emf - unbelievable

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has there been a thread on this stomper before? the search function is being a pain in the ass so i'm setting up a new one anyway. this song is great! it's better than anything the happy mondays put out (and i like the mondays plenty). when the beat drops out for the "You're unblievable..." bit - then crashes back in - that's one of the most thrilling, joyous moments pop has thrown up. i like how the vocals are strangely blank, but euphoric at the same time. i give this song "10".

any thoughts????

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 14:48 (twenty-two years ago)

thought 1 - You are joking, right?

― ___ (___), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 14:51 (twenty-two years ago)

All that. xpost

However benignly though, they did reintroduce the concept of 'boy bands'...

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 14:51 (twenty-two years ago)

EPSOM MAD FUNKERS!

It's the "Alright" or "5 Colours In Her Hair" of its day.

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 14:51 (twenty-two years ago)

I'll be generous and give it a 6.5.
"Children" was a solid 8.5, however.

― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 14:52 (twenty-two years ago)

Even knowing the names of their other tracks seems a bit disrespectful.

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 14:54 (twenty-two years ago)

this song is unbelievable *winks*

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 14:57 (twenty-two years ago)

I thought it was a great song - but then I quite liked Thousand Yard Stare too, so obviously my opinion's not to be trusted.

EMF were rather fun live too as I recall.

Sadly they never wrote / recorded anything else anything like as good - in fact every other song they recorded seemed to be at best a poor re-write of Unbelievable.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 14:57 (twenty-two years ago)

I hated it. This was the sort of thing that drove me out of mainstream dance clubs (and dance clubs altogether, at least temporarily) back in the very early 90's or something like that. I used to imitate it for one of my friends, and I think I actually got to like it a little bit after making fun of it that way. Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh you're unbelievable.

― Rockist Scientist (rockistscientist), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 15:08 (twenty-two years ago)

you're SO unbelievable!

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 15:09 (twenty-two years ago)

this was the first song i ever did at a karaoke

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 15:10 (twenty-two years ago)

Thousand Yard Stare!
Wow, that's ages ago since I last listened to their album...
Went to see them live in their 'heyday' (did they ever had an 'heyday'?), quite enjoyed them back them. A couple of EPs + the album. Can't remember one single songtitle at the moment though...

EMF:
I thought the song was ok, but no more than that. As I just came down from my Madchester-trip, they didn't do me as much as the Roses or Mondays.
I did however learned to appreciate the band when I saw EMF live at the Bizarre Festival in Germany. What an energy, what an attitude. Their set didn't last very long because of technical problems, and too much alcohol.
But Unbelieveble suffers from being overplayed and generally acceptance by the mainstream radio/audience... (oooh, snob alert!)

― daarkbee (daarkbee), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 15:15 (twenty-two years ago)

IIRC Thousand Yard Stare's heyday was for at least one month - possibly even as much as two - during the Summer of 1991.

I'm pretty sure they'd actually peaked before their first album (Hands On) came out and I'm absolutely certain that they had before the second one (Mappamundi) did.

Song titles: No Score After Extra Time; Thisness; Comeuppance; Seasonstream; Nonplussed; Last Up First To Go; Buttermouth; Wideshire

They came from Slough, you know.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 15:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Heh, yeah, I did really like this song. Esp since I hated dance music on principle at the time, it must have been pretty damn good.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 15:55 (twenty-two years ago)

I thought this song an absolutely disgrace at the time, but my fun-hating days are behind me and the thought of it is now making me smile.

― N. (nickdastoor), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 16:03 (twenty-two years ago)

EMF's guitarist, Zac Foley, went on to play in another band called... (Carrie?) who weren't bad.

He also developed a drug habit which eventually killed him a couple of years ago.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 16:09 (twenty-two years ago)

It's really all about "Lies" and "I Believe".

― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 16:13 (twenty-two years ago)

I'll agree with killian and give this a 10. particularly amazing is the rap in the middle where you can slur just about anything and sounds like you know the words.

― Felonious Drunk (Felcher), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 16:16 (twenty-two years ago)

''particularly amazing is the rap in the middle where you can slur just about anything and sounds like you know the words''

so that's where 50 cent gets his delivery from! ;)

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 16:18 (twenty-two years ago)

EMF's guitarist, Zac Foley, went on to play in another band called... (Carrie?) who weren't bad.

He also developed a drug habit which eventually killed him a couple of years ago.

Zac was their bass player, not their guitarist.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 16:36 (twenty-two years ago)

How about that remix with Andrew "Dice" Clay? During the chorus a sample of his routine where he goes, "Un-FUCKing ba-leave-a-bull". Good times.

― Mark (MarkR), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 16:37 (twenty-two years ago)

The "Ooooh" is Dice as well.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 16:37 (twenty-two years ago)

you're unbelievable-WOH! do do! do-do-do-do-do do do do do-do-do-do-do do do do!

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 16:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Late last year, I picked up the album for a quarter at the used cd shop. As soon as I popped it in on the drive home (after not having heard it for 12 or so years), the first bit of "Unbelievable" brought back a rush of memories and joy. Well worth a quarter just for the one play (haven't bothered to pull it out again since).

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 16:48 (twenty-two years ago)

MORE COWBELL PLZ

― Nick Mirov (nick), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 18:02 (twenty-two years ago)

Anybody ever hear the story about how they spent a night in jail in Louisiana. Apparently, they were doing a small club tour there and were playing a show with some borrowed instruments. There were sound problems or something so they ended up trashing the instruments, some of which belonged to a local deputy sheriff. I believe this happened in Vinton, which was right across river from Orange, TX, where I was in high school at the time.

If there is one state in this nation where you don't want to spend a night in jail, it would have to be Louisiana.

― boldbury, Tuesday, 30 March 2004 18:12 (twenty-two years ago)

The Anal Cunt cover of "Unbelievable" is better than the original.

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 18:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Fergal Sharkey has just informed a conference I was just at that EMF, the whole band, still make a decent living from royalties to this song.

― mei (mei), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 18:22 (twenty-two years ago)

I forgot to mention this on the thread about swear words that sneak by on the radio. The sampled male voice that pops up before the verses on this song, as the piano rolls along, is saying "what the fuck? what the fuck waaaassss thhhaaaat?!" in a nasal accent that is possibly sped up. At least I remember being told this, listening to the song, and agreeing with the assesment.
Anyone have the song handy for confirmation?
Anyways, this single was fun as hell.

― Ben Boyer (Ben Boyer), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 18:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Vile.

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 18:37 (twenty-two years ago)

Embarrassing admission:

The summer before my senior year in high school, I got a perm so that I could make my hair look like the DJ guy that did the little dance during the rap on the video.

― boldbury, Tuesday, 30 March 2004 18:39 (twenty-two years ago)

"it's better than anything the happy mondays put out"

YES.

― billstevejim, Tuesday, 30 March 2004 18:40 (twenty-two years ago)

They're definitely saying "what the fuck waaasss thaaat," which is awesome considering I've never heard it edited once on the radio.

― billstevejim, Tuesday, 30 March 2004 18:41 (twenty-two years ago)

Anybody ever hear the story about how they spent a night in jail in Louisiana.

This is one of my favorite stories of all time.

― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 19:19 (twenty-two years ago)

[i]This is one of my favorite stories of all time. [/i]

What makes it better is that the entire show was lip synched. Allegedly.

― boldbury, Tuesday, 30 March 2004 19:40 (twenty-two years ago)

My first band shirt was an EMF shirt.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 19:44 (twenty-two years ago)

Eno once remixed the song in return for the band letting him sample it on one of his albums. I believe it was called "The Hovering Dance Mix," and it sounded a little bit like Eno.

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 19:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Perhaps that is what inspired Killdozer's cover of "Unbelievable" some years back.

― mike a, Tuesday, 30 March 2004 20:02 (twenty-two years ago)

"Zac was their bass player, not their guitarist."

You're right of course Alex, my mistake.

"Fergal Sharkey has just informed a conference I was just at that EMF, the whole band, still make a decent living from royalties to this song"

Did he explain how Zak can be making a decent living from it 2 years after his death?

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 20:03 (twenty-two years ago)

Lower overheads?

― Jason J, Tuesday, 30 March 2004 20:11 (twenty-two years ago)

What makes it better is that the entire show was lip synched. Allegedly.

That's what prompted the instrument-smashing! They were already annoyed that they weren't performing live and, when their backing track began to misfire, they all punked out a little bit and decided to trash the stage, leading to the arrest/night in jail!

My day is so much brighter now that I've remembered this story.

― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 20:13 (twenty-two years ago)

One of them (Zac I think) played his bass (or guitar depending on whether it was Zac or not) on Top of the Pops wearing boxing gloves to make a big show out of the fact that they were being forced to mime. Bit of an issue with them, I think...

― ailsa (ailsa), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 20:18 (twenty-two years ago)

"The Anal Cunt cover of "Unbelievable" is better than the original."

Indeed, til this thread I'd forgotten who did the original. The A.C. version just sounds like it was what God intended.

Now that I do remember, oh dear, it was part of something truly appalling.

― fletcher dexter, Tuesday, 30 March 2004 20:25 (twenty-two years ago)

"Lower overheads?"

Jason, I understand that New Labour are always on the lookout for "Spin Doctors" - and with a natural talent like that I believe you could go far!

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 21:02 (twenty-two years ago)

i remember thinking in the 8th grade "wow this song has a rap break AND a guitar solo. the uk is pretty fucked up."

― g--ff (gcannon), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 21:24 (twenty-two years ago)

Fatboy Slim wishes he was this good.

― Lil' Won Jilliams (ex machina), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 21:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Heh!

― mei (mei), Wednesday, 31 March 2004 05:29 (twenty-two years ago)

"this was the first song i ever did at a karaoke"

Yes this is a GREAT karaoke song, although I was shocked to discover what are (ALLEGEDLY) the words in the verses as they a) were totally different to my memory of the song) and 2) did not make a single bit of sense. Still WONDERFUL song!

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Wednesday, 31 March 2004 05:44 (twenty-two years ago)

true fact: this came on MuchMusic (One Hit Wonders, obv) about 4 minutes after I'd finished reading this thread this afternoon.

― minolta (minolta), Wednesday, 31 March 2004 05:46 (twenty-two years ago)

saw em upstage adamski on his tour which they were the support. excellent gig. then the overplaying of the track in Q started. evenso some of the later stuff was far better than given credit. and it was also the closet that Foetus has ever come to the mainstream as they referenced him and he remixed them. and that was good enough for me.
overplayed and can be cringe inducing .. but at the time the track was indeed great fun.

― mark e (mark e), Wednesday, 31 March 2004 06:43 (twenty-two years ago)

i luv(ved) this track like i luv few others

― cinniblount (James Blount), Wednesday, 31 March 2004 12:01 (twenty-two years ago)

In retrospect maybe this song really WAS "rave music," as us US kidZ0r were led to believe at the time!!

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 31 March 2004 12:26 (twenty-two years ago)

haha - i almost added that at the time my young self thought "YES! MADCHESTER HAS ARRIVED IN AMERICA!!!"

― cinniblount (James Blount), Wednesday, 31 March 2004 12:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Didn't Adamski ban EMF from selling merchandise at "his" stall during the tour because they were significantly outselling him?

I have a vague recollection of a friend telling me they (EMF) were walking the queue outside the Barrowlands before a gig selling their t-shirts and slagging off Adamski.

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Wednesday, 31 March 2004 12:44 (twenty-two years ago)

is this the song that Brian Eno sampled? I always found it mildly amusing that EMF were credited for a drum loop on an Eno record

― Jeff W (zebedee), Wednesday, 31 March 2004 13:17 (twenty-two years ago)

bah they never made anything as good as 'NRG' so they can fook off

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 31 March 2004 13:18 (twenty-two years ago)

is this the song that Brian Eno sampled?

I don't think he sampled it but he remixed it for the Red, hot and dance project.

― Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Wednesday, 31 March 2004 13:43 (twenty-two years ago)

re EMF merch @ Adamski gigs .. tis all true. was funny. the lads giving out their flyers outside the venue ..

― mark e (mark e), Wednesday, 31 March 2004 13:43 (twenty-two years ago)

".... at the time my young self thought "YES! MADCHESTER HAS ARRIVED IN AMERICA!!!""

Hahaha! Ah yes, "Ladies in Gentlemen, all the way from Cinderford in Greater Manchester...."

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Wednesday, 31 March 2004 14:20 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't think he sampled it but he remixed it for the Red, hot and dance project
but there's also a track on Nerve Net that credits EMF for the drum loop

― Jeff W (zebedee), Wednesday, 31 March 2004 15:17 (twenty-two years ago)

This whole thread was a slightly mistimed April Fool, right?

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Thursday, 1 April 2004 18:39 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.ecamagazine.com/mainimages/98030924.jpg
"Un-FUCK-ing-bah-LEAVE-a-bull"

― Mark (MarkR), Thursday, 1 April 2004 19:59 (twenty-two years ago)

"This whole thread was a slightly mistimed April Fool, right?"

Doc, do you hate fun?

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Thursday, 1 April 2004 21:36 (twenty-two years ago)

I've been wanting to ask someone that for AGES!

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Thursday, 1 April 2004 21:42 (twenty-two years ago)

K-classic. I remember this song as being tied to the flicker of a resurrection of the happy face in North American pop culture. Imagine my shock when some lanky brit told me it was a reference to Ecstasy! Some day I will write a Don Henley song about this moment.

― Dave M. (rotten03), Friday, 2 April 2004 02:59 (twenty-two years ago)

This was very much my favourite song for a period during the summer of 1992 (it was '92 right, not '91?). I wore out my cassingle.

― fields of salmon (fieldsofsalmon), Friday, 2 April 2004 03:06 (twenty-two years ago)

It was played on Radio One at 9.00 this morning, and - to my utter astonishment - sent shivers up and down my spine. *Damn* those nostalgia neurodes!

― mike t-diva (mike t-diva), Friday, 2 April 2004 09:04 (twenty-two years ago)

eighteen years pass...

It turns out that the lyrics I could never work out were 'your purple prose gives you away'. And the lead singer retrained as a secondary school teacher.

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/apr/04/how-emf-made-unbelievable

― Portsmouth Bubblejet, Monday, 4 April 2022 14:46 (four years ago)

Well, I needed that stuck in my head for the next 24 hours.

― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Monday, 4 April 2022 14:48 (four years ago)

My intro to the phrase all those years ago.

― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 4 April 2022 14:50 (four years ago)

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