702 Hello Bjork* - Oops

( *808  State  featuring.... )

Chart  entered : 27  April  1991

Chart  peak : 42

Number  of  hits : 22

And  so  we  enter  the  post-Record  Mirror  era. Although  I  was  already  buying  Q  and  would  stupidly  persevere  with  Smash  Hits  for  another  eight  months  though  it  had  long  since  stopped  catering  to  my  tastes  ( and  was  starting  to  mock  them ), the  absence  of  a  weekly  music  paper  soon  told  and  I  never  felt  quite  as  connected  to  what  was  going  on  thereafter. Of  course  both  Melody  Maker  and  the  NME    survived  but  I  still  associated  the  latter  with  very  pretentious  writing  and  both  were   still  in  the   broadsheet  format  which  meant  that ,  living  at  my  parents'  house, I'd  have  quickly  run  out  of  room  to  store  them.

Bjork  is  another  of  those  artists  who  had  a  cult  following  in  the  eighties  but  rose  to  become  a  mainstream  player  in  the  nineties  without  too  many  compromises. Bjork Guomundsdottir  was  born  in  Reykjavik  in  1965. She  learned  classical  piano  and  flute  at  school. In  1976,  her  school  sent  a  recording  of  her  performance  of  Tina  Charles's  I  Love  To  Love  to  Iceland's  radio  station  and  she  had  a  recording  contract by  the  age  of  11. Her  debut  album  "Bjork"  came  out  in  1977. Her  only  writing  contribution  was  a  recorder  instrumental  and  the  album  included  covers  of  Syreeta's  Your  Kiss  Is  Sweet  and  the  Beatles' Fool  On  The  Hill  translated  into  Icelandic. "Bjork"  isn't  a  worldbeater  but  unlike, say, Dannii  Minogue, she  was  already  a  competent  vocalist  and  her  forays  into  disco, funk  and  reggae  are  not  unpleasant. "Musastiginn"  is  actually  pretty  good.

Bjork  was  offered  the  opportunity  to  make  a  follow  up  but  declined. She  bought  a  piano  with  her  earnings  and  started  writing  her  own  songs. She  became  interested  in  punk  rock  and  formed  a  girl  band  Spit  and  Snot. In  1980  she  dabbled  in  jazz  fusion  with  a  group called  Exodus. In  1982  she  joined  a  Goth / punk  band  called  Tappi  Tikarass  who  were  influenced  by  Siouxsie  and  the  Banshees  and  The  Cure. They  released  one  album  "Miranda",  recorded  in  England, in  November 1983  by  which  time  Bjork  had  quit  to  join  a  more  experimental  outfit  called  Kukl. Kukl  released  two  albums  "The  Eye"  and  "Holidays  in  Europe"  released  on  the  Crass  label, a  result  of  co-vocalist  Einar  Orn's  friendship with  Crass's  members, formed  while  studying  media  at  the  Polytechnic  of  Central  London. Bjork  sang  in  English  for  the  first  time  but  that  doesn't  make  them  any  more  accessible.

In  1986  Bjork  and  Einar  broke  away  from  Kukl  and  along  with  Bjork's  then-husband  Por   Eldon  formed  The  Sugarcubes. Their  first  international  single  was  "Birthday",  released  in  August  1987  on  One  Little  Indian  and  immediately  lauded  by  Peelie  and  the  music  press. It  left  me  pretty  cold  though. It  sounds very  like  The  Cocteau  Twins  with  its  circular  riff, static  drums  and  semi-operatic  vocals. The  lyrics  detail  a  five  year  old's  crush  on  an  adult which  might  have  raised  concerns in  some  quarters  although  they're  hard  to  decipher  on  a  casual  listen. The  song  reached  number  65  in  the  charts. Though  less  celebrated, the  follow-up  "Cold  Sweat",  which  sounds  like  The  Cure  fronted  by  a  Toyah  who's  learned  how  to  sing  in  tune,  did  slightly  better, reaching  number  56.

The  album  "Life's  Too  Good"  was  released  in  April  1988  to  warm  reviews for  its  mixture  of  Goth-leaning  indie  and  playfully  macabre  art  rock. Bjork's  free  form  vocals  and  Orn's  rant-raps  ( notably  absent  from  the  first  two  singles )  are  both  an  acquired  taste  but  underline  the  anarchic  intent  behind  the  band   which  was  not  conceived  as  a  commercial  project. The  group  were  taken  by  surprise  at  the  attention  they  received. The  third  single  "Deus" , a  playful  avowal  of  atheism , sounds  like  10,000  Maniacs  although  Orn's  spoken  word  sections  also  put  me  in  mind  of  Are  Friends  Electric ?  It  inched  them  closer  to  the  Top  40  by  reaching  number  51.   Next  came  a  re-recording  of  "Birthday"  which  reached  exactly  the  same  position  second  time  around.

The  album  reached  number  14 in  the  UK  and  54  in  the  USA. The  band  set  to  work  on  a  follow-up that  they  hadn't  envisaged  making. That  was  "Here  Today, Tomorrow  Next  Week"  released  in  September  1989. Although  it  did  much  the  same  business  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic, it  had  a  much  cooler  reception  from  the  critics. This  was  partly  down  to  Orn's  greater  role  in  proceedings  but  also  the  Talking  Heads  meets  Captain  Beefheart  territory  it  explored   meant  it  was  less  inventive  and  more  uniform   than  its  predecessor  and  the  lack  of  melody  grates  as  the  album  wears  on. "Regina " , with  Orn's  Monster  Mash  rants   about  not  liking  lobster,  was  a  pretty  challenging  first  single   and  stalled  at  number  58.   The  messed  up  calypso  of  "Tidal  Wave  " with  another  prominent  splurge  of  nonsense  from  Orn    and  relatively  accessible  "Planet"  failed  to  chart  as  singles.

The  band  were  somewhat  shaken  by  the  negative  response  to  the  LP  and  put  themselves  on  ice  after  the  tour  finished  in  1990,  hoping  they  might  be  able  to  wriggle  free  of  their  contractual  obligation  to  deliver  another  album. Bjork  released  an  album  of    acoustic  jazz  covers  in  Icelandic  "Gling-Glo"  in  the  autumn  of  1990. That's  also  when  she  met  the  guys  from  808  State  on  The  Word  and  was  invited   to  contribute  to  their  third  album. Bjork  is  featured  on  two  tracks, both  of  which  were  existing  instrumentals  on  which  she  improvised  a  vocal.

"Oops"  was  chosen  as  the  third  single. I  like  the  New  Order-ish  intro  which  promises  a  decent  tune  but  it  all  goes  downhill  from  there.  The  guitars  drop  out   and  Bjork  extemporises  over  a   listless   funky  drum  beat  accompanied  by  big  piano  chords  , jazz  trumpet  and  ambient  keyboard  noises. The  song  is  about  sexual  promise  and  is  delivered  in  her  usual  unrestrained  style  with  no  regard  for  melody. To  me  it  sounds  like  free  form  drivel  and  it  certainly  brought  808  State's  run  of  Top  20  hits  to  an  abrupt  end; they  would  rarely  return. It's  hard  not  to  conclude  that  she  got  more  out  of  the  liaison  than  they  did . Graham  Massey  worked  up  a  number  of  the  songs  that  went  on  her  breakthrough  album  "Debut"  but  was  dropped  when  she  chose  Nellee  Hooper  as  producer  and  received  no  credit  on  the  album. In  fairness,  she  did  bring  him  back  into  the  fold  for  the  follow-up  "Post"   and  they  remain  friends.

701 Goodbye Japan* - Blackwater

( * as  Rain  Tree  Crow )

Chart  entered : 30  March  1991

Chart  peak : 62

Japan  had  a  fairly  unique  chart  career. As  they  only  became  popular  when  they  were  on  the  point  of  breaking  up, half  their  hits  were  re-releases. Guitarist  Rob  Dean  was   let  go  in  the  summer  of  1981  as  their  new  music  did  not  require  him  and  so  the  band  appeared  on  Top  of  the  Pops  a  few  months  later  to  perform  their  breakthrough  hit, a  re-release  of  "Quiet  Life",  without  anyone  to  mime  his  guitar  parts. They  then  released  their  highly-acclaimed  "Tin  Drum"   album  which  yielded  the  Top  5  hit  "Ghosts"  in  April  1982. However  tension  in  the  band  reached  a  breaking  point  when  singer David  Sylvian  relieved  bassist  Mick  Karn  of  his  girlfriend. Both  men  had  already  released  solo  material  when  the  band  announced  their  split  in  1982. Since  then  David's  profile  had  shrunk  to  being  a  cult  concern, Mick  had  joined  up  with  ex-Bauhaus  front  man  Pete  Murphy  in  Dali's  Car, a  project  that  became  a  byword  for  arty  pretension  though  their  album  is  not  as  bad  as  their  reputation  would  suggest  and  drummer  Steve  Jansen  and  keyboard  player  Richard  Barbieri   put  out  an  ignored  album  as  The  Dolphin  Brothers  in  1987.

That  same  year  Mick  and  David  had  a  minor  hit  together  with  "Buoy"  and  with  the  main  antagonists  now  talking  a  reunion  of  the  "Tin  Drum"  line  up  was  agreed  and   they  commenced  work  on  an  album  in  September  1989. The  idea  was  to  make  a  commercial  record  under  a  new  name  Rain  Tree  Crow  to  lose  the  baggage  of  the  past. As  the  work  veered  off  in  a  less  commercial  direction  and  went  over  budget,  Virgin  pressed  them  to  re-adopt  the  name  Japan. Mick, Steve  and  Richard  were  comfortable  with  the  suggestion  but  David  dug  his  heels  in  and  they  remained  Rain  Tree  Crow.

They  finally  re-emerged  with  this  single. It  is  recognisable  as  a  continuation  of  Japan's  latter-day  work  although  without  the  overtly  Oriental  influences  on  "Tin  Drum". "Blackwater"  is  a  mournful  ballad  although  not  as  funereal  as  "Ghosts"  with  David  indulging  his  usual  penchant  for  travel  metaphors. It  might  be  about  death  or  just  his  own  personal  restlessness. It  rests  on  Steve's  chattering  percussion  with  understated  bass  and   Bill  Nelson  contributing  some  atonal  guitar  howls  for  extra  colour. It  has  a  decent  chorus  but  it  probably  was  too  diffuse  to  make  a  big  impact  after  so  long  away  and  handicapped  by  their  disguise.

The  eponymous  album  followed  a  month  later  and  reached  number  24  in  the  UK. It's  an  impressive  piece  of  work   treading  in  the  same  moody  territory  as  Talk  Talk  and  Peter  Gabriel   although  it  largely   moves  at  the  same  stately  pace  throughout  and  one  or  two  of  the  instrumental  tracks  disappear  up  their  own  backside. "Every  Colour  You  Are"  and  "Pocket  Full  of  Change"  would  have  made  reasonable  candidates  for  a  follow  up  single  but  the  rest  of  the  band  were  angered  when  they  realised  that  David  had  unilaterally  tweaked  what  they  had  thought  to  be  the  final  mix   and  didn't  want  to  prolong  the band's  existence  by  releasing  further  material.

We'll  come  back  to  David  in  due  course.

Mick  kept  the  wolf  from  the  door  with  session  work  and  released  a  string  of  esoteric  solo  albums  often  featuring  Steve, Richard  and  his  guitarist  friend  David  Torn. The  four  of  them  toured  Japan  in  the  early  nineties  playing  instrumental  sets. In   1997  they  set  up  the  Medium  Productions  label  to  release  their  work  in  various  combinations. After  2005  his  work  was  released  on  his  own  label  MK. With  his  fretless  bass  style  out  of  fashion  for  session  work  he  moved  to  Cyprus  and  began  to  struggle  financially. He  published  an  autobiography  in  2009. He   reunited  with  Murphy  for  another  Dali's  Car  album  in  2010  but  was  overtaken  by  cancer  and  could  only  complete  enough  material  for  an  EP "In GladAloneness" , produced  by  Steve  who  also  drummed  on  the  sessions , released  after  his  death  in  August  2010. Its  edgy    art  rock  wasn't   going  to  set  the  charts  alight  in  2011.

Richard's  main  employment  was  in  the  prog  rock  band  Porcupine  Tree  from  1993  to  2010  who  started  becoming  popular  with  their  last  couple  of  albums  although  never  scoring  a  hit  in  the  singles  chart. The  band  has  been  on  hiatus  since  2010  with  singer  Steve  Wilson  pursuing  a  solo  career. Since  then  Richard  has  released  a  couple  of  albums  with  Marillion's  Steve  Hogarth  and  released  his  third  solo  album  of  abstract  electronica   "Planets +  Persona"  earlier  this  year .

Unlike  his  other  band  mates  Steve  has  worked  with  David  ( his  brother  of  course )  since  Rain  Tree  Crow  and   the  first  of  three  experimental  solo  albums," Slope"  in  2007  was  released  on  David's  label  Samadhi  Sounds. He  is  still  in  high  demand  as  a  producer  and  session  drummer. He  also  continues  to  dabble  in  photography.

Rob  became  a  session  guitarist  and  worked  with  Gary  Numan, Sinead  O'  Connor  and  on  some  of  the  albums  released  by  the  ex-Japan  trio. He  was  also  briefly  involved  with  two  flop  bands  in  the  eighties, Vivabeat  and  Illustrated  Man.  He  seems  to  have  left  the  music  business  around  the  turn  of  the  millennium  and  now  lives  in  Costa  Rica  where  he  illustrates  bird  guides.

700 Hello Dannii Minogue - Love and Kisses

Chart  entered : 30  March  1991

Chart  peak : 8

Number  of  hits : 21

It's  hard  not  to  treat  Dannii  with  the  special  contempt  reserved  for  the  untalented  sibling; I'd  put  her  just  above  Paul  Ross  on  the  food  chain  if  only  because  the  talent  gap  isn't   quite  as  wide. Still,  21  hits  is  a  respectable  total  when  all's  said  and  done.

Like  her  older  sister , Dannii  first  made  her  mark  as  a  child  actress  on  Australian  soaps  like  Skyways  and  The  Sullivans. In  1982  when  she  was  11  she  joined  the  troupe  on  Young  Talent  Time  which  seems  to  have  been  an  Oz  version  of  Mini- Pops.  Her  karaoke  ( and  that's  being  kind )  versions  of   Material  Girl  , The  Final Countdown  and   Wang  Chung's  Let's  Go  can  be  found  on  cast  albums  released  at  the  time. In  1988, her  final  year  on  the  show, she  successfully  launched  a  line  of  clothing  based  on  the  outfits  in  which  she  performed.

In  1989  she  had  a  year  on  the  youth-oriented  soap  Home  and  Away   playing  a  punky  teenager. On  the  back  of  that,  she  signed  with  Mushroom  Records  in  Australia   and  started  releasing  records  the  following  year. As  there  was  a  time  lag  between  the  broadcasts  of  the  soap  in  Australia  and  the  UK,  the  launch  of  her  musical  career  here  was  delayed  until  her  episodes  began  screening  here  at  the  start  of  1991. The  singles  were  released  in  the  same  order  although  her  debut  LP  "Dannii"  was  tweaked  and  re-titled  "Love  and  Kisses".

The  song  was  her  debut  single  in  both  hemispheres.  It  was  written  by  New  York  dance  producer  Alvin  Moody  and  recorded  there. The  song  is  utterly  mediocre  house-by-numbers; it  would  have  struggled  to  make  the  B-side  of  Madonna's  Vogue. The  only  thing  that  stands  out  is  the  sheer  wretchedness  of  Dannii's  vocal. She  sounds  like  a  10-year  old  with  a  peg  on  her  nose   and  it's  painful to  listen  to  her  whining  her  way  through  it. I  don't  know  who  the  guy  who  joins  her  in  the  rap  section  is  but  he's   just  as  inept. She  performed  it  on  Top  of  the  Pops   in  an  outfit  that  unwisely  displayed  her  rather  round  navel  but  that  didn't  stop  it  making  the  Top  10  either.     

699 Goodbye Hazell Dean - Better Off Without You

Chart  entered : 23  March  1991

Chart  peak : 72

Hazell  was  the  next  SAW  alumnus  to  depart  the  chart.

Hazell  had  sought  out  their  services  after  hearing  their  work  with  Divine. It  was  a  lucky  break  for  the  trio  as  she'd  just  scored  a  Top  10  ht  with  gay  disco  anthem  "Searchin'"  and  her  first  single  with  them,  "Whatever  I  Do",  reached  number  4  in  1984 , their  first  Top  10  hit. Hazell  struggled  to  maintain  this  success  although  her  1985  minor  hit  "They  Say  It's  Gonna  Rain"  was  very  popular  in  Yorkshire  and  reached  number  one  in  South  Africa. In  the  wake  of Kylie  and  Rick's  success   she  got  a  second  wind  in  1988  and  reached  number  4  again  with  "Who's  Leaving  Who". With  her  album  "Always"  making  only  a  minor  mark  on  the  chart  EMI  let  her  go  but  Stock  Aitken  and  Waterman  continued  to  work  with  her.

"Better  Off  Without  You"  was  her  second  release  on  the  Lissom  label. The  song  was  written  by  the  trio  and  had  already  been  recorded  by  Lonnie  Gordon  for  her  debut  album. Despite  that, I  always  felt  that   the  guys  tried  that  little  bit  harder  when  it  was  Hazell  in  the  booth. "Better  Off  Without  You"  is  instantly  recognisable  as  them  but  they've  given  her  a  couple  of  decent  backing  singers  in  Mae  McKenna  and  Miriam  Stockley  and  Matt  Aitken  plays  an  unexpected  fuzz  guitar  solo  in  the  middle  eight. It's  one  of  their  better  records  but  the  tide  was  inexorably  moving  away  from  them  by  this  point.

Hazell, a  level-headed  pragmatist,  recognised  that  as  much  as  anyone  and  amicably  parted  company  with  them.  She  appeared  - and  was  one  of  the  six  cover  stars - on  The  Sun's  flop  charity  single  "As  Time  Stood  Still"  by  Gulf  Aid  alongside  such  musical  giants  as  David  O' Leary  and  John  Conteh. She  also  provided  backing  vocals  on  Samantha  Janus's  1991  Eurovision  entry  " A Message  To  Your  Heart" .

She  then  started  working  with  Ian  Levine  and  for  the  past  25  years  has  beavered  away  under  the  radar  on  the  hi-NRG / gay  disco  scene. She  came  closest  to  making  the  charts  again  with  her  version  of  "The  Winner  Takes  It  All"  from  her  1996  album  of  Abba  covers. She  also  helped  Levine  wrote  some  songs  for  boy  band  Bad  Boys  Inc. This  decade  she's  been  much  more  active  as  a  recording  artist  with  a  steady  stream  of  albums  and  singles  available  through  her  website  on  the  boutique  Energise  label . She  also  appears  at  Rewind  festivals. Her  time  clearly  isn't  going  to  come  round  again  but  she's  a  trooper.      

698 Hello Ocean Colour Scene - Yesterday Today

Chart  entered : 23  March  1991

Chart  peak : 49

Number  of  hits : 21

This  lot  are  unfortunately  best  remembered  for  attracting  one  of  the  most  lethal  musical  insults  of  all  time.

Ocean  Colour  Scene  came  out  of  the  Midlands  mod  scene  in  the  eighties.Guitarist  Steve  Cradock  ( born  1969 )  formed  a  band  called  The  Boys  in  1988  with  school  friends  from  Solihull. They  were  mainly  a  covers  band  but  released  an  EP,  "Happy  Days",  which  I  haven't  heard, on  their  own  label. They  also  supported  Steve  Marriott  and   tried  to  attract  Paul  Weller's  interest. At  the  same  time  vocalist  Simon  Fowler, bassist  Damon  Minchella  and  drummer  Oscar  Harrison  were  in  a  band  called  Fanatics  who  released  an  EP  "Suburban  Love  Songs",   tracks  of  undistinguished  power  pop  and  a  more  promising  song  called  "My  Brother Sarah"  which  OCS  later  polished  up. Fortuitously,  both  groups  split  up  around  the  same  time  and  Steve  joined  up  with  the  ex-Fanatics  trio  to  form  Ocean  Colour  Scene  late  in  1989.

They  signed  with  the  !Phfft  label  in  1990  and  released  their  first  single  "Sway"  towards  the  end  of  the  year.  The  lyrics  could  have  come  straight  from  Secret  Affair  with  Simon  repeatedly  demanding  a  "piece  of  the  action"  but  otherwise  they  sound  like  baggy  bandwagon  jumpers  with  the  funky  drumming  and  wah-wah  guitar  sound. Simon  can  sing  and  Steve  can  play  but  the  song  is  terribly  uninspired. They  got  to  perform  it  on  The  Word   which  raised  their  profile.

"Yesterday  Today"  was  their  next  single. Again,  the  fear  of  the  future  lyrics  seem  to  have  been  written  for  a  re-make  of   Quadrophenia  while  the  music  sounds  imported  from  the  Stone  Roses'  debut  album. It  wouldn't  be  so  bad  if  the  song  had  a  decent  hook  but  it's  just  competent  and  dull  -  second  division  as  well  as  second  hand. They  got  to  perform  it  on  BBC2's  indie  rock  show  Snub  which  may  have  given  it  the  necessary  push  to  sneak  into  the  charts.

697 Hello Shabba Ranks* - She's A Woman

(* Scritti  Politti featuring..... )

Chart  entered : 16  March  1991

Chart   peak : 20

Number  of hits : 10

This  isn't  going  to  be  easy  having  no  understanding  of  this  guy's  art. Why  anyone  thinks  shouted  interjections  improve  a  song  remains  a  mystery  to  me.

Rexton  Gordon  was  born  in  Jamaica  in  1966. He  gained  fame  as  a   toaster  on  the  dancehall  scene. In  1988  he  shared  an  LP  "Rough  and  Rugged "  with  his  contemporary  Chaka  Demus. Shabba  does  his  thing  over  five  tracks  with  minimal  piano  or  synth  backing concluding  with  the  rampantly  homophobic  "No  Mama  Man". This  was  followed  up  by  "Rappin'  With  The  Ladies"  where  he  toasts  over  records  by  female  reggae  artists  such  as  J C  Lodge  and  Debra  Glasgow. His  theme  is  usually  what  a  good  lover  he  is. All  of  the  tracks  would  sound  better  without  him  for  my  money  but  there  you  go.

In  1989  he  released  the  single  "Peanie  Peanie"  a  plodding  but  relentless, incomprehensible  advertisement  for  the  Jamaican  party  scene. The  following  year  he  released  his  second  album  "Just  Reality".  Titles  like  "Wicked  Inna Bed". "The  Rammer"  and  "Crab  Louse  A  Go  Round"  speak  for  themselves  but  there's  also  some  political  consciousness  on  traks  like  "Mandela  Free "  and  the  single  "Roots  and  Culture".

Scritti  Politti's  Green  Gartside  had  always  been  interested  in  reggae  and  contacted  Shabba  to  guest  on  his  cover  of  the  Beatles's  "She's  A  Woman" ( the  B-side  to  I  Feel  Fine ). It  was  the  first  Scritti  single  for  nearly  three  years. It's  set  to  a  twitchy  electronic  dance  rhythm  rather  than  reggae  with  Green  singing  the  song  straight  in  his  usual  breathy  style and  Shabba  interjecting, usually  with  dance  slogans, when  he  sees  fit. Without  being  a  fan  of  either  party  and  the  song  being  a  lesser  item  in  the  Beatles  canon, I can  only  listen  to  it  with  complete  indifference.

696 Goodbye Feargal Sharkey - I've Got News For You

Chart  entered : 16  March  1991

Chart  peak : 12

The  first  of  the  Undertones'  diaspora  to  disappear  from  the  chart  was  their  singer.

The  Undertones's  decline  had  been  surprisingly  swift . The  public seemed willing  to  accept  more  thoughtful  songs  such  as  It's  Going  To  Happen" which  reached   number  18  in  May  1981  but  the  follow-up  "Julie  Ocean"  was  just  too  diffuse  and  failed  to make  the  Top  40  despite  the  band  performing  it   on  Top  of  the  Pops  ( their  last  appearance ). Thereafter , their  fall  from  grace  was  emphatic. The  standalone  single  "Beautiful  Friend" didn't make  it  out  of  the  Bubbling  Under  section  at  the  beginning  of  1982  and  their  fourth  album "The  Sin  of  Pride"  the  following  year  could  only  make  number  43  as  all  three  of  its  singles flopped. The  band  tried  to  revive  it  by  touring  but  to  the  general  relief  of  all  Feargal   announced  he  was  quitting  and  the  band  was  put  to  bed  in  the  summer  of  1983. A compilation LP   "All  Wrapped  Up"  released  a  few  months  later  emphasised  the  lack  of interest  in  the  band  by   peaking  at  67  although  it  wasn't  helped  by  a  hideous  sleeve. "Teenage  Kicks  "  was  re-released  and  reached  number  60.

Although  he  only  qualifies  for  this  blog  by  including  the  Undertones'  hits , Feargal  still  had  a  more  successful  solo  career  than  I  was  expecting. He  has  just  one  writing  credit  in  the  Undertones  catalogue, his  voice  wasn't  to  everyone's  taste and  he  was  coming  out  of  a  band  that  had  mislaid  its  audience.  However , he  hit  big  later  in  the  year  as  the  first  ( and,  as  it  turned  out, only )  guest  singer  for  Vince  Clarke's  Assembly  project  on  the  number 4 hit  "Never  Never".  He  then  teamed  up  with  Madness  whose  Carl  Smyth  wrote  his  first  solo  single  "Listen  To  Your  Father "  a  number  23  hit  in  the  autumn  of  1984  released  on  Madness's  label  Zarjazz. Zarjazz  was  financed  by  Virgin  and  Feargal  decided  to  cut  out  the  middle  men  and  sign  for  Virgin  directly. The  following  year  he  was  at  number  one  with   a  synth-pop  cover  of   Maria  McKee's  song  "A  Good  Heart"   and  his  debut  LP  reached  number  12.  Feargal  took  too  long  over  the  follow-up  "Wish"   which  failed  to  chart  after  its  lead  single  "More  Love"  had  turned  tail  at  number  44  in  1988.

"I've  Got  News  For  You"  was  the  lead single  from  his  next  album  "Songs  from  the  Mardi  Gras" . It  seems  like  Feargal's  got  a  touch  of  the  blues  as  it  sounds  like  Fleetwood  Mac's  Need  Your  Love  So  Bad    over  the  guitar  riff  from  Unchained  Melody  . The  song  was  co-written  with  Dennis  Morgan and  is  a  lament  for  a  girl  in  the  arms  of  another.  Feargal's  vocals  never  lack  passion  but  the  effect  is  somewhat  neutered  by  a  cheesy  sax  solo.

 It  helped  the  album  reach  number  27 . It's  an  eclectic  set  from  the  Latin-tinged  title  track  to  Erasure-styled  synth  pop   on  "Sister  Rosa "There  were  two  more  singles ,  a  stab  at  blue-eyed  soul  with  "Women  &  I"  and  another, more  faithful,   Maria  McKee  cover  "To  Miss  Someone"  but  lightning  didn't  strike  twice.

The  failure  of  the  two  follow-up  singles  seems  to  have  convinced  Feargal  that  his  future  as  a  recording  artist  wasn't  bright  enough  to  justify  the  effort . In  1992   he  took  a job  as  an  A  &  R  man  at  Polydor  then  became  managing  director  at  EXP. In  1998  he  began  a  five  year  stint  as  a  member  of  the  Radio  Authority.

To  no  one's  surprise,  he  turned  down  the  invitation  to  rejoin  the  revived  Undertones  in  1999.

In  2004  he  joined  the  government's  task  force  the  Live  Music  Forum. He  criticised  the  police's  requirements  for  live  music  events. In  2008  he  became  chair  of  UK   Music  until  he  resigned  in  2011. He  has  been  repeatedly  recognised  as  a  major  player  in  the  music  industry  although   he's  currently  on  an  extended  sabbatical  with  his  family .