popography
Dannii Minogue is so much more than Kylie’s little sister. There were in fact, times when she was having bigger hits than Kylie. Plus she had one of the most important albums in pop history, without which many hit songs from the likes of Girls Aloud and Sugababes may never have happened, but I’ll get to that later. She has notched up 9 UK Top 10 singles, 19 UK Top 40 singles and has spent a total of 124 week in the UK Top 75. She has achived 13 No.1 hits on the UK Dance Chart, had 6 of her singles reach gold status in her native Australia and has sold over 7 million records worldwide.
Dannii first signed to Mushroom Records in 1989. Her first album Dannii climbed the charts to No.24 in Australia the following year. 1991 saw the album re-titled Love & Kisses for release in the UK where it was a Top10 hit, achieving gold status. Her debut single of the same name went a little something like this…
Four more singles were released here in the UK: Success, Jump To The Beat, Baby Love and I Don’t Wanna Take This Pain. Dannii’s early work IMHO is slightly more ‘cred’ than that of her sister, going for a ‘harder’ dance edge, sounding more like Madonna or Janet Jackson‘s early material. Back in the day, it pains me to say, I was so uninterested in her because, like the rest of the world, I thought she was trying to copy her sister. But. Little did the world know that it was Danni that was the child star in her homeland and in the limelight first. So thankfully I grew up and got a clue!
get into you
1993 saw the release of her second album Get Into You. Now this was when I stood up and took notice. Dannii released one of her biggest hits from this album…
Quite possibly the cheesiest video ever but it did the business in the UK hitting the Top 10 and staying around for weeks, becoming the song of the summer. But this was the third single from Get Into You, the album just did not get the support it deserved. The singles were really strong, cover of The Jackson 5‘s Show You The Way To Go is really good, as is Love On Every Corner…
Then we have This Is The Way which is my personal favourite. Cue another cheesy video…
Next up we have my favourite video of the bunch: Get Into You. She looks incredible in this video and the song is great too. She was presenting The Big Breakfast around this time, on the TV every morning, I just do not understand why this was not a hit!
1995 saw Danni begin work on her third studio, with all the material only to be scrapped due to a fall out with the record company, resulting in them parting ways. Luckily it did see the light of day in 2009
1997 daw her debut on stage as Rizzo in Grease, leading to her being nominated for ‘Best Female Musical Theatre Performer’, at the 1998 MO Awards.
Then. Came. This…
girl
All I Wanna Do is my all time fav! I love the video, I love the blonde hair, I love everything! It also did the business, hitting No.4 in the UK Top 40. Her third studio album, Girl, otherwise known as a masterclass in pop music, with work from Ian Masterson, Terry Ronold and Brian Higgins of Xenomania, who went on to produce most of Girls Aloud‘s and Sugababes biggest hits.
Everything I Wanted was the second single, and here’s the TOTP performance with a strong vocal performance…
This album is very well loved amongst her fan and has a bit of a cult following. It was recently celebrated on Twitter thanks to @trackbytrackuk which included Dannii herself and producers that worked on the album. It was such a great evening, getting lots of inside information on the making of it, including this little titbit about how hidden song Coconut came about.
Long story…I had been bitten by a spider and I needed to go to actual hospital the day I was due to write a new song. I recorded this cover 2 get over the pain as soon as I left the hospital #doctor!
Danni Minogue, twitter
There was so much here to love. Heaven Can Wait being a stand out track, it was just so different from anything she had done, more grown up. Everything I Wanted is just pure class, and Movin’ Up is a bop! And then of course we have that song, So In Love With Yourself featuring Kylie on backing vocals, which is just pure pop perfection. Even the later released cast offs Something New & Keep Up With The Good Times are really good.
The final single from Girl was Disremeberence, was pretty much the general census from all involved in #TBTGirl on twitter that this is her best song and it is a bop! I have recently discovered the 12″ Full Orchestra remix (I didn’t like remixes back in the day) and it is everything! I urge you to give it a listen in your airpods/headphones. It’s a treat for the ears! But we slept on it and it just missed being a Top 20 hit going in at 21.
The album was released two days after my birthday and I remember it like it was yesterday. One of my favourite albums of all time. It didn’t even make the Top 50 in the album chart. Shame, UK. Shame. On the plus side she made a wave in the UK Dance Charts as all three singles hit the No.1 spot.
The following year I actually got to meet Dannii, very briefly. I was working at a club called Ikon and she was hired to perform for the big Student Ball but we didn’t know who the secret act was. Can you imagine, when I turned up for work, there she was on stage doing a soundcheck. I lost my shit. But they wouldn’t let me anywhere near her (probably a good thing) but I did get to say a very nervous ‘Hi’ when I passed her in the hall. She smiled at me and I almost died.
Dannii appeared on stage in London’s West End as Esmerelda in Notre-Dame de Paris receiving mixed reviews. The following year however, she won the award for Best Stage Performance at The Maxim Awards. I did not get the chance to see this show which is one of my biggest regrets. If it were playing now I would be there like a shot!
After a quiet spell, Dannii returned to music on the Riva club track Who Do You Love Now. I was working at Tower Records at this time and I remember this was a silent hit to start with as no-one knew it was Dannii on the track until it was officially released, long after it was doing the rounds on the club circuit. This was a No 3 hit in the UK, and even hitting the US Billboard Dance Chart at no.13. And it’s one of my favourites…
The success of Who Do You Love Now resulted in her landing a 6 album deal with London Records. So back in the studio she went, and in 2003 we were rewarded with this…
neon nights
This song was another hit, No.7 in the UK Top 40, and another No.1 in the UK Dance Chart. It also did the business internationally, hitting the Top 20 in several countries, and charting at No.11 in Australia and achieving gold status. But Dannii wasn’t done dishing out the hits yet…
I Begin To Wonder was an even bigger hit on the UK Top 40, just missing out on the top spot, hitting No.2 granting her her highest chart position. Once again giving her a No.1 hit on the UK Dance Chart and reaching gold status in her homeland. There is also a fantastic mash up with Dead Or Alive‘s You Spin Me Round which is phenomenal!
I was working at HMV when this was released and I can remember being so excited for another album after the sheer brilliance of Girl. And Neon Nights did not disappoint! It was her most successful album to date. So many great tracks, For The Record being my stand out track, it must’ve been hard to pick out the singles, but the third single was this slice of deliciousness…
Don’t Wanna lose This Feeling was another Top 10 hit reaching No.5 in the UK Chart. Another mash up for this single too, with the Queen herself Madonna giving permission for it to be remixed with Into The Grove and is my favourite mash up of all time!
October 2004 saw the release of You Won’t Forget About Me, another dancefloor stomper with dance act Flower Power. Here is the fun video inspired by Sex & the City…
The track was already a massive hit in Ibiza. All Around The World Records approached Dannii to give the dance track some vocals for a commercial release. It was another international hit, reaching No.7 in the UK Top 40, selling over 30,000 copies.
The following year saw the release of Perfection, a collaboration with another dance troop Soul Seekers. This song gave Minogue her ninth consecutive Upfront Club Chart No.1, and was another Top 20 hit across Europe and in Australia, reaching No.11 in the UK Top 40.
2006 saw So Under Pressure, written by Dannii and long time collaborator Terry Ronald, about how she felt with not only her sister’s cancer diagnosis, but of her best friend too. It was another Top 20 hit in the UK and Australia, and scored her her tenth consecutive Upfront Club Chart No.1.
The Hits & Beyond was released, collecting her biggest hits plus some new tracks including Good Times, LoveFight, Gone, Sunrise and soon to be single I Can’t Sleep At Night. This album was released under All Around The World Records, Dannii walking away from London Records.
2006 was also the year that this happened…
club disco
2007 saw the release of Club Disco, her fifth studio album, collecting all the recent singles and I Can’t Sleep At Night (one of my favs). It has also been re-released in other regions to include her cover of The Greatest Dancer and her single Touch Me Like That, again topping the UK dance chart.
We also had another album: Unleashed, which was a mix of unreleased songs and remixes of some of her favourite hits, released by Warner. It was a budget release, therefore ineligable for the UK chart.
This album is about my personal favourites – bringing you the best unreleased material, including club mixes that were number one and songs I’ve written with my favourite producers around the world.
Dannii Minogue, wikipedia
x factor
2007 saw Dannii join The X Factor judging panel for it’s fourth series. She had the boys category and took Leon Jackson all the way to the final and ended up winning, making her the first female mentor to win The X Factor. Dannii was welcomed back for the fifth series the following year, with Cheryl Cole replacing battered old hag Sharon Osbourne. Dannii was on the judging panel for four years, winning the show twice, the second time with Matt Cardle. she did not return for the eighth series because filming clashed with Australia’s Got Talent where she was also on the judges panel. Dannii was also a judge on The X Factor Australia for three consecutive years, winning with Dami Im, who went on to represent Australia in The Eurovision Song Contest in 2016 with epic ballad The Sound Of Silence.
let it shine
In 2016 she joined Gary Barlow & Martin Kemp on the judges panel for Let It Shine, a show with the goal of finding a boyband to be in a musical Barlow had written using the music of his band Take That. I was actually lucky enough to attend a recording of this show and it was such a great night. I was very invested in this show and really enjoyed it, and seeing her on our screen again after such a long time. I went and saw the show, The Band, when it came to The Mayflower Theatre here in Southampton and it was incredible. Not only did it have the music of Take That but it was genuinely both funny, and very moving.
2015 a return to music and an appearance at Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Summer Of Love had a low-key release and features a rap by British artist Reece.
Then… at the end of the year… This happened…
And I was lucky enough to be at The Royal Albert Hall for A Kylie Christmas, which was probably one of the best shows I have ever been to, I mean KYLIE and CHRISTMAS, I’m there! But when Dannii came out from behind that Christmas Tree the audience went so crazy, I thought we were going to blow the roof off! We were sat in the choir section behind the stage and I saw her come in through the back and I nearly died! What a moment, and what a night!
2017 saw the release of new single Holding On, plus supporting Culture Club and Take That for the Australian leg of both tours. She also released Galaxy which has had no promo at all but is really good…
the masked singer australia
In 2019 Dannii was announced as a judge on the Australian version of The Masked Singer. Other judges included Jackie O, Dave Hughes, Osher Gunsberg and Lindsay Lohan!
all i wanna do 2020
This is a completely new take on All I Wanna Do for 2020 – a year when, globally, we’ve not been able to hold and touch the ones we love. All I want to do with this track is spread some sparkly cheer for Global Pride 2020. Wherever you are in the world, Pride celebrations this year will be vastly different to what we would have anticipated even six months ago. My hope is we can still connect with one another and create some memories that comfort us and bring smiles
Danni Minogue
So there we have it. Dannii Minogue. One of my favourites! She’s had such a diverse career too, she’s not all about her music. Television, fashion, or appearing on stage in theatres. Is there anything this woman cannot do?
Love you Dannii, thanks for sharing your talent with the world, and for all the joy you’ve brought me through the years.
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