No Way No Way

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In 2014, Swart was interviewed for an article in The Guardian about the pitfalls of having a hit novelty record.

Vanilla - No Way No Way | Releases | Discogs Vanilla - No Way No Way | Releases | Discogs

Novelty records may have evolved over the years but many of the principles that made Benny Hill’s Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West) a No 1 in the 1970s would still work today, despite changing consumption habits. That’s only fair: Kung Fu Fighting was released 40 years ago this month, sold 11m copies, won a Grammy, and hit No 1 on both sides of the Atlantic. We understand that not everyone can donate right now, but if you can afford to contribute, we promise it will be put to good use. In 2014, a track like All About That Bass has blown up – like Gangnam Style – through YouTube, where its brilliantly charismatic video is the embellishment on the song’s eccentric sonic styling.By the 80s novelty hits such as seemed to come with a far greater reliance on presentation and personality – a novelty single came part and parcel with a career in light entertainment. No Way No Way got to No 14 but Vanilla’s second single only managed No 36 and the band were dropped. People remember them for that irritating song (which tbh is better than some of the overplayed generic dirge in the charts just now) and yet they released a follow up single in 98. Swart laughs off the longstanding rumour that Vanilla signed to EMI as the result of someone losing a bet, but accepts that Vanilla were launched with what was unmistakably a novelty single. More Hamburger icon An icon used to represent a menu that can be toggled by interacting with this icon.

Vanilla - No Way No Way Lyrics - Lyrics Mania Vanilla - No Way No Way Lyrics - Lyrics Mania

It’s certainly easy to reassess the Simpsons’ Do the Bartman when you know Michael Jackson wrote it. So they’re normally considered crap, but all the biggest novelty records are generally well recorded. Photograph: Guardian Photograph: /Guardian Carl Douglas of Kung Fu Fighting and the Crazy Frog … where are they now? It is a curious and perhaps heartening fact that very few novelty hits are totally worthless on a musical level. Whether a novelty single is cool or not the trick to making one, John Matthews says, is not to fear failure – or criticism.The original Italian version and Muppets' cover (of what makes no pretence of being other than a silly novelty song) are enjoyable enough in their own way if you don't take them too seriously, but this version is beyond awful. However, because people weren't taking them seriously by that point, and 98 was such a strong year for music and it had lots of competition, it debuted at number 34 in the charts and then they got dropped by their record label.

Vanilla - No Way No Way 1997 | Vanilla - No Way No Way 1997 Vanilla - No Way No Way 1997 | Vanilla - No Way No Way 1997

Images Donate icon An illustration of a heart shape Donate Ellipses icon An illustration of text ellipses. Now it is usually held right after the funeral, but in most celtiic countries the wake is held before the funeral. People hating something is a much better indication that you’ve hit gold than indifference,” he says. We build and maintain all our own systems, but we don’t charge for access, sell user information, or run ads. He went to lunch, came back an hour later and was greeted by a defiantly absurd disco banger by the name of Kung Fu Fighting.While promoting their two singles with EMI, Vanilla made media appearances, including a performance of "No Way, No Way" on Top of the Pops, and performing a spoof version of "True to Us" on Blue Peter. Oh how my friends and I would be glued to "The Box" when this came on, it is impossible to drag yourself away from the TV and woe betide anyone that tried to turn it over. As people are so rarely looking in the same direction now I think the ability of a mass audience to recognise and enjoy novelty music has been lost. They roped in Glen Campbell – “I think the extent of our UK credibility may have been slightly exaggerated to his people,” Matthews laughs – for a version of Rhinestone Cowboy. It would end, I decided, with the millennial No 1 – an ultra-banal, ultra-repetitive, internet-flavoured hit.