Great Moments In Pop – The 2000s Part 17.

This is one of the last British female singers that I took an interest in, and I always group her within the likes of Paloma Faith and Jessie J, who also came on to the scene around the late-2000s/early-2010s. I shall concentrate on how their career started out in the 2000s decade, although their biggest chart triumphs at this point would be yet to come.

Florence And The Machine were fronted by Florence Welch. I have written a lot about how having a distinctive look definitely helps, and Florence stood out with her long red hair. And there’s no doubt that she could sing too. I don’t know who “The Machine” were though, maybe there’s a chance that this was that computer from the late-night game show who constantly told contestants to “use your brain”. I get the feeling that wasn’t it though!

The first hit single “Kiss With A Fist” was in 2008, but this was fairly minor, not making the Top 50. The buzz around this group would eventually increase though, and in July 2009 “Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)” was released, which reached no. 12. Now this was definitely a great way to announce yourself on the scene, and I really do like this one. Not long after, the debut album “Lungs” was released, which made the Top Ten, and also won a Brit Award for Best British Album, to go along with the Critics’ Choice Award that they already had.

And in August 2009, there was a cover of “You Got The Love”, which was made famous by The Source Featuring Candi Staton (and was a big hit a few times itself), which became the first Top Ten hit single. This was then a hit again for Florence in a reworked version as a duet with rapper Dizzee Rascal. This might have come across as a somewhat unlikely collaboration at first, but this definitely worked.

And just go briefly go over what happened going into the 2010s decade, Florence did have many more successful singles and albums, including a couple of chart-toppers, along with performing at several high-profile festivals. And she even appeared on the cover of Radio Times twice, along with all of the music magazines whose claims that she would reach the top were definitely fulfilled.