Chart entered : 23 February 1985
Chart peak : 5
Number of hits : 12
This duo were one of the few acts from this period to break through on a major label and demonstrate some staying power.
They were no spring chickens. Singer Peter Cox was nearly 30 and instrumentalist Richard Drummie was 25. Both had a long , dispiriting background in pub rock and teamed up with the idea of becoming a studio-based writing partnership rather than a group. They recorded a couple of tracks on a demo , "We Close Our Eyes" and "Call Me" and touted them round. Chaka Khan was mooted for the first one but her producer Arif Mardin vetoed it. However Chrysalis liked the tape and offered them a deal to record themselves. What's more they fronted £90,000 for Godley and Creme to make a video for the first single.
"We Close Our Eyes" is a paean to daydreaming although the constant references to "time slipping away" add a sour edge to the lyric, the product of the duo's years spent running to stand still. Though it now sounds grotesquely over-produced ( by Gary Stevenson ) with the ubiquitous Fairlight brass sound particularly irritating, it's still a decent piece of dance pop with a crisp drum sound and the icing on the cake provided by Peter's Robert Palmer-ish vocals. I liked it enough to buy it and it turned out to be their biggest hit in the UK.
Have to say I quite liked a few of these lad's hits at the time. Totally unhip, of course, and no doubt Go West are sneered at by many, but a decent pop tune is always handy.
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