Two-timers - musical duets

January 21, 2005
<b>Matches made in heaven ... or hell:</b> Sonny and Cher; Fred and Ginger; Elton and Emin.

Matches made in heaven ... or hell: Sonny and Cher; Fred and Ginger; Elton and Emin.
Photos: Supplied

Bringing hip-hopping guest artists onto recordings is a savvy cross-promotional move, but the duet has been around (for better or much worse) in rock and pop a long, long time, writes Michael Dwyer.

At best, it's like two souls in a cosmic union arranged by God. At worst, it's a remote-controlled collision, with millions of innocent bystanders permanently scarred. The celebrity duet is on the rise in popular music, and this time it's impersonal.

The most common fixture on the worldwide pop charts over the past 18 months is not an artist, or even a karaoke Idol, but a cross-promotional concept. In this week's Billboard top 50, the word "featuring" appears 17 times, a typical bonanza of cosy market-hopping activity.

There's Ciara featuring Missy Elliott; Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz featuring Usher & Ludacris; Snoop Dogg featuring Pharrell; Usher featuring Alicia Keys; Nelly featuring Tim McGraw; the Game featuring 50 Cent ... and that's just the top 10.

Nu-metal dudes Linkin Park and hip-hop superstar Jay Z hold between them one of the hippest albums in the alleged evolution of popular music. The aptly named Collision Course is the first in a likely rush of two-way "mash-up" collaborations.

This is essentially a mixing job, the merging of two disparate tracks, sometimes with the harmony of metal scraping on metal, but always with double the potential market penetration.

The best-known example is The Grey Album by New York DJ Dangermouse, an occasionally brilliant mash-up of the Beatles' self-titled white album with Jay Z's Black Album. Needless to say, Paul and Yoko's Apple Corps doesn't fancy it, and it remains a heavily downloaded bootleg.

In November, Universal became the first major label to embrace the phenomenon by releasing to radio a mash-up titled Frontin' On Debra, by Beck, featuring Pharrell Williams and the ubiquitous Jay Z. It's safe to assume there's more where that came from.

There's safety in numbers outside the hip-hop/r'n'b/electronic sphere as well. Our own Delta Goodrem and former Westlife singer Brian McFadden are enjoying the benefits of each other's virtual company in the lead-up to their combined single, Almost Here. It doesn't much matter whether they actually crossed paths while recording. A few carefully placed photographs of the pair canoodling in South Africa should ensure a chart result faster than you can say "Kylie and Jason".

Also spreading like an internet virus is a "rumour" that Irish compatriots Bono and Bob Geldof may entwine their vocal cords when they meet at next month's Brit Awards in London. The idea of Sir Bob wrapping his tonsils around Luciano Pavarotti's bit of Miss Sarajevo is pretty horrifying, but apparently deemed bankable by the Brits' people nonetheless.

John Travolta and Olivia Newton John.

John Travolta and Olivia Newton John.

Nor have we seen the last of the notoriously hit-and-miss Duets album, one of the more lucrative cliches of the '90s as embraced by Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Tom Jones, Kenny G, Ray Charles and others, usually by telephone and sometimes from beyond the grave.

For months now, never-say-die Australian rocker Jimmy Barnes has been scouring the globe with a hard-drive in a briefcase, seeking a coalition of the willing for his 2Up project. Extended family members Swanee, Diesel, Mahalia, EJ and Ian Moss are among the ones that didn't get away. Serial duettists Tina Turner and John Farnham have also been rumoured.

Our tip for the near future is the Australian Idol Duets album, in which our favourite TV-advertised karaoke champs combine their rapidly dwindling markets in mash-ups at the hands of Paul Mac and the Avalanches, just before they vanish off the iPod radar altogether.

Perhaps as a potential resource for those shooting stars of pop, we reflect on a century of musical marriages made in some musty twilight zone where singers actually met in rooms and, well, sang together ...

How'd You Like To Spoon With Me? (1905)
Tin Pan Alley hack Jerome Kern had his first hit with this tune, which popularised the bawdy suggestion of making like dessert cutlery under an oak tree. Her: "Call me little tootsie wootsie baby". Him: "Well, rather!" Overdue for a Beyonce and Jay Z remake.

Let's Call The Whole Thing Off (1937)
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
The Gershwin brothers captured the petty antagonism gnawing at the heart of modern relationships - all about "potahto" and "ersters" apparently. Bananas In Pyjamas could make a meal of this one.

Baby It's Cold Outside (1949)
Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan
Just a warm-up, obviously, for Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey to lay down the definitive version on her recent Christmas album - although being married and all, the Newlyweds' version lacks some of the illicit spark of the jazz-age original.

Well Did You Evah? (1956)
Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra
Cole Porter's socialite kiss-off was already 17 years old when he revamped it for fading crooners Frank and Bing in High Society. Timeless? Iggy Pop and Deborah Harry made it sound like a CBGB ladies' room bitch session in '91. Arch ego Robbie Williams downgraded comedian Jon Lovitz to a "featuring" credit in 2000.

I Got You Babe (1965)
Sonny and Cher
Many believe this is English for "karaoke".

Some Velvet Morning (1968)
Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood
As on their remake of Johnny Cash's Jackson, it's hard to say who holds the balance of power in this sinister tale of a drug addict lingering at the "gate" of an odd, flower-picking ingenue. Underground denizens Rowland Howard and Lydia Lunch were drawn to it in '82. Primal Scream and Kate Moss had another crack, so to speak, in '02.

Girl From the North Country (1969)
Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash
Bob called up the Man In Black to lend authority to his new country direction. Over-refreshed or just under-rehearsed, their voices entwine like elbows and knees in the big finale. Could be one for Barnesy and Geldof.

Je t'aime Moi Non Plus (1969)
Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin
The pornographic organ sounds the same in any language, but lyrically, the French sleazebag's heavy-breathing boudoir tete-a-tete is beyond translation. "Between your kidneys" doesn't cut it. Nick Cave and Anita Lane opted for "inside you, my love" on their remake, I Love You Nor Do I.

Love Hurts (1973)
Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris
Roy Orbison and the Everley Brothers each gave this tremulous paean to heartache a fair go, but the combination of electrifying sexual tension and the shadow of actual, imminent death makes Gram and Emmylou's version the ultimate. And that's counting the ace soft-metal blockbuster by Nazareth.

Don't Go Breaking My Heart (1976)
Elton John and Kiki Dee
Corny enough to top every chart ever printed. The "woo-hoo" bit still ensures it's a highlight of every karaoke night.

You're the One That I Want (1977)
John Travolta and Olivia Newton John
See above - but with an extra "hoo". The electrifyin' film clip is so much a part of the pop-culture fabric that Jah Rule and Ashanti ripped it off for Mesmerize - an inferior song, but isn't everything?

You Don't Bring Me Flowers (1978)
Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond
An instructive guide to avoiding responsibility in long-term relationships: blame the other person, bitterly and secretly. A must for Jessica and Nick's season finale.

No More Tears (Enough is Enough) (1979)
Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer
Sisters doin' it for themselves, extended disco style. The inspired pairing of Funny Girl and Bad Girl pushed 12 minutes, to accommodate Babs' schmaltzy orchestrated intro and Giorgio Moroder's cheesy disco gallop. Like some of the best two-way activities, the result was exhausting but satisfying.

Guilty (1980)
Barbra Streisand and the Bee Gees
May have been one duet too far for Babs' balance sheet. Discussing the four-way money split with the Bee Gees' manager, she's reported to have objected: "But they all sound alike. How much for just one?"

Under Pressure (1981)
David Bowie and Queen
A scintillating dose of nuclear-age angst from glam-rock's flamboyant drama queens. Determined to outshine each other, they strayed close enough to panic to perfectly reflect the temper of the times. By far the best of Bowie's dodgy duets, which include mash-ups - the old fashioned kind - with Bing Crosby, Mick Jagger and Tina Turner.

Islands In the Stream (1983)
Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton
The Bee Gees to the rescue again, smuggling blue-eyed soul first into the country charts and ultimately into the hip-hop blender of '98. Former Fugee Pras Michel kept the tune, and other bits, on Ghetto Superstar ("featuring", naturally, Mya and Ol' Dirty Bastard).

Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves (1985)
Aretha Franklin and Annie Lennox
Powerful, funky, catchy, politically correct as anything and only a tiny bit co-written and produced by a man. Franklin was a ring-in after dial-a-duettist Tina Turner turned out to be booked.

Don't Give Up (1986)
Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush
"I've got to admire Kate Bush," Sinead O'Connor revealed later, "because Peter Gabriel tried to shag her, and she wasn't having any." This explained the aching heart of this song about male doubt and female strength, even if it made a mockery of the title.

Walk This Way (1986)
Aerosmith and Run DMC
The power marriage of rap and rock was arranged by Def Jam label head Rick Rubin while Aerosmith's Steve Tyler and Joe Perry were in detox. The (not very) hip-hop version of Walk This Way resuscitated the band's career, made Run DMC the first rap act to crash MTV, and began a long and prosperous alliance of genres.

Fairytale of New York (1987)
Shane MacGowan and Kirsty MacColl
A streetwise antidote to all the Merry Christmas cheer, this gritty gutter dialogue finds MacGowan doing an extraordinarily convincing drunk impression to MacColl's fed-up fishwife. A silly season perennial, it's doubly poignant since she was killed by a Mexican speedboat at Christmas '00.

Unforgettable (1991)
Nat "King" Cole and Natalie Cole
Key party dead? Details, details. This is the splice job that inspired the Beatles reunion of '95 and inadvertently presaged the mash-up phenomenon. Think of your favourite artist as a digital resource rather than a real person and it all begins to make sense.

Where the Wild Roses Grow (1995)
Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue
Even playing a homicidal psychopath, Nick's satanic enigma did cop a hiding by association with Oz-pop's sugarplum princess, but the pay-off was massive. Especially for Kylie, who never expected to count musical credibility among her assets. Cave's duet with PJ Harvey was just as good, but did the tabloids care?

I'll Be Missing You (1997)
Puff Daddy and Faith Evans
"Even though you're gone, we still a team," the Pre-Diddy Daddy rapped on this tribute to his murdered brother, Notorious BIG. Biggie's widow was in on the action, although a fair cut of the booty must have gone to Sting, whose Every Breath You Take was liberally borrowed - without so much as a "featuring tha Police" credit.

This Mess We're In (2000)
PJ Harvey and Thom Yorke
If the king and queen of British mope-rock ever met, there's no reason to suspect it was while recording this quietly panic-stricken relationship post-mortem. Radiohead's singer sounds like he's on another planet and another train of thought entirely, heightening the loneliness of Harvey's counterpoint.

Stan (2002)
Elton John and Eminem
The lost art of immediacy was the key to this classic pairing at a televised awards show in '02. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation called it "hurtful and embarrassing" in advance, but they weren't expecting Dame Elton to give Eminem a cuddle. You could almost hear a million teenage boys gasping, "That is so gay!"

Rock Your Body (2004)
Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson
In case you weren't listening, that was the theme to the "wardrobe malfunction" that shocked the nipple-fearing world a year ago. Thanks to the US Knee Jerk Morality Bill, this was probably the last spontaneous duet in history. Even if it was shamelessly premeditated.

Ten unfortunate engagements
Endless Love (1981)
Diana Ross and Lionel Ritchie
It's on Kath & Kim's Party Tape. Say no more.

Up Where We Belong (1982)
Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes
Cripes, is he all right?

Ebony and Ivory (1982)
Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney
There is good and bad, mm-hmm, in everyone.

The Girl is Mine (1983)
Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney
Just ... not right.

To All The Girls I've Loved Before (1984)
Willie Nelson and Julio Iglesias
The ones who talk about it the most are often the ones you least want to think about doing it.

Tonight (1984)
David Bowie and Tina Turner
There's a good reason Iggy Pop doesn't talk to him any more.

Dancing in the Street (1985)
Mick Jagger and David Bowie
Inscrutable elder statesmen become plain ol' dads in three minutes flat.

I Got You Babe (1985)
Chrissie Hynde and UB40
If it ain't broken ... Oh jeez! Now it is.

Cruisin' (2000)
Huey Lewis and Gwyneth Paltrow

Somethin' Stupid (2000)
Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman
All the romantic chemistry of two strangers reading their lines off a blackboard.