Saturday Video Fun: Gotye & Whatever happened to Jem - They , Wish I, & Just a Ride (all 2004)

With the video still being posted on Facebook, and with now regular airplay on WXPN, I've been hearing that Gotye single, "Somebody That I Used to Know" quite a bit. Also, that Canadian band Walk Off the Earth who does the good sounding cover version, got flown this week to Los Angeles by the Ellen show, to perform "Somebody That I Used to Know" on her daytime talk show. No matter which version you hear, the song has a riff in it that clearly reminds me of a song by Welsh singer-songwriter Jem. That song is called "They" and it's our video of the week. To get the full effect, first jump back two weeks and listen to about the first minute of the Gotye single.



In 2004, Jem (Jem Griffiths) was all over the airwaves, both radio and MTV on both sides of the Atlantic with hit singles from her album Finally Woken. "They" was the first single; it was followed in short order by "Just a Ride".



Once the Gotye song made me think of Jem, the next logical question is whatever happened to her. Jem came back with her second album, Down to Earth, in 2008. It was a solid album with a sound somewhat more evolved than the danceable riffs that her earlier songs were built on. Unfortunately, the second album didn't have any hits and is relatively unknown. According to her official website (which has apparently not been updated since last summer), she had planned to release on September 1, 2011 an album commemorating the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. That album was never released and no further information is available. Jem is a talented singer and songwriter and hopefully we will hear from her again. Meanwhile, here is the third single from Finally Woken, "Wish I".

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