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.
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