OLD HAT - Did Sophie Ellis Bextor listen too much to Cher?

**QUINNY** · September 10th, 2003, 04:50 AM

There's been much discussion lately of Cher's Take Me Home.

It's struck me that the delivery on this record is very very similar to that employed by Sophie Ellis Bextor on all her solo hits of the past year or so.

Do you think Bextor either listened a lot to Cher and modelled herself on her or is it just coincidence? I suppose she must have listened to the track a few times, but to make a remake AND copy the original's delivery would appear a little OTT and sadly lacking.

Personally I can't stand the fake Bextor on her solo efforts to date. Yuk!!

Cher was O.K. but I don't really care for her nasal singing voice and strangled long/top notes. However, if forced, I'd take her version any day over Bextor's.

**discosavvy** · September 10th, 2003, 03:33 PM

Quinny's right - Cher's version of TAKE ME HOME is much better than Sophie's. But I do like Sophie's MURDER ON THE DANCEFLOOR, which is also available in an extended mix, and her GET OVER YOU is a good pop song. As a whole, her body of work is not substantial enough yet, and a few of her songs are unlistenable, so we'll see whether she improves overall in the coming years.

**FrontPage22** · September 11th, 2003, 07:43 AM

Well, I love Sophie and actually enjoy her slightly deadpan, disenchanted delivery of songs. BUT her version of TMH, as fun and "popped up" as it is, never will touch Cher's. EVER. EVER! Cher's 12" of TMH is just far punchier. And Cher sings with an urgency and powerfulness that gest the um song's, um "point" across. Sophioe does a much more "lazY' take on it.

The Jewels & Stone mix of Sophie ups the ante a little because it borrows liberally from the 12" of Cher's TMH.

**vodkatonique** · September 11th, 2003, 04:07 PM

I'm also a big fan of the Jewels & Stone mix, and knew Sophie's version before Cher's original, so maybe I'm a bit partial, but I actually think Sophie's flat, breathy voice lends a lot of humour to her songs .