What’s a wowiezowie?
Tom Stephan has the answer in his guide to
SUPERCHUMBO
WOWIEZOWIE
The name Wowiezowie is a lot like the name Superchumbo…it’s more
about how its sounds than what it means. The same is true of the music on Wowiezowie. The lyrics are rhythmic suggestions,
distractions designed to occupy your mind while you let your body experience
the music. I love it when you’re dancing to a song and you can’t totally
understand the lyrics, so you make up something that makes some kind of sense
at the time. Super and Chumbo: two types of fuel on offer at a Portuguese
petrol station. It sounded good. It felt good. And somehow, it made sense at
the time.
And Wowiezowie? It’s an expression used by my friend Ed
(a.k.a. Edgy). He’s been a source of inspiration for my music since the
beginning (in fact, my very first record “Terriffic” by Tracy & Sharon was
his idea). “Wowiezowie!” is an exclamation that can be used to describe someone
or something, or someone’s something. It’s that thing you want…that thing you
envy. I’m fascinated by the feeling of desperation, obsession, jonesing!. “Give me some of
that dirtyfilthy, irresistible wowiezowie!”
Some (featuring:
Sylvia Mason-James)
Sylvia sang on “Irresistible!,” and I
knew I had to do another record with her. From her work with the Pet Shop Boys,
and her willingness to stutter “Irrrrrrrrrre-sis-ti-ble,” she was cool in my
book. For “Some” I asked her to try to sing the chorus backwards. She said that
was the first time she’d ever been asked to sing backwards and that made me
happy. The lyrics are about getting some
of that wowiezowie. “You’ve got it. I want it. Give me some!”
EverythingU (featuring: me)
My “lead vocal” debut! When recording a new song, I normally sing
a guide version myself to show the vocalist.
They’re something I never want anyone else to hear. I’d recorded the
vocal for this one and it actually sounded the way I’d envisioned it to be
sung, so I kept it. This song is a great example of my main desire to make an
album: to give tracks like this a home.
It’s still very much Superchumbo, but not so dancefloor oriented. The lyrics? Oh yes,
mega-jonesing!.
Sugar (featuring:
Samantha Fox)
Imagine me doing the guide vocal on this one. On second thought, don’t. I had trouble finding the right person to
sing this. I knew what I wanted, but not who. We had hoped at one point to get
Charo, if only so we could have called it SuperCharo! Then, a friend told me
that Samantha Fox was looking for people to work with, and there it was.
Perfect. She gave me exactly what I was looking for, and I didn’t even have to
ask. Is it a song about love? Is it a
song about drugs? Is there a difference?
Irresistible! (featuring: Sylvia Mason-James)
An idea came to me while I was in a restaurant and the cd player started skipping. The music had been transparent
up to that point and it suddenly became really interesting. I thought, “I need
to do that in a song.” That night, while walking home, I sang/stuttered
“Irrrr-re-sis-ti-ble” down the phone to my answering machine. The looks I got
from passers-by were the same as the one on Sylvia’s face when I sang it to
her. She would eventually sing it, but still thought I was crazy.
Tranquilizer (featuring: Neil Tennant)
I was so excited that Neil agreed to make an appearance on the
album. I’ve had the honor of doing several remixes for the Pet Shop Boys but
this was something greater. My recording process usually starts with some kind
of lyrical hook, but this resulted from first fiddling around in the studio. I
wasn’t sure what to do with it, so I sent it to Neil and he wrote the
accompanying lyrics and melody. I’m especially pleased with it because Neil’s
talents have brought a new dimension to the Chumbo sound.
UknowILoveIt (featuring: Bashiyra)
One of the aims while making this album was to work with new people, and this was my first time working with Bashiyra.
She totally pegged the vocal. I couldn’t
have been happier. I love it, you know.
BringIt (featuring:
Gay Joy & Alan T)
Two great friends of mine, the queens of the
Dirtyfilthy (featuring: Celeda)
Being a Tribal/TWISTED devotee from the early days, I was
thrilled to have the chance to work with the legendary Celeda. I actually wrote
“U Know I Love It” with Celeda in mind.
Rob Di Stefano suggested I send a second song, an instrumental in case
she wasn’t feeling the one I wrote for her. I knocked out the groove for
“dirtyfilthy” in about an hour and sent the two to
ThisBeatIs (featuring: Will Brett)
This is one of those dancefloor mantras I worked up during a long
Danny Tenaglia session. It stuck in my head until I put it on vinyl. I’m a huge
Nitzer Ebb fan and my idea for the vocal is definitely inspired by Douglas
McCarthy’s style. I found my vocalist while listening to voicemail, in
particular one from my personal trainer. He has this amazingly strong deep
voice and, as luck would have it, he’s also a singer.
WowieZowie (featuring: Edgy)
It only seemed fitting that Edgy would make an appearance on the title
track as this is his catch phrase. He’s never made a record before and I wasn’t
sure what would happen when I put the microphone in front of him, but I
couldn’t have been happier. He went totally bonkers and that’s just what I had
hoped for.
OutThere (featuring: the
Base Boys)
This is a track that my amazing engineer and right hand man Pete
Gleadall and I recorded together one night. I had wanted to use this a cappella for a
long time and it fit this track perfectly.
Revolution (featuring: Victoria Wilson-James & Miguel Mateo)
There was debate about whether or not to include some of the
older Superchumbo tracks on the album. We all decided they needed to be here,
but as “Revolution” was the oldest, I felt it could use a reworking. Like many
of the songs, this one is about a feeling, a moment. It doesn’t refer to a
specific event or action. It’s just about that second just before you jump,
when you instinctively know “now is the time.” This is where it all began. Viva
la Revolución!