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To celebrate Dannii Minogue’s 50th birthday today, I’ve sifted through a back catalog of 19 UK top 40 hits and five studio albums (not to mention some retrospective rarities) to find my personal top 50 tracks to select.
Dannii’s recording career began in 1990 with the release of her debut solo single « Love and Kisses » in Australia. At a time when big sister Kylie was making bubblegum pop, Dannii clearly wanted a more American R&B-influenced sound. Their debut single and a large part of their parents’ album are more reminiscent of Janet Jackson and Paula Abdul in their sound. In the UK we had to wait until 1991 when a new, more Europop version of “Love and Kisses” was released and Dannii got the first of nine top 10 UK hits.
The album « Love and Kisses » was also included in the top 10, produced five top 40 hits and was awarded gold in the UK. Their second album « Get Into You » was released in 1993 and brought us five more singles, this time a mixture of pure pop and more relaxed R&B vibes as well as the rockier title track.
In 1995, Dannii recorded a variety of demos, but the album wasn’t released until much later when « The 1995 Sessions » was released in 2009. This would be the beginning of Dannii’s sound moving into dance music. Instead, we fans didn’t know that it existed at the time, but we still got the dance diva in 1997 in the epic “All I Wanna Do” and the accompanying album “Girl”.
In 2003, Dannii released her previously critically acclaimed album in the 80s, which refers to dance-pop-funk-electro from « Neon Nights », which also won gold in the UK.
Dannii’s next release was supposed to be on the dance label All Around The World, but the planned album « Club Disco » was paused in favor of her first British single compilation « The Hits and Beyond ». It contained 15 of their UK top 40 hits as well as five brand new tracks that would have been on « Club Disco ». The latter was then released in 2007 in Australia and as a digital publication in the UK.
Since then several special editions and rarities with previously unheard mixes, demos and complete songs have been released. Choosing wasn’t easy, but here are my top 50 Dannii tracks, from 50 to 41:
« Perfection » was released in October 2005 and cleverly uses a sample of the disco classic « Turn The Beat Around » while Dannii teams up with DJ / producer The Soul Seekerz. It narrowly missed a top 10 placement in the UK when it peaked at # 11.
As Dannii’s surprising release in 2015, « Summer Of Love » followed Dannii a month earlier as headlining Sydney Mardi Gras. The first version available was the Extended Mix, but a full remix bundle was later released. A house track through and through, this one is definitely made for the clubs.
A funky cut from Dannii’s debut album “Love and Kisses”, which is about a lover who messes you up. Dannii even channels her inner Elvis while singing « You ain’t nothing but a Hound Dog ».
A previously unreleased track from the « Neon Nights » era that became a bonus track for the 2007 Special Edition remake. This track was written by Dannii with Ian Masterson and Terry Ronald. An energetic track with Dannii cooing over the beat, maybe it was a hint of what was to come with “Club Disco”.
Dannii covered the Australian royal family Olivia Newton-John’s « Xanadu » for their « Club Disco » album. A seductive version of the track, with Dannii’s sensual vocals floating lightly over electronic beats.
Regarding A-double T-I-T-U-D-E, Dannii showed that she was serious about this track on her debut album « Love and Kisses ». Recorded in New York, Dannii shows off her rap skills!
This track was surprisingly released in summer 2017 and is a duet with Jason Heerah. He was a candidate with X Factor Australia, although Dannii was not his mentor. A soulful dance-pop track that Dannii co-wrote.
In 2017, Dannii teamed up with Tina Arena to reinterpret her hit from 1994 for Tina’s Greatest Hits 2017. By completely modernizing the track with a touch of tropical house, it stands on its own.
From the album that never existed, « The 1995 Sessions », this track is definitely its time in terms of production. It shows how Dannii became a club queen with his dance beats in the mid-90s.
A duet with the big sister « 100 Degrees », the track was written for « A Kylie Christmas » and breaks the tradition of giving a disco bang. Since Christmas is a sunny affair in Australia, this song is for all fans in Oz. A non-Christmas version that changed the line « It’s still Christmas to me » to « It’s still Disco to me » was released the following summer.
Tomorrow I’ll reveal my 40-31. Tell me what you think of my decisions so far @entfocusmusic
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