Main Index > Songs By Date > 1997 > History Repeating
 
History Repeating
The Propellerheads featuring Miss Shirley Bassey, Written by Alex Gifford

Released in 1997 on The Propellerheads' album Decksandrumsandrockandroll, with vocals by Shirley Bassey for this song. Three different mixes were released on the History Repeating Singles. The song is also on the 2000 collection The Greatest Hits - This Is My Life and on the 2003 album Thank you for the Years.

The song is also on the soundtrack album of the film There's Something About Mary from 1998, and is used by Jaguar for its S-Type car TV commercial. The tune was used as the theme for the UK Channel Four chat show "So Graham Norton", Graham Norton's former chat show.

On the sleeve note from the History Repeating Singles Shirley Bassey is thanked for 'being up for it' and Chris Lawson is thanked for recording 'Miss Bassey's Splendour'.

This song was wonderfully performed live during the Thank you for the Years Tour 2003, and has also been performed at many live shows and on a BBC television and radio special.

Originally it had been announced that a remix of this song by the Propellerheads would be on The Remix Album...Diamonds Are Forever, but it wasn't. Remixes do exist, but only on DJ CDs.
 
Chart Positions
Official British Chart   Entered: Dec 1997
Highest: Singles: #19  Run: 7 weeks
USA Billboard   Entered: Dec 1997
Highest: Hot Dance Music/Club Play: #10
Music Video

Some information about the making of the History Repeating music video is on the video and DVD Divas Are Forever. There you will see that it took several hours to film and that Shirley had problems with the shoes.

View the full video at Sputnik7.com
 
Selected Articles
Drum 'n' Bassey
From New Music Express, Dec 1997
Take one Welsh superstar diva, add a tip-top bigbeat combo and stir. OK,
so Shirley Bassey and the Propellerheads are a trifle peculiar as musical...
Quotes
By Propellerheads and Alex Gifford
I hate that obsession with what's freshest, with what's 'this week'. And what
better way to show that than to get a timeless icon like Shirley Bassey...
Reviews
From Various Publications
This year, a new legion of fans have discovered Bassey since she bonded
with the English duo Propellerheads for their international hit...
Agency Press Release
From Sep 1997
The glamorous Welsh star secretly slipped into a north London studio
yesterday to begin work on a single with the group. A Bassey confidante..
Propellerheads

Proponents of the much-maligned big-beat style of dance music (i.e. the Chemical Brothers), the Propellerheads, keyboardist/bassist/DJ Alex Gifford and drummer/DJ Will White sprang out of Bath, England in 1996 to achieve almost overnight success in the U.K. with their brand of unabashed party techno, which combines strains of hip-hop, acid house, jazz-funk, and spy-film soundtracks. Gifford began his career as a studio musician, playing keyboards for Van Morrison and saxophone for the Stranglers, among others, before joining dance collective the Grid. After a stint on the staff of Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios, where he helped write and produce the well-received Arcane compilation, Gifford decided to start recording his own music, and sought out local drummer White. In 1996, the duo released its first EP, Dive, on Wall of Sound; almost immediately, the title track was licensed by Adidas for use in a television commercial. The follow-up, Take California, appeared later that year, and the title track became a significant underground big-beat success. The 1997 Spybreak! EP was another hit, demonstrating the duo's love for spy-film soundtracks; later in the year, the group hit the British Top Five with a remake of the Bond theme "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," recorded for the compilation Shaken and Stirred: The David Arnold 007 Project. Remixes for acts like Luscious Jackson, Soul Coughing, and 808 State followed, and Propellerheads signed to DreamWorks. The band made its U.S. debut in 1997 with a self-titled CD5, which contained the new single "Bang On!," as well as several old and new tracks. In early 1998, the Propellerheads released their full-length debut, Decksandrumsandrockandroll, to generally positive reviews.

External Link: Wall of Sound (Propellerheads Label)
 
Lyrics

The word is about, there's something evolving
Whatever may come, the world keeps revolving
They say the next big thing is here
That the revolution's near
But to me it seems quite clear
That it's all just a little bit of history repeating

The newspapers shout a new style is growing
But it don't know if it's coming or going
There is fashion, there is fad
Some is good, some is bad
And the joke is rather sad
That its all just a little bit of history repeating

And I've seen it before
And I'll see it again
Yes I've seen it before
Just little bits of history repeating

Some people don't dance, if they don't know who's singing
Why ask your head, it's your hips that are swinging
Life's for us to enjoy
Woman, man, girl and boy
Feel the pain, feel the joy
And side step the little bits of history repeating

Just little bits of history repeating
And I've seen it before
And I'll see it again
Yes I've seen it before
Just little bits of history repeating

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