Alphabeat

OK, the Wham thing is a pretty bold boast but I'm feeling increasingly confident in my talent-spotting abilities these days. I was persuaded to go to an Alphabeat gig at the back end of last year despite knowing nothing about them. When I arrived at the venue I was told they were "a Danish S Club 7", which, to be perfectly honest, almost made me turn on my heel and go home.

 

I'm very glad I didn't.

 

It was one of the happiest, most uplifting live music experiences I've had in a long time; exactly what good pop should be, in fact. Best of all, there was clearly nothing manufactured about them.

 

I was sufficiently impressed to include them in my Ones To Watch For 2008 list, despite not having heard anything about them from any other source. Well, what do you know? It seems there's a nice little buzz building now. They got to number five last month with their debut single, Fascination, and suddenly we're looking at a genuine pop phenomenon. Marvellous.

 

We've got exclusive behind the scenes footage from the video shoot for their next single, 10 000 Nights Of Thunder, for you to check out. But the best way to experience them is live  - they're currently doing their thing on the Wonky Pop tour.