News / / 14.09.12

SAMANTHA FOX

REISSUED (CHERRY POP)

10/20

Sam Fox is probably best known as a trailblazing figure among a slew of 1980s tittie titans. Back then a mechanic’s wall wasn’t worthy of the name unless it boasted her beaming mug, and your dad almost certainly harboured a soft spot. But she was also something of a pioneer in the world of mindless risqué pop, and now a quartet of her finest releases are being given the deluxe reissue treatment. We’ve decided to focus on her largely overlooked, self-titled sophomore record (it peaked at #22 in the UK, faring slightly better among our German friends). It saw her expanding her sonic boundaries, merging an arsenal of the ploppiest beats imaginable (in 1987 ‘ploppiness’ was considered quite the virtue) with at turns stadium rock guitars – resulting in an invigorating ‘Kylie-meets-Whitesnake’ effect – and, on Naughty Girls (Need Love Too) a hip-hop intrusion which will almost certainly leave you open-mouthed. Other highlights include Satisfaction, believe it or not only Fox’s second finest Rolling Stones cover after a 1993 collaboration with space rock gods Hawkwind on Gimme Shelter. Look it up. But it’s unfortunate to report that ballad The Best Is Yet To Come is based on a premise of lies. Seeing as this is a reissue review, we’re gonna award half a mark per additional track, alternative version and instrumental. Seems only fair.

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Words: Geraint Davies

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