624 Hello Monie Love - I Can Do This

Chart  entered :  4  February  1989

Chart  peak : 37

Number  of  hits : 11

Here's  another  artist  who's  largely  slipped  under  my  radar. I  can  vaguely  recall  one  or  two  of  her  hits  through  the  samples  used  but  that's  all.

Monie  was  born  in  Battersea  in  1970. She  got  into  the  nascent  British  hip  hop  scene  as  soon  as  she  left  school  and  joined  a  group  called  Jus  Badd  who  released  a  single  "Free  Style"  on  an  independent  label  in  1988. Monie  shares  the  lead  vocal  with  an  MC  Mellow  and  the  track  is  a  lo-fi  version   of  the  more  laid  back  rap  sound  of  the  Jungle  Brothers. The  edge  is  provided  by  Monie's  feisty  delivery.

Monie  was  also  performing  a  rap  using  The  Whispers' late  disco  smash  And  The  Beat  Goes  On   as  her  backing  track  during  1988,  including  an  appearance  at  the  DJ  Mixing  Championship  heats  in  Bristol.  Vicar's  son  and  DJ , Tim  Westwood  heard  it  and  wanted  to  sign  her  to  Justice, the  label  he  was  setting  up . However  he  didn't  get  his  act  together  and  Monie  went  to  Cooltempo  to  get  it  released.    

Though  "I  Can  Do  This "  went  out  in  Monie's  name  alone , the  track  was  co-written  with  her  friend  from   Jus  Badd  DJ  Pogo. The  trio  who  wrote  The  Whispers'  hit  are  also  credited. On  the  back  of  the  sample  and  some  added  electronic  percussion ,Monie  launches  into  a  confident  rap  about  her  prowess  as  an  MC  without  pausing  for  breath. Later  on,  a  Public  Enemy- style  high-pitched  drone  is  added. To  me  it  sounds  one-dimensional  and  boring as  hell  but  it  not  only  got  her  in  our  charts  but  attracted  the  attention  of  the  New  York  crowd  as  well.

623 Hello Michael Ball - Love Changes Everything

Chart  entered  : 28  January  1989

Chart  peak : 2

Number  of  hits  : 10

The  success  of  the  singing  thespian  amid  acid  house , hip  hop  and  Stock  Aitken  and  Waterman  was  proof  of  the  enduring  democratic  nature  of  the  charts.

Michael  was  born  in  Bromsgrove  in  1962. His  love  of  theatre  was  encouraged  by  his  father  and  he  went  to  Guildford  School  of  Acting. After  graduating  in  1984,  he  worked  in  regional  theatre  for  a  while  He  came  to  prominence  after  winning  an  open  audition  to  star  in  The  Pirates  of  Penzance  at  Manchester  Opera  House  in  1985. At  the  same  time  he  had  a  brief  part  in  Coronation  Street. Later  that  year  he  joined  the  cast  of  Les  Miserables  in  London  and  appeared  on  the  cast  recording  released  as  an  album. Illness  cut  short  his  run. He  came  into  Andrew  Lloyd-Webber's  orbit  when  he  replaced  Steve  Barton  in  The  Phantom  of  the  Opera    in  1987.

"Love  Changes  Everything"  was  his  first  single, released  primarily  to  promote  Lloyd-Webber's  forthcoming  musical  Aspects  of  Love  in   which  he  was  to  play  Alex-Dillingham. Charles  Hart  and  Don  Black  wrote  the  lyrics  to  Lloyd-Webber's  music. Though  I'll  admit  to  a  sneaky  regard  for  Memory , Lloyd- Webber's  mock-classical  style  is  highly  toxic  to  me  and  though  Michael  belts  it  out  with  gusto  and  seems  like  a  good  bloke   , this  is  pretty  unbearable. Still. my  mum  loved  it.

622 Hello Adeva - Respect

Chart  entered  : 14  January  1989

Chart  peak  : 17

Number  of  hits  : 15

We  move  into  the  last  year  of  the  eighties. It  seems  to  be  established  wisdom  that  1975  was  the  worst  year  for  pop  since  the  Beatles  but  I  personally  would  nominate  1989. I  remember  having  real  problems  compiling  my personal  Top  40  at  the  end  of  the  year   for  want  of  candidates.

Adeva's  only  real  significance  for  me  is  that  she  became  my  stock  answer  at  pop  quizzes  whenever  some  mundane  house / R &  B  track  with  a  female  vocal  came  up. The  strategy  worked  once  or  twice.

Adeva  was  born  in  1960  as  Patricia  Daniels  in  New  Jersey. She  began  singing  in  her  church  choir  before  switching  her  attentions  to  the  house  scene. In  1988  she  released  the single  "In  and  Out  of  My  Life"  on  Seattle' s  Easy  Street  Records  label   which  isn't  a  bad  piano  house  tune  despite  some  clumsy  phrasing.

On  the  strength  of  that  she  got  a  deal  with  the UK  label,  Cooltempo. "Respect"  was   her  first  release  for  them. It  is  the  Otis  Redding  song  made  immortal  by  Arethra  Franklin. Adeva  re-tools  the  melody  ( not  the  song's  strongest  suit  in  the  first  place  )  to  suit  the  sort  of  chugging  backing  track  that  M  People  would  come  to  own. She  eschews  Arethra's  spelling  out  of  the  word  in  favour  of  unlovely  howls  of  "Respect  Meeeee !"  and  comes  up  with  her  own  ad  libs. She's  got  a  decent  voice  but  it  doesn't  work  for  me  at  all.

621 Hello Neneh Cherry - Buffalo Stance

Chart  entered : 10  December 1988

Chart  peak : 3

Number  of  hits : 14

Neneh  served  a  long  and  interesting  apprenticeship  before  making  her  chart  debut.

She  was  born  Neneh  Karlsson  in  Stockholm  in  1964  to  Monica  Karlsson  a  Swedish  painter  and  a  visiting  engineering  student  from  Sierra  Leone. Not  long  after  her  birth  her  mother  married  the  American  jazz  trumpeter  Don  Cherry  who  raised  her  as  his  own. By  the  late  seventies  Cherry  was  playing  alongside  English  post-punk  groups  and  Neneh  met  members  of  The  Slits  when  he  toured  with  them. She  dropped  out  of  school  in  the  U.S.  and  moved  into  a  squat  with  Ari  Up  from  The  Slits  when  she  was  just  15. She  was  briefly  counted  a  member  of  The  Slits  and  also  a  punk  band  called  The  Cherries. The  girls  from  The  Slits  also  got  involved  with  a  dub  group  called  The  New  Age  Steppers  and  Neneh  made  her  recording  debut  on  their  second  album,  "Action  Battlefield",  in  1981. She  sang  the  lead  vocal  on  the  track  "My  Love"  a  spacey  reggae  number  on  which  the  band  don't  seem  like  they're  playing  in  time  with  each  other.

By the  time   it  was  released   Neneh  had  joined  Rip  Rig + Panic   having  started  a  relationship  with  their  drummer  Bruce  Smith  during  his  short  tenure  in  The  Slits. Smith  and  guitarist  Gareth  Sagar  had  formed  the  group  after  the  dissolution  of  the  fiercely  uncommercial  post-punk  outfit,  The  Pop  Group  in  1980 .  The  new  group  wanted  to  take  a  jazzier  direction  than  their  forebears. Virgin  took  a  punt  and  signed  them  the  following  year.

Rip  Rig  + Panic  released  their  first  single  "Go  Go  Go  ( This  Is  It ) "  in  August  1981  with  an  interesting  picture  on  the  sleeve  of   a  couple  of  headless  bodies  copulating  drawn  in  the  style  of  Leonardo  da  Vinci. The  music  was  equally  unlikely  to  appeal  to  the  daytime  jocks   with  the  youthful  Neneh  spitting  out  the  lyrics  in  the  brattish  style  of  Annabella  Lwin. The   single  does  sound  like  Bow  Wow  Wow  at  their  most  bracing  interrupted  by  challenging  bursts  of  free  jazz  hornblowing.

Their  debut  album  "God"  followed  a  month  later. Though  only   having  the  duration  of  a  single  LP  it  was  released  as  a  double. Neneh  sings  lead  on  three  tracks. Opener  "Constant  Drudgery  Is  Harmful  to  Soul  Spirit  and  Health ", "Need"  and  "Those  Eskimo  Women  Spoke  Frankly"  are  all  equally  challenging  ; if  you  want  coherent  songs  this  isn't  the  place  to  come  although  the  bass  usually  provides  some  sort  of  anchor  amid  the  self-indulgence.

A  standalone  single  "Bob  Hope  Takes  Risks"  followed  in  November, a  much  more  disciplined  record  with  a  call  and  response  structure  and  Neneh's  vocals  pushed  higher  in  the  mix. There's  not  much  in  the  way  of  a  tune  and  the  horn  sound  remains  unpleasant  but  they're  clearly  groping  towards  a  more  commercial  product.

In  June  1982   they  released  the  single  "You're  My  Kind  of  Climate "  a  more  conventional  jazz  funk  track  with  the  semblance  of  a  hook. They  performed  a  truncated  version  of  it  on  The  Young  Ones  with   a  chunky-looking  Neneh  giving  an  energetic  performance. It  was  closely  followed  by  their  second  album  I  Am  Cold   which  was  released  in  the  same  format  as  the  first  although  this  time  round  the  length  did  justify  it. Neneh's  stepfather  played  on  six  tracks. Neneh  sang  on  four  tracks, three  of  them  unlistenable . The  fourth  was  "Storm  The  Reality  Asylum"  an  abridged  version  of  which  was  released  as  a  single  that  August. The  track  is  a  set  of   anti-oppression  slogans  strung  together  rather  than  a  song  but  it's  got  a  real  swing  and  is  darkly  melodic. The  sombre  jazz  feel  predicates  the  new  sound  of   The  Special  AKA    unveiled  a  few  months  later. Despite  a  generous  feature  in  Smash  Hits  it  didn't  chart  and  you  get  the  sense  that  that  was  their  moment.

In  1983  Neneh  got  married  to  Smith  and  recorded  the  next  LP  "Attitude"  while  pregnant  with  their  daughter  Naima.  The  band  continued  in  their  quest  to  repay  Virgin  with  a  hit  by  making  their  music  more  accessible  and  reining  in  avant-garde  excess. Neneh  sang  on  the  lead  single  "Beat  The  Beast"  which  is  brassy  and  uptempo  but  very  short  and  devoid  of  hooks. Co-vocalist  Andrea  Oliver  did  the  lead  on  the  second  single  "Do  The  Tightrope"  which  co-opts  a  Northern  Soul  beat  but  is  too  complex  and  fractured  to  be  a  hit. Perhaps  the  smouldering  "Sunken  Love"  or the  hi-life  exuberance  of  "Keep  The  Sharks  Fro  Your  Heart" ( both  Neneh-sung )  might  have  done  better. Virgin's  patience  ran  out  and  the  band  split  later  in  the  year.

Neneh  and  Smith  divorced  in  1984  but  it  didn't  stop  them  working  together  in  Float  Up  C.P. who  were  four-fifths  of  Rip  Rig  and  Panic. They  released  a  single on  Rough  Trade , "Joy's  Address"  in  July  1984  a  leftfield  take  on  sixties  girl  group  pop  that  again  is  too  cerebral   and  complicated  to   work  as  a  pop  single. It  featured  on  their  album  "Kill  Me  In  The  Morning"  released  in  December  1985  which  saw  them  move  in  a  more  electronic  funk  direction  though  there  are  still  some  squally  horns  in  the  mix. "Assassins"  is  a  good  song  but  they  chose  not  to  release  any  more  singles. They  broke  up  soon  after  and  this  time  it  was  decisive.

In  1986  Neneh   duetted  with  Matt  Johnson  on  The  The's  track  "Slow  Train  To  Dawn"  and  made  a  memorable  appearance  in  the  video. It  was  released  as  a  single  the  following  year.
reaching  number  64. Neneh  wasn't  given  an  artist  credit.

Neneh  also  started  working  as  a  model  to  make  ends  meet  and  this  proved  to  be  her  musical  salvation. She  signed  up  with  London-based  designer  Ray  Petri  modelling  his  streetwise  range  of  clothing  under the  brand  name  Buffalo. At  the  beginning  of  1987  she  went  to  Heathrow  for  an  assignment  in  Tokyo   and  met  fellow  model  Cameron  McVey. They  immediately  became  an  item.

McVey  was  in  a  pop  duo  with  another  of  Petri's  associates, photographer  Jamie  Morgan   as  Morgan  McVey. They  had  a  single  ready  to  go  in  "Looking  Good  Diving" , an  attractive  pop  tune  and  "the  one  that  got  away"  for  producers  Stock,  Aitken  and  Waterman. Neneh  wasn't  on  the  A-side  ( though  she  appeared  with  a  guitar  in  the  video )  but  she  came  up  with  a  rap  for  the  B-side  "Looking  Good  Diving  With  the  Wild  Bunch"  which  incorporates  musical  phrases  from  the  A  side  as  well  as  Malcolm  McLaren's  Buffalo  Gals . It's   clearly  being  made  up  on  the  spot  but  key  parts  of  "Buffalo  Stance "  are  already  in  place.

Morgan-McVey  split  up  without  releasing  anything  else , freeing  up  McVey  to  work  on  Neneh's  debut  solo  album. The  track  was  taken  to  Tim  Simenon  for  polishing  up  and  restructuring  and  he  was  duly  credited  in  some  new  lyrical  parts.  The  lyrics  have  always  confused  me  a  little  since  Neneh  keeps  using  the  word  "gigolo"  when  in  context  it  makes  much  more  sense  if  you  substitute  "pimp" . It  then  fits  with  the  theme  of  refusing  to  be  exploited. The  McLaren  samples  were  retained , the  tuneful   refrain  fitted  into  the  right  places  and  the  blend  of  synthpop, hip  hop  and  street  sass  was  an  instant  winner. It  reached  number  3  in  the  US  as  well.

620 Goodbye Four Tops - Loco In Acapulco

Chart  entered  :  3  December  1988

Chart  peak : 7

The  Motown  veterans  exited  with  a  big  hit  although  I  doubt  many  people  would  pick  it  as  their  favourite   song  by  Levi  Stubbs  and  the  boys.

The  Tops  were  the  most  consistently  successful  Motown  group  scoring  their  only  number   one  in  1966  with  "Reach  Out  I'll  Be  There". Their  success  continued  into  the  early  seventies   but  after  "Simple  Game"  reached  number  3  in  1971   their  popularity  waned . The  hits  became  much  smaller  and  after  1973  stopped  altogether  though  their  singles  were  still  usually  minor  hits  in  the  US.  They  made  an  impressive  comeback  in  1981  on  Casablanca  with  "When  She  Was  My  Girl"  reached  number  3  in  the  UK  but  were  not  able  to  sustain  it. They  returned  to  Motown  in  1983  but  after  two  flop  albums  departed  again  and  signed  for  Arista. We've  already  discussed  their  first  single  for  the  label, "Indestructible"  in  saying  goodbye  to  Smokey  Robinson.

The  next  single  from  the  album  "Indestructible"  was  this  one  although  it  owes  its  success  rather  to  being  featured  in  the  film  Buster. The  song  was  written  by  the  legendary  Lamont  Dozier  in  collaboration  with  Buster's  star  Phil  Collins   so  not  unexpectedly  you  have  a  musical  blend  of  old  Motown  tropes  and  that  trademark  fussy  brass  sound  that  Collins  always  favoured  on  his  solo  records. The  lyrics  are  mainly  holiday  tripe  set  to  an  irritatingly  catchy  tune   although  there's  an  effective  switch  to  a  minor  key  section  reflecting  the  character's  own  change  of  heart  about  living  the  fugitive's  high  life. This  is  the  only  part  of  the  song  that  deserves  the  quality  of  the  vocal  performances.

There  were  three  more singles  from  the  album  , "If  Ever  A  Love  There  Was",  a  duet  with  Arethra  Franklin  that 's  the  epitome  of  dreary  corporate  balladry ,  "The  Sun  Ain't  Gonna  Shine"  which  isn't  the  Bacharach/David  song  but  an  awful  Albert  Hammond  and  Diane  Warren  "effort"  that  re-uses  the  backing  track  from  Starship's  Nothing's  Gonna  Stop  Us  Now , and  "Change  of  Heart"  written  by  Australian  Paul  Kelly  whose  strong  lyrics  about  domestic  abuse   don't  really  mesh  with  the  slick  production  and  feather-light  chorus. None  of  them  were  hits  either  in  the  UK  or  US.

With  that  the  group  more  or  less  called  time  on  their  recording  career  and  became  a  classy  cabaret  act. Motown  got  them  back  in  the  studio  once  more  for  the  album  "Christmas  Here  With  You"  which  is  as  essential  as  such  efforts  usually  are. The  guys  alter  the  melodies  to  suit  and  Arethra  turns  up  again  on  "White  Christmas "  and  "Silent  Night"  but  you  really  don't  need  to  hear  it.

Eighteen  months  later  Lawrence  Payton  died  of  liver  cancer   aged  59  forcing  the  first  line  up  change  in  44  years.They  toured  as  a  trio  The  Tops  for  about  a  year  and  then  recruited  one-time  Temptation  Theo  Peoples  to  fill  Lawrence's  shoes.  In  2000,  Levi  became  ill  with  cancer  himself  and  had  to  retire  though  he  lingered  on  for  another  eight  years. Peoples  moved  into his  role  and  Ronnie  McNeir  took  Lawrence's  part. This  line-up  performed  at  the  50th  anniversary  concert  in  2004,  at  which  Levi  made  a  brief  appearance  in  a  wheelchair . Obie  Benson   actually  predeceased  him, dying  of  lung  cancer  in  2005.  He  was  actually  replaced  by  Lawrence's  son.

This  has  left  Abdul  Fakir  as  the  sole  survivor  from  the  original  line  up  . In  2010  he  was  talking  about  a  new album  but  it's  never  materialised  and  the  group's  schedule  has  gradually  diminished  as  he  enters  his  eighties.

619 Hello Londonbeat - 9AM ( The Comfort Zone )

Chart  entered : 26  November  1988

Chart  peak :  19

Number  of  hits : 10

I  thought  we  were  done  with  saying  hello  to  anyone  who  had  recorded  in  the  sixties  but  I'd  forgotten  about  these  guys.

Londonbeat  started  to  come  together  in  1984  when  Paul  Young  decided  to  freshen  up  his  backing   band.  Out  went  The  Fabulous  Wealthy  Tarts  and  in  came  three  experienced  soul  guys  to  be  his  backing  vocalists. Jimmy  Chambers  was  born  in  Trinidad  and  came  over  to the  UK  in  the  late  sixties.He  joined  Dada  ( see  Hello  Elkie  Brooks )  but  was  one  of  those  dumped  when  they  slimmed  down  into  Vinegar  Joe.  He  hung  around  the  edges  of  the  music  scene  and  recorded  a  couple  of  singles  in  the  seventies.  I  haven't  heard  his  1977  single  "Love  Don't  Come  Easily  Girl". His  second  was  "You  Can't  Fight  It"  which  grafted  his  vocal , lyrics  about  urban  violence  and  some  Kenny  Lynch  brass  parts  to  the  brooding  main  theme  from  John  Carpeter's  terrifying  Assault  on  Precinct  13 . It  sounded  much  better  without  them  frankly. He  worked  with  Amii  Stewart, Elkie  Brooks, Chris  Rea  and  Wham ! before  taking  Young's  call.

George  Chandler  was  born  in  Atlanta. He  started  singing  in  his  local  Baptist  church  before  moving  to  Italy  in  1965. He  formed  a  group  The  Four  Kents  in  with  three  servicemen  posted  there  by  NATO,  George's  voice  was  similar  to  Levi  Stubbs  and  the  group  were  modelled  on  The Four  Tops . They  had  a  hit  there  in  1965  with  the  Italian-language  "Sei  Lontana"  , a  Latin -flavoured  soul  tune. In  1968  they  released  an  English  language  version  "The  Moving  Finger  Writes". Jimmy  was  briefly  in  the  line  up. The  band  broke  up  in  the  early  seventies  and  George  moved  on  to the  UK. He  was  immediately  snapped  up  by  the  funk  outfit  Gonzalez  who  also  acted  as  a  pick  up  band  for  visiting  soul  artists. George  was  their  lead  singer  when  they  got  a  deal  with  EMI  and  recorded  their  eponymous  debut. At  that  time  they  had  a  hard  funk  sound  as  on  debut  single  "Pack  It  Up". In  1974  George  was  replaced  by  Lenny  Zakatek.

At  the  same  time, George  was  recruited  by  producer  Mike  Vernon  along  with  a  number  of  session  musicians  to  make  an  album  with  American  blues  guitarist  Jimmy  Dawkins. Dawkins  missed  his  flight  and  the  boys  made  up  a  track  in  the  studio  while  they  were  waiting.  "Put  The  Music  Where  Your  Mouth  Is"  a  loose  funky  instrumental  ( I'm  not  sure  what  George  did  on  the  track  )  with  some  scorching  guitar  was  put  out  as  a  single  under  the  name  Olympic  Runners and  made  the  US R &  B  charts. Encouraged, the  guys  stayed  together  as  a    studio  act  ( though  they  appeared  on  Top  of  the  Pops )  and  made  a  number  of  albums  in  the  seventies. Towards  the  end  of  the  decade  they  went  in  a  more  disco  direction  and   enjoyed  a  short  run  of   modest  UK  hit  singles. "Get  It  While  You  Can " ( number  35, 1978 )  is  the  best  for  Pete  Wingfield's  manic  piano  solo.

George  also  started  releasing  solo  singles  from  1976  onwards. I  haven't  heard  the  handful  he  made  with  RCA  but  his  1982  single  for  Polydor  "This  Could  Be  The  Night "  is  a  solid  slice  of  George  Benson-ish  pop funk. He  also  recorded  a  dreadful  single  for  the  Burnley  Building  Society  "The  Best  Dreams"  with  truly  satanic  verses  by  a  young  advertising  hack  called  Salman  Rushdie.

Along  with  Tony  Jackson,  who  was  never  involved  in  Londonbeat,  they  sang  on  all  four  hit  singles  from  Young's  album  The   Secret  of  Association  including  the  US  number  one  Every  Time  You  Go  Away.  Jimmy  and  George  were  not  retained  for  his  next  album.

In  1987  they  were  contacted  by  Jimmy  Helms  about  forming  a  new  band. Jimmy  already  had  a  long  career  behind  him. He  was  born  in  Florida  in  1941  and  mastered  both  the  trumpet  and  the  guitar  as  well  as  singing. He  began  working  as  a  session  musician  in  the  late  fifties  and  released  his  first  single  "You're  Mine  You"  on  the  Symbol  label  in  1963. It's  a  likeable  early  sixties  R &  B  number  which  later  became  a  Northern  Soul  favourite. Jimy  then  joined  the  US  Army  where  he  played  trumpet  in  the  Fort  Jackson  Army  Band.

He  came  out  of  the  army  to  begin   the  most  frustrating  of   solo   careers. He  had  a  terrific  voice  like  Tom  Jones  with  an  added  falsetto  range  and  an  ear  for  a  good  song  but   it  only  came  together  for  him  once  at  the  beginning  of  1973  with  "Gonna  Make  You  An  Offer  You  Can't  Refuse ", a  soft  soul  classic   which  got  to  number  8   in  the  UK   at  the  dawn  of  my  interest  in  pop. It  was  the  first  pop  record  my  mum  liked  which  meant  I  wasn't  so  keen  at  the  time  but  it  now  sounds  glorious. It  was  almost  the  last  hit  for  songwriter  Johnny  Worth  ; he  also  wrote  the  follow  up  single  "Jack  Horner's  Holiday "  a  clever  if  a  little  over-elaborate  song  in  a  similar  vein  which  couldn't  break  into  the  Top  50. The  following  year  he  sang  the  theme  tune  for  the  Roger  Moore  film "Gold"  but  that  wasn't  a  hit  either. He  also  sang  on  Roger  Glover's  concept  album "The  Butterfly  Ball  and  the  Grasshopper's  Feast ". Earlier  American  singles  such  as  "That's  The  Way  It  Is"  and  "Your  Past  Is  Beginning  To  Show"  were  popular  on  the  Northern  Soul  scene  so  Pye  signed  him  up  in  1975  hoping  to  capitalise  on  that   but  half  a  dozen  singles  later  he  was  still  a  one  hit  wonder.  After  that,  he  worked  as  a  session  singer  specialising  in  jingles  for  independent  radio  stations  and  was  main  vocalist  on  former  Clash  drummer  Topper  Headon's  solo  album  "Waking  Up"  in  1986.

The  fourth  member  was  a  much  younger  white  guy  with  a  stupid  haircut , Willy  "M"  Henshall   who  had  been  producing  bands  in  the  Bristol  area. A  multi-instrumentalist,  he  took  on  the  role  of  arranging   and  producing  their  material. Their  demo  tape  was  heard  by  Eurhythmic  Dave  Stewart  who  made  them  one  of  the  first  signings  to  his  new  Anxious  label.

The  first  single  "There's  A  Beat  Going  On"  was  released  in  June  1988  and  was  a  mistake.Willy  came  up  with  a pounding  electrofunk  backing  track  over  which  the  boys  chant  slogans  and   then  produce  a  ham-fisted  self-referential  rap  section  which  is  just  embarrassing. The  title  is  endlessly  repeated  trying  to  bludgeon  you  into  submission. The  "boys"  dressed  in  leather  and  studs  and  leered  into  the  camera  in  the  video  which  only  compounded  the  impression  that  they  had  strayed  well  outside  their  comfort  zone. Having  said  all  that,  it  was  a  Top  20  hit  in  Holland  which  gave  them  some  encouragement.

For  the  second  single  "Falling  In  Love  Again"  they  changed  tack.  The  street  gang  image  was  jettisoned  and   Jimmy  H  emerged  as  the   lead  singer  on  a  piece  of  lush  pop  soul  not  too  far  removed  from  Jimmy  C  and  George's  former  employer. Jimmy  H's  voice  remains  completely  intact  and  there's  a  half-decent  tune. It  was  a minor  hit  on  re-release  in  1989.

"9 AM  ( The  Comfort  Zone )" was  their  third  single. I  know Jimmy  H  regards  it  as  his  best  song   but  I  have  to  say  it  doesn't  do  very  much  for  me  apart   from  the   nice  instrumental  break. The  premise  is  quite  original, a  man  on  a  train  going  to  work  thinking  about  the  woman  he's  left  in  bed   but  it  doesn't  go  anywhere   Willy's  arrangement  is  beatless   with  the  voices  floating  on  warm  synths  and  an  understated  bass. The  harmonies are  impressive  but  the  chorus  comes  round  too  often . There's  too  much   taste  and  not  enough  song.

Chart-wise  it's  difficult  to  think  of  too  many  solo  artists  who've  come  back  as  lead  vocalist  in  a  group  after  so  long  away. The  only  other  example  I  can  call  to  mind  is  Roy  Orbison  whose  debut  single  with  The  Travelling  Wilburys  was  coincidentally  in  the charts  at  the  same  time  as  this.

618 Hello Kym Mazelle - Useless ( I Don't Need You Now )

Chart  entered :  12  November  1988

Chart  peak : 53  ( 48  in  re-mixed  form  in  1990 )

Number  of  hits : 13


Like  Jocelyn  Brown  ( with  whom  she  duetted  on  two  of  her  hits )  Kym  is  a  serial  collaborator  though  not  quite  to  the  same  extent.

She  was  born  Kimberly  Grigsby  in  Gary, Indiana  ( 1960 )   and  knew  the  Jackson  family  growing  up  there. She  studied  Entertainment  Management  at  Columbia  College, Chicago  and  was  drawn  into  the  house  scene  there. She  started  working  with  producer  Marshall  Jefferson  and  was  featured  vocalist  on  his  1987  single  "Tate  My  Love"  under  the  nom  de  plume  House  To  House. A  generic  club  record, I've  haeard  it  twice  in  the  last  hour  and  it's  made  zero  impression  on  me. I  don't  think  it  was  released  in  the  UK.

Though  it's  more  celebrated,  as  an  I  Will  Survive  for  the  nineties, I  can't  say  that  "Useless"  does  much  more  for  me. Jefferson  wrote  and  produced  the  track ,inspired  by  Ktm's  dissatisfaction  with  a  rotten  boyfriend.  Kym  lets  rip  in  the  vocal  department  and  there's  certainly  a  powerful  pair  of  lungs  beneath  that  huge  chest. Jefferson  adds  piano, funky  guitar  and  chattering  percussion  to  the  mix  to  fill  out  the  sound  behind  her  but  the  chorus  is  a  repetitive  chant  of  the  subtitle  and  you  just  don't  come  away  from  it  singing.