Thrilling. That’s the word that comes to mind as Human Nature kick into a searing take of the Spencer Davis Group’s classic Gimme Some Lovin’.
Recently celebrating their 26th anniversary, Human Nature have released a new album ahead of their national tour celebrating the golden age of the jukebox era.
'Jukebox' the original album released October 2014, created what can only be described as sonic magic. Together with the group’s impeccable vocals coupled with the production edge of legendary executive producer Bob Rock and music genius Dave Pierce, 'Jukebox' delivered a collection of some of the greatest songs from the 50s & 60s. The album featured songs such as Runaround Sue, Unchained Melody, Will You Love Me Tomorrow and Earth Angel as well as an original song, End Of Days. The album became a chart topping and sales success achieving double platinum accreditation and a #2 ARIA chart position.
In the perfect follow up to the original, 'Gimme Some Lovin'' features songs such as Be My Baby, And Then She Kissed Me, Why Do Fools Fall In Love?, You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling, Rescue Me, (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher, Twistin’ The Night Away, Save The Last Dance For Me, I Saw Her Standing There, Don’t Worry Baby, At Last, Shout and You Send Me.
There’s also room for a brand new Human Nature original, Forgive Me Now, which was penned by Andrew.
“We started recording the album last year, while we were still performing nightly,” begins Michael.
“We worked on the album over time and then we went to Vancouver to Warehouse Studios, which is owned by Bryan Adams. That's where Dave Pierce does a lot of work. It was a really great experience.”
The album's title comes from this cover of the Spencer Davis Group classic
In recent times, Human Nature have leaned heavily on the Motown Songbook. Here, the band showcase their chops with classic pop – a heavy dollop of which was either created of heavily influenced by producer Phil Spector.
“Be My Baby was a song we referenced a lot on the first Jukebox record, but never recorded,” says Andrew. “Spector’s ‘sound’ almost defined an era, especially on You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling and all the Righteous Brothers stuff he was involved in, alongside the Shirelles and Ronettes records he did.”
Human Nature have sourced the material on 'Gimme Some Lovin'' from a very special period in the history of pop.
“It was a golden age,” chimes Phil, “which was that late 1950s, early '1960s. Generally that period was known as the jukebox era. It kind of makes sense for us to sing that material on this album. We're not going to do any disco or anything like that,” he laughs.
The boys admit no Jukebox is complete without a song from The Beatles or The Beach Boys. Here, Human Nature have recorded one from each artist. Don’t Worry Baby comes via the Beach Boys. Astonishingly, they’ve managed to make The Beatles’ I Saw Her Standing There sound like their own.
Human Nature's latest album 'Gimme Some Lovin'' features plenty of classic hits, covered by your favourite voices
“It's hard to cover a Beatles song and do it well,” offers Michael. “We tried a few Beatles' songs over the years, and I Saw Her Standing There kind of felt like a really fun one to rock out to. Phil sings the lead and really sounds great. That song gets people dancing and clapping along. It’s a really fun song.”
There’s a lot of Human Nature’s DNA in these recordings. The tunes might be familiar, but the boys have brought their signature parts and harmonies into play. The results are almost peerless.
“I guess one of the biggest parts of the process for us, is picking which one of the four sounds best singing the song,” explains Toby.
Human Nature celebrate 'Gimme Some Lovin'' reaching Number 1 on the ARIA charts for their album (Image: Facebook / Human Nature)
“Around that, we create the space for our harmonies, and the things that make a song sound like a Human Nature recording. We spend a bit of time trying to nut out something unique – not just background vocal harmonies, but other little parts we can sing that make a song ‘ours’, something that might not have been in the original but still suits the style of it, and doesn't pull focus from the melody or lead. That's the stuff that, whether people know it or not, that subconsciously makes our audience think, ‘that's Human Nature!’”
Rounding out the stellar collection is a fine new original from Andrew. “I wrote a song for the last album called End of Days,” explains Andrew, “which has been a real highlight. I came up with Forgive Me Now. It kind of references my love for Smokey Robinson and old-school soul. It fits on the new album nicely. It's got a more contemporary feel, [but] its part of our DNA to have some original songs on an album for the fans that have loved what we've done in the past.”
Human Nature are one of the world’s finest pop vocal groups. To provide some context: Human Nature have sold more than 2.5 million albums, earned 26 platinum awards, scored 17 Top 40 hits and have had five Top Ten tracks worldwide. Among the hits are such classics as Wishes, Don’t Say Goodbye, Don’t Cry, Eternal Flame, He Don’t Love You, When You Say You Love Me and their collaboration with John Farnham, Every Time You Cry. Now there’s a new album to add to the canon, 'Gimme Some Lovin''.
Cherie’s final verdict: As far as sequels go, 'Gimme Some Lovin': Jukebox Vol. II' exceeds all expectations.
What is your favourite jukebox tune? Let us know in the comments below.
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