#Houdini Tour

[datshitrandom]

Darren Criss | There's like sort of lore about Houdini and elephants and this massive trap 🪄🐘 | Maybe Happy Ending | September 01, 2024 | 🎥 via MHE

[whatsyourghoststory]

Haunted Hollywood Tour... in 1947

Come along as we roll down Hollywood Blvd on a beautiful day in 1947, telling ghost stories as we go. We return to go back in time for another Los Angeles ghost tour... this time on Hollywood Blvd.

[hollymbryan]

Blog Tour + #Review: MIDNIGHT AT THE HOUDINI by Delilah S. Dawson!

Welcome to Book-Keeping and my stop on the TBR and Beyond Tours blog tour for the newest YA from Delilah S. Dawson, Midnight at the Houdini! I've got all the details for you along with my top 5 reasons to read the book below!

About the Book

title: Midnight at the Houdini author: Delilah S. Dawson publisher: Delacorte Press release date: 5 September 2023

A girl discovers a surreal hotel where no one ever leaves. When the clock strikes midnight she’ll be trapped there forever unless she’s able to break free from magic that in turn breaks all her rules. Perfect for fans of Caraval and The Starless Sea! The night is perfect and glorious and sparkling, too beautiful to be real. Like magic. Anna may have grown up in glitzy Las Vegas, but she’s determined that no one will ever call her shallow. While her older sister Emily is the star of the family, Anna is the diligent stage manager, making sure that both their lives go perfectly to plan. But when Emily reveals a startling betrayal, Anna flees in the middle of a raging storm and takes shelter in a boutique establishment she’s never seen before: The Houdini. Inside, Anna discovers a magic hotel . . . and a magical boy. Earnest, curious Max has lived his entire life inside the Houdini. Over the course of one surreal evening, he becomes Anna’s guide to the curious building. For the first time in her life, Anna is center stage, in a place that anticipates her every desire, with a boy who only has eyes for her.  But that’s because the Houdini has no other guests. No one ever enters the Houdini . . . and no one ever leaves. When the clock strikes midnight, Anna will be trapped in the Houdini forever. If Anna’s ever going to find out who she is on her own in the real world, she’ll first have to make an impossible escape. But will she be able to do it if it means leaving Max behind?

Add to Goodreads: Midnight at the Houdini Purcase the Book: Amazon | B&N | Bookshop.org

About the Author

Delilah S. Dawson is the New York Times-bestselling author of Star Wars: Phasma, Black Spire: Galaxy’s Edge, and The Perfect Weapon. With Kevin Hearne, she writes the Tales of Pell. As Lila Bowen, she writes the Shadow series, beginning with Wake of Vultures. Her other books include the Blud series, the Hit series, and Servants of the Storm. She’s written comics in the worlds of Marvel Action: Spider-Man, Lore’s Wellington, Star Wars Adventures, Star Wars Forces of Destiny, The X-Files Case Files, Adventure Time, Rick and Morty, and her creator-owned comics include Star Pig, Ladycastle, and Sparrowhawk.

Connect with Delilah: Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Top 5 Reasons to Read

This is an absolutely magical read! From the setting to the descriptions to the characters, it's like reading a brand-new fairy tale, with hints of old ones (like Alice in Wonderland) hidden within.

The writing and language used are delightful, capturing your attention from the first page and never letting go.

There is an amazing, Disney-esque villainess, who has shades of everything from Maleficent to Cruella DeVille to Cinderella's stepmother, Lady Tremaine.

Anna is a girl who has spent the past 6 years planning every aspect of her life, from present to future, as well as the lives of her family, so it's a struggle to be stuck in a place where she doesn't know what's around the corner at any given moment.

Max is an adorable, perfect, sweet boy who I just wanted to hug! I loved every single second he was on the page.

Thanks so much to the publisher and author for the e-ARC of the book and to TBR and Beyond for having me on the tour!

Make sure you check out the bookstagram tour too! You can find my post here, and the full schedule is here.

[booksteacupandreviews]

Top 5 Reasons to Read Midnight at the Houdini

It’s my stop during the blog tour for Midnight at the Houdini by Delilah S. Dawson. Check out my Top 5 Reasons to Read Midnight at the Houdini in this post. Midnight at the Houdini by Delilah S. Dawson Publication Date : September 5, 2023 Publisher : Delacorte Read Date : September 5, 2023 Genre : Urban Fantasy / Magical realism / YA Pages : 368 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 4 out of 5. Disclaimer – Many…

[vivitalks]

highlights from the VMAs last night, in no particular order:

taylor swift and post malone won something for fortnight (i don't remember what lol) and after taylor gave her part of the speech, she said "do you wanna say something austin?" (adorable) and then post malone took the mic and proceeded to be absolutely speechless for twenty to thirty seconds

cyndi lauper introduced sabrina carpenter by saying "you're about to hear this whole room say motherfucker"

megan thee stallion shouted out "all the hotties" and then said "and the haters i know y'all watching too"

sabrina kissed an alien for gay rights

lenny kravitz basically played a full on rock show in the middle of The Pop Music Awards. with instruments. and fire.

benson boone did two (2!) flips during his performance of Beautiful Things

i had never even heard of lisa before the VMAs and i am now in love with her

katy perry said the words "touch grass" in her acceptance speech for the video vanguard award

she also thanked the LGBTQ community for, among other things, showing her that "you can be kind and cunt"

and she shouted out warped tour. katy perry the woman that you are

chappell roan with so so so many swords

rauw alejandro's entrance involved pretending to blow up the VMAs. with explosives.

megan thee stallion, as an homage to britney, held a whole ass snake

full-on guitar solo during shawn mendes's performance. plus he sang a note so high you could hear blood vessels bursting in the audience

when shawn finished he dropped his guitar (NOT a highlight, the sound haunts me) to go hug his drummer because he hasn't performed in years

megan thee stallion had her face projected onto the mask of the big ass astronaut for the duration of the performance, just kinda looking around. this was both funny and mildly alarming

two people won awards for songs called "Houdini" (Eminem and Dua Lipa) which i personally found amusing

tyla won Best Afrobeats for her song Water and when she went to give her speech she made lil nas x (the presenter) hold the award because it was too heavy :')

[thealogie]

which doctor do you think fucked houdini? My money's on Capaldi but I think the funnier option is Ncuti just leaving old man Tennant and immediately going to fuck Houdini for a month and then going to the club

My money is on the sex was so good and the escape tricks were so useful that multiple regenerations have fucked Houdini. But I agree with your choice of Capaldi definitely and then ncuti probably went on a little historical sex tour after leaving old man Tennant at the retirement home just to celebrate being so young and hot

[pwlanier]

A signed photograph of the conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton wearing evening dressand fox stoles, with inscription top left ‘For Frank…..Violet and Daisy Hilton 3/2?/1933’. Framed, the incription faded.

Daisy and Violet Hilton (1908 – 1969) were conjoined twins, born in Brighton, to an unmarried mother and barmaid who gave them up at birth. They were exhibited in Europe as children, and toured the United States in sideshows, vaudevill and burlequese shows in the 1920s and 1930s. They were acomplished dancers and musicians and best known for their film appearances in the film 'Freaks' and the biographic 'Chained for Life'(1951).

After years of being managed professionally, and held captive, by their legal guardians, in the early 1930s, on the advice of Harry Houdini they were legally emancipated.

Hand of Glory Antiques

[bailey41]

Wolfwren Week 2023: Day 5 Band/Musician AU

I was thinking about the cover for Dua's new single, "Houdini," but that tongue thing was gonna be hard! In its place are parts Beck Hyperspace, and one Steely Dan album, cuz the title was irresistible. Colored and marbled 180gm LPs and EPs only, pls.

So Sabine got into a little substance abuse in high school, and musicianship and voice lessons helped with her recovery. Shin, the love of Sabine's life (obv), tinkered with guitars, her dad's Roland, and marinated in a vat of co-dependency until one of them had to leave for college.

They both grew up, glowed up and signed a 2-album deal with Universal after Shin graduated. They now live happily in Provincetown when they aren't on tour, and have a saluki, a husky and a tabby named Murley. Shin is still obsessed with DJ Spooky and developed an Hermès habit when the royalties kicked in. (She is the very proud owner of two Kellys, a Birkin in ostrich, and a vintage, oversized canvas one she got in Antwerp for 650 EUR after a gig. That's the story she gave Sabine anyway—and the price goes down with every telling.)

The also share a shrink, a Dr Huyang, who was born in British Hong Kong. He drives out from Boston once a month.

Photographer: Sylve Colless for the NLB image.

[webslingingslasher]

ever since I heard our queen taylor sing "spiderboy, king of thieves,..." I just think about how funny it would be if you were to go to the eras tour with peter and you made him dress up as spiderman and you as houdini or viceversa.

he would be dying on the inside trying not to seem too amused and you would be dying but literally cause I mean it's a taylor swift concert

-🧿

begging peter to dress as spider-man for halloween and he does (cheap costume suit) but trouble keeps looking at him and telling him 'but it looks so natural on you! are you sure you're not spider-man?'

and peter is SWEATING

[louisisalarrie]

remember how chaotic 2022 was like everyday was a new roller coaster they used to do smth crazy everyday

BRO like WHERE IS THE CHAOS they best be doing some crazy shit soon tbh, they know what we want hahahaha

But also Harry’s whole Houdini trick rn is good for his career, but it’s pushing it a little bit now. He’s on the cusp, and if it carries on for a couple more months, it will negatively affect his career and I can assure you of that

I want him to rest, 100%, and he deserves time away. But yeah, career wise? It’ll be in his best interest to be back in the public eye in the next 2 months.

And you know what I really miss? And what was so damn good about 1d? A small look into their lives and personalities. Fucking hell. It feels like EVERYTHING has to be promo and is strictly controlled for larry rn (separately, not just their closet).

Like… post a selfie, do a BeReal like Niall, get in touch with ur fans again, do a livestream, film a prank on ur band, etc.

And don’t get me wrong, louis jumps in the crowd and meets fans and he loves us so much. He ALWAYS tells us how much he loves us. I’m not shitting on him or harry at all. This is just a small tidbit of criticism about how important it is to connect with ur fans outside of work, even in the smallest of ways.

Share funny moments with us from fooling around backstage on your Insta story. Get ur fans involved in seeing your life just a tiny bit outside of touring and shows. It’s casual. It’s not a massive doco or anything. Just small things that keep us engaged.

Harry’s a private person, and he’s on break, I don’t expect him to do a 360 to try and connect with us. And louis is busy af. But there’s tiny things you can do to keep your fans on your side, keep your fans interested, remind ur fans of how stupidly giggly and ridiculous you are and who you really are. Transparency as an artist is hugely important. All of them fail to do that these days (which again, im not their PR manager and obviously they control what they want to share), but that was part of the appeal of 1d, ya know? It was a part of why we fell in love with them and what helped make them so huge.

Sorry this turned into a rant and I don’t mean any harm. It’s just a criticism that would benefit us and them. Pls don’t take this as me being like “they owe us every bit of their life!!!” Etc., just looking at it from the inside they aren’t capitalising on their demographic as much as they could be.

[cila-17]

Risqué - Starring Mr. and Mrs. Houdini

and here’s the thing that inspired this comic

[ry3breadl0rd]

imagine some newer camper being like “ok yeah, houdini, amelia earheart, and the person who caused the london fire were all demigods, is there anyone not dead who’s famous, or done something crazy??”

then whoever’s giving them a tour just looks around for a second before pointing at percy, “he blew up mt. saint helens” before continuing the tour as if nothing had happened, pointedly ignoring how confused the camper was.

“wait that guy what?!”

[thenightling]

Back in 2007 / 2008 I took a course in parapsychology and you would be amazed how much studying the supernatural can make you jaded against claims of the supernatural. One of the first things you learn is about cold readings and the rainbow ruse and other simple manipulation tactics that con artists and fake psychics use. It became frustrating because suddenly things like TV ghost investigators, and famous TV psychics became obvious con artists based on what I had learned. One of my biggest annoyances was stumbling upon those who saw The Warrens as true demonologists and essentially as heroes of the paranormal. Any time I tried to tell people what they really were (charlatans) I'd be accused of either being jealous of their success or accused of not believing in the supernatural at all. You can believe and still be skeptical. I'm often reminded of the fact that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of Sherlock Holmes) and Harry Houdini used to investigate claims of psychic phenomena together. Doyle was the believer and Houdini was the skeptic. Houdini used his vast knowledge of stage magician trickery to debunk many fake psychics however that did not stop him from trying to find the real thing. John Oliver clearly does not believe in psychics. But again, I remind you, it's okay to have an open mind, to believe in the possibility of psychics while also knowing that there are con artists out there. It should also be noted that many false psychics actually believe that they are psychic. They desperately want to see themselves as something special and convince themselves that their own deductive reasoning is psychic phenomena. Many may legitimately have mental illness. I've noticed that a great many people who claim to be psychic empaths (able to sense the emotions of others) are often, ironically, quite terrible at understanding the emotions of others. Again, that does not mean it is all false. However if they have a reality show, book / movie deal, or "haunted museum" where they take "dangerous" possessed dolls with them on tour, it helps to be skeptical. A trustworthy investigative group in matters of the psychic are the SPR in the UK (Society for Psychical Research) and the ASPR in the US, the very loose basis for The Talamasca in Anne Rice's novels.

[steveinscarlet]

So I did more readable pics of that Joe in the desert article in case people wanted to read it as well as drool over the pictures!

Full text below the cut

Magic roundabout

For their latest tour of the US, Def Leppard have devised a revolutionary way of presenting their brand of arena rock with a stage set in the centre of the venues and surrounded by the audience. All of which makes for a more intimate and more exciting spectacle, according to Paul Elliott. Desert shots Russell Young

Panic in the round. Diana Ross and Kenny Rogers have lived through it, but Def Leppard claim to be the first rock group ever to play America's ice rinks and basketball stadia on a stage set in the centre and fully surrounded by the audiences.

In one stroke, they're making arena rock a more intimate and more exciting spectacle.

The band are closer to all of the crowd, providing more action as they randomly run to each of the stage's four sides. The lighting is imaginative and the sound, from the amps strung up high above them, penetrates the farthest corners.

On this tour, there's never a bad seat in the house, and the higher you can get, the more dramatic the view. Originally dubbed Mensch's Folly (co-manager Peter Mensch came up with the idea for playing in the round after a new, regular stage set had just been finished to the tune of 100,000 dollars!), this production is proving a great success, leaving the fans breathless... and baffled.

How the hell do Leppard get to and from the stage when there's no visible means of escape through the massed paying public?

The Harry Houdinis of rock are giving nothing away.

Stretched out in just swimming trunks and shades, poolside at a star-infested LA hotel (U2, Chrissie Hynde, Jamie Lee Curtis and a few English footballers, past and present, were all hanging out), singer Joe Elliot remains tight-lipped.

"It's not a case of paranoia that we don't want to be spotted. It's the element of surprise; we like to think that everybody goes home wondering how the f*** we got in there in the first place."

"Maybe we slid down to the stage on batpoles. Or maybe we were under the stage from soundcheck onwards."

Maybe.

Out of the dozen American dates that Leppard took in before they reached the West Coast at San Diego, only two have be been played with the stage at one end.

Phoenix, Arizona, was one; a fiery gig, but one which proved them right in thinking that, for the thousands of Joe Sixpacks and rockin' chicks, looking the band right in the eye one or two at a time is a whole lot more fun than squinting, as per usual, at five comparatively tiny and static blurs.

As they continually got in each other's way at Phoenix it also became

obvious that they'd half forgotten how to play to an audience straight ahead.

Playing is the round isn't easy or always possible (in Britain, only Birmingham's NEC could accommodate the 40 tons of gear that has to be hung from the roof). Yet it's different and fresh for band and fans alike.

Joe relishes the challenge, albeit an exhausting one.

"Well, I'd be a liar if I said it wasn't exhausting. The first night we did in the round was like the first gig of the 'Hysteria' tour, in Dublin I think. We did eight days' rehearsal on that stage before the first show, but we still ended up trying to fill the stage too much, and by the end of 'Hit and Run' everybody was looking for a bucket to throw up into."

"After three gigs though, we were really cookin'. It is exhausting, but now we've reached a certain fitness peak we can deal with it, and the set's paced well enough to take care of itself. I enjoy getting kinda hot and sweaty anyway."

Surely this tour will take a lot out of you?

"No," he insists, voice dry and croaky with the heat and dust of the previous night's show. "In fact, I think this tour's gonna be better than anything before, cos we're a lot more prepared for it."

Seven weeks ago Joe gave up booze, he doesn't smoke, and parties as little as possible.

"Now I can go onstage and perform better. The most important thing to me is those two hours a night, and if the other 22 have to be really boring then so be it."

Guitarist Phil Collen was the first to quit drinking a good eight months ago, although that afternoon his voice was rougher than Joe's from the strain of doing plenty of backing vocals.

"It's demanding on Phil and me and, basically, when you can't sing you sound shitty, and when you sound shitty you sound like a shit band. When you don't drink there's no point in going to clubs."

"I'd rather have a quick grapefruit juice back at the hotel bar and go watch Platoon or something. I mean. I'd rather go to a club till five in the morning cos I'm wide awake with all the adrenalin, but I know I can't sing the night after if I do, and for the sake of entertaining myself, I'm not gonna piss off 15,000 kids the following night by singing like Lemmy or somebody."

"No disrespect to the guy," he smiles, "but he wouldn't suit the songs that we do."

Panic in the round?

"Oh it's a constant panic. Under the stage, if one wire wasn't plugged in it'd never get found, and it only takes one person getting their gig wrong to screw up the whole show. So far it hasn't happened."

If panic does rule this tour, it's being played down remarkably well. Over three shows in Tucson, Phoenix, and San Diego (the latter their best gig of the tour so far), the only apparent concerns were for Joe's and Phil's voices.

The only problem drummer Rick Allen has found was walking through the crowd one night, heavily disguised, while unwittingly carrying a piece of paper stuck to his back by guitarist Steve Clark which read 'I am Rick Allen'. And even then the crowd didn't fall for it! Who's he trying to kid?

Clearly, it's the ambitious staging that's the novelty of Def Leppard's US tour, not Rick. He's now so adept with one hand and two feet that he's itching to get a new kit that can keep up with his own rate of progress.

"The stage show is impressive and it is a distraction," nods Joe, "but to be quite honest, I used to think we'd get a lot of people who'd be just peeping through the cymbals to have a look and see where it used to be, y'know, but it hasn't happened, in England or here."

"Basically, it all happened so long ago that people don't care. Being on tour two and a half years after the accident, people just seem to accept it. It's like when Archie Gemmill shaved his beard off (for the uninitiated, Archie Gemmill is a gnome-like ex-Scottish international footballer). He didn't look like Archie Gemmill any more, but after two and a half years, who cares?"

Who indeed?

"There's nothing short of playing upside down next time to top this. The novelty probably is taking a bit of weight off Rick, but at the same time, when it features him, it features him more. He's not hidden behind the rest of us."

"We can either stay in the round in America for the rest of our careers, or we can go back to playing at one end, which'd be a bit of a downer. I'd like to think that we'd play in the round on the next tour too, even if we couldn't play outside cos you'd have to get four helicopters to fly everything from each corner."

Is touring the US like coming home?

"Not really. It's more like going away," he laughs. "In the sense of coming home to the safety of knowing that you can play to a lot of people, then yeah, I suppose it is. Yet in a way it was like starting from scratch."

"We'd kept the cult of 25-year-old males, but we'd lost the little girls. Now they're coming back cos the record's really taking off, and that's why the halls are filling up."

Sure enough, there were plenty of boob tubes in among the beerguts and baseball caps at each show.

"We've not done bad business anywhere other than a few poxy Iittle towns. But I don't get off on business figures. Your bank balance is your own business and it should be that way with a band.

"I'm too sensible a person to let money f*** me up - it's not that important to me. If I had 200 dollars in my pocket and I was hungry I'd sooner just go and have a Big Mac."

And while he does cut a good rock star figure, Joe's Yorkshire brogue still gives him away. Through all their success, Def Leppard haven't gotten precious or affected or untouchable.

There is no Leppard myth. Their bus still stops on an overnight dash fro San Diego up to Los Angeles so that half of them can stumble out into the dark to water the cacti. But even then a pursuing carload of fans pulled up for a gawp.

Def Leppard's current sales figures are impressive. Already a surprise number one LP in the UK (nobody could've been more shocked than the band themselves), 'Hysteria' is edging towards the three million mark in the States at the rate of at Ieast 100,000 per week.

That's way short of 'Pyromania''s seven million plus, but it's still competitive with the three million a piece for 'Bad' and 'The Joshua Tree' - and it's not finished yet.

Peter Mensch reckons that, nowadays, hit singles are more vital than ever to a rock band's survival. A roll of three has broken the previously difficult British market, and in America too they're beginning to come after the initial failure of 'Women'.

'Animal' is picking up the momentum to carry it into the Top 20, and Joe feels that there'll be more to follow.

"I seriously believe that we've got up to five hit singles on this record, even 'Rocket', although it's such an unusual song and such a change from something like 'Sugar', which was an obvious stab at the commercial market."

That's a frank admission.

"Well, it is obvious. The chorus is three chords. I wrote it like that cos it's all I can play. I always have to think commercially. I can't write 'Gods Of War'.

"When I pick up a guitar, I tend to play 'Wild Thing' a lot better than 'All Along The Watchtower'. 'Sugar' was an obvious attempt at a single, as was 'Animal' to a certain extent, although that was a little less obvious, yet it was a bigger hit in Britain by a long way, so there's no set rule."

"But Peter's totally right. You can't survive without hit singles these days cos AOR radio in America isn't responsible for breaking bands in America any more. Bon Jovi's 'Raise Your Hands' was a great live song, but it was hardly played on the radio, so it had nothing to do with 'Slippery When Wet' selling eight million copies. That was through the singles."

"There was a stage where people were snobby about having hits, that it wasn't credible. That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! I like the idea of being on Top Of The Pops and on a poster on the back of Jackie. I find it funny."

"About 98 per cent of our stuff is tongue in cheek anyway. When you've got a rhinoceros on one of your videos you can't take yourselves that seriously!"

One consistent criticism of Def Leppard is their live performance; in terms of pure sound quality, the five just can't match the lavish sweep of their last two albums, which is hardly surprising.

Realistically, though, this criticism only applies to the song 'Hysteria' (the band's latest single) at present. While every other number, whatever tempo, sounds full and vibrant, 'Hysteria' still seems a touch clumsy and pushed.

As a particularly cocky squirrel cranes its neck and begins lapping up the pool water, Joe sits up on his sun lounger, skin still white as a milk bottle, and agrees.

"I think we recreate 'Hysteria' (the album) and 'Pyromania' better than we ever did before, but there's still certain things you can't physically do. When we do the track 'Hysteria', Sav (bass player Rick Savage) and Phil are doing harmonies that are done with about 200 voices on the record.

"We've always been a band who've wanted to get it right on record. It's the only opportunity you have to try to create your own perfection or whatever. And live, you go out to entertain."

"If you want perfection you stay at home and listen to the record. If something's a bit flat live, it's because someone's probably doing a double somersault while they're doing that flat chord!"

"I don't really stand still at all, and you can only really sing properly when you're stood still. But if I did, it'd look silly. I might sound out of breath sometimes, but wouldn't you doing what I'm doing?"

He shrugs his shoulders.

"It ain't an exact copy, but I don't think it lacks that much. There are nights when I can't hack it as well as I'd like, but that's because I've been hacking it really well for the previous four evenings and I'm just shot. Last night I sang OK, but half my job isn't singing, it's getting an audience going."

"The thing is, we set such a standard with our records. Things like 'Tear It Down' (in the UK, the B-side of 'Animal') sound as good, if not better, live. But if we did ten 'Tear It Down''s we'd just become an average rock band."

"What we do on record, five people can't physically do, but we don't want to take out an orchestra, we want it to be us, and we'd rather sound a bit weaker and know that it's us."

Maybe 'weak' isn't such a good word. If 'Hysteria' sounds ragged then it also sounds human. Better that than cheat with tapes, as Whitesnake's Rudy Sarzo was convinced Leppard did.

After all, Def Leppard's sometimes slow, sometimes breakneck rise both over here and over there owes something to polish, but a whole lot more to pure guts.

[thesinglesjukebox]

SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR - "MURDER ON THE DANCEFLOOR" (2001) (2024)

23 years on and this groove's still got some life in it...

[7.11]

Thomas Inskeep: Sophie Ellis-Bextor should've been the next Kylie — and for a couple years, almost was. Her 2001 debut album Read My Lips spun off a trio of top 3 singles in the UK, including this one, which has over time become her true classic. Dua Lipa's entire career was birthed in this single, the dictionary definition of ebullient dance-pop. (It's fitting that Lipa's "Houdini" is currently the most-played song on UK radio as this single is re-ascendant.) SEB has never gone anywhere: she's still making music, touring (based on her 2022 Sophie Ellis-Bextor's Kitchen Disco (Live at the London Palladium), she still sounds great), and is now a DJ on BBC Radio 2. She just didn't become the massive pop star she deserved to be. Now, thanks to its placement in a climactic scene in Saltburn, her greatest single is getting its flowers, climbing back up to #2 in the UK (so far — my fingers are crossed it can make it that final notch higher). "Dancefloor" still sounds fresh, certainly fresher than the glut of '90s-sampling dance-pop dominating the UK charts. This single sparkles, SEB giving a knowing wink as she sings, especially on the line "gonna burn this goddamn house right down." She knows what she's doing here: making magic.   [10]

Edward Okulicz: I bought this on single back in 2002, which tells you something (other than that I am old): it was an irresistible bit of sparkly disco radio pop back in the day. Move it forward or backwards a few years and it might have been an indie rock song for someone else, a filter house record, or (gulp) a Ronan Keating record. Fortunately that never occurred, and it's a delight to see a classic gain new fans from age groups and territories that didn't get it on saturation rotation. Part of it's the solid song by Gregg Alexander, who at his best was a master craftsman of a much-maligned form. Another part of it's the much nimbler, slinky production compared to the rest of his soft-rock oeuvre. And a very, very large part of it is the Debbie-Harry-but-English pose of Ellis-Bextor, too cool to do anything but be filmed dancing from the waist up while she stomps her heel into your eardrums. "Murder" really has everything — a catchy chorus, the tinniest guitar solo ever, hooks that fall as much off the words as the melody — and so is perfect for every occasion, even a movie I am never, ever going to see.  [10]

Alfred Soto: Like the Pet Shop Boys' "Rent," waaayyyy too good for Saltburn — perhaps Emerald Fennell thought their incandescence would rub off on her as if it were glitter. Part of a vanished climate of French house-inspired crossover pop like Kylie Minogue's "Love at First Sight," Sophie Ellis-Bextor presages Katy B's regular-person anonymity: she surveys the strings and rhythm guitar licks like a party hostess keeping an eye on the band while sipping her prosecco. [8]

Alex Clifton: I haven't seen Saltburn and frankly have no interest in it, but this film has led to the Sophie Ellis-Bextor renaissance which is a net good for society. "Murder on the Dancefloor" is just brilliantly composed and produced; it feels as fresh today as it did twenty years ago. There are so many thrilling little moments from Ellis-Bextor's vocal delivery: the way her voice curves into "about your kiiiiiind," the little rasp in "there may be others," the little trill of "dancefloor" in the bridge. I feel so biased writing this review because I've literally been listening to this song since I was a kid, but I'm so jazzed about "Murder" finally receiving the love it deserves.  [10]

Ian Mathers: How can you not love pop music when it'll randomly do things like this, suddenly giving us a song to review from before the earliest days of the Jukebox, that is here purely because of its use in a movie that I have not seen but am informed was probably picked on the basis of Ellis-Bextor's plot arc in the music video. And if I'm not willing to go to bat for it quite as hard as I would for "Running Up That Hill," I did love "Murder on the Dancefloor" in 2001 and it still sounds great now. I don't find myself having any reaction more complicated than happiness at hearing it again and that particular joy of people liking something you like. [8]

Nortey Dowuona: If you told me this came out in 2021 and Emerald Fennell asked Sophie to use it in her movie set in 2001 because it was just that on point in depicting the time, I would agree. Then after taking out my phone, I'd be punched in the face and meekly give up my phone. Then, after watching you sprint into a nightclub, I'd immediately thank goodness you didn't ask for the passcode and run like hell for the closest subway. I am three stops from home before I remember this did not actually come out in 2021; there are other Sophie Ellis-Bextor songs and jailbreaking is a thing now. [10]

Leah Isobel: RIP Mark Fisher. You would've written a hell of a blog post about Saltburn. [7]

Mark Sinker: Necessary digression 1: heraldry as a science in Europe is roughly 900 years old, a bright and stylised easy-read guide, highly rule-bound and policed, to class and land and title — which is to say to material history (its jargon-field is still mostly words not otherwise used in the UK since the 14th century; even property law is less lousy with extinct Norman French terms). And like many very aged things, it has necessarily also passed through phases and fashions, as technologies of display arrive and depart. In fact the first inkling I had that I wasn’t going to get on with Saltburn was the typeface chosen for the title on-screen at the outset. It’s a font with a fairly specific ill-set ungainliness to it: it wants to have the weight of "pleasingly and weirdly old; not how we do things now," but it might just as well be some off-the-peg super-modern studio confection — or even (though I slightly doubt this) something custom-fashioned purely for the film. There’s no discernible care to the choice. Necessary digression 2: back in the late '70s when Peter Saville was busily and insouciantly borrowing from this or that actual-real document or design, of such-and-such era, part of the point was the severity of the decontextualisation — except there was a rigour to the carelessness. The item was being supplied with an iconicity (the very word) pulling you in towards whatever the item was that Factory Records was then placing on the market. The surface glamour of the original was to be funneled through in such a way that its weight amplified only the new relationship. In fact (in its stylised easy-read way) Saville’s work was ruthlessly the opposite of heraldry, so very good at managing the ambient melancholy that suffuses the wider Factory moment; all the blocks and counterspells necessary to conjure here beyond the end of creative time as the context for the music to have presence. Anyway, long story short (lol) Saltburn – which would love to believe it has accessed the aura, for example, of the cover of New Order’s Technique — is attempting to juggle the same double burden. It wants to conjure a play between the decontextualised pull of 24-hour-party-people hedonism and the real ineluctable unremovable weight of actual history and actual class and actual land and actual title. Except for its story to work it needs both dimensions (hedonism and weight; heraldry and careless scribble) to register, as Saville absolutely didn’t. No block, no counterspells, nothing to dampen the disturbances — so when poor old Sophie EB’s voice and poise are scalpeled out of their 20-year-old chart context and abruptly c/p-ed into whichever late-stage scene it is, well, here they are, as a clumsy synopsis (calculation, side-eye, dancing, death) the structure really shouldn’t require, in a role the song is the wrong mood (a faintly gauche trifle, a chirpy hustle) to deliver. The movie never works out where it gets its deep reveal from, or what shape its politics are (if politics is even a useful word here). Ill-set ungainliness all over again: the carelessness floods back into the borrowed adornment, and breaks it in pieces. I don’t even love this song that much but I hate how it gets what value it has so gracelessly driven out of it.  [2]

Jacob Satter: At the risk of killing the groove, this is a pretty boring choice for a manufactured revival track. Call me back when the kids discover "It's In Our Hands." [4]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: I'm glad everyone's having fun here but the more I try to enjoy this — either on its own terms or as an icon of nostalgia — I get nothing. Unremarkable in any year. [4]

Lauren Gilbert: It was a [10] in 2001, it's still a [10] now. [10]

Katherine St. Asaph: The thing about it being 2024 is that in the intervening 20-plus years since "Murder on the Dancefloor" came out, approximately ninety million more disco-revival tracks came out. Some of them are by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, even. And so many of those tracks are smooth where this is stiff, magisterial where this is timid (and not in a winsome Katy B kind of way; Katy got better arrangements), charged where this is inert and just generally unmurderous. It's actually startling how inessential this sounds by comparison. [3]

Oliver Maier: Even as a youth, before my brain was burdened with indulgent critical vocabulary, I felt like this song just didn't work. I can't pin down whether "Murder" is knowingly a little chintzy (dare I say camp?) or if it's just cheap tat trying sincerely to sound boutique. Benefit of the doubt granted or not, Ellis-Bextor sounds like she's doing karaoke off the sofa. [4]

Michael Hong: When Ellis-Bextor pauses, it's easy, like a quick and graceful end to a conversation rather than the expectant response to her more spirited word choice. She's committed to this casualness, easily slipping away at the hint of a faux pas, which makes the occasional lingering word more charming. "About your kind," she sings, as if looking you up and down, wondering if she's got it wrong this time; the word "others" is trailed as if she's daring you to eliminate the competition. In that way, "you better not kill the groove," delivered with such nonchalance, becomes a fervid instruction. [7]

Will Adams: It's cute, Sophie is ever-charming, but there's real problem when you've got songs in your catalog with titles like "Bittersweet" and "Heartbreak Make Me a Dancer" that offer way more palpable drama than the one with the word "Murder." [5]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: Every other line is threatening here. “Stay another song,” “Don’t think you’ll get away,” “You better not kill the groove.” Sophie Ellis-Bextor isn’t demanding fear, though. That’s what makes “Murder on the Dancefloor” so irresistible: she sounds like a friend, albeit one who’s deathly serious about having a good time. When you hear her, you believe it can be this good for you too. [8]

Taylor Alatorre: Wow. They were allowed to make these slick disco-pop reimaginings with actual guitar solos back then? We must retvrn. [8]

Tara Hillegeist: It feels like a time capsule from another era in pop music entirely, because it is. There was a time when Ellis-Bextor's stately, imperial, nigh-inhuman precision of a delivery felt like nothing so much as the edifice within which pop star royalty could be crowned, particularly in the world of UK pop; it's still hard, even now, to deny the simple pleasures of someone who knows what her job is and then executes it flawlessly. But it's been over two decades since this song originally bowed, and it must be said that it was the impact of songs like, yes, "Murder" itself that raised pop music's skill floor high enough that such icy professionalism now feels like the most tiresome part of it — Dua Lipa does this regularly, after all, and with equal anonymity. No, what saves it, and ensures the song remains nothing so much as a delightful diversion (conditions of its resurgence be damned, I say), are the sampled whoops that come in beneath the guitar solo; notwithstanding that such a slice of controlled disco can credit itself with having a guitar solo to begin with, but the canned hype is such a stupendously goofy touch. It humanizes the song instantly, stripping the archness of its artifice aside to reveal the awkward smile underneath. The moment passes, of course. But the smile lingers. [7]

Anna Katrina Lockwood: I've been waiting 20+ years for an opportunity to issue a dissertation on the songwriting genius of Gregg Alexander and by god am I ready. Though it's hard to imagine it in a different form, "Murder on the Dancefloor" was apparently a cast-off single for Alexander's New Radicals debut, replaced by the equally glorious "You Get What You Give" — like, imagine being such a talented songwriter that you can just cast off a song like this, knowing you've got an equally great one to replace it with! "Murder on the Dancefloor" is just perfection in Ellis-Bextor's hands, with a galaxy of terrific choices in its production to go along with the amazing melodic structure. I still can't help but burst out laughing at the initial vocal hit in the intro on occasion, a perfect, delicately harmonized coo of "Murder!," cutting through the disco instrumental setup occurring all around. It's as great a moment of pop songwriting as I'm aware of — setting the expectation of the song's vibe from the outset. Ellis-Bextor's lyrics are outstanding, cleverly arch but not too shiny, in the thick of it yet also gliding past suavely. The song is incredibly detailed, a carefully calibrated piece — it lopes by with a relaxed stride rather than a reckless dash, a well-tailored Savile Row suit as opposed to an H&M tunic, cut to the millimeter. Yet it's also very clearly of the disco, built for singing along, difficult to avoid dancing to when it comes on. It turns on its heel at moments' notice, with layers of melody playing off each other throughout. Matt Rowe's efforts in production also deserve notice — this song sounds great, so distinctive that it is still eminently listenable 23 years on. I honestly have not a single thing to criticize about "Murder on the Dancefloor," and it's been a long time that I've considered it to be one of the truly great pop songs of my lifetime. It feels like incredibly just desserts to see it garnering so much praise now.  [10]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox ]

[maxxxines]

A YEAR IN REVIEW: CREATIONS OF 2023

Post your favorite and most popular post from each month this year (it’s okay to skip months).

Tagged by @katherines <3 thank you so much for tagging me i loved looking back at everything!

JANUARY

MOST POPULAR: bodega ghostface (4.7k)

FAVORITE(S): killer klowns throuple, mera in justice league, that don't impress me much

FEBRUARY

MOST POPULAR: megan before the don't stop premiere (2.7k)

FAVORITE(S): sabrina carpenter interview, mandy lane

MARCH

MOST POPULAR: megan at the astros game (1.8k)

FAVORITE(S): feather lyric video

APRIL

MOST POPULAR: barbie's arched heel (42.7k)

FAVORITE(S): megan interview with elle, amber's birthday, dua at the fn tour

MAY

MOST POPULAR: "so cool" barbie (8.1k)

FAVORITE(S): sarah snook at a premiere, dance the night mv, jackieshauna doomcoming dates

JUNE

MOST POPULAR: barbieland things (7.6k)

FAVORITE(S): barbie v beau is afraid, snow angel, pamela anderson in scooby doo

JULY

MOST POPULAR: just allan (38.3k)

FAVORITE(S): margot x barbie commercials, pink barbie, ariel x mera

AUGUST

MOST POPULAR: sarah snook in the dressmaker (5.4k)

FAVORITE(S): dua's birthday, bad idea right?, margot and america on the barbie set

SEPTEMBER

MOST POPULAR: "that's beacuase they're dreamhouses" (14.1k)

FAVORITE(S): mermaid barbies, allan, ncuti ken, "all his clothes fit me", "you can go now", guts

OCTOBER

MOST POPULAR: sabrina and taylor hug (2.6k)

FAVORITE(S): jennifer check the funniest girl, dawn of dead zombies get pied, "no more room in hell"

NOVEMBER

MOST POPULAR: grinch x midsommar (6k)

FAVORITE(S): houdini mv, dance the night grammy noms, dua's capital interview, no i'm killing boys, ryan bergara loves the film cars

DECEMBER

MOST POPULAR: sabrina's thank you speech (1.2k)

FAVORITE(S): richard gere in chicago, dua set, dua warner interview

Tagging (no pressure!): @narcobarbies, @americahasaproblem, @zendadya, @ayoedebiris, @deweyduck, @agorahills, @venka, @itszonez, @margoterobbies, @nessa007