether it be with the artists, or fans. Here's a fun fact: the deep-house duo Glass Slipper formed because of Poptastic Confessions. We are very proud of that fact!
Thank You
A big thank you for visiting Poptastic Confessions! If you have liked/loved our posts, we love you. If you have shared our posts, we love you even more.
Cheers then,
—The Poptastic Confesssions Collective P.S. We get most of our visitors from links on social media. We have Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Please make sure that you follow us on all 3 platforms! We could definitely use more followers on Instagram and Twitter. Hint, hint!
Dear Poptastic Readers, You are going to love this new song that we stumbled upon called "Over My Dead Body" by Supercub. This is definitely a contender for the feel-good track of the summer.
Wasn't that camp? We love this bit: "Life is a bitch, but I'm still a fem!" So awesome. "Over My Dead Body" is available on digital outlets everywhere. Buy your copy today. We've added it to our 2019 Poptastic Confessions Playlist on Spotify. Woo!
Dear Poptastic Readers, Dolly Style have recorded the fantastic Disney song "How Far I'll Go" from the 2016 movie Moana. Dolly Style + Disney = Pop Celebration!
If you aren't familiar with this song, you have been missing out. If you do know it, you might ask yourself what can Dolly Style bring to this? Well, it is starts off a power ballad, but then Dolly Style go all a bit electropop! They've made a music video for it from their Circus tour of Sweden. Check it out ...
Amazing. "How Far I'll Go" isn't available for download worldwide. However, It is available to stream everywhere. We've added it to our 2019 Poptastic Confessions Playlist on Spotify. You'll also hear their previous singles "Habibi" and "Sunrise" there, too. Enjoy!~
Cheers then, —Davearama
P.S. Please follow Dolly Style and Poptastic Confessions on social media!
Dear Poptastic Readers, Alice D is back with brand new song called “Offline” and we think it just might be that summer jam that you've been looking for! We love it!
Alice D is just lovely all around. She is a wonderful singer/songwriter. “Offline” starts off a bit like a ballad, but then the first chorus kicks in an it transformed into a song that will have you grooving in no time. It has a wonderful melody and Alice gives a wonderful soulful vocal performance. We love it when the music drops out and a choir sings along. This is truly fantastic! Check out the lyric video ...
Wasn't that awesome? Yes, it was. “Offline” is available on digital outlets everywhere. Support Alice D by legally downloading the track. We've added it to our 2019 Poptastic Confessions Playlist on Spotify. You'll also hear her last single “Mama Said” there. Enjoy!~
Cheers then, —Davearama
P.S. Please follow Alice D and Poptastic Confessions on social media ...
Dear Poptastic Readers, Shura is back with a fabulous summer song called “religion (u can lay your hands on me)” and yes, it is stylized in all lowercase letters for reasons unknown to us.
The new song “religion (u can lay your hands on me)” is a breath of fresh air. It’s a bit soul pop with a hint of glorious strings. The melody is lovely. It is relaxed. It is sexy. The video is about young nuns in love. Check it out ...
Wasn’t that fab? Yes, it was. “religion (u can lay your hands on me)” is available on digital outlets everywhere. Buy your copy today. We’ve added it to our 2019 Poptastic Confessions Playlist on Spotify. We’ve also added her song “BKLYNLDN” in the mix, too. Enjoy!~
Cheers then, —Davearama P.S. Please follow Shura and Poptastic Confessions on social media ... Shura Facebook Instagram Twitter
English singer/songwriter and former pop star Cathy Dennis performed her first live show in over 20 years this past weekend. Cathy reminded the audience that while she hasn’t continued releasing hits herself, she sure has continued writing them! Could this be the return of her singing career? We certainly hope so.
If you aren’t familiar with Cathy’s previous work, here’s a walk down pop memory lane: The year was 1989 when the world first heard of Cathy Dennis. Her first single was with the British house music producer D-Mob. The song was called “C’mon And Get My Love” and it was credited to D-Mob introducing Cathy Dennis. It was a top 10 hit in America, as well as going to #1 on the US Dance Chart. It was a fabulous dance pop song!
At the end of 1989, Cathy released a solo song called “Just Another Dream” and it was produced by D-Mob. It only charted at #93 in the UK. It flopped big time.
Cathy had sang vocals for another D-Mob song called “That’s The Way Of The World” on his album A Little Bit Of This, A Little Bit Of That. It would be the next single in 1990. While it went to #1 on the US Dance Chart, the song was largely ignored by radio and didn’t do well on the pop charts.
Cathy’s next single at the end of 1990 would be another attempt at her first solo single. It was a new version of “Just Another Dream.” This new and improved version would be the first single to launch Cathy’s debut album Move To This. It worked. The new version of “Just Another Dream” was a hit! It was another top 10 hit in America, and the song just missed the #1 spot on the US Dance Chart in 1991.
Cathy’s album Move To This was also released shortly after the single for “Just Another Dream.” The album included the hit “C’mon And Get My Love”, but “That’s The Way Of The World” was left off. The album got great reviews. Her album did better in the UK than the US, but her singles did better in the US than the UK.
Move To This in 1990
(UK #3, Australia #32, Canada #44, US #67)
Her next single in the spring of 1991 was cover of “Touch Me (All Night Long)” originally recorded by Fonda Rae. Cathy only used the original chorus and she wrote new lyrics for the verses. This would be her biggest hit of her solo career. The single version was new new mix from the album version. It was top 5 in both the US and UK, and another #1 on the US Dance Chart.
Cathy’s next single at the end of summer in 1991 was her ballad “Too Many Walls” that she wrote with Anne Dudley, who provided an amazing string section. Cathy proved she was more than a dancefloor diva. She was a credible pop princess. Just like the previous single, this single was also slightly mixed from the album version.
The last single from her debut album was “Everybody Move.” It was given a new single remix by Shep Pettibone. The single came at the end of 1991 it didn't set the charts on fire. The music video was funny, though.
Cathy went back to the studio to write and record her sophomore album Into The Skyline. The first single “You Lied To Me” would be released in August of 1992. It was a bombastic pop song, but maybe suffered from having the wrong title, as a lot people thought the song was called “You Got Another Lover” or “Another Lover.” It was a moderate hit in both the US and UK.
The album Into The Skyline was released in September of 1992. It was another top 10 album for her in the UK. Unfortunately, it didn’t chart in the US. There were decent reviews written about the album. It was a more mature outing as there were fewer dance tracks and more mid-tempo numbers. The album opened with a longer version of “You Lied To Me” and the second track was another fabulous song with D-Mob called “Why?” So many people thought “Why?” would be the obvious next single as it just sounded like a huge hit.
Into The Skyline in 1992
(UK #8, Australia #135)
Instead, the next single in November of 1992 was piano-led radio-friendly “Irresistible.” It had a slight radio mix and it did well with adult contemporary radio stations.
Also in November of 1992, singer Dannii Minogue released a song in the UK that Cathy co-wrote with D Mob and she provided backing vocals for it, too. The song was “Love’s On Every Corner.” It was a minor hit.
In the UK, the next single was “Falling” in February of 1993. The album version had music that sounded similar to Madonna’s “Vogue.” The single version was give a radio remix by RNB group PM Dawn. It was a moderate hit in the UK.
Cathy then provided uncredited vocals to PM Dawn’s single “Looking Through Patient Eyes.” The term uncredited only means that it wasn't billed as PM Dawn featuring Cathy Dennis. If you looked on the record information, you would see that Cathy was the female singer on the record. It was a top 10 hit in America, and it just missed the top 10 in the UK. It went to #1 in Canada.
In the late spring of 1993, North America got the ballad single “Moments Of Love.” It was a top 10 hit on the adult contemporary charts, but didn’t make much a splash anywhere else.
In January of 1994, UK fans finally got the D-Mob single “Why?” However, the music for the single version was drastically different from the glorious album version. It became the highest charting single from the album. Although not released in America, Cathy did perform the song on the TV show Beverly Hills, 90210 in 1993.
In February of 1994, Cathy released a new single only in Japan called “It’s My Style.” The track was added to the Japanese version of the album Into The Skyline. It was another pop bop.
Cathy began work on her third album tentatively titled Inspiration. A song from the forthcoming album was put on the soundtrack to Beverly Hills, 90210: The College Years. The song was called “SOS.” But Cathy's album never surfaced.
In March of 1995, Cathy released another Japan-only single called “Love’s A Cradle.” It was ballad-esque track with a 60s-retro feel. She performed in on a TV show in Japan. The video is below.
Shortly thereafter, Cathy changed musical directions. The album Inspiration was scrapped. Cathy steered her career away from dance pop and in the direction of pop rock. The first single in this new direction was “West End Pad” in the summer of 1996. It was a moderate hit.
Also in the summer of 1996, Cathy ended up with quite a bit of royalties for a b-side she wrote for a then unknown girl group called the Spice Girls. Yes, that summer the Spice Girls released their debut single “Wannabe.” For the b-side, they recorded the song “Bumper To Bumper”, which Cathy co-wrote. “Wannabe” went to #1 in 10 countries. Each CD sold had the song “Bumper To Bumper” as the b-side, so that meant royalties for Cathy.
Cathy’s next single was a cover version of The Kink’s “Waterloo Sunset” in February of 1997. It just missed the top 10 in the UK. The music video featured Cathy singing along in a taxi cab while The Kink’s singer Ray Davies had a cameo as the taxi driver. Watch it below in a split screen with a performance.
Cathy’s third album Am I The Kinda Girl? was released in March of 1997 in the UK. However, it had been released in Australia in October of 1996. It had good reviews. Fans were mixed about it. The fans who loved her dance-pop albums felt disappointed. While other fans embraced the new Britpop sound.
In June of 1997, Cathy released her third and final single from album. The song was called “When Dreams Turn To Dust” and it was a minor hit. Little did we know, that it would be Cathy’s last solo single to date. That’s right—it’s been 22 years since Cathy’s last solo single. But she hasn’t ever really gone away as she shifted from pop star to songwriter.
It wasn’t only the S Club franchise that Cathy was writing hits for. In 2001, Kylie Minogue scored the biggest hit of her career with a song that Cathy wrote called “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head.” It was #1 in 10 countries. Cathy also wrote “Come Into My World” (UK #8 in 2002). Both songs were on Kylie's Fever album.
(It went to #1 in Austria, Australia, France, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Switzerland, UK, and the US Dance Charts. US #7)
In 2001, Cathy wrote the theme song for the British TV show Pop Idol. The theme song would also be used for the US version of the TV show American Idol.
In 2002, Cathy wrote two #1 songs on both sides of the Atlantic. And both were songs for the Pop Idol/American Idol winners Will Young and Kelly Clarkson.
In 2003, Cathy wrote a song for Britney Spears called “Sweet Dreams My L.A. Ex.” The song was a response to Britney’s ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake who had a song about Britney called “Cry Me A River.” Unfortunately, Britney turned the song down. However, former S Club 7 singer Rachel Stevens took the song and it went to #2 in the UK.
(#1 in Australia, Canada, Ireland, and the UK, #2 in New Zealand and Sweden, #3 in France, #4 in Germany and Switzerland, and #9 in the US)
In 2007, Cathy had two big hits in the UK for Sophie Ellis-Bextor and the Sugababes. Cathy also wrote other songs for both artists that weren't singles, but album tracks. Glorious ones, at that.
In 2014, Cathy co-wrote and sang the verses on the Galantis single “Runaway (U & I).” She was uncredited vocalist at the time. It went to #4 in the UK. In 2018, she also co-wrote and sang on the Galantis single “Emoji.” This was also uncredited.
(Netherlands #3, Australia and UK #4, Belgium and New Zealand #6, Norway #12, US Dance #9
So that leads us to 2019. Earlier this spring, she announced she would be returning to the stage at the Mighty Hoopla festival in the UK. It was this past weekend, and her setlist was this:
Wasn't that fun? Yes! We really hope we get new music from Cathy this year. It appears that she is signed to the Fascination record label, so stay tuned.
Welcome back, Cathy!
Love,
—The Poptastic Confessions Collective
P.S. Please follow Cathy Dennis and Poptastic Confessions on social media … Cathy Dennis Facebook Instagram Twitter
