427 Goodbye Roxy Music - Take A Chance With Me

Chart  entered  : 25  September  1982

Chart  peak  : 26

Roxy  Music  cast  a  long  shadow  so  it's  something  of  a  shock  to  realise  their  last  new  single  was  in  the  charts  thirty-three  years  ago.

Roxy  had  seen  some  personnel  changes  since  their  chart  debut  with  "Virginia  Plain". Bassist  Rik  Kenton  was  ejected  from  the  band  almost  immediately  afterwards. John  Porter  a  friend  of  Bryan  Ferry's  from  The  Gas  Board  filled  in  on  the  next  single  "Pyjamarama"  and  album  "For  Your  Pleasure"  but  was  replaced  for  the  tour  by  Merseybeat  veteran  John  Gustafson   who  stayed  for  the  next  three  albums. In  mid-1973  the  band's  wild  card  Brian  Eno  quit  after  a  number  of  differences  with  Bryan; both  men  acknowledge  it  was  a  clash  of  young  male  egos. It  was  the  first  great  rock  split  I  remember. Brian  was  my  favourite  and  I  received  the  news  with  dismay; it  coloured  my  response  to  the  band's  music  for  some  years  afterwards. He  was  replaced  by  the  classically  trained  teenage  prodigy  Eddie  Jobson  who  had  been  in  the  recent  line  up  of  Curved  Air. In   1975  this  line  up  scored  their  only  US  hit  "Love  Is  The  Drug"  which  directly  inspired  Chic. It  came  from  the  LP  "Siren" . After  the  tour  supporting  it  Bryan  put  the  band  on  hiatus  while  he  concentrated  on  his  solo  career ; drummer  Paul  Thompson  and  guitarist  Phil  Manzanera   played  on  both  his  albums  during  this  period. In  1978  they  reconvened  without  Eddie  who  was  playing  in  the  band  UK  at  the  time  and  with  ex-Vibrator  Gary  Tibbs  on  bass. The  "comeback"  album  "Manifesto"  yielded  the  number  2  hit  "Dance  Away". After  the  tour  Paul  broke  his  thumb  in  a  motorcycle  accident  and  decided  to  quit  the  band  while  convalescing. From  that  point  the  band  became  essentially  a  trio  of  Bryan, Phil  and  sax  player  Andy  Mackay; although  Gary  appeared  in  the  videos  for  the  three  singles  from  1980's  "Flesh  and  Blood"  he  didn't  actually  play  on  any  of  them. He  was  no  longer  involved  by  the  time  they  scored  their  number  one  with  the  Lennon  tribute  "Jealous  Guy". The  trio  recorded  the  last  album  "Avalon"  with  a  host  of  session  players.

"Take  A  Chance  With  Me" was  the  third  single  from  "Avalon". Like  the  bulk  of  their   material  since  reconvening  it's  elegant  mood  music  rather  than  anything  very  experimental  . a direction  that  reached  its  apogee  on  "Avalon". After  a  heart-stopping  intro  of  melodic  guitar, percussion  tumbles  and  Oriental  synth  swirls  that  suggests  anything  is  possible,  it  then  settles  into  a  slick  mid-tempo  love  song  with  Bryan's  croon  gliding  over  Phil's  guitar. The  lyrics  are  sparse  and  simple , undemanding  of  any  real  attention. The  chorus  is  vaguely  reminiscent  of  "Oh  Yeah"  from  the  previous  album  and  that's  it  really. An  elegant  send-off  but  not  an  especially  memorable  one.

At  the  end  of  the  "Avalon"  tour  Bryan  decided  to  dissolve  the  band  for  good.

Now  I  could  be  talking  about  the  Roxy  diaspora  until  Christmas  if  I'm  not  careful so  what  follows  is  necessarily  truncated  and  may  be  expanded  at  a  later  date.

We  haven't  said  goodbye  to  Bryan  as  a  solo  artist  yet  and  we  already  know  about  Gary's  subsequent  adventures  so  that's  those  two  covered.

Phil  and  Andy  decided  to  continue  together  and  formed  a  new  group  The  Explorers  with  a  new  singer  James  Wraith  who  didn't  sound  unlike  Mr  Ferry. They  got  a  deal  with  Virgin  and  released  four  singles  and  a  self-titled  album.  Unfortunately  they  were  pants , producing  the  sort  of  tuneless, directionless  techno-pop  so  prevalent  in  the  mid-eighties. It  was  a  shocking  comedown  to  the  level  of  Limahl, Wang  Chung  and  Re-flex,  Despite  an  appearance  on  Wogan  doing  one  of  the  singles  they  bombed  completely.

Re-branding  themselves  as  Manzanera  and  Mackay   they  released  two  albums  in  the  late  eighties  "Crack  The  Whip"  and  "Manzanera  and  Mackay"   with  a  considerably  heavier  sound and  Wraith  sounding  more  like  Andy  Bell  than  Ferry. These  are  actually  worth  a  listen - "Another  Fool  on  the  Run"  from  "Crack  The  Whip"  is  particularly  good  but  they  were  now  forgotten  men  and  the  records  were  largely  ignored.

Andy  then  left  the  music  business  for  a  while  to  take  a  Bachelor  of  Divinity  course  at  King's  College  London. Shortly  after  graduating  his  wife  died  so  he  was  preoccupied  with  raising  his  children  while  composing  ecclesiastical  music  at  home.  Phil  became  a  guitar  player  for  hire  and  record  producer  working  mainly  in  South  America.

Paul's  next  playing  gig  was  with  punk  band  Angelic  Upstarts  playing  on  and  co-writing  a  couple  of  tracks  on  their  fifth  album  in  1983  "Reason  Why"  bringing  a  greater  musicality  to  their  sound.  By  that  time  they  were  no  longer  on  a  major  and  no  longer  making  the  charts.  Paul  moved  on  to  playing  with  Gary  Moore.

In  1990  he  joined  American  college  rock  band  Concrete  Blonde  while  their  regular  drummer  was  in  rehab  and  played  on  their  third  album  "Bloodletting"  which  is  excellent, one  of  the  "finds"  of  doing  this  blog  so  far. It  spawned  their  only  US   hit  "Joey"  a  touching  message  of  reconciliation  from  singer  Johnette  Napolitano  to  wayward  ex  Marc  Moreland  of  Wall  of  Voodoo.  The  original  drummer  returned  for  the  next  album  as  Paul  was  finding  it  difficult  to  get  a  green  card  but  he  was  back  for  the  1993  album  "Mexican  Moon". This  saw  the  band  adopt  a  heavier  sound  in  the  wake  of  grunge  and  isn't  quite  as  appealing. It  didn't  do  much  business  and  the  band  broke  up. Paul  returned  to  Newcastle  and  just   played  in  local  bands  for  a  few  years.

Eddie  joined  Frank  Zappa's  band  for  a  couple  of  years  but  didn't  play  on  any  studio  recording. He  then  joined  with  two  ex-King  Crimson  members  in  a  supergroup  UK . Eddie's  keyboards  were  very  prominent  in  their  unreconstructed  prog  rock  sound. UK  released  two  albums  into  a  very  hostile  musical  climate  , "U.K."  ( 1978 )  and  "Danger  Money"  ( 1979 ). The  first  reached  43  in  the  charts  while  the  second   didn't  chart  although  it  did  spawn  a  minor  hit  single  in  "Nothing  To  Lose". UK  split  in  1980  because  Eddie  wanted  to  stick  in  the  prog  rock  genre  while  singer  John  Wetton  wanted  to  pursue  a  more  commercial  direction  which  he  did  successfully  with  Asia.

Eddie  moved  on  to  help  Ian  Anderson  on  his  solo  project  "A" which  became  a  Jethro  Tull  album  although  Eddie  was  credited  as  a  special  guest  rather  than  a  member. Nevertheless  he  did  the  subsequent  world  tour  with  them. He  briefly  joined  Yes  in  1983  during  Tony  Kaye's  temporary  departure  and  his  first  solo  album  "Zinc- The  Green  Album"  sounds  exactly  like  them. Even  Eddie's  vocals  sound  like  Jon  Anderson  but  the  album  is  relatively  accessible.

After  that  Eddie  switched  tack  and  released  an  album  of  New  Age  instrumental  music, "Theme  of  Secrets"  in  1985. He  then  moved  into  TV  , film   and  ad   scoring  working  on  Nash  Bridges, a  couple  of  Disney  releases  and  an   Amtrak  ad  which  won  him  a  Clio  Award  in  1988 . In  2000  he  launched  his  own  label  Globe  Music  Media  Arts  releasing  world  music  albums, some  of  which  he  produced  or  featured  on. In  2010  he  launched  the  Zealots  Lounge , an  online  music  community  to  support  his  work..

In  2007  he  announced  a  new  group  UKZ  playing  a  sort  of  prog / industrial  hybrid  music. They  released  one  EP  "Radiation"  in  2009  which  is  for  the  converted  only.  Since  2011  he  has  been  touring  with  a  reconstituted  UK  line  up.

So  what  of  the  man  he  replaced ?  Well  we've  already  covered  some  of  Brian's  activities  in  the  Ultravox  and  Talking  Heads  posts. I  would  nominate  him  as  the  single  most  influential  person  in  pop  music  over  the  past  four  decades. He  expanded  the notions  of  where  rock  music  could  go  in  his  work  with  David  Bowie, Talking  Heads  and  U2   where  his  input  was  way  beyond  the  normal  idea  of  a  producer. He  is  recognised  as  the  founder  of  ambient  music  but  is  also  a  pioneer  of  sampling, world  music  and  the  trance/ chill-out  genres.

Besides  all  that  he  has  a  long  string  of  releases  in  his  own  name  which  shows  no  signs  of  slowing  up.  He  started  with  a  string  of  conventional   art  rock  LPs,  the  first  of  which  "Here  Come  The  Warm  Jets "  was  a  sizeable  hit   and  showcased  an  unexpectedly  decent  singing  voice. After  that  they  didn't  chart  and  after  the  fifth  "Before  and  After  Science"  he  switched  to  making  LPs  of  ambient  music  often  in  tandem  with  like-minded  collaborators  such  as  pianist  Harold  Budd.  He  eventually  returned  to  vocals  , albeit  heavily  treated  , with  "Another  Day  On  Earth"  in  2005 . His  last  album  was  "High  Life",  a  collaboration  with  Karl  Hyde  of  Underworld  released  last  year.

Finally  we  come  to  all  those  bassists. John  G  joined  the  Ian  Gillan  Band  playing  on  all  three  of  their  albums  between  1976  and  1977.  Gillan  had  had  an  extended  break  since  quiting  Deep  Purple  and  their  jazz  fusion  sound  only  attracted  a  fraction  of  the  Purple  audience. Only  the  first  album  "Child  In  Time"  made  the  charts  in  the  UK  although  the  band  was  popular  in  Japan. When  Gillan  re-cast  them  as  Gillan   in  1978  with  a  more   conventional  blues  rock  sound  John  was  replaced  by  bald  leviathan  John  McCoy.  He  went  on  to  play  in  Gordon  Giltrap's  band  for  a  couple  of  years .  He  wrote  Status  Quo's  1982  hit  "Dear  John ".  He  then  spent  a  few  years  with  Mick  Green  in  a  new  line  up  of  The  Pirates  where  he  did  the  vocals.   In  1997  his  1975  solo  album  "Goose  Grease"   was  finally  released  but  I've  no  idea  what  it  sounded  like. He  continued  in  session  work  and  guitar  teaching  until  his  death  from  cancer  last  year.

John  P  moved  into  record  production, most  famously  with  the  debut  album  from  The  Smiths. His  latest  work  was  with  the  Yorkshire  group  The  Dunwells.      

Rik  popped  up  a  couple  of  years  later  on  Island   with  the  chugging  reggae  pop  of  "Bungalow  Love" which  is  pretty  poor  as  Rik  couldn't  really  sing. Two  years  later  he  made  another  single  "The  Libertine"   which  sounds  like  Cockney  Rebel.  Johnny  Walker  got  behind  it  but  couldn't  make  it  a  hit.  In  1982  he  got  together  with  some  younger  musicians  to  form  Savage  Progress  who  released  three  singles  and  an  album  "Celebration" on  Virgin  subsidiary  10  Records  in  1984. They  also  supported  Tina  Turner  and  The  Thompson  Twins  on  tour. Rik  was  the  main  songwriter .  I  vaguely  remember  the  first  single  "Burning  Bush"  which  is  a  half -decent  synth-pop  tune  but  the  rest  of  the  album  is  a  tedious  mish-mash  of  over-production  trying  to  disguise  the  lack  of  any  real  talent  in  the  band. Tuneless third  single  "Heart  Begin  To  Beat"  is  particularly   laughable. When  hopeless  singer  Glynis  Thomas  quit  the  band  later  that  year  Rik  decided  to  call  time  on  it  and  retreated  into  session  work  appearing  on  records  by  Bass-o-matic  and  Anne  Clark.  

426 Hello Culture Club - Do You Really Want To Hurt Me ?

Chart  entered : 18  September  1982

Chart  peak  : 1

Number  of  hits  : 13

A  hard  one  for  me  this  as  I  strongly  resented this  group's  success; I  saw  them  as  using  an  outrageous  image  to  sell  really  bland  music  and  the  title  ( if  not  the  contents )  of  Dave  Rimmer's  book  about  them  Like  Punk  Never  Happened  just  summed  up  my  attitude to  them.

Boy  George  was  the  Susan  Boyle  of  his  time. When  it  became  clear  that  he  had  formed  a  group  there  was  widespread  scepticism. What  sort  of  music  could  this  poseur  from  the  Blitz  club  produce; we'd  already  had  Steve  Strange  ( rapidly  fading  now  as  Pleasure  Boys  failed  to  make  the  Top  40  and  the  musicians  were  abandoning  the  Visage  project ) , what  more  could  his  mate  bring  to  the  table ? To  those  of  us  who  already  knew  about  George  from  the  music  or  style  press  the  shock  wasn't  about  his  appearance  it  was  that  he  could  actually  sing  !

George  O' Dowd  was  born  in  Kent  to  an  Irish  family. A teenage  Bowie  fan  he  was  kicked  out  of  school  at  15  and  did  a  series  of  odd  jobs  during  the  day  including  working  in  a  boutique  where  he  was  able  to  design  some  of  his  own  clothes.  While  working  in  the  New  Romantic  haven  of  Blitz  as  a  cloakroom  attendant  he   caught  the  eye  of  Malcolm  McLaren  who  tried  to  work  him  into  Bow  Wow  Wow   as  "Lieutenant  Lush"   but  he  and  Annabella  couldn't  get  on  and  he  quit  without  recording  anything  with  them  ( although  the  song  Mile  High  Club  retained  the  line  "This  is  Captain  Lush  speaking".

George  decided  to  start  his  own  group. His  first  recruit  was  Michael "Mikey" Craig ,   a  reggae-loving  bassist  from  Hammersmith . The  next  was  drummer  Jon  Moss  , a  Jewish  boy  from  Wandsworth.  Jon  had  hovered  around  the  punk  scene  for  years. Having  failed  an  audition  for  The  Clash   he  joined  the  punk  band  London  who  were  signed  to  MCA.  Their  first  single  "Everyone's  A  Winner "  , a  song  about  annoying  the  neighbours,  sounds  like  The  Adverts but  is  lety  down  by  singer  Riff  Regan's  inability  to  hold  down  a  tune.  The  follow  up  EP  almost  made  the  charts  appearing  in  the  "Breakers"  section  in  September  1977. The  four  songs  including  a  cover  of  "Friday  On  My  Mind"  and  a  tribute  to   "Siouxsie  Sue"  are  competently  played  but  really  badly  recorded; I'm  not  surprised  there's  no  credit  for  the  producer  on  the  single.  Their  third  single  "Animal  Games"  was  also  the  title  track  of  their  only  LP  shows  an  increasing  musical  competence  but  not  enough  individuality  to  stand  out  from  the  pack.  The  band  split  up  in  November  1977.

Jon  had  a  brief  spell  with  The  Damned  cut  short  by  injuring  himself  in  a  car  crash  on  New  Year's  Eve  1977.  He  moved  on  to  Jane  Aire  and  the  Belvederes ,  a  female-fronted  New  Wave  act  signed  to  Virgin.  He  played  on  their  two  singles  in  1979 , the  punchy  but  plastic  "Call  Me  Every  Night"  and  a  decent  cover  of  "Breaking  Down  The  Walls  of  Heartache"  where  Jane  is  rather  overwhelmed  by  her  backing  vocalists, Kirsty  MacColl  and  Rachel  Sweet. Although  the  band  didn't  release  any  more  singles  on  Virgin, Jon  was  still  contracted  to  them  when  he  played  on  Adam  and  the  Ants'  "Cartrouble"  and  so  couldn't  officially  become  an  Ant. This  was  resolved  when  the  group  were  dropped  in  1980  and  Jon  was  free  to  play  a  few  gigs  with  The  Nips,

Jon  heard  from  Kirk  Brandon  ( more  of  him  later  )  in  1981  that  George  was  looking  for  a drummer  and  it  was  he  who  suggested  that  the  band  change  its  name  from   the  mooted  "In  Praise  of  Lemmings" to  "Culture  Club". George, immediately  smitten  with  him, agreed.  Jon  was  also  instrumental  in  edging  out  original  guitarist  Johnny Suede. After  auditioning  many  replacements  the  band  settled  on  Roy  Hay  from  Southend , a  trained  pianist  but  then  working  as  a  hairdresser.

EMI  passed  up  on  their  demos  but  Virgin   were  willing  to  take  a  punt . They  released  their  first  single  "White  Boy  in  April  1982. It's  a  confusing  mess  of  unfocussed  lyrics, listless  sub-Chant  No  1  white  funk  complete  with  poor  attempt  at  rap  at  the  end, a  bit  of  tribal  drum  clatter,   and  no  hooks  whatsoever. It  flopped  badly. The  second  single,  two  months  later "I'm  Afraid  Of  Me"  is  more  coherent  musically  with  a  calypso  melody  but  George's  keening  vocal  is  too  upfront  on  the  hook  which  makes  it  annoying  rather  than  appealing. With  their  first  two  singles  failing  to  make  a  dent  in the  charts  it  was  really  make  or  break  time  for  this  one.

The  Popular  take  is  here :Culture Club , the  discussion  starts  well  but  wanders  way  off  the  point.

425 Goodbye Showaddywaddy - Who Put The Bomp ?

Chart  entered : 28  August  1982

Chart  peak : 37

While  10cc's  disappearance  remains  something  of  a  puzzle , the  reasons  for  Showaddywaddy's  slide  are  pretty  clear. When  they  emerged  in  the  mid-70s  they  had  the  fifties  revival  scene  almost  to  themselves  and  enjoyed  a  string  of  big  hits,  topped  off  by  "Under  The  Moon  of  Love"  reaching  number  one  and  almost  selling  a  million  in  1976. But  their  success  bred  competition. First  there  was  Darts  bringing  some  New  Wave  vim  to  the  party. Then  they  got  caught  in  a  pincer  movement   with  The  Stray  Cats  breathing  new  life  into  rockabilly  at  one  end  and  Rocky  Sharpe, Matchbox, Coast  To  Coast  and , above  all,  Shaky  competing  for  the  same  family  audience  and  old  songs  to  cover  at  the  other. In  chart  terms  their  decline  was  mapped  out  very  neatly. In  1979  their  singles  stopped  reaching  the  Top  10, in  1980  they  stopped  reaching  the  Top  20  and  in  1981  the  Top  30.

This  one  actually  followed  a  flop  single  , a  cover  of  Jimmie  Jones's  "Good  Timing"  which  was  their  last  release  on  Bell, This  came  out  on  RCA. "Who  Put  The  Bomp"  was  first  recorded  by  its  writer  Barry  Mann  in  1961  as  a  meta-song  highlighting  the  use  of  nonsense  lyrics  in  doo  wop  songs. In  the  UK  it  was  a  hit  when  covered  by  The  Viscounts.  Unsurprisingly  Showaddywaddy's  version  isn't  much  different  from  the  latter  though  it  replaces  the  brittle  martial  drumming  with  a  steady  beat  and  instead  of  the  rather  camp  spoken  bit  on  previous  versions  , drummer  Romeo  Challenger  does  a  booming  Den  Hegarty-like  intervention.    

This  got  into  the  Top  40  by  a  bit  of  a  fluke. On  2  September  1982  Top  of  the  Pops  was  given  an  unusually  generous  45  minutes  and  to  celebrate  decided  to  have  a  "live"  show   which  in  practice  meant  all  performance  and  no  videos  ( apart  from, unavoidably , Survivor  who  were  number  one ). This  caught  out  Talk  Talk  who  were  in  America  supporting  Elvis  Costello  and  so  despite  Today  climbing  11  places   to  15  it  wasn't  featured  and  Showaddywaddy  down  at  number  49  got  on  instead.

They  followed  it  up  with  a  version  of  "Goody  Goody"  , written  in  1936  but  turned  into  a  rock  and  roll  number  by  Frankie  Lymon. Obviously  Dave  Bartram   doesn't  sound  like  a  teenager  and  the  horn  section  sounds  very  tinny  and  limp   by  comparison  but  otherwise  it's   close  to  the  original. They  got  to perform  it  on  Rod  and  Emu's  Saturday  Special  but  only  some  weeks  after  the  single's  release  and  it  couldn't  be  salvaged.  For  their  next  release  in  January  1983  they  departed  from  rock  and  roll  to  cover  The  Righteous  Brothers's  "Soul  and  Inspiration".  The  results  are  laughable. The  band  producing  themselves  can't  replicate  Spector  and  Dave  really  hasn't  got  the  voice  to  be  tackling  this  sort  of  material.

RCA  cut  them  loose  after  that  and  the  strains  of  maintaining  an  eight  piece  line  up  with  little  coming  in  from  songwriting  royalties  began  to  show. Drummer  and  stage  choreographer  Malcolm  Allured,  who  featured  little  on  the  records  given  Romeo's  technical  superiority  was  the  first  to  quit  early  in  1984  and  went  into  club  management. The  seven-piece  line  up  appeared  on  The  Krankies  , Knees  Up  and  Little  and  Large  in  1984-5  touting  a  more  modern  guitar  pop  number  "Out  on  the  Town"  but  couldn't  find  anyone  to  release  it.

Guitarist  and  band  treasurer  Russell  Field  was  the  next  one  to  peel  away  in  1985  after  the  rest  of  the  band  failed  to  back  him  in  a  financial  dispute  with  an  Irish  promoter.

In  1986  the  band  released  a  remixed  version  of  "Under  The  Moon  Of  Love" on  the  small  label  Genie. With  attendances  starting  to  dwindle  at  their  gigs  second  singer  Bill  "Buddy"  Gask  was  asked  to  leave  in  the  summer of  1987  after  one  too  many  drink-fuelled  arguments . Later  that  year  they  found  a  new  label  , Tiger, and  released  a  cover  of  Jesse  Stone's  "Why"  which  they  got  to  perform  at  the  London  Palladium.

The  band  continued  to  appear  on  TV  in  light  entertainment  shows  and  released  their  last   single , on  President , with  Dave's  "Rockin  and  Rollin  With  Santa  Claus"  in  1990. The  band  continued  to  survive  as  a  touring  act  throughout  the  nineties  receiving  a  publicity  boost  when  guitarist  Trevor  Oakes's   son  Scott  started  making  a  name  for  himself  as  a  professional  footballer  with  Luton. A  concurrent  rumour  that  Romeo  was  the  father  of  Dion  Dublin  was  false  although  he  was  a  family  friend. From  1996  onwards  they  started  putting  out  the  odd  cheap  CD.

Towards  the  end  of  the  noughties  time  started  taking  its  toll  on  the original  quintet   within  the  band. Bassist  Al  James  announced  his  retirement  at  the  end  of  2008.  At  the  same  time  Trevor  said  he  needed  a  break  on  health  grounds  but  never  returned  and  confirmed  his  departure  a  few  months  later. Three  years  later  Dave  decided  to  retire  from  performing  though  he  continues  to  manage  the  band  which  now  includes  just  two  original  members, Romeo  and  bassist  Rod  Deas .      
 
On  leaving  the  band  Buddy  bought  a  pub  and  formed  a  club  duo  Double  Bill. In  1994  he  reunited  with  Malcolm  and  started  performing  as  "duke's  and  Buddy's  Showaddywaddy  but  the  original  band  took  him  to  court  and  forced  them  to  change  their  name  to  The  Teddys.  He  stopped  performing  in  2004  and  a  couple  of  years  later , in  declining  health,  he  moved  with  his  wife  to  Spain . He  was  suffering  from  Alzheimer's  Disease  at  the  time  of  his  death  in  2011  aged  65.

Malcolm  continued  performing  with  The  Teddys  though  mainly  in  his own  clubs, until  the  end  of  the  noughties.

Russell  left  the  music  business  to  run  a  gym  with  his  wife  before  returning  to  the North  East  to  run  a  guest  house  in  Northumberland.

Trevor  lives  in  Devon  with  his  partner  and  daughter  and  plays  guitar  in  a  local  band.

424 Hello Sting (solo) - Spread A Little Happiness

Chart  entered : 14  August  1982

Chart  peak : 16

Number  of  hits : 34

Another  solo  career  beginning,  another  cover  version.

After  the  tour  to  support  their  fourth  album  Ghost  in  the  Machine , The  Police  agreed  to  a  year  off  to  pursue  solo  projects. Andy  Summers  made  an  album  with  Robert  Fripp and Stewart  Copeland  worked  on  the  soundtrack  to  Rumblefish .  Sting   was  in  a  rather  odd  place,  at  war,  simultaneously,  with  soon-to-be-ex-wife   Frances  Tomelty , the  tabloids  and  Virgin  over  a  publishing  deal  and  with  Adam  Ant  having  lured  the  teen  girls  away  although  the  success  of  Ghost... suggested  The  Police  didn't  need  that  audience  any  more. He  decided  to  develop  his  acting  career,  having  recently  appeared  in  BBC 1's  incomprehensible  sci-fi  drama  Artemis  81.

His  next  film  vehicle  was  the  starring  role  in  Dennis  Potter's  Brimstone  and  Treacle. Potter's  work  had  been  made  for  the  Beeb  in  the  late  seventies  for  the  Play  for  Today  strand  with Michael  Kitchen  in  the  lead  role  but  the  suits  got  cold  feet  about  the  subject  matter  and  it  wasn't  broadcast  until  many  years  later. You  can  find  my  review  of  the  film  here.

As  usual  since  the  success  of  Pennies  from  Heaven, Potter  wanted  to  work  in  some  popular  songs  from  yesteryear  and  Sting  was  happy  to  record  one  for  the  closing  titles. The  B-side  , the  much  more  Police-like  "Only  You"  is  featured  during  the  film. "Spread  A  Little  Happiness"  is  a  song  from  an   obscure   1929   musical  Mr  Cinders  and,  as  the  title  would  suggest,  is  an  exhortation  to  optimism  sung  by  the  male  Cinderella  character. Sting  does  it  absolutely  straight  with  a  period, popular  jazz,  arrangement  that  made  it  difficult  for  radio  producers  to  slot  it  into  their  shows. My  mum  bought   it  and  I  must  admit  it  does  have  a  pretty  irresistible  tune.



 

423 Hello China Crisis - African and White

Chart  entered : 7  August  1982

Chart  peak  : 45

Number  of  hits  : 11


Merseyside's  most  anonymous  and  perhaps  under-rated  band  made  their  chart  debut  in  the  summer  of  1982.

Vocalist  and  keyboard  player  Gary  Daly  and  guitarist  Eddie  Lundon   met  at   St  Kevin's  Secondary  School  in  Liverpool's  near-neighbour  Kirby. Both  from  working  class  backgrounds  they  formed   China  Crisis , the  name  a  vague  reference  to  Eddie's  slightly  Oriental  facial  features, in  1979  with  drummer  Dave  Reilly.

The  trio  wrote  this  song  together  and  first  released  it  on  the  independent  label  Inevitable  at  the  beginning  of  1982  when  it  had  the  misfortune  of  being  slobbered  over  by  Radio  One's  Peter  Powell. When  he  first  joined  the  station  in  1977  Powell  seemed  like  a  good  bloke  and  in  1980  was  given  the  tea  time  show. That  same  year  the  practice  of  broadcasting  specially  recorded  session  tracks  to  get  around  the  needletime  restrictions  was  extended  from the  evening  shows  to  his. Probably  by  happy  accident  two  of  the  first  bands  featured  on  his  show  were  Spandau  Ballet  and  Duran  Duran  and  when  they  went  stellar  it  turned  his  head. He  saw  himself  as  another  great  taste-maker, a  sort  of  John  Peel  for  the  masses, adopting  an  unctuous  presenting  style   - mocked  by  his  then-tolerable  colleague  Steve  Wright  who  trailed him  as "the  sincere  voice  of  Peter  Powell" - which  made  his  show  a  difficult  listen  and  becoming  obsessed  with  spotting  the  next  big  thing. Most  of  his  predictions  were  dismal failures  - anyone  for  Buzzz, Bim, Passion  Puppets, Matt  Fretton ? - and  his  endorsement  probably  did  a  band  more  harm  than  good.

I've  already  reviewed  the  song  on  the  albums  blog :

"African And White" comes next, a song I still don't hold in much regard. This was the way they could have gone, pallid vaguely funky agit-pop , a sort of lightweight Gang of Four without the passion to pull it off. The references to Israel are perplexing - perhaps they're protesting Israel's dealings with the apartheid regime but there were targets closer to home which makes singling Israel out very questionable. I do like the intro though , the way the real drums emerge from behind the electronics and then the percussion fills; it's a shame the song as a whole is disappointing.

I  have  noted  since  writing  that  there's  still  some  debate  as  to  whether  the  lyric  does  mention  Israel  though  on  a  live  version  from  2005  on  YouTube  Gary  does  enunciate  the  word  more  clearly  than  on  record.

The  single  didn't  chart  on  first  release   but  Virgin  still  snapped  them  up  and  gave  them  a  generous  advance. There  was  an  intervening  single , "Scream  Down  At  Me" , which  is  in  a  similar  vein  but  to  my  ears  more  appealing,  before  it  was  re-released  in  the  summer. It  was  billed  as  a  re-mix  but  I  couldn't  tell  much  difference  and  I'm  not  sure  which  mix  was  included  on  the  album.    

422 Goodbye 10cc - Run Away*

(* note  the  mistake  on  the  sleeve )

Chart  entered : 7  August  1982

Chart  peak : 50

This  little  record  can  be  seen  as  a  minor  tree  branch,  temporarily  breaking  what  is  still  the  steepest , most  inexplicable, fall  from  grace  in  chart  history. I  can't  think  of  any  other  act  whose  fortunes  dipped  so  spectacularly,  immediately  after  chalking  up  their  third  number  one.

 " Dreadlock  Holiday"'s  ascension  to  the  top  spot  had  provided  the  final  proof  that  the  band  could  thrive  without  Kevin  Godley  and  Lol  Creme   who  had  quit  in  1976  to  record  more  experimental  stuff  featuring  their  newly-invented  Gizmatron  guitar  accessory. Eric  Stewart  and  Graham  Gouldman  decided  to  continue  as  10cc  and  expanded  the  group  to  a  sextet  with  the  addition  of  drummer  and  synth  player  Paul  Burgess, guitarist  Rick  Fenn, drummer  Stuart  Tosh  and  keyboard  player  Duncan  Mackay  though  the  duo  still  called  the  shots. Paul  was  another  Mancunian  who'd  been  helping  them  out  live  since  1973, Rick  was  a  friend  of  his  from  Oxford, Duncan  was  from  Leeds  and  had  a  prog  rock   solo  album  "Chimera"  to  his  credit  and  Stuart  had  been  the  drummer  with  Pilot. The  new  line  up  was  immediately  vindicated  when  "Things  We  Do  For  Love"  became  a  Top  5  hit  in  America.

If  you  looked  closely  though  there  were  signs  that  the  band's  fanbase  might  not  be  as  solid   as  you  might  expect. Their  success  in  the  albums  chart  didn't  keep  pace  with  their  singles, never  managing  higher  than  a  number  3  placing  ( three  times )  and  they  were  a  band  whose  musicianship  should  have  made  them  a  formidable  force  in  the  albums  market. And  their  very  impressive  singles  chart  stats  disguise  that,  even  at  the  height  of  their  fame,  there  were  a  couple  of  singles  that  didn't  chart  at  all.

After  "Dreadlock  Holiday"  dropped  out  of  the  charts  the  problems  started. The  follow-up  "Reds  In  My  Bed"  failed  to  make  the  chart  and  then  in  January  1979  Eric  was  involved  in  a  serious  car  crash  just  before  they  were  due  to  tour  Japan. Due  to  damaging  his  left  ear  as  well  as  eye  he  couldn't  even  go  near  music  for  six  months.  While  waiting  for  Eric  to  recover  Graham  had  a  minor  hit  with  the  theme  song  to  the  film  Sunburn.
  
By  the  time  Eric  was  well  enough  to  resume  work,  a  new  decade  was  upon  them  and  things  had  changed. They'd  always tested  the  patience  of  radio  programmers  with  singles  of  above  average  length  and  now  found  they  were  no  longer  being  cut  any  slack  and  not  getting  played. With  no  hit  singles  to  promote  it , 1980's  lacklustre  "Look  Hear"  album  could  only   limp  to  number  35.   By  the  time  of  the  next  one, 1981's   "Ten  Out  of  Ten "  Stuart  and  Duncan  were  no  longer  involved  and  Paul  and  Rick  seem  to  have  been  relegated  to  the  status  of  session  players. Warner  Brothers  , their  US  label, were  unhappy  with  the  album  as  it  stood  and  suggested  they  work  with  Andrew  Gold  to  produce  a  few  more  tracks  hopefully  with  more  of  an  American  AOR  flavour. The  duo  were  more  than  happy to  collaborate  with  the  author  of  Lonely  Boy  and  Never  Let  Her  Slip  Away  and  the  union  produced  three  songs  but  Gold  declined  the  offer  to  join  the  band.

The  revamped  album  didn't  chart  in  the  US  either  but  all  three  songs  written  with  Gold  were  released  as  singles  in  the  UK, "Run  Away"  being  the  middle  one. It's  hard  to  know  exactly  why  it  was  a  relative  success  as  it's  surely  the  dullest  thing  they  ever  put  their  name  to,  a  dreary  soft  rock  ballad  with  none  of  the  wit  or  invention  you'd  normally  associate  with  them. The  lyrics  in  particular  are  criminally  banal. The  choral  synths  seem  to  be  in  there  deliberately  to  invoke  the  spirit  of  "I'm  Not  In  Love"  but  that  only underlines  how  far  they'd  fallen  by  this  point.  I  think  a  combination  of  their  tenth  anniversary  tour  earlier  in  the  year, the  recent  success  of  Godley  and  Creme  ( covered  below )  and  Eric's   raised  profile  as  Paul  McCartney's  new  songwriting  foil  helped  it  into  the  charts  but  it  wasn't  destined  to  be  a  launch-pad  for  a  real  revival.

The  follow up  "We've  Heard  It  All  Before"  is  at  least  relatively  entertaining ,  an  episodic,   reactionary  rant  against  the  prevalence  of  synth  pop  which  reminds  me  most  of  the  Not  The  Nine  O  Clock  News  parody  song  "Nice  Video , Shame  About  The  Song". Stuart  was  back  on  board  for  the  next  album  in  place  of  Paul  who'd  gone  off  to  join  Jethro  Tull.  The  lead  single  "24  Hours"  is  a  slice- of -life  epic  that  has  some  good  ideas  but  was  far  too  long  for  a  single. For  the  follow  up , the  white  reggae  number "  Feel  The   Love",  they  engaged  Kevin  and  Lol  to  do  the  video  to  no  avail  except  in  Holland  where  it  reached  number  7. The  album  "Windows  in  the  Jungle"  scraped  to  number  70  in  September  1983. A  third  single , the  turgid  reggae  of  "Food  For  Thought" released  in  Holland  only  made  number  18  in  the  charts.

After  a  UK  tour  in  October  that  year  Eric  and  Graham  decided  to  give  the  band  a  rest, Eric  continued  to  work  with  Macca  up  to  1986  and  also  produced  albums  by  Sad  Cafe  and  Agnetha  Faltskog. Graham  called  up  Andrew  and  they  formed the  duo  Common  Knowledge.  The  first  single  "Don't  Break  My  Heart "  in  the  summer  of  1984  is  a  reasonably  attractive  blend  of  sixties  melody  and  eighties  production  but  got  little  attention. The  follow  up  "Victoria "  is  a  rather  dreary  synth  and  drums  ballad,  similar  but  inferior  to  The  Cars'  Drive.  

Dissatisfied  with  Mercury's  promotion  of  the  group  Graham  left  the  label  and  pitched  the  duo  to  RCA  with  the  new  name  of  Wax.  In  the  meantime  Graham  helped  Gerry  Marsden  organise  The  Crowd  charity  single  for  the  Bradford  fire  victims.  The  first  single  in  the  autumn  of  1985   "Ball  and  Chain" ' produced  by  the  Cure's  Phil  Thornalley,  is  an  angry  lament  for  the  worker's  lot  set  to  an  ominous  synth  riff . It  sounds  like  they're  aiming  for  Depeche  Mode  but  have  to  settle  for  somewhere  between  The  Thompson  Twins  and  Nik  Kershaw. It's  not  bad  - apart  from  Andrew's  ill-advised  rap  towards  the  end -but  didn't  butter  any  parsnips.  The  follow  up  "Right  Between  The  Eyes"  is  an  over-produced  dogs  dinner  of  Hall  and  Oates, Mike  and  the  Mechanics  and  Go  West  with  a  horrible  Fairlight  brass  sound  on  the  chorus  but  gave  RCA some  hope  of  a  return  on  their  investment  by  reaching  number  60  here  and  43  in  the  US  .  Their  third  single  "Shadows  Of  Love"  is  much  better, a  decent  pop  song  given  room  to  breathe  by  Thornalley. Like  its  parent  album  "Animal  Magnetism"  it  failed  to  chart. The  first  side  is  OK  though  you  are  aware  of  a  mismatch  between  seventies  singer-songwriter  values  and  kitchen  sink  eighties  production  but  the  second  side  is  very  ropey. Fourth  single  "Systematic"  is  alarmingly  similar  to  the  Five  Star  song  of  similar  title , "Only  A  Visitor"  sounds  like  Howard  Jones  and  "Rise  Up"  is  a  risible  attempt  at  a  Peter  Gabriel -style    WOMAD  anthem.

Wax   had  their  moment  in  1987  when  their  next  single  "Building A  Bridge  To  Your  Heart"  reached  number  12  in  the  UK. Now  produced  by  former  Dollar  helmsman  Christopher  Neil   it's a   likeable  if  slightly  vacuous  tuneful  synth  pop  number  which  helped  the  parent  album  "American  English" reach  number  59.  I  prefer  the  two  singles  which  followed, the  title  track  with  its  stabbing  Propaganda  synths  and  "In  Some  Other  World" , a  bilious  attack  on  televangelists  and  politicians  with  a  terrific  chorus. Otherwise  the  album  is  a  showcase  for  their  ability  to  mimic  current  pop  trends  - "Heaven  In  Your  Bed"  sounds  like  Hue  and  Cry - with  only  the  touching  baby-anticipating  "The  Promise"  standing  out.

By  the  time  of  their  third  LP, "100,000 In  Fresh  Notes" in  late  1989  I  think  all  parties  knew  the  game  was  up. For  the  lead  single  "Wherever  You  Are" , a  well-crafted AOR  ballad later  covered  by  Asia, the  band  had  to  make  do  with  a  video  of  their  appearance  on  This  Morning  strolling  around  Albert  Dock. "Anchors  Aweigh"  the  follow-up  is  a  lumpy  piece  of  bombast  pinned  to  a  drum  hook  like  The  Bee  Gees'   You  Win  Again. The  album  is  listenable  but  generic  apart  from  the  French-flavoured  "Pictures  of  Paris" and  the  closing  "Credit  Where  Credit's  Due"  where  they  decided  to  rap  the  album  credits, a  novel  idea  which  loses  its  appeal  after  half  a  minute.

While  the  duo  were  considering  whether  to  persevere,  Graham  took  a  call  from  Eric  about  re-forming  10cc  and  Wax's  fate  was  sealed. They  probably  did  deserve  better  but  the  designer  jackets  and  flashy  videos  couldn't  disguise  that  they  were  two  guys  on  the  cusp  of  40  who  weren't  going  to  compete  with  Bros  and  Wet  Wet  Wet  in  the  teen  mags.

The  10cc  "reunion"  was  something  of  a  fraud. Kevin  and  Lol  had  dissolved  their  partnership  while  still  owing  Polydor  an  album  and  so  pitched  the  idea  of  a   new  10cc  album  to  fulfil  the  contract. Neither  man  contributed  anything  more  than  vocals  to  Eric  and  Graham's  songs   on  the  album  ".... Meanwhile"   and  at  no  point  were  all  four  in  the  studio  together . Both  Eric  and  Graham  were  happy  with  the  record  company's  choice  of  producer, Steely  Dan's  Gary  Katz  and  his  use  of  trusted  session  men  or  the  finished  product.

The  album  was  some  time  in  gestation  and  by  the  time  it  was  ready  for  release  Polydor  had  lost  interest  in  it   whether  that  was  down  to  a  change  in  personnel  or  lack  of  faith  in  the  music. It  passed  me  by  at  the  time; I  don't  recall  it  even  being  mentioned  in  Q, a  sign  of  how  far  the  band's  stock  had  fallen. The  singles  weren't  going  to  change  anything; "Woman  In  Love"  is  a  slice  of  turgid  AOR  rivalling  "Run  Away" in  its  dullness  while  "Welcome  To  Paradise"  tries  for  "Dreadlock  Holiday" 's  Caribbean  vibe  but  is  no  better  than  routine. The  album  sank  without  trace  and  Polydor  dropped  them.

Kevin  said  that  he  could  sense  Eric  and  Graham  growing  apart  during  his  couple  of  days  in  the  studio  and  by  the  time  of  their  next  album  "Mirror  Mirror "  in  1995  they  were  reluctant  to  work  together  at  all  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  solo  efforts  by  one  or  the  other,  recorded  in  different  studios. The  sombre  "Ready  To  Go  Home" about  the  passing  of  Graham's  father  is  really  the  last  Wax  recording  with  Andrew  co-writing  and  singing  the  track  while  "Yvonne's  The  One"  and  "Code  of  Silence" are  out-takes  from  Eric's  time  with  Macca. Their  acoustic  re-working  of  "I'm  Not  In  Love"  was  released  as  a  single  and  reached  number  29 , their  last  appearance  on  the  chart  but  it  couldn't  do  anything  to  raise  interest  in  the  album.

They  did  a  tour  to  support  it  after  which  Eric  announced  he  was  quitting  the  band  and  as  far  as  he  was  concerned  it  was  finished, a  stance  he  has  maintained  to  this  day. Since  then  Eric  has  been  more  interested  in  restoring  classic  racing  cars  and  property  renovation  than  making  music  though  he  did  put  out  a  couple  of  solo  albums   recorded  in  his  own  studio  in  France  in  the  noughties.

  Graham  curated  new  compilations  of  unreleased  material  from  the  Wax  and  Common  Knowledge  periods  ,  played  on  Andrew  Gold's  1998  psychedelic  extravaganza  Greetings  From  Planet  Love  and  did  some  writing  with  Paul  Carrack  and  Kirsty  MacColl.  In  1999  he  put  a  new  version  of  10cc  together  to  tour  the  hits  which  included  Paul  and  Rick  but  there  was  never  any  intention  of  releasing  new  material  as  10cc.  In  2000  he  put  out  his  own  solo  album "And  Another  Thing"  which  contained  some  re-workings  along  with  new  collaborations  with  the  likes  of  Gary  Barlow, Suggs  and  Chris  Difford. The  result  was  a  listenable  LP  of  plaintive  guitar  pop  in  the  Crowded  House  vein  although  Graham's  voice  is  only  serviceable. In  2003  he  featured  on  a  track  by  electronica  group  UNKLE.   In  2006  Graham  did  some  recording  with  Kevin  and  released  four  tracks  on  line  as  GG/06. Kevin  got  on  stage  with  the  new  10cc  to  perform  some  of  them  at  Shepherd's  Bush  Theatre. I'm  not  very  impressed - too  wordy  and  self-referential ,

Graham  put  out  another  solo  album  "Love  And  Work"  in  2012  , dedicated  to  Gold  who'd  died  the  previous  year. The  song  "Daylight "  is  a  touching  tribute  to  his  former  bandmate. With  feet  firmly  planted  in  the  Crowded  House / Squeeze  middle  ground  Graham  can  still  write  a  decent  melody  but , like  so  many  of  his  generation  still  writing , his  songs  do  nothing  but  evince  a  nostalgia  for  days  gone  by. Graham  was  in  The  Independent  just  the  other  day  calling  for  a  limit  to  the  number  of  people  who  can  claim  songwriting  credits.

Stuart  went  on  to  play  in  The  Alan  Parsons  Project  then  little  was  heard  of  him  until  Pilot  reunited  last  year. Duncan  joined  Camel  briefly  in  1981  then  became porn  king   Paul  Raymond's  son-in-law  in  1985. In  2004  he  made  a  little  known  album  "The  First  Time"  with  South  African  singer  Greg  McEwan-Kocovaos.

And  so  we  come  to  Kevin  and  Lol. After   leaving  the  band  in  1976,  they  re-emerged  the  following  year  with  perhaps  the  greatest  of  pop's  grand  follies, the  triple  LP  "Consequences"  a  truly  baffling  mix  of  a  prog  rock  concept, discordant  orchestral  passages, surreal  Python/ Stanshall  comic  dialogue  largely  delivered  by  an  inebriated  Peter  Cook, Pink  Floyd  sound  effects  and,  just  occasionally,  a  song  or  two . The  album  was  also  intended  to  be  a  showcase  for  the  Gizmotron  device  they  had  invented.  Prohibitively  expensive  and  released   at  probably  the  worst  time  in  the  history  of  pop  they  could  have  chosen  the  record  was  universally  panned  and  a  colossal  flop  making  a  brief  appearance  at  52  in  the  UK  charts. A  later  release  of  the  more  coherent  musical  bits  as  a  single  LP  did  not  save  it. The  Gizmotron  itself  was  also  a  commercial  disaster.  It  was  difficult  to  set  up, not  durable  enough  and  inconsistent  in  performance; only  a  handful  of  other  artists  even  briefly  used  it.  The  rather boring  piano  ballad  "Five  O  Clock  In  The  Morning"  was  released  as  a  single  and  got  a  wild  card  slot  on  Top  of  the  Pops  but  didn't  chart.

The  duo  came  back  quickly  the  following  year  with  the  album  "L"  which  should  really  have  been  called  "Z", so  indebted  is  it  to  the  satirical  art  rock  of  Frank  Zappa  ( the  song  "Art  School  Canteen"  actually  acknowledges  the  debt  ) . Relative  sanity  prevailed  with  seven  actual  songs and  a  running  time  of  just  34  minutes  but  it's  difficult  to  love  and  "Sandwiches  of  You"  was  an  extremely  unlikely  single.  The  album  improved  on  its  predecessor's  performance  by  just  5  places.

1979's  "Freeze  Frame"  missed  the  charts  altogether  despite  co-producer  Phil  Manzanera  bringing  a  bit  of  discipline  to  proceedings. It  did  however  have  an  ace  in  the  hole  in  the  opening  track  "An  Englishman  in  New  York"  which  was  released  as  a  single  in  edited  form  ( dropping  the  lines  about  Hitler  and  bowel  movements )  in  October  1979. I  heard  it  on  Noel  Edmunds's  show  and  thought  "Ooh  that's  interesting " then  never  heard  it  again. It's  an  Alan  Whicker-esque  commentary  on  New  York  society  set  to  a  big  band  arrangement  with  mordant  verses  giving  way  to  a  Busby  Berkeley  chorus. It  didn't  chart  in  Britain  or  the  US  but  was  a  hit  in  Germany, Holland  and  Australia  which  gave  vital  exposure  to  its  groundbreaking   self-directed  video  with  the  boys  performing  alongside  an  orchestra  of  mechanical  mannequins. A  whole  new  career  opened  up  for  them.

Two  standalone  singles  in  1980  - the  New  Wave-styled  "Wide  Boy"  with  Andy  Mackay  on  saxophone  and  "Submarine"  a  weird  reggae  instrumental  -  gave  little  hint  that  their  fortunes  were  changing  but  by  the  end  of  the  year  they'd  directed  the  video  for  Visage's  Fade  To  Grey  and  were  much  in  demand.  Shortly  after  drawing  criticism  for  the  soft  porn  trimmings  in  Duran  Duran's  Girls  On  Film   they  suddenly  found  themselves  in  the  charts  again  when  Radio  One  finally  got  behind  their  next  single  "Under  Your  Thumb". This  oddball  ghost  story  which  blends  gorgeous  melody  with  an  absolutely  brutalist  synth  pulse  and  no  beat  at  all  reached  number  3  in  the  charts.  The  lush  romantic  pop  of  "Wedding  Bells"  followed  it  into  the  Top  10  although  the  parent  album  "Ismism"  only  peaked  at  29  , a  poor  performance  for  an  album  with  two  big  hits  suggesting  that  some  suspicion  of  the  duo  still  lingered. A  third  single  "Snack  Attack"  provides  a  handy  summary  of  early  eighties  dietary  habits  in  a  proto-hip  hop  setting  but  failed  to  make  the  chart.

Their  fifth  album  "Birds  of  Prey"  came  out  in  1983  when  they  were  heavily  involved  with  The  Police  , making  the  videos  for  the  singles  from  Synchronicity   and   it's  hard  not  to  think  their  eyes  were  somewhat  off  the  ball  musically  while  making  it. "Save  A  Mountain  For  Me "  , the  lead  single ,is  a  lugubrious  jailhouse  lament  that  sounds  like  a  lesser  track  from  Paul  Young's  No  Parlez  album . The  follow  up  "Samson"  , the  offbeat  tale  of  a  racehorse  set  to  a  fast  skank  could  have been  a  hit  with  some  airplay  but  it  wasn't  forthcoming. Another  standalone  single " Golden  Boy" quickly  followed  ,  a  rather  dour  piece  of  synth  pop  that  neither  soulful  backing  vocals  or  another  smart  video  could  lift  into  the  chart.

The  duo  then  decided  to  throw  their  whole  back  catalogue  ( including  10cc )  into  the  blender  i.e  the  Fairlight  and  get  Trevor  Horn  and  his  associate  J J Jeczalik  to  come  up  with  something  coherent  and  danceable. The  sessions  produced  a  last  great  pop  single  in  "Cry"  remembered  for  its  famous  morphing  faces  video  as  well  as  its  sumptuous  production. It  reached  number  19  here   and  16  in  the  States  ( their  only  hit  there ). The  "History  Mix"  album  got  to  number  37  in  the  US  but  didn't  chart  here.

By  the  end  of  1986  the  pair  were  getting  bored  of  video   and  not  taking  many  more  commissions. In  1988  they  released  what  turned  out  to  be  their  final  album  "Goodbye  Blue  Sky". They  dropped  the  synths  and  explored  earthier  styles :  Tex-Mex  ( on  the  lead  single  "A  Little  Piece  of  Heaven", a  hit  in  Germany  and  Holland  ),  rockabilly  ( on  the  second  single  "10,000  Angels" )  gospel  ("Desperate  Times" )   and  R &  B  (" The  Big  Bang" )  on  a  set  of  songs  often  concerned  with  religion.  The  album  also  features  a  liberal  use  of  harmonicas  and  the  vocal  arrangements  are  largely  contracted  out  to  the  trio  Londonbeat. The  results  are  always  competent  but  lacking  in  sparkle  and  the  album   was  largely  ignored.

At  the  time  They  were  more  interested  in  their  new  film  project, "Howling  at  the  Moon "  based  on  the  life  of  John  Wesley  Harding. When  that  fell  through  Kevin  wanted  to  call  time  on  their  partnership  and  Godley  and  Creme  were  no  more.

After  the  split  Kevin  continued  to  work  primarily  as  a  video  director   working  with  Sting, Bryan  Adams, Katie  Melua  and  Ronan  Keating  among  others  though  he  hasn't  done  one  since  2011.  In  1990  he  organised  the  chain  tape  charity  album  "One  World  One  Voice". In  the  past  few  years  he's  been  working  on  an  app  called  "WholeWorldBand"  , one  of  the  aims  of  which   is  to  get  musicians  a  better  deal  in  the  digital  age. The  GG06  tracks  have  been  his  only  further  musical  contributions.

Lol  went  over  to  Los  Angeles  to  direct  a series  of  car  commercials  for  Plymouth  Automobiles  with  Tina  Turner ( a  by-product  was  the  video  for  The  Best ).  He  finally  got  to  direct  a  film  in  1991, the  Jamaican  comedy  The  Lunatic  and  a  US  TV  series  Limboland    three years  later  but  neither  were  successful  enough  to  establish  him  as  a  Hollywood  player.

In  1998  his  old  pal  Trevor  Horn  invited  him  to  join  a  new  line  up  of  Art  of  Noise, primarily as  a  guitarist. He  recorded  two  albums  with  the  group. The  first  went  unreleased  but  in  1999  a  single  "Metaforce"  came  out  ( which  we  will  cover  in  due  course - hopefully ) .  This  trailed  the  album,  "The  Seduction  of  Claude  Debussy"  an  ambitious  concept  album  blending  drum  and  bass , opera   and  jazz  with  the  composer's  work  and  a  narration  from  John  Hurt . This  must  have  induced  some  feelings  of  deja  vu  in  Lol  particularly  when  it  failed  to  chart. It  did  however  have  the  honour  of  providing  the  bulk  of  the  soundtrack  to  London's  Millennium  fireworks  display. After  a  few  live  shows  the  band  dissolved  again  in  2000.

In  2006  Lol  reunited  with  Horn  in  the  supergroup   called   The  Producers  ( sadly  not  Creme  Horn ).  They  started  out  as  a  hobby  band  allowing  the  guys  to  play  their  greatest  hits  live  but  soon  started  working  new  material  into  the  set  and  eventually, after  five  years  of  trailing  it, they  released  an  album "Made  In  Basing  Street". The  other  Buggle  Geoff  Downes   did  some  playing  on  it. Not  all  of  it  works  for  me  but  "Every  Single  Night  In  Jamaica"  and  "Garden  of  Flowers" are  exquisite  recreations  of  the  classic  Buggles  sound  on  The  Age  of  Plastic. Maybe  there's  more  to  come.      

421 Hello David Sylvian ( solo ) * - Bamboo Houses / Bamboo Music

(* as  one  half  of  Sylvian  Sakamoto )

Chart  entered : 7  August  1982

Chart  peak : 30

Number  of  hits : 11

I  must  admit  I  haven't  heard  this  one  in  a  long  time - the  start  of  one  of  the  most  enigmatic  of  solo  careers.

After  the  release  of  their  1981  album  Tin  Drum, Japan   had  become  more  feted  than  ever  before  in  the  UK, its  blend  of   arty  Western  synth  pop  and  Oriental  themes  and  melodies   sounding  like  nothing  else  around. But  it  was  clear  even  as  they  toured  it  that  things  were  amiss  in  the  band  with  the  tension  between  the  members  palpable  to  the  audiences. The  principal  protagonists  were  singer  David  and  bassist  Mick  Karn  whose  Japanese  girlfriend  he  had  just  poached. Temporarily  the  answer  seemed  to  be  solo  projects  for  both  men.

David's  preferred  partner  was  Ryuichi  Sakamoto  , keyboard  player  with  Japan's  premier  synth  pop  act  Yellow  Magic  Orchestra  who  had  contributed  some  synth  work  to  a  track  ( and  got  a  co-writing  credit  )  on  Japan's  previous  album  Gentlemen  Take  Polaroids .  His  brother  and  Japan's  drummer  Steve  Jansen  played  on  the  single  and  appeared  in  the  video  for  "Bamboo  Music"  but  didn't  get  an  artist  credit.

"Bamboo  Music "  was  the  side  that  got  the  ( limited )  radio  play  probably  because  there's  more  vocals  on  it. It's  very  much  a  continuation  of  the  Tin  Drum  sound   with  Dave  giving  an  observer's  view  of  life  in  the  paddy  fields  of  somewhere  in  the  Far  East  possibly  Cambodia  and  Jansen  providing  his  customary  off-kilter  rhythms.  Dave  and  Ryuichi  explore  what  Oriental  noises  they  can  squeeze  out  of  their  Prophet  5  synths  with  a  mid-song  wind  chime  break  that  completely  throws  you. While  it's  not  completely  unmelodic   there's  certainly  nothing  resembling  a  memorable  tune  which  probably  explains  Radio  One's  reluctance  to  give  it  many  spins  and  the  record's  modest  chart  placing.

"Bamboo  Houses " is  my  preference  of   the  two  sides,  a  slow-building  near-instrumental  with  a  minor  key  synth  riff  as  its  main  hook . Ryuichi  mutters  the  one  verse  in  Japanese  before  David  eventually  translates  it  as  a  lament  for  a  devastated  society  ( Cambodia  again  ? )  and  another   choral   keyboard  comes  in  to  underline  the  sorrow. It  gets  better  the  more  you  hear  it  and  it's  a  shame  the  record  has  been  largely  forgotten.