439 Hello Luther Vandross - Never Too Much

Chart  entered : 19  February  1983

Chart  peak : 44  ( 13  as  a  re-mix  in  1989 )

Number  of  hits  : 28

It's  always  difficult  to  write  about  an  artist  whose  work  never  interested  you. Luther  was  undoubtedly  a  talented  guy; he  just  never  employed  those  talents  in  ways  I  found  appealing.

Luther  was  born  in  1951  in  Manhattan. He  learned  the  piano  at  a  very  young  age. His  aunt  was  in  the  doo  wop  group  The  Crests  and  took  young  Luther  to  gigs  in  New  York. After  high  school  he  joined  the  theatre  workshop  Listen  My  Brother  and  was  involved  in  the  first  series  of  Sesame  Street  in  1969.

He  began  his  career  as  a  session  singer in  1971   by  appearing on  the  first  Roberta  Flack  and  Donny  Hathaway  album. He  started  and  became  the  first  president  of  the  Patti  Labelle  Fan  Club.  The  following  year  he  wrote  a  couple  of  songs  for  Delores  Hall's  Hall-Mark  album.  His  profile  was  raised  in  1975  when  he  co-wrote  "Fascination"  with  David  Bowie  for  the  Young  Americans  LP   and  went  on  tour  with  him  as  a  backing  vocalist. In  the  same  year  he  wrote  "Everybody  Rejoice"  for  The  Wiz..

While  now  at  the  top  of  his  game  as  a  session  singer , the  tour  with  Bowie  whetted  Luther's  appetite  for  performing  and  he  formed  a  vocal  quintet , modestly  called  Luther,  later  that  year. In  June  1976  they  released  the  single  "It's  Good  For  The  Soul"  which  had  Parts  1 and  II  on  either  side  of  the  disc. It's  an  average  slice  of  mid-seventies  soul  but  it's  slightly  too  slow  and  plods  instead  of  soars. The  follow  up  "Funky  Music  ( Is  A  Part  Of  Me  )  in  September  was  more  of  an  O'Jays  style  disco  record    and  is  pretty  good. Although  the  singles  did  well  in  the  R  & B  chart  they  didn't  cross  over  and  the  LP  "Luther"  didn't  chart.
The  next  single  was  "This  Close  To  You "  in  March  1977, a  Philly-style  smoocher  with  corny  spoken  intro. It  was  the  title  track  and  only  single  from  their  second  LP  which  made  even  less  impact  than  the  first. Cotillon  dropped  them  from  the  label; Luther  later  bought  the  rights  to  the  recordings   to  stop  them  cashing  in  on  his  subsequent  success.

These  disappointments  didn't  stop  people  banging  on  his  door  to  grace  their  records  with  his  golden  tones   and  he  appeared  as  lead  vocalist  on  records  by  New  York  City  Band, Greg  Diamond  Bionic  Boogie, Charme , Quincy  Jones, Soiree  and  Mascara. In  1980  he  was  co-opted  by  Jacques  Fred  Petrus  to  sing  with  his  studio  project  Change.  Their  album  "The  Glow  of  Love"  is  the  best  record  Chic  never  made .The  two  songs on  which   Luther  did  the  lead  vocal  , "Searching"  and  "The  Glow  of  Love"  were  both  Top  20  hits  in  the  UK  in  1980  although  the  latter  was  little  heard  as  it  was  a  double  A-side  with  the  female-led  "A  Lover's  Holiday"  which  radio  preferred.

Luther  was  invited  back  for  their  second  album  "Miracles"  but  he  now  had  a  solo  deal  with  Epic  and  made  only  a  minor  contribution  as  a  backing  vocalist.  His  first  solo  single  in  the  UK  was  "Sugar  and  Spice  ( I  Found  Me  A  Girl )" , a  sprightly  Shalamar-style  pop-funk  number  in  October  1981.

"Never  Too  Much "  was   released  the  following  month; in  the  US  it  was  released  first  and  reached  number  33  in  the  charts. It's  a  slick  soul  number  resting  on  the  Chic  template  of  clipped  rhythm  guitar , sinuous  bass  and  string  interjections  with  Luther  gushing  the  romantic  sentiments,  and  deciding  not  to  go  to  work  when  his  babe  comes  round  first  thing  in  the  morning  ,  in  his  rich  Grammy-winning  tones.  For  me  the  melody's  too  boring  to  really  grab  the  attention  and  it  wasn't  a  hit  first  time  round. After  the  single  "Bad  Boy/ Having  A  Party"  from  his  second  LP  and  a   duet  with  Cheryl  Lynn  failed  to  score  in  1982, Epic  decided  to  give  it  another  go  and  this  time  were  rewarded   with  a  modest  success.  A  re-mixed  version  of  the  song  to  promote  his  greatest  hits  compilation  in  1989   did  much  better.  

438 Hello Aztec Camera - Oblivious

Chart  entered : 19  February  1983

Chart  peak : 47  ( 18  on  reissue  later  in  the  year  )

Number  of  hits : 11

Like  The  The,  Aztec  Camera  were  another  "group"  that  was  essentially  a  vehicle  for  just  the  one  singer-songwriter  but  the  similarities  end  there.

When  Postcard  Records  proclaimed  themselves  "The  Sound  of  Young  Scotland"  they  weren't  kidding  in  Aztec  Camera's  case  as  main  man  Roddy  Frame  hadn't  turned  17  when  their  first  single  came  out.  Roddy  was  born  in  East  Kilbride  and  learned  to  play  the  guitar  at  an  early  age. Inspired  by  Bowie  and  punk,  his  first  band  was  called  Neutral  Blue. Aztec  Camera started  out  as  a  trio  with  the  other  members  being  bassist  Campbell  Owens  and   drummer  Dave  Mulholland. They  were  featured  on  a  cassette  of  unsigned  Glasgow  bands  before  coming  to  the  attention  of  Postcard  Records.

They  released  their  first  single  "Just  Like  Gold"  in  January  1981. Peelie  and  the  N.M.E.  received  it  rapturously  but  I'm  not  a  great  fan. The  words  are  vaguely  romantic  but  strung  together  without  much  wit  or  cohesion  and  the  melody  seems  to  be  going  somewhere  different  with  each  line.  The  recording  is  also  fairly  ramshackle  with  the  final  verse  at  least  twice  as  loud  as  the  first.

Their  second  single  "Mattress  of  Wire"  in  May  1981  turned  out  to  be  the  label's  last .  It's  a  much  more  coherent  song  than  their  debut  addressed  to  someone  enduring  some  form  of  self-denial  through  religion  with  a proper  verse  /chorus  structure  but  it's  marred  by  Mulholland  completely  losing  the  tempo  halfway  through,  making  it  sound  a  bit  like  the  record's  jumping.

As  Postcard  imploded , Rough  Trade  moved  in  to  snap  up  the  band. Mulholland  was  ousted  in  favour  of   Dave  Ruffy , a  somewhat  unlikely  candidate  for  a  largely  acoustic  band.  Dave  was  a  record  shop  manager  who  first  played  in  the  funk  band   Hit  and  Run.  They   released  a  disco  cover  of  "Woolly  Bully"  in  1978.  By  that  time  Dave  and  guitarist  Paul  Fox  had  already  quit  to  form  The  Ruts  with  the  latter's  old  school  friend  Malcolm  Owen.

Although  late  to  the  party,  The  Ruts  gave  punk  a  shot  in  the  arm  with  their  ferociously  tight  playing  and  political  commitment ,releasing  a  strong  debut  album  "The  Crack " and  a string  of  incendiary  singles. "Babylon's  Burning"  made  the  Top  10  in  the  summer  of  1979. As  well  as  Owen  sounding  like  Joe  Strummer  they  also  matched  The  Clash  for  experimenting  with  reggae  and  dub. Alas  they  were  reduced  to  a  footnote  by  Owen's  death, drowning in  a  bath  after  taking  heroin,  in  July  1980. After  a  cobbled  together  second  LP  the  band  continued  as  Ruts  DC  for  a  couple  of  albums  but  there  was  to  be  no  New  Order -style  resurrection  and  the  band  split  up  in  1982.

At  the  same  time as  Dave   producer  Bernie  Clarke  joined  the  line  up  as  keyboard  player. The   first  single  for  Rough  Trade  was  "Pillar To  Post"  in  the  autumn  of  1982. David  Jensen  gave  it  a  few  spins  and  I  actually  prefer  it  to  "Oblivious ".  It   sets  a  slightly  sour  regretful  lyric  to  a   tuneful   rush  of  a  chorus  with  the  keyboards  and  backing  vocals  filling  up  the  sound and  making  it  less  brittle.

"Oblivious "  came  next  and  was  Roddy's  deliberate  attempt  at  writing  a  hit  single.  It's  set  to  a  flamenco  rhythm  and  there  are  references  to  mountains, fountains  and  ballrooms  in  the lyric  to  enhance  its  slightly  exotic  feel. Roddy's  blunt  vocals  ponder  the  mysteries  of  love  in  opaque  fashion  before  the  joyous  chorus. It's  a  little  too  jazzy  for  my  tastes  but  I  can  see  why  it  was  successful. Rough  Trade  gave  it  another  shot  later  in  the  year  and  were   rewarded  with  a  bigger  hit  although  Bernie  had  left  the  band  by  then  and  future  Smith  Craig  Gannon  had joined.

437 Hello The The - Uncertain Smile

First  charted  : 4  December  1982

Chart  peak : 68

Number  of  hits : 14

It's  a  nice  coincidence  that  this  came  in  - rather  lower  down -  in  the  same  week  as  Beat  Surrender  as  later  in  the  decade  its  creator  would  become  one  of  the  more  convincing  contenders  for  Weller's  crown  as  pop's  principal  polemicist. Matt  Johnson,  who  to  all  intents  and  purposes  was/is   The  The , was  another  alternative  artist  trying  to  come  in  from  the  cold  but  doesn't  feature  in  many  of  the  New  Pop  narratives  because  he  didn't  crack  the  Top  40  until  some  years  later.

Matt  Johnson  was  born  in  London  in  1961  and  tried  to  get  a  band  together  when  he  was  16  with  ads  in  the  NME  citing  his  influences  as  Velvet  Underground, Syd  Barrett  and  shock  merchants  Throbbing  Gristle . His  musical  ambitions  were  facilitated  by  getting  a  job  with  the  De  Wolfe  music  production  company  who  had  a  studio  in  London.  Even  before  forming  his  band  he  had  recorded  his  own  demo  album " See  Without  Being  Seen " on  cassettes  which  he  tried  to  flog  at  gigs   in  the  capital. In  1979  he  recorded  another  album, "Spirits" with  the  first  in  a long  line of  temporary  The  The  members   Colin  Lloyd-Tucker ; it  has  never  seen  the  light  of  day.  Lloyd-Tucker  was  replaced  by  a  synthesiser  player  Keith  Laws  and  it  was  he  who  came  up  with  the  name. They  made  their  live  debut  in  May  1979 as  a  duo  supporting  Scritti  Politti.

They  soon  acquired  a  rhythm  section  for  live  work  but  didn't  use  them  on  their  first  single,  "Controversial  Subject"  in  August  1980. Released  on  4AD  and  produced  by  Wire's  Gilbert  and  Lewis  it's  determinedly  uncommercial  with  Matt  tunelessly  intoning  what  sound  like  disconnected  slogans  over  a  primitive  drum  machine  and  blasts  of  atonal  guitar  noise. Keith's  synth  does  sound  like  it's  playing  an  OMD-like  melody  towards  the  end  but  that's  the  only  concession  to  the  mainstream.

The  The  had  slimmed  back  down  to  a  duo  for  their  next  recording , the  song  "Untitled" which  appeared  on  the  Some  Bizarre  album  in  early 1981. As  the  title  suggests  there's  no  real  song , just  a  few  slogans, half  of  them  unintelligible  , intoned  over  an  electronic  backing  track  vaguely  reminiscent  of  The  Human  League's  Being  Boiled. It  isn't  worthy  of  much  attention. The  duo  then  signed  with  Some  Bizarre  and  released  their  second  single  "Cold  Spell  Ahead". It's  hard  to  write  about  "Cold  Spell  Ahead"  as  a  precursor  to "Uncertain  Smile"  because  for  the  first  couple of  minutes it  is  "Uncertain  Smile". The  instrumentation  is  different  but  the words  and  melody  are the  same. Then  it  suddenly  switches  to  a  completely  different  tempo  and  becomes  a  doomy  Goth  rock  track. It  sounds  like two  completely  separate  songs  have  been  carelessly  bolted  together.

Laws  now  felt  he  was  being  edged  out of  the  creative  process  and  left  to  study  psychology. He  is  now  a  respected  professor  of  neuropsychology  at  the  University  of  Hertfordshire  with  numerous  scientific  articles  to  his  credit.

Matt  persevered  and  took  advantage of  his  lax  contract  with  Some  Bizarre  to  go  back  to  4AD  and  record  an  album  as  "Matt  Johnson"   entitled  "Burning  Blue  Soul"  although  it  was eventually  reissued  as  a "The The"  album  to  keep  all  his  work  in  the  same  record  racks. "Burning  Blue  Soul"  is  a  challenging  but  rewarding  album  that  moves  towards  the  light  in  terms  of   making  his  music  more  accessible  while  plumbing  the  depths  of  teenage  depression  and  rejection  of  religion  in  the  lyrics. There's  quite  a  few  good  in-depth  reviews  of  the  album  on  the  'net  but  this  one  by  Keith  Laws  himself   must  take  precedence.  It  was  released  in  August  1981  and  didn't  chart.

Nevertheless  Some  Bizarre   got  a  distribution   deal  with  Epic  and   Matt  was  dispatched  to  New  York  to  record  a  few  tracks  with  producer  Mike  Thorne. From  these  sessions  came  "Uncertain  Smile"  which  placed  the  first  verse  of  "Cold  Spell  Ahead"  into  a  new  context, a  relatively  romantic  pop  song  about  tentative  happiness  although  Matt's  limited  vocal  range  was  always  going  to  curtail  any  prospect  of  becoming  a  troubador. Nevertheless  his  Lou  Reed -influenced  sardonic  vocal  is  sweetened  by  flute  and  xylophones  ( also  responsible  for  that  immediately  arresting  intro  )   and  after  a  second  verse  the  song  has  a  long  instrumental  coda  with  a  saxophone  solo from  Crispin  Cloe. On  the  album  version  a  year  later  this  coda  was  thoroughly  re-worked  substituting  a  lengthy  piano  solo  from  Jools  Holland.  David  Jensen  played  this  to  death  which  probably  accounts  for  its  chart  placing  but  Matt  would  have  to  wait  a  bit  longer  for  his  real  breakthrough.

436 Goodbye The Jam - Beat Surrender

Chart  entered  : 4  December  1982

Chart  peak : 1

My  opinion  that  the  Golden  Age  of  Pop  ended  with  the  fall  of  Ghost  Town  from  the  number  one  spot  wasn't  formed  until  years  afterwards. For  the  rest  of  the  eighties  I  would  probably  have  cited   what  this  single  represents   as  the  major  turning  point  and  I  suspect  that  there  are  many  ex-Jam  fans  out  there  who  think  that  things  have  never  been  quite  the  same  since  they  split  up.

The  Jam  are  the  first  act  to  exit  this  blog  on  a  number  one.  This  is  also  the  first  featuring  of   a  phenomenon  that  started  in  the  eighties  , the  self-conscious  farewell  single. A  couple  of  months  earlier,  Squeeze  had  announced  that  Annie  Get  Your  Gun   was  going  to  be  their  final  single  but  it  wasn't  written  with  that  in  mind  and,  of  course,  turned  out  not  to  be  their  last  single  after  all.

The  Jam  had  come  a  long  way  since  "In  The  City" but  at  one  point  it  looked  very  dicey  for  the  band. After  a  poor  reception  for  their  second  album "This  Is  The  Modern  World"  at  the  end  of  1977  , Polydor  rejected  the  follow  up  out  right  and  sent  the  group  back  to  the  drawing  board. Under  pressure  Paul  Weller  came  up  with  the  set  of  songs  that  formed  "All  Mod  Cons"  including  punk's  finest  three  minutes  in  "Down  In  The  Tube  Station  At  Midnight"  and  the  band's  future  was  secured. But  the  episode  changed  the  internal dynamic  of  the  band. The  bulk  of  the  rejected  material  had  been  written  by  bassist  Bruce  Foxton  and  he  never  recovered  his  position  as  a  twin  pole  of  the  group. With  his  dad  John  as  the  group's  manager  Paul  was  firmly  in  the  driving  seat. The  group's  commercial  success  increased  with  every  release  , bolstered  by  1979's  "Mod  Revival"  which  they  created  as  much  as  benefited  from , until  "Going  Underground / Dreams  of  Children"  became  the  first  single  since  Slade's  Merry  Christmas  Everybody  to  debut  at  number  one,  in  April  1980.

Thereafter  they  were  always  contenders  for  the  top  spot  but  there  was  a  glass  ceiling  to  their  achievements. Along  with  Gary  Numan,  they  pioneered  the  "fanbase  hit "  pattern  of  charting  high  on  first  week  sales  and  then  dropping  quickly  as  the  single  failed  to  make  many  new  converts. And  they  were  only  kings  of  the  heap  in  Britain. In  Australia  and  Canada  they  had  a  few  medium  sized   hits; in  America  they  were  forced  to  do  incongruous  support  slots  to  the  likes  of  Blue  Oyster  Cult  which  resulted  in  modest  placings  for  their  latter  two  albums   but  still  no  hit  singles.

Paul  got  frustrated  and  while  publicly  disdainful  of  contemporaries  like  ABC  and  Haircut 100 he  started  aping  their  moves. 1981's  "Funeral  Pyre"  - a  single  I  love  but  seemingly  no  one  else  does -  was  effectively  their  last  single as  a  trio. All  their  subsequent  hits  had  either  a brass  section, a  prominent  keyboard  part, strings, a  guest  vocalist  or  some  combination  of  the  above. At  the  same  time  he  put  aside  his  old  touchstones  - Who, Kinks, Small  Faces  etc  - and  began  listening  exclusively  to  black  music,  old  and  new.

1982  seemed  to  be  a  bright  year  for  the  band  when  their  sixth  LP  "The  Gift"  ( not  their  best  )  finally  gave  them  a  number  one  album.  In  August  1982  Paul  informed  his  father  and  bandmates  that  he  was  breaking  up  the  band; all  three  reacted  with  incredulity  and  dismay. The  news  was  kept  secret  for  weeks  and   didn't  affect  the  promotion  of  their  penultimate  single  "The  Bitterest  Pill"  ( apart  from  Bruce  walking  off  the  video  set  which  probably  explains  why  there  was  no  promo  for  this  one ). Paul's  intention  was  to  announce  the  split  on  the  first  episode  of  Channel  4's  The  Tube  at  the  beginning  of  November  but  the  need  to  advertise  the  farewell  tour  brought  it  forward  a  bit. I  read  about  it  in  Record  Mirror  one  Thursday  morning  and  my  friend  Sean  threatened  to  beat  me  up  if  it  were  true.

  It  was  the  major  music  story  for  the  next  few  weeks.  Record  Mirror  described  it  as  the  most  exciting  demise  of  a  band  since  the  Sex  Pistols.  A  farewell  tour  was  announced  which  had  to  be  extended  due  to  public  demand  and  an  inessential  live  LP  "Dig  The  New  Breed" was  issued  to  fulfil  the  band's  contract  with  Polydor.  The  choice  of  a  final  single  rested  between  "Beat  Surrender"  and  "A  Solid  Bond  In  Your  Heart"  ( later  recorded  by  the  Style  Council ).

The  Popular  take  on  "Beat  Surrender"  is  here  but  doesn't  cover  everything. For  one  it's  the  only  Jam  single  with  no  audible  guitar,  employing  a  rolling  piano  and  Hammond  organ  instead. This  led  to  some  rather  awkward  attempts  at  dancing  by  the  axe-less  Paul  when  they  performed  the  song  on  Top  of  the  Pops .  He  was  accompanied  on  vocals  by  his  new  prodigy  Tracie  ( Young ),  recruited  through  Smash  Hits  for  his  new  vanity  label  Respond. The  seventeen-year  old  wasn't  in  a  position  to  refuse  his  invitation  to  sing  on  the last  Jam  single  but  it  can't  have  been  a  pleasant  experience  being  dropped  in  amid  the  bad  vibes  generated  by  the  split.  She  does  add  something  to  the  record  but  looked  fairly  ridiculous  on  Top  of  the  Pops  , wearing   an  outsized  jumper  and  dancing  as  badly  as  Paul. Tracie  isn't  the  girl  on  the  cover  though ;   that  was  Gill .  Paul's  long  time  girlfriend  but  not  for  much  longer. Putting  her  on  the  cover  of  The  Jam's  last  single    now  seems  almost  sinister,   as  if  he  wanted  to  send  out  the  message, "And  you're  next  ! "

To  make  sure  the  record  reached  number  one  - not  that  there  was  much  doubt  it  would  - it  initially  came  as  a double  pack  single  with  the  extra  disc  containing  covers  of  "Stoned  Out  of  My   Mind", "Move  On  Up"  and  a  second  attempt  at  "War "  with  session  singers  Afrodiziak.  There  have  been  suggestions  that  Bruce  and  drummer  Rick  Buckler  didn't  actually  play  on  these  but  there  doesn't  seem  to  be  any  firm  basis  for  this. Bruce  and  Rick  have  had  the  consolation  that , Band  Aid  ( where  he  was  clearly  surplus to  requirements ) apart, |Paul  never  got  back  to  the  number  one  spot  without  them.

The  Jam  played  their  final  gig  at  Brighton  Conference  Centre  on  11th  December  1982  , a  rather  tense, emotional  affair  by  all  accounts  then  dissolved completely. It  seems  to  have  been  the last  time  the  trio  were  all  in  the  same  room  together. A  wave  of  re-released  Jam  singles  hit  the  charts  at  the  beginning  of  1983.

We'll  come  to  Paul's  next  move  soon  enough  so  we'll  concentrate  on  Bruce  and  Rick  for  the  rest  of  this  post. Both  of  course  were  taken  completely  unawares  by  Paul's  decision   and  had  no  concrete  plans  for  the  future. Polydor  were  not  interested  in  re-signing  them  in  any  capacity.

Bruce  had  the  benefit  of  a  girlfriend,  Pat,  who  worked  in  the  industry  for  CBS  and  managed  to  rustle  up  a  backing  band  and  a  solo  deal  with  Arista  which  of  course  meant  he  had  to  pick  up  his  pen  again,  having  only  written  a  couple  of  songs  across  the  last  four  Jam  albums. His  first  effort  was  "Freak"  in  July  1983  a   blustery  R  & B  stomper  inspired  by  The  Elephant  Man  with  a  barnstorming  production  by  Steve  Lillywhite  that  completely  buries  the  slight  song. It's  an  exhausting  listen  but  little  lodges  in  the  memory  bank  afterwards. The  Jam  fan  base  dutifully  rewarded  him  with  a  number  23  hit  and  thus  an  energetic  Top  of  the  Pops  appearance  but  he  needed  to  come  up  with  something  much  better.

The  second  single,  "This  Is  The  Way"  in  October  1983 , was  an  improvement  with  more  melodic  content  though  Lillywhite's  production  still  seems  over  the  top  for  Bruce's  introspective  musings. Arista  were  already  doubting  their  wisdom  in  signing  him  and  the  record  stalled  at  number  56  after  a  meagre  promotional  effort.

Jam  fans  had  another  single  to  buy  that  month  as  Rick  resurfaced  in  The  Time  UK,  a  new  band   he'd  put  together  from  musicians  hoping  to  get  a  leg  up  from  the  association.  Ex-Tom  Robinson  Band  guitarist  Danny  Kustow  was  the  second  biggest  name  among  them.  There  was  widespread  scepticism  about  their  chances   but  "The  Cabaret "  is  a  decent  slice  of  loud,  tuneful  power  pop  ( written  by  singer  Jimmy  Edwards )  and  reached  number  65  in  the  charts. The  single  was  released  on  the  independent  Red  Bus  label  and  the  band  took  up  a  residency  at  The  Marquee  while  they  shopped  around  for  a  major.

Bruce's  third  single  was  "It  Makes  Me  Wonder" in  April  1984, a  dreary  state-of-the- nation  plodder  window-dressed  with  harmonica  from  Judd  Lander. It  limped  in  at  number  73  and  got  no  higher. It  was  the  last  appearance  for  either  of  the  "drone  members"  in  the  singles  chart. It  didn't  augur  well  for  Bruce's  album,  "Touch  Sensitive",  released  the  following  month. Bruce  himself  has  said  he  was  rushed  into  it, his  songs  waved  through  by  the  label  anxious  to  cash  in  on  the  Jam's  brand  loyalty  before  it  dissipated.  It's  not  atrocious  , just  a  rather  characterless  mid-eighties  funk / pop  set  with  an  unsympathetic  production. The  next  single  "S.O.S,  ( My  Imagination ) "  is  sprightly  enough  and  may  have  done  better  if  chosen  as  the  lead. The  closing  track  "Writing's  On  The  Wall"  addresses  The  Jam's  split  and  is  the  most  interesting  musically  even  if  Lillywhite  overdoes  the  phasing  and  the  chorus  shamelessly  cribs  from  Nights  In  White  Satin.  The  album  reached  number  68  in  the  charts. Once  "S.O.S."  had  failed  to  chart  he  and  the  label  parted  company.

Ironically  Arista  then  signed  The  Time  UK  who  released  their  second  single  "Playground  of  Privilege"  nearly  eighteen  months  after  their  first. It's  probably  the  most  Jam-like  song  any  of  the  three  have  recorded  since  the  split,  with  a  catchy  tune  and  a  lyric  berating  the  establishment. Though  it  got  Single  of  the  Week  in  Record  Mirror  and  they  appeared  on  Saturday  Superstore   it  was  too  late. Even  Weller's  Style  Council  saw  their  sales  start  to  slide  that  year  and  interest  in  the  former  drummer's  band  was  minimal. They  put  out  one  more  single  "You  Won't  Stop" a  tuneful  plea  for  social  justice  with  a  liberal  smattering  of  horns  and  a  distinct  resemblance  to  The  Style  Council's  Speak  Like  A  Child.  The  band  called  it  a  day  at  the  beginning  of  1986.

Bruce  had  continued   to  tour  fruitlessly  trying  to  revive  interest  in  his  LP.  He  recorded  a  one-off  single   for  Harvest  "Play  This  Game  To  Win",  a  colourlesss  modern  rock  track  that  completely  passed  me  by  at  the  time. He  then  reunited  with  Rick  and  Edwards  to  form  the  band  Sharp  but  no  major  label  was  interested.  They  released  one  single,  "Entertain  Me"  on  an  independent  label , a  decent  piano-based  pop  tune  about  entertainment-as-anaesthetic   let  down  by  some  very  pedestrian  drumming; Rick  having  a  real off-day. Both  these  singles  were  released  in  November  1986  which  wasn't  all  that  smart.

When  Sharp  failed  to  make  any  headway  Rick  joined  a  group  called  The  Highliners  though  he  wasn't  on  their  1988  single  "Henry  the  Wasp "  ( assuming  it's  the  same  band ). He  also  owned  a  recording  studio  in  Islington  and  was  involved  in  producing  The  Family  Cat's  debut  album  in  1989.  At  the  same  time  he  started  working  as  a  furniture  restorer.  Bruce  dropped  out  of  the  public  eye  for  the  rest  of  the  decade  as   his  wife  Pat  was  diagnosed  with  bowel  cancer.

Bruce  had  long  been  friends  with  Jake  Burns  from  Stiff  Little  Fingers  who'd  split  at  the  same  time  as  The  Jam  to  much  less  fanfare. The  band  reformed  in  1987  but  in  1990  bassist  Ali  McMordie   dropped  out  and  Bruce  got  the  call  to  replace  him.  He  stayed  with  them  for  fifteen  years  recording  five  albums , on  which  he  had  about  half  a  dozen  co-writing  credits.  There  are  some  decent  songs  amongst  them  , "Beirut  Moon" from  the  first  album  "Flags  and  Emblems"  about  the  plight  of  hostage  John  McCarthy ,  is  particularly  good.  They  were  all  released  on  small  labels  and  didn't  chart  but  I  suppose  the  band  must  have  made  a  living  from  touring.

Stiff  Little  Fingers' experience  was  common  to  all  the  punk  bands  that  re-formed  in  the  late  eighties / early  nineties  - Buzzcocks, Sham  69, X-Ray Spex  et  al. None of  them  thrived. For  one  thing  there  was  a  distinct  lack  of  radio  support. All  of  the  original  champions ( save  Peel  of  course )  of  "new  wave"  music - Mike  Read, Richard  Skinner, Peter  Powell, David  Jensen - had  moved  on  and  in  place  of  Janice  Long  in  the  evenings  you  had  Nicky  Campbell  playing  Van  Morrison  and  Carole  King. When  Radio  One  had  a  "More  Music  Monday"  in  1988  where  they  cut  out  all  the  banter  between  records , Simon  Bates  devoted  a  whole  half  hour  to  new  wave  music  - all  big  hits  of  course  - and  apparently  the  switchboard  hummed  with  complaints.  Beyond  that  it's  hard  to  know  why  these  bands  attracted  such  a  meagre  proportion  of  their  original  audience. Perhaps  the  demographics  meant  their  old  fans  were  now  too  busy  with  babies  and  mortgages  to  notice  their  return  or  maybe , peculiar  to  punk, there  was  a  sense  of  betrayal  that  the  original  mission  hadn't  been  fulfilled  and  we'd  been  left  to  endure  Phil  Collins  and  Howard  Jones. In  the  case  of  Stiff  Little  Fingers  they'd  always  been  suspect  as  punks, more  a  metal  band  with  short  hair  and  politicised  lyrics. The problem  was  there  was  a  new  band  from  Blackwood,  Wales  with  the  same  formula   and  people  will  always  go  with  the  fresher  faces  given  the  choice . It's  intriguing  to  speculate  how  a  reunited  Jam  would  have  fared  at  this  point. I  would  guess  not  very  well  given  that  Paul  himself  had  a  distinctly  rocky  patch  around  this  time  before  Britpop  raised  his  profile  once  more.    

In  the  early  nineties  it  came  to  Bruce  and  Rick's  attention  that  they  weren't  receiving  much  money  from  the  sale  of  Jam  merchandise. John  Weller  was  in  charge  of  collecting  it  but  wasn't  disbursing  it  to  their  satisfaction.  They  eventually  took  him  to  court  which  gave  Paul  a  justification  for  continuing  to  shun  them.  While  the  court  case  was  proceeding  ( they  eventually  won  )  they  published  the  book  Our  Story  in  1994, an  attempt  to  set  the  record  straight  after  Weller  acolyte  Paolo  Hewitt's  book  A  Beat  Concerto  had  done  its  best  to  minimize  their  contribution. The  critical  reception  was  frosty, most  reviewers  deeming  it  flimsy  and  unilluminating,  a  verdict  that  both  seem  to  tacitly  accept  now.

After  that  there  was  nothing  to  report  until  2005  when  Brce's  departure  from  SLF  was  announced. As  Ali  McMordie  returned  to  the  band  there's  been  speculation  that  Bruce  was  bumped  but  it  seems  to  have  been  amicable  enough. Around  the  same  time  Rick,  encouraged  by  the  reaction  to  his  setting  up  a  website  for  Jam  memorabilia  , started   gigging  with  a  band  called  The  Gift  playing  Jam  material.

Bruce  formed  a  band  called  the  Casbah  Club  with  Mark  Brziecki  from  Big  Country  and  got  some  support  dates  with  The  Who.  In    June  2006  he  bumped  into  Paul  backstage  and  a  ten  minute  conversation  ended  with  an  embrace.  He  then  accepted  Rick's  invitation  to  join  The  Gift  and  shortly  afterwards  they  changed  their  name  to  From  The  Jam  and  started  touring  as  a  serious  venture.  Paul  was  publicly  invited  to  participate  but  I don't  suppose  they  seriously  expected  him

In  2009  Paul  learned  that  Pat  Foxton  was  seriously  ill  and  got  back  in  touch  with  Bruce. Her  death  was   closely  followed  by  that  of  John  Weller  and  the  two  became  close  friends  once  again.  At  the  end  of  the  year  Rick  informed  the  others  by  email  that  he  was  quitting  From  The  Jam ,  a  move  that  has  been  widely  seen  as  a  reaction  to  Bruce  and  Paul's  rapprochement  although  he  has  denied  that  in  his  recent  autobiography.

Bruce  went  on  to   play  on  a  couple  of  tracks  on  Paul's  2010  album  "Wake  Up  The  Nation "  and  appeared  with  him  at  the  Royal  Albert  Hall  for  10  minutes  at  which  the  crowd  went  apeshit. From  The  Jam  then  decided  to  record  their  own  album, raising  funds  on  the  internet. It  was  recorded  at  Paul's  studios  and  he  played  on  several  of  the  tracks. It  was  released  under  Bruce's  name  probably  in  deference  to  Paul's  sensitivities  about  a  Jam  reunion. "Back  in  the  Room"  is  an  intriguing  record  ,  sort  of  reimaging  what  the  group  would  sound  like with  modern  recording  techniques  and  most  of  it  is  pretty  good , especially  the  single "Number  Six",  without  being  earth-shattering.  I  hadn't  appreciated  just  how  much  singer  Russell  Hastings  sounds  like  Paul.

A  second  "Bruce  Foxton"  album  "Smash  The  Clock"  is  due  to  be  released  in  March  next  year. Speculation  about  a  full  Jam  reunion  never  really  goes  away  despite  a  pretty venomous  war  of  words  between  Paul  and  Rick  conducted  through  the  press. Rick  published  an  autobiography  earlier  this  year  and  in  an  interview  on  BBC 1  acknowledged  that  he'd  be  mad  to  turn  down  an  invitation  to  re-form  so  I  guess  the  ball  remains  in  Paul's  court .

      

435 Goodbye Bing Crosby* - Peace on Earth / Little Drummer Boy

( * David  Bowie  &  ...  )

Chart  entered : 27  November  1982

Chart  peak : 3  ( 73  on  re-release  in  2007 )

We  now   say  goodbye  to  another  member  of  the  original  chart  cast. For  a  long  time  it  seemed  that  Bing's  chart  career  had  ended  as  Elvis   arrived  with  his  last  hit  being  "Around  The  World"  in  May  1957. Then, eighteen  years  later  , came  the  abysmal  valedictory  shlock  of  "That's  What  Life  Is  All  About"  and  a  memorable  car  crash  appearance  on  Top  of  the  Pops   where   he  distractedly  mumbled  his  way  through   the  song  whilst  leching  at  Pan's  People  limbering  up  on  an  adjacent  stage. The  single  stalled  at  number  41 after  that. Two  years  later  a  re-release  of  "White  Christmas"  reached  number  5  in  the  wake  of  Crosby's  recent  death.

The  pan-generational  duet  was  recorded  in  September  1977.  Bing  was  in  England  to  tour  and record  an  album . He  was   also   recording  a  Christmas  TV  special  at  Elstree  Studios  and  Bowie  was  selected  for  a  guest  spot  because  he  lived  nearby. Bowie ,  at  his  creative  peak  after  recording  Low  and  Heroes  accepted  the  invitation  to  please  his  mum  but  balked  at  the  prospect  of  duetting  on  "Little  Drummer  Boy"  because  he  hated  the  song.  The  show's  writers  Grossman  and  Kohan   quickly  came  up  with  a  counter-melody  and  new  bridge  under  the  title  "Peace  on  Earth"  that  he  could  sing  while  Bing  ambled  through  the  song  proper. Despite  the  lyrics  being  uninspiring  doggerel  Bowie  agreed  to  the  compromise  and  the  pair  recorded  the  song  for  the  show  after  a  couple  of  hours  rehearsal .

It  followed   a  couple  of  minutes'  worth  of  rather  awkward, unfunny  dialogue   between  the  two  and  it's  long  been  speculated  that  Bing  didn't  really  know  who  the  emaciated  young  Englishman  was.  The  pair  then  performed  the  song (s) stood  by  a  piano, the  tired-looking  Bing  leaning  on  it  for  support  and  hardly  glancing  in  his  companion's  direction. He  was  74  and  the  voice  had  diminished; when  Bowie  launches  into  the  first  new  verse his  contribution  drops  to  a  barely  audible  hum  before  they  sing  the  bridge  together.

Bing  never  saw  the  show  broadcast; he  died  just  a  few  weeks  after  recording  it,  of  a  heart  attack  on  a  golf  course  in  Spain. With  Bing  no  longer  around  to  touch  up  his  contribution  in   a  recording   studio  the  song  remained  on  film  alone  until  1982  when  RCA  , with  the  first  new  Bowie  album  for  almost  three  years  ready  to  go,  decided  to  buy  the  rights  and  put  it  out , lo-fi  as  it  was. It  took  its  place   in  a  wretched  end of  year  chart  that  included  other  "classics"  such  as  Rene  and  Renato's  Save Your  Love , Shaky's  Blue  Christmas , Keith  Harris's  Orville's  Song, Cliff's  Little  Town  and  David  Essex's  Winter's  Tale,  something  else  for  New  Pop's  champions  to  quickly  skate  over.

 Bing's  posthumous  reputation  took  a  hammering  after  the  publication  of  his  son  Gary's  book  Going  My  Own  Way  in  1983  which  portrayed  him   as  a  harsh  and  physically  cruel  parent. Other  family  members  supported  or  denied   his  claims  to  varying  degrees  and  Gary  himself  recanted  some  of  it  before  his  death  in  1995  but  the  damage  to  his  image  as  a  home  loving  family  man  was  done.

He's  had  subsequent  hits  with  re-releases  ; "True  Love"  ( 1983 ), "White  Christmas"  ( 1985  and  1998 )  and  this  once  more  ( 2007 ).  
  

434 Hello Marillion - Market Square Heroes

Chart  entered : 20  November  1982

Chart  peak : 53

Number  of  hits : 26

The  notion  of  1982  as  pop's  greatest  year  takes  another  knock  when  you  consider  that  it  was  also  the  year  when  EMI  shelled  out  a  huge  advance  to  secure  a  band  whose  raison d'etre  seemed  to  be  the  resurrection  of  the  sound  of  another , still-thriving,  band  from  a  decade  earlier. What's  more  their  judgement  was  instantly  rewarded  when  this  came  close  to  cracking  the  Top  40.    

Marillion  were  originally  formed  in  1979  as  Silmarillion  after  Tolkien's  least  readable  novel  ( I   made  the  mistake  of  starting  with  it  ). Drummer  Mick  Pointer  from  Buckinghamshire  placed  an  ad  in  the  Melody  Maker   to  form  an  unrepentant  prog  rock  band  which  attracted  Yorkshire  guitarist  Steve  Rothery  and  a  couple  of  others. They  played  their  first  gig  in  Berkhamsted  in  March  1980.  By  the  start  of  1981  they  needed  a  new  singer  and  bassist. After  auditions  they  selected  Derek  "Fish"   Dick  , a  huge  Scottish  lumberjack  who  sounded  uncannily  like  Peter  Gabriel  as  their  vocalist. His  friend  William  Minnitt   joined  on  bass. They  contracted  the  name  to  Marillion  fearing  legal  trouble  with  the  Tolkien  estate.

In  1981  they  were  supported  by  a  band  called  Chemical  Alice  and  noted  the  skills  of  their  Irish  keyboard  player  Mark  Kelly.  Chemical  Alice  had  actually  beaten  them  to  putting  a  record  out  with  a  12  inch  EP  "Curiouser  and  Curiouser"  which  sounds  like  Keith  Emerson  jamming  with  Inspiral  Carpets   but  has  its  moments. With  the  original  keyboard  player   unwilling  to  give  up  his  day  job  Mark  was  poached  to  fill  his  slot. Towards  the  end  of  the  year  they   secured  a  residency  at  the  Marquee  club  and  A  &  R  man  started  to  approach  the  band.

In  March  1982  they  did  a  well  received  session  for  Tommy  Vance  on  Radio  One. The  group  then  decided  Minnitt's  playing  wasn't  up to  scratch  and  Fish  was  dispatched  to  bump  his  mate . He  was  replaced  by  Pete  Trewavas  from  Aylesbury.  Shortly  afterwards  they  signed  on  the  dotted  line  for  EMI.

"Market  Square  Heroes"  was  their  first  attempt  at  writing  a  simpler  song  for  radio  play. It  was  inspired   by  a  real  life  Aylesbury  character  called  "Brick"   and  fantasises   that  he  could  become  a  charismatic  leader  of  the  unemployed. Fish, the  band's  main  lyricist,  was  full  of  these  contradictions , veering  between  sixth  form  fantasy  whimsy  and  almost  Weller-esque  social  commentary  in  the  same  song   just  as  his  listening  tastes  encompassed  both  Yes  and  Joy  Division.  There's  also  a  knowing  nod  to  the  Sex  Pistols   in  the  line  "I  am  your  antichrist  show  me  your  allegiance". Alas  the  music  is  nowhere  near  as  interesting, stuck  resolutely  in  the  early  seventies  with  Mark's  queasy   keyboard  curlicues  the  dominant  element  in  the  sound  along  with  the  face-painted  Fish's  Bremner-esque  impersonation  of  Gabriel. Unlike  Genesis  though  there's  no  pastoral  English  melodic  sweetening  as  the  song  has  no  hooks   whatsoever  and  becomes  a  tuneless  rant  in  the  middle  eight. Nevertheless  EMI's  promotional  muscle  , a  good  value  ( if  you  like  this  sort  of  thing )  12  inch  with  the  17  minute  "Grendel " on  the  B  side  and  the  band's  burgeoning  fanbase  ensured  the  single  made  a respectable  showing.

433 Goodbye Suzi Quatro - Heart of Stone

Chart  entered  : 13  November  1982

Chart  peak  : 60

This  is  an  unexpectedly  early  exit. In  terms  of  a  media  profile,  Suzi's  never  really  gone  away  so  I  wouldn't  have  been  at  all  surprised  if  she'd  had  minor  hits  running  into  the  nineties.

Suzi's  initial  hot  streak  tailed  off, like  glam  itself,  at  the  end  of  1974  and  she  had  a  lean time  in  the  mid-seventies , perhaps  exacerbated  by  her  marriage  to  burly  Len  Tuckey  in  1976, before  switching  to  a  more  country  rock  style  like  labelmates  Smokie  brought  her  another  Top  5  hit  with "If  You  Can't  Give  Me  Love  in  1978. That  year  also  brought  her  a  high  profile  acting  role  as  Leather  Tuscadero  in  Happy  Days. This   crucial  exposure  to  audiences  in  her  homeland  led  to  the  big  duet  hit  with  Chris  Norman, "Stumblin  In"  which  reached  number  4  in  the  US   but  stalled  at  41  here.  Suzi  declined  a  mooted  spin-off  show  for  Leather,  preferring  to  concentrate  on  her  music,  but  after  "She's  In  Love  With  You  "  made  number  11  in  1979  her  fortunes  dipped  markedly  and  she  never  returned  to  the  Top  30. By  1980  she  had  fulfilled  her  contract  with  RAK   and  signed  with  Mike  Chapman's  new  Dreamland  label. After  a  minor  hit  with  "Rock  Hard"  and  two  flops the  label  collapsed  in  1981.

Although  they'd  done  well  in  other  countries  Suzi  had  never  managed  to  sell  her  albums  in  the  UK. Only  her  debut  album  ( a  lowly  32 )  and  a  1980  compilation  charted  at  all  here  so  she  wasn't  a  particularly  attractive  proposition  despite  her  string  of  hits. Nevertheless  Polydor  took  a  punt  on  her  and  this  was  the  first  single  for  them.

"Heart  of  Stone" was  a  co-write  with  sixties  hitmaker  Chris  Andrews  who  was  an  old  friend  of  Tuckey's   and  had  a  studio  near  the  couple's  home. Suzi  was  pregnant  with  their  first  child  Laura  while  recording  it. The  single  may  have  benefited  to  some  extent  from  the  success , a  few  months  earlier , of  Joan  Jett   who  acknowledged   Suzi  as  a  key  influence . "Heart  of  Stone"  is  quite  a  likeable  little  tune  with  its  acoustic  strum   but  it's  too  similar  to  "If   You  Can't  Give  Me  Love"  to  be  memorable  in  its  own  right  and  suggests  that  Suzi  was  running  out  of  ideas.

She  followed  it  up  with  the  title  track  from  her  album , "Main  Attraction"  which  is  in  very  similar  vein .  It  did  nothing  and  Polydor  accepted  they'd  made  a  mistake  in  signing  her. After  a  successful  appearance  at  the  Reading  Festival  in  1983  she  re-signed  for  RAK   and  made  two  singles  with  Mickie  Most. "  I  Go  Wild"    from  July  1984 , after  she'd  given  birth  to  her  second  child  Richard,   is  an  unadventurous  synth-pop  chugger   which  belies  its  title. For  the  second,  "Tonight  I  Could  Fall  In  Love"  in  July  1985,   Suzi  was  given  an  eighties    makeover  such  that  she  was  barely  recognisable  on  the  cover  or  in  the  grooves ,  the  song  being  a  horrible   plodding   Euro-ballad  in  the  Jennifer  Rush  vein.

By  this  time  Suzi  had  dabbled  in  acting  with  appearances  in  Dempsey  and  Makepeace  and  Minder   and  she  now  moved  into  musical  theatre  enjoying  a  successful  run  in  Annie  Get  Your  Gun  in  1986  although  the   single   released  on  the  back  of  it  , "I  Got  Lost  In  His  Arms"  went  nowhere. She  was  on  the  1986  Children  in  Need  single  Heroes  which  didn't  attract  much  attention  then  did  an  absolutely  dreadful    electro-disco  version  of  "Wild  Thing"  with  Reg  Presley  which  is  probably  her  musical  low point. She  was  on  Ferry  Aid's  Let  It  Be but  only  on  the  chorus, her  musical  stock  having  fallen  too  low  to  get  a  solo  line.

By  the  end  of  the  decade  Suzi's  mariage  was  foundering  and  Tuckey  wasn't  featured  on  her  next  album  "Oh  Suzi  Q"  in  1990  which  she  wrote  in  collaboration  with  the  Bolland  Brothers  from  Holland,  best  known  for  writing  Rock  Me  Amadeus for  Falco.   The  first  single  "We  Found  Love"  is bland  Euro-pop  with  shockingly  banal  lyrics.  "Baby  You're  A  Star"  sounds  like  Tranvision  Vamp  but  at  least  that 's  a  style  in  which  she  sounds  comfortable. "Kiss  Me  Goodbye"  is  an  over-produced  Bonnie  Tyler-ish  Hi-NRG  number  but  not  bad  if  you're  partial  to  that  sort  of  thing. She  also  contributed  a  lead  vocal  to  the   song  "Hey  Charly " on  the  Bollands'   Euro-concept  album  "Darwin  The  Evolution"  which  has  a  certain  naff  charm.

None  of  the  singles  did  well  enough  to  sustain  her  so  she  returned  to  the  stage  in  1991  with  a  lead  role  in  a  new  musical  about  Tallulah  Bankhead.  She  also  presented  the  first  of  her   long-running  Rockin  With  Suzi  Q   series  for  Radio  Two. She  finally  got  divorced  to  Tuckey  in  1992. She  went  to  Germany to  record  another  duet  with  Chris  Norman,the  dreary  ballad  "I  Need  Your  Love"  and  met  concert  promoter  Rainer  Hass.  They  married  the  following  year.  Suzi  released  another  single  that  year, the  Holly  Knight  penned  "Fear  of  the  Unknown"  which  is  actually  pretty  good  in  a  US  college  rock  vein.

In  1995  she  reunited  with  Most  for  an  album  mainly  of  re-recorded  old  hits  "What  Goes  Around". The  semi-acoustic  title  track  was  released  as  a  single. After  that  Suzi  became  more  of  a  ubiquitous  TV  personality  who  occasionally  made  records ( including  a  self-help  album  with  faith  healer  friend  Shirley  Roden  in  1999 )  . She  appeared  on  Countdown, Surprise  Surprise  and  Never  Mind  The  Buzzcocks  to  name  a  few.   In  2006  she  dabbled  in  reality  TV  in  Trust  Me  I'm  A  Beauty  Therapist.

That  same  year  she  made   the  album  "Back  To  The  Drive"  with  Sweet's  Andy  Scott, the  title  track  a  deliberate  evocation  of  past  glories  written  by  Mike  Chapman. The  following  year  she  published  her  autobiography  Unzipped  and  released  a  cover  of  "Desperado"  to  mark  it.
Her  most  recent  album  was  2011's  "In  the  Spotlight"  made  with   Chapman  and  Scott  which  included  a  pointed  cover  of  Goldfrapp's  "Strict  Machine"  to  emphasise  its  similarity  to  "Can  The  Can".

Suzi's  now  in  constant  demand  as  a  talking  head  for  music  documentaries, the  deaths  of  Brian  Connolly  , Les  Gray  and  Alvin  Stardust  and  the  , erm ,indisposition   of   Mr  Glitter  having  left  the  popular  end  of  glam  seriously  short  of  spokespeople.

 

432 Hello The Thompson Twins - Lies

Chart  entered  : 6  November  1982

Chart  peak  : 67

Number  of  hits :  16

Well  here  they  come, the  bad  fairies  of  the  New  Pop. Simon  Reynolds  affords  them  just  a  terse  paragraph  but  in  reality  they  followed  the  exact  same  career  path  as  his  beloved  Scritti  Politti , from  student  squat-land  to  the  charts. I  don't  know  anyone  who  liked  them  but  someone  must  have  been  buying  the  records.

The  Thompson  Twins  were  first  formed  in  South  Yorkshire  in  1977. Tom  Bailey  from  Halifax  was  the  singer  and  bass  player, along  with  Pete  Dodd  on  guitar, John  Roog  as  second  guitarist  and  a  drummer  called  Pod  who  decided  to  stay  in  the  north  when  the  band  relocated  to  London. He  was  replaced  by  Andy  Edge  and  then  Chris  Bell  as  the  band  moved  into  squats  in  Fulham  apart  from  Pete  who  managed  to  blag  a  council  flat  nearby.  In  May  1980  they  released  their  first  single  "Squares  And  Triangles"  , the  only release  on  the  Dirty  Discs  label. It  reveals  the  original  (  as  far  as  recording  went  ) quartet  to  be  an  average  New  Wave  outfit  in  thrall  to  XTC. "She's  In  Love  With  Mystery"  six  months  later  on  the  similarly  transient  Latent  label  is  more  of  the  same  with  a  soupcon  of  The  Cure's  phased  guitar  sound.  They  released  one  more  single  as  a  quartet,  "Perfect  Game" , on  their  on  T  label  which  sounds  like  early  eighties  indie  outfit  the   Comsat  Angels  though  it's  more  recognisably  Tom's  voice  out  front.

After that  failed  the  group  changed  tack  and  started  going  for  a  more  percussion-heavy  sound  and  expanded  the  line  up  to  include   their  roadie , under-employed  actor , Joe  Leeway  on  percussion  and  a  female  saxophonist.  At  gigs  they  would  let  audience  members  get  on  stage  and  bang  along  on  anything  handy  which  started  getting  them  some  good  notices  in  the  music  press   as  did  their  left  wing  politics.  Their  next  single  "Animal  Laugh "  released  in  May  1981  was  an  untranslated  chant  from  Sierra  Leone   with  little  else  but  percussion  noises  and  vocals . It  was  never  going  to  storm  the  charts.

A  month  later  they  released  their  first  album  "A  Product  of  ...( Participation )  recorded  with  reggae  producer  Dennis  Bovell. Tom's  girlfriend  and  fellow  squatter,  Alannah  Currie  from  New  Zealand , featured  on  the  recording  though  she  wasn't  yet  considered  a  member  of  the  group.

Apart  from  the  aforementioned  single  and  near-unlistenable  closer  "Vendredi  Saint"   the  tribal  percussion  thing  isn't  very  evident  on  what  is  a  rather  pallid  post-punk  set . Talking  Heads  are  the  dominant  musical  influence  although  the  guitar  sound  seems  to  have  been  borrowed  from  another  London  squat  band  The  Passions  and  the  lyrical  themes  stray  into  Gang  of  Four  love-is-politics  territory. Add  to  that  Tom's  Numanesque  vocals  and  you  have  a  mildly  interesting  stew  of  influences  that  doesn't  invite  a  repeat  play. A  re-mixed  version  of  the  track  "Make  Believe"  with  a  different  producer  Steve  Rowland  which   added  sitars  but  retained  Tom's  off  key  vocals  was  released  as  a  single  the  following  month.

Further  line  up  changes  occurred. Alannah  joined  as  another  percussionist  as  the  sax  player  departed  and  Matthew  Seligman   joined  on  bass,  fatefully  freeing  Tom  to  take  up  the  keyboards. The  seven  piece  line  up  now  signed   a  distribution  deal  with  Arista  before  recording  their  second  album  "Set" with  yet  another  producer  Steve  Lillywhite. They  also  engaged  Thomas  Dolby  to  add  some  synth  work  and  he  occasionally  played  live  with  them
 during  this  period.

Lillywhite's  skills  and  the  band's  greater  confidence   make  "Set", released  in  February  1982,  an  improvement  on its  predecessor  though  they'd  arrived  at  a   good  sound  rather  than  great  songs. Tom  originally  wrote  "In  The  Name  Of  Love"  on  his  synth  as  a  space  filler  on  the  album   but  Arista  liked  it  and  wanted  it  to  be  the  first  single.  Although  again  heavily  derivative  of  Talking  Heads , apart  from  Tom's  hard  flat  vocal  and  the  simple lyric,  it  made  a  big  impression  in  the  US  clubs  and  got  some  radio  play  over  here. It  helped  the  album  reach  number  48  in  the charts. A  re-mix  of  the  single  was  a  minor  hit  in  1988, the  only  one  to  feature  the  seven-piece  line  up.

Despite  these  encouraging  signs  of  progress   the  band's  manager  Tom  Hade  took  the  view  that  as  a  more  synthesizer-based  sound  seemed  the  way  to  go,  the  band  should  be  down-sized.   In  the  New  Pop  era  a  scruffy, raincoat-clad  septet  didn't  look  too  good  . Obviously  Alannah  would  have  to  stay  and  Joe  too  was  felt  to  be  valuable  despite  limited  talent  as  a  musician. In  the  greatest   "Night  of  the  Long  Knives"  act  in  pop  the  remaining  members  were  paid  off  with  £500  and  their  instruments  in  return  for  agreeing  to  relinquish  rights  to  the  name.  A  second  single  from  "Set " ,  the  loping,  slightly  dreary   reggae  of  "Runaway"  was  released  a month  later  to  no  effect.

The  remaining  Twins  went  over  to  The  Bhamas  for  a  busman's  holiday  with   producer  Alex  Sadkin.  "Lies"  was  the  first  fruit  of  this  new  collaboration . They  returned  to  the  UK  to  face  a  fusillade  of  vitriol  from  their  former  champions  in  the  music  press.  They  were  accused  of  betraying  their  ideals  to  jump  on  the  synth  pop  bandwagon  with  Joe  and  Alannah  only  surviving   the  coup  to  facilitate  a  highly  contrived   image   makeover.

Amidst  all  this  the  merits  or  otherwise  of  the  single  itself  were  little  discussed. "Lies"  is  a  catchy  synth  pop  ditty  which  contains  a  mild  discourse  on  the  use  of  falsehoods , closer  to  The  Police's  De  Do Do  Do  De  Da  Da  Da  than  one  of  Scritti's  diatribes. They'd  obviously  noticed  the  success  of  Japan  over  the  past  year,  and  so  "Lies"  incorporates  little  Oriental  motifs  following  the  gratuitous   mentions  of  Japan  and  Saigon  ( plus  a  little  Egyptian  flavouring   after  Cleopatra  is  referenced ).  It's  a  brazen  assault  on  the  charts  with  precious  little  depth  but  melodically  strong  enough  to  be  appealing. However  it  was  up  against  exceptionally  strong  competition   - Mad  World, Talk Talk, Wishing  (If  I  Had  A  Photograph  Of  You ) , Someone  Somewhere  ( In  Summertime )  to  name  but  a  few -   and  had  to  settle  for  a  lowly  placing.  

431 Hello Chris De Burgh - Don't Pay The Ferryman

Chart  entered : 23  October  1982

Chart  peak : 48

Number  of  hits : 15

This  was  the  start  of  the  Irish  babysitter- banger's  chart  career  but  it  also  marked  the  end  of  his  cult  status  as  a  well-kept  secret  among  A-Level  students.  I  remember   copies  of   "Best  Moves "  being  furtively  passed  around  the  Sixth  Form  Centre  like  the  pods  in  Invasion   of  the  Body  Snatchers.

Chris  was  born  Christopher  Davison  in  Argentina  to  a  British  officer  turned  diplomat  and  landowner. His  mother  was  Maeve  De  Burgh,  apparently  related  to  the  aristocratic  dynasty  founded  by  one  of  Henry  II's  freebooters  in  the  twelfth  century  but  probably  not  as  closely  as  Chris  likes  to  think. The  Davisons  moved  into  Bargy  Castle, Wexford  , owned  by  his  grandfather  and  converted  it  into  a  hotel  where  Chris  sang  to  entertain  the  guests.

He  was  signed  by  A  &  M  in  1974  and  went  on  tour  supporting  Supertramp.  His  first  album  "Far  Beyond  These  Castle  Walls"  was  released  that  year. Listening  to  that  and  the  four  succeeding  albums  back  to  back  I  conclude  that  the  young  singer-songwriter  wrote  three  types  of  song  , the  ornately  arranged  romantic  ballad  reminiscent  of  Clifford  T  Ward    though  nothing  as  bad  as  "The  Lady  In  Red" yet,  the  preachy  allegory  in  Moody  Blues  vein  recognisably  Catholic  though  not  overtly  so  and  the  fantasy  or  loosely  historical  narrative  owing  a  lot  to  Al Stewart.  The  first  two  can  sound   a  bit  cloying  given  what  we  now  know  about  him  but  Chris  had  two  aces  up  his  sleeve,  a  strong  and  versatile  voice , though  he  can  be  over-theatrical  as on  student  favourite  "Patricia  The  Stripper"   and  the  knack  of  coming  up  with  a  killer  chorus  as  on  Christmas  perennial  "A  Spaceman  Came  Travelling" . This  is   most  evident  though  on  "In  A  Country  Churchyard"   where  it  lifts  a  sappy  wedding  song  into  Bridge  Over  Troubled  Water  territory.  He's  perhaps  best  sampled  on  the   1981 compilation  "Best  Moves"   which  compiled  the  first  five  albums  ( though  there's  only  one  track  from  1980's  lacklustre "Eastern  Wind" )  and  made  his  first  dent  in  the  UK  charts  reaching  number  65. Hitherto  he'd  been  successful  in  unlikely  places  such  as  Brazil  and  Norway  while  even  in  his  native  Ireland   he'd  been  unable  to  capitalise  on  "A  Spaceman  Came  Travelling"'s  number  one  success.

All  that  finally  changed  with  this  single  and  its  parent  album "The  Getaway". " Don't  Pay  The  Ferryman"  is  a  life-and-death  allegory  with  allusions  to  Greek  mythology. Chris  advises  the  hounded  traveller  not  to  trust  his  hooded  companion  with  admirable  gusto  , sounding  like  Meat  Loaf  at  times  and  producer  Rupert  Hine  turns  up  all  the  knobs  on  his  Fairlight  to  give  the  song  the  dramatic  Trevor  Horn-esque    setting  it  requires.  It's  pure  hokum  but  very  enjoyable. The  song  was  an  international  hit  which  included  giving  him  a  footing  in  the  US  for  the  first  time.