Oh how I loved this album when I was in the back seat

How and why does a heavy metal thrash freak enjoy Samantha Fox? Well kids it was the 80's. You see these days you have Ms. Spears all over the place, but she is not even a shadow compared to the queen of sex pop. Samantha Fox, sex, and the 80's all go hand in hand. I mean c'mon you've no doubt seen her pictures over the years. The woman had the most perfect body I've ever seen. Her face was to die for too, I'd say she is one of the top 5 of most beautiful women who've ever lived. Her sweet soft voice crooned through enough songs to make you wonder how many teenage pregnancies occurred while she sang to kids in the back seats of their cars.

This album was a favorite of an old girlfriend of mine. When I picked her up and she threw this album into the tape deck, I knew I was in for the kind of night I wanted. The album would start off with `Surrender to the Spirit of the Night' to get us in the mood. By the time we got to the beach we were making out to `Naughty Girls need Love too'. We would be going all the way by the time her Rolling Stones cover of `Satisfaction' came on. God Bless Samantha Fox, she was one of the thousands of reasons the 80's ruled.

Pop goes the Fox! Sophomore effort is brill!

Comparing Samantha Fox's sophomore release to her debut is like comparing almond whirl to raspberry ripple ice cream-two totally different flavours. The majority of the tracks was produced by Steve Lovell and Steve Power, and with the exception of two tracks, showed Foxy moving more towards a pure pop direction, ditching the rebellious slamming rock-keyboards from Touch Me in the dustbin.

Yet there's a final bow at the latter style, from the second single, "I Surrender (To The Spirit Of The Night)", whose guitars and keyboards, thumping drums, and rhythm mimic "Touch Me". I can imagine that this or the "Touch me" song were candidates for Foxy's breakout single and "I Surrender" lost the coin toss. There's still a lot of energy in this number though.

"I Promise You" demonstrates Foxy's shift to really skippy bubblegum pop and not necessarily the S-A-W type, although she does dip her toe in that on one song. Lovell and Power's production is just as infectious and the chorus has a tempo and intensity to match.

Then comes "Naughty Girls (Need Love Too), her second big hit in the US--where she dips her toe in the 80's hip-hop of Full Force, who helped out Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam. She would do some more of this in I Wanna Have Some Fun.

"True Devotion" sports the same synths and haunting atmospheric sounds as the Cars' "Drive", and I often compare the two. There's a cogent comparison in this line: "Yesterday's dreams like old magazines/they lie beside the bed." She can handle ballads well enough, with the limited depth of her voice.

Whether one will like her slowed down version of the Stones' "I Can't Get No Satisfaction", with backing soulful vocals and some grinding guitars and funky synths will depend on if one is a Stones fan first. I like the original better, but I can handle Foxy's one as well. Now Britney's version...that's something else, but let's leave that note unopened.

"Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now" has Foxy opening a pack of Stock-Aitken-Waterman's bubblegum, and she blows Bananarama-sized bubbles with it, not as big as "Venus", more like "I Heard A Rumour."

Thanks to "If Music Be The Food Of Love", I've referred to the Bard as Willie The Shake in this playful song that injects well-known quotes from Shakie's plays. The Bard would probably be clawing at the inside of his coffin hearing "To be or not to be/it doesn't matter much to me (that's right)/Wherefore art thou my Romeo/the only boy I want to know (he's mine)." Well, tear away, Willie.

"That Sensation" also produced by Lovell/Power, is another three figure BPM dance tune like its sister track "I Promise You." Kylie would've done this as well, but sans the guitar.

The sobriety of broken dreams and hopes is portrayed in the dark gloomy "West End Girl"-style pop of "Dream City." "Is it the world that wants an audition?/Is it the world that wants a job?/Lean on a corner called ambition/Wait for whatever comes along" I also sense the aura of the high unemployment of Thatcherite England. Yes, "One night in Dream City/it's unkind, it's unreal."

Another haunting ballad, "The Best Is Yet To Come", which aptly describes her next album...(but not the fourth one). Again, drinking one's worries and dancing to music from the stereo seems to reflect the hardships of Thatcher's Britain. It's just funny how it pops up in songs like these. Even better than "True Devotion", this one.

Giving Foxy coordinates to Galaxy Bubblegum was a choice move, although it probably alienated her early fans, who warped away from her. Yet the UK Top Five "Naughty Girls" and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now" shows that was far from the case, as she probably gained a new audience. This outdoes Touch Me as she easily acquits herself on the new material. The next album would be even better!

Pretty Pop

Samantha's sophmore effort fails to entertain as much as her first Touch Me, but, is a perfect example of late 80's pretty pop.