Shoulda been huge: Gossip’s ‘Move in the Right Direction’
When you think of Beth Ditto’s band, Gossip, it’s hard not to recall a time when indie music ruled the roost. I can remember hearing Standing in the Way of Control on the trailer for the first ‘season’ of E4’s popular teen drama Skins, and being in awe.
There was something about Ditto that was completely captivating. Here was an overweight gay woman who totally owned her size, and wasn’t afraid to talk about her sexuality with matter-of-fact conviction. All of this came, of course, before Lady Gaga rode in on her Unicorn and told everyone they were “born this way”. Ditto was an inspiration without actually trying to be an inspiration.
At the time, I was an indie-loving, skinny jeans-wearing, wannabe kid in a riot. You could regularly find me skulking around haunts such as London’s indie dive Mean Fiddler, or dancing, fag in hand, at Club NME. For me, Beth Ditto encapsulated everything that, as a young gay indie kid, I needed; she was a role model without being a role model; she broke boundaries without trying.
I have to admit, these days I’m hardly inspired by the current crop of indie darlings, and the song Monster by The Automatic doesn’t get my toes tapping any more. But I still have a lot of love for Ditto and her band of merry men and women.
The band’s fifth album, released in 2012 and titled A Joyful Noise, was no smash hit – in fact, it failed to crack the UK top 40. However, hidden within this low-charting collection is a shiny pop jewel that shoulda been huge.
Released as the album’s second single, Move in the Right Direction is a pounding electro banger that deserved to be heard everywhere. Co-written and produced by Brian Higgins of Xenomania (you know, the production crew that crafted Girls Aloud’s biggest hits), it’s no surprise that the song is a proper pop anthem. Truthfully, it wouldn’t have felt out of place on one of The Aloud’s later albums.
OK, so the self-empowered lyrics teeter towards the cheesy (“I have faced my fears, now I can move in the right direction”), but then again, Ditto has always been a straightforward kinda gal. And it’s obvious that following the release of Ditto’s brilliant solo EP in 2011, she was in the market for something more pop, and this song’s straight-up approach reflects that.
Despite being downright amazing, this move in the right direction wasn’t met universal acclaim, especially by the indie press. Our friends at NME said it was full of “blindingly boring tropes” and was “everything the Gossip shouldn’t be” – ouch.
Watching the video, however, one thing is apparent. Ditto and her bandmates are having a blast. From the humorous, tongue-in-cheek faces to the ridiculous dancers, the song is fun, frivolous and frankly fabulous. Unfortunately, Move in the Right Direction failed to place anywhere at all on the UK’s Official Singles Chart. In my heart, though, and I hope in yours, it’s a great big pop hit from a group we can really get behind.
Watch Gossip’s Move in the Right Direction video below:
More shoulda been huge:
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> Shoulda been huge: Spice Girls’ third album ‘Forever’
> Shoulda been huge: Jordin Sparks’ Battlefield