Automatic Everything

In 2009 everything is coming up robots, but is there still anything romantic about the man-machine?

"Terminator: Salvation" and "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" will both have giant robots smashing things up this year. The former will also have it´s own roller-coaster: "Terminator Salvation: The Coaster" will open at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California. But -strange marketing ahoy- it will be a wooden coaster. So robotic!


Then there is the news that the re-make of "Tron" will have a soundtrack provided by Daft Punk. On a smaller level, Röyksopp´s next single -a duet with Robyn- will be called "The Girl and the Robot" and most recently every politician is eager to have a photo taken on which they generously reach out their hand to shake the mechanical extremities of some robot. Say hello to our new overlords.


Robots and art are always a good combination and now someone wrote the first robo-drama for humans and robots. The machines were supplied by Mitsubishi and judging from this still-shot, the whole thing looks very serious.


All this robo-love brings a few metallic words to my head: "I am your automatic lover. beep." Let´s have a few looks and listen to Dee D. Jacksons notorious, cheesy but groovy eurobo-hit "Automatic Lover". Any song that opens with the words "Love in space in time, there´s no more feeling" and goes on with immortal lines such as "He´s programmed to receive automatic satisfaction" is a classic in my book.



Dee D is/was a clever British girl who used to produce sci-fi short films and comissioned the fabled Giorgio Moroder and members of his Munich Machine to do some soundtrack work. From there she took the idea to produce a record which turned out to be the brilliantly titled "Cosmic Curves". "Automatic Lover" and the follow-up "Meteor Man", produced with Gary Unwin and Keith Forsey in Munich became world wide mega hits.


Today, Dee D Jackson lives in Italy and runs her own record label where she reportedly releases hip-hop and trance records. I was secretly hoping that she became a robotics scientist, but running a record label in sunny Turin is certainly not a bad career choice. It goes without saying that she has a superbly awful website, complete with badly scanned photos. Must visit!

Dream On

What a fantastic ANTHEM!
"Dream On", sung by great, Swedish pop-star Robyn and The Ark member Ola Salo first appeared in 2006 on Christian Falk´s solo album "People Say". This is the original video for the single that was only released in Sweden:



Thugs and badmen
punks and lifers
locked up interns
pigs and snitches

Rest your weary heads, all is well

You won't be strip-searched, torn up tonight
you won't be cut up, bleeding tonight
you won't be strung out, cold, shaking to your bones
wishing you were anywhere else but right here
So dream on

Thieves and muggers
tricks and hustlers
cheats and traitors
scum and low-lives

Rest your weary heads, all is well

You won't be sad or broken tonight
you won't be squealed on, ripped off tonight
you won't be back-stabbed, double crossed, face down
teeth knocked out, lying in a gutter somewhere
So dream on

So dream on

Freaks and junkies
fakes and phonies
drunks and cowards
manic preachers

Rest your weary heads, all is well

You won't be pushed or messed with tonight
you won't be lied to, ruffed up tonight
You won't be insane, paranoid, obsessed
aimlessly wandering through the dark night
So dream on

So dream on

You won't be insane, paranoid, obsessed
aimlessly wandering through the dark night

So dream on

Late last year, the single got remixed and re-released, dropping Ola´s vocals while focussing on Robyn. I think the new video is a bit crap. But still: ANTHEM!

Konichiwa Frank Chickens!

We are Ninja! Not Geisha!
This was the battle groove of japanese girl duo Frank Chickens who migrated to London in the early 80s. With quirky humour, and clever electro-pop they were entertaining a western audience with their funny view on Japanese cliches. But they mocked as well social restrictions of Japanese women for their home audience.
You just have to love them for their credo: "You think we are full of ZEN, but we prefer a lot of YEN!"
They were Fujijama Mamas and they wer about to blow their top!


Nearly 25 years later swedish one-girl-group Robyn was ringing the bells to her very successful comeback with "Konichiwa Bitches!". Admittedly, its such a funny phrase that she chose it as the title for her label, the single and the album.
It´s quirky, funny and really reminds me of "We are Ninja (not Geisha!)


Like so many of those very obscure 80s bands, the Frank Chickens are still doing sporadic gigs.