"Amid all the dross being released this fortnight to try to cash in on Christmas, this one stands out as one of the few worth slipping on the turntable at your favourite festive occasion. Dance? You can't help yourself."
— Dave Rimmer
Christmas dross. Yeah, we're all familiar with that, even those of us who have a soft spot for 'em. But we're not simply dealing with John & Yoko's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" and Wizzard's "I Wish I Could Be Christmas Every Day", both covered in this week's singles round up (Rimmer credits the latter with having the "decency to begin with the appropriate sound of a cash registar"); also present are novelty songs, re-releases and timely cover versions. Such a state would endear anyone feel well-disposed to a makeshift catchy dance number to get down to.
Now I don't doubt that Dave Rimmer enjoyed the latest single from soul-funksters Linx but I do have to wonder if it was really his favourite of the bunch. Being a SOTF doesn't necessarily mean that it's the best song on offer, it could be as much to do with its circumstances of release. Being now less than a month away from Christmas, the charts were becoming more seasonal and Rimmer appears to want to take a stand against all that "dross".
Or maybe I'm just not especially thrilled by "Can't Help Myself". There's nothing wrong with it, it's pleasant enough, I could very well dance to it at a Christmas party — even though no one ever dances at Christmas parties, the few I've been to just involve a bunch of people just sitting around getting wasted but maybe that's just the crowd I "run" with — but it's missing something. Rimmer points out that listeners could easily mistake it for a Michael Jackson number and he's not wrong but it's hardly vintage MJ. There's no mixing this up with "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" or "Workin' Day and Night" from the astonishing Off the Wall album. When I mentioned a couple weeks' back about ABC's "Tears Are Not Enough" sounding an awful lot like Chic, I hope I also managed to communicate that they were still able to invest some of their own creativity into it. That's not so much the case with "Can't Help Myself".
An obsession with soul was of the great trends of UK pop in the eighties — as, indeed, we've already begun to see over the last few entries on this blog. While American vocalists such as Anita Baker, Luther Vandross and Alexander O'Neal were busy — alongside their crack writing, studio and production teams — dishing up a storm of intensely passionate cuts and Dexys Midnight Runners were adding some uniquely British industrial town/dole queue grime to the mix, Linx seem stuck, able to adequately ape soul without quite capturing it. Soul dross, if you will.
~~~~~
Also Reviewed This Fortnight
The Human League: "Don't You Want Me"
Surely this isn't the dross Rimmer was referring to. Well... For many the single of the year, let alone for one measly fortnight, "Don't You Want Me" is shrugged off by Rimmer as "the most obvious single on the [Dare] album" but with little analysis. Considering what he says above about Christmas cash in's perhaps he felt as if a fourth single off their latest LP was pushing it (he sees it being a hit "assuming there's anyone out there who hasn't already got [it]"). The fact that such a sure fire smash had been held over until this point was down to leader Philip Oakey considering it to be little more than album filler. Taken aback by this somewhat, I tried to approach it with fresh ears — only to end up having an already overplayed song done to death. I'm beginning to see why Oakey was so dismissive. Having always considered "Don't You Want Me" to be a duet, I was surprised to discover that Susanne Sully's memorable part ("I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar" only works as a line when delivered in a sullen South Yorkshire drawl) is so short. It's as if she's just trying to get a word in over Oakey feeling sorry for himself. If it's ver League by numbers, though, it's important to consider that they were at the peak of their powers and it still works. Dross in the best possible sense.
Or maybe I'm just not especially thrilled by "Can't Help Myself". There's nothing wrong with it, it's pleasant enough, I could very well dance to it at a Christmas party — even though no one ever dances at Christmas parties, the few I've been to just involve a bunch of people just sitting around getting wasted but maybe that's just the crowd I "run" with — but it's missing something. Rimmer points out that listeners could easily mistake it for a Michael Jackson number and he's not wrong but it's hardly vintage MJ. There's no mixing this up with "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" or "Workin' Day and Night" from the astonishing Off the Wall album. When I mentioned a couple weeks' back about ABC's "Tears Are Not Enough" sounding an awful lot like Chic, I hope I also managed to communicate that they were still able to invest some of their own creativity into it. That's not so much the case with "Can't Help Myself".
An obsession with soul was of the great trends of UK pop in the eighties — as, indeed, we've already begun to see over the last few entries on this blog. While American vocalists such as Anita Baker, Luther Vandross and Alexander O'Neal were busy — alongside their crack writing, studio and production teams — dishing up a storm of intensely passionate cuts and Dexys Midnight Runners were adding some uniquely British industrial town/dole queue grime to the mix, Linx seem stuck, able to adequately ape soul without quite capturing it. Soul dross, if you will.
~~~~~
Also Reviewed This Fortnight
The Human League: "Don't You Want Me"
Surely this isn't the dross Rimmer was referring to. Well... For many the single of the year, let alone for one measly fortnight, "Don't You Want Me" is shrugged off by Rimmer as "the most obvious single on the [Dare] album" but with little analysis. Considering what he says above about Christmas cash in's perhaps he felt as if a fourth single off their latest LP was pushing it (he sees it being a hit "assuming there's anyone out there who hasn't already got [it]"). The fact that such a sure fire smash had been held over until this point was down to leader Philip Oakey considering it to be little more than album filler. Taken aback by this somewhat, I tried to approach it with fresh ears — only to end up having an already overplayed song done to death. I'm beginning to see why Oakey was so dismissive. Having always considered "Don't You Want Me" to be a duet, I was surprised to discover that Susanne Sully's memorable part ("I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar" only works as a line when delivered in a sullen South Yorkshire drawl) is so short. It's as if she's just trying to get a word in over Oakey feeling sorry for himself. If it's ver League by numbers, though, it's important to consider that they were at the peak of their powers and it still works. Dross in the best possible sense.
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