— Tim De Lisle
This entry finishes completes the eighties on this blog. I started off just over four years ago with "Skin Deep" by The Passions which was the Single of the Fortnight at the beginning of July, 1981 and Tom Tom Club's "Wordy Rappinghood" finishes things off — except that from this point on I am going to go about revising those early posts, beginning with (you guessed it) "Skin Deep" by The Passions. Full circle or something.
The occasion is an appropriate opportunity to take stock. From Philip Rambow at the start of 1980 all the way through to Neneh Cherry at the end of 1989 there have been over two hundred acts who have taken at least one SOTF. Many are notable, some have been largely forgotten over time and a few weren't even very well known back then. Other groups and singers who were popular at the time — some of whom even grace the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame — missed out entirely. For example, New Order failed to get a single top new release honour (though they will be appearing eventually). Neither did Phil Collins. Also Spandau Ballet. And Talking Heads.
The "Psycho Killer" band were critical darlings and they still have a very loyal fanbase, one that would be overjoyed in the unlikely event that they ever reform and go on tour again. Yet they weren't exactly chart regulars, their sole British Top 40 success up to this point being "Once in a Lifetime" earlier in 1981. (Subsequent 45's like "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)" and a live "Slippery People" came up short while "Burning Down the House" somehow missed the charts completely) This probably didn't bode well for a single by side project headed (PUN!) by rhythm section and longtime couple Chris Franz and Tina Weymouth.
Yet somehow or other "Wordy Rappinghood" became a Top 10 in the UK hit that summer. Being far more fun than anything Talking Heads had released to date no doubt helped and I imagine it struch a chord with the British who are typically suckers for catchy novelty pop. Fair enough and well done to them but it grates at least as much as it charms. Weymouth is no one's idea of a brilliant vocalist (she manages to sound child-like on the Tom Tom Club's cover of "Under the Boardwalk" but her rapping on this track has a faint drawl of an old lady with a smoker's cough) and the song doesn't have the flamboyance of ver Heads' best work. I suppose "Wordy Rappinghood" is clever to an extent but the joke wears thin before its four-and-a-half-minute playing time is even up. David Byrne has a gift for making his intelligence and quirks seem compelling but there's nothing that comes close that on here. But she does a verse in French! Yes, and Talking Heads were doing that back in 1977 on the famed "Psycho Killer". If Franz and Weymouth were happy to remain in the shadow of their more acclaimed day job then they succeeded.
Byrne was said to have been cool towards the Tom Tom Club being so commercial and I can sort of see his point. (Assuming this is how he actually felt: Franz and Weymouth have been critical of the singer but he's been largely silent about them; he evidently didn't despise them enough to prevent their American hit "Genius of Love" from being included in their famed Stop Making Sense concert film and soundtrack) Talking Heads would go a little more mainstream over the course of the eighties — "Road to Nowhere" would finally break them in the UK Top 10 and there's no denying the pop bona fides of "Burning Down the House" — but their records never sounded cheap. Tom Tom Club records have their charms but all too often they fell into the They Might Be Giants trap of smart people deliberately making disposable music. Before long, people begin to dispose of it — often well before they've ditched the genuine bubblegum pop in their collections.
I as mentioned above, Franz and Weymouth have spoken bitterly about Byrne over the years. They clearly still admire his talent but she has stated that he is "incapable of returning friendship". For his part, Byrne didn't refute this, claiming that "bad blood" remains and that musically speaking they're "miles apart". "Word Rappinghood" only suggests that this has always been the case even if Talking Heads were all the better off because of it.
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Also of some cop
Robert Palmer: "Not a Second Time"
Another one without a SOTF to his name, Robert Palmer had his ups and downs over the course of the eighties. He would later butcher classics by both Bob Dylan ("I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" along with fellow cover version fiends UB40) and Marvin Gaye (a very lame, very depressing medley of "What's Going On" and "I Want You") but he and his backing group give the Lennon-McCartney cut from the With The Beatles album the respect it deserves. Rob even added a verse ("You say you spoke too soon / And now you want to change your tune...") that doesn't sound out place. Tim De Lisle hopes it will be a "massive hit" but it disappeared without a trace, either suggesting that (a) the British were done with Beatles/Lennon product six months' after John's horrifying murder and subsequent deluge of product or (b) Palmer was right to have a go at better known rock hits of the past that he could lay waste to and score hits with. The Power Station's ghastly cover of "Get It On" was just right around the corner...
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