— Red Starr
This again? Longtime followers of this blog (cheers for that, by the way) will know that this is the same record that got this whole thing going way back in the spring of 2018. After posting on Tom Tom Club's "Wordy Rappinghood" two weeks ago I finally ran out of early Singles of the Fortnight — both acknowledged and inferred — and I decided to keep it going. Looking back at some of those first few posts on here I was struck by how little I had to say about some of them, how poor the writing was and, most of all, how I had very little idea what I was doing. But now that I am in the swing of this blog I think it's time that I did some revising. This entry is a complete re-write but others may just be edits of what I had previously scribbled — it all just depends on how satisfactory I reckon the originals to be. Links will be included at the bottom for anyone wishing to see what I had posted first time round. In addition, the 'Also Reviewed This Fortnight' section will sometimes cover a completely different secondary record, as is the case this time. As has been the case since February of 2020, these re-dos will be posted on alternate Saturdays.
A big thanks to everyone who has read all or some of this blog, whether out of genuine interest or pity (either way, I'll take it). Readership is low and I've struggled to build it up but I still hope to get more people interested. Please share or give me a comment on here or on social media. I'll even take some harsh criticism over being largely ignored.
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I don't know about you but I have no need to ever see another one of those lists of so-called one-hit wonders. Nor do I have any desire to watch a YouTube video all about the '50 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the Eighties'. I don't even wish to discuss them again once I'm done with this blog post — even if I reserve the right to go back on this promise in the future. One-Hit Wonders? How about 'More Original Discussion Topics on Social Media' instead?
So, yeah, I'm sick of hearing about them. But also, I'm not so sure there's much merit to a run down of one-hit wonders in the first place. For one thing, people tend to focus on the US charts. Dexys Midnight Runners had several hits in their native UK but just the one in America so they qualify, though I don't think I've ever heard the term applied to Styx who only had one hit in Britain. (And this doesn't even get to how an act did in other countries as well) In addition, it ignores the fact that having just one hit single is still better than none. Finally, and most significantly, it doesn't even matter all that much in the end. Are eighties and nineties artists beating themselves up for failing to duplicate their solitary chart success thirty and forty years later in spite of constantly being reminded of such? What good does belittling one of these bands do anyway? Why not celebrate acts on the fringes who were fortunate enough to get themselves on Top of the Pops and in the music mags and who now have fond memories of the experience instead?
The Passions are one such group. Initially on indie label Soho, they got themselves signed to Fiction, longtime home of The Cure. By 1981 they had been upgraded to Polydor, a major that had recently struck gold with The Jam. Not bad progress in the space of two years. (Like their better known label mates, The Passions were from the London area which no doubt helped them get the attention of big name moguls) Clearly someone saw something in them. Had they stayed on a tiny, enthusiast label, there would have been little chance for them on a national level.
were never able to translate the Top 30 performance of "I'm in Love with a German Film Star" from earlier in 1981 into further hits. Frankly, they were probably lucky just to have copped the one so they needn't have been too disappointed that no more were forthcoming. This isn't a knock against them: they put out some terrific singles right from debut release "Needles and Pills" in '79 but they never possessed the key to immediate, radio friendly pop; even "German Film Star" could have easily disappeared without trace. Bassist David Agar admitted to Smash Hits that the band tended to sell far more albums than singles so they knew the score.
Even still, the charts would have been a much better place had there been room for something as out there and as futuristic and as addictive as "Skin Deep" during the summer of 1981. Red Starr describes it as "much more aggressive" than it's more successful and better-remembered predecessor but that's not even the half of it. "German Film Star" could have been done by Young Marble Giants but "Skin Deep" is unlike anything you're likely to hear. If the tribal percussion brings to mind Talking Heads then the layers of guitar effects and robotic voices give it whole new depths. If Barbara Gogan's "indecipherable wailing" makes you think of Cocteau Twins then the steady funk grooves up the enjoyment level considerably. It's as if they were channeling new wave, post punk, blue-eyed soul, industrial, dream pop and world beat — genres and sub-genres that represented pop's past, present and future — all in one.
Yet, few were listening this time round. It's likely that such an intense record turned people off after their ethereal hit. How would it have gone over live though? While newcomers may have tried to tune it out, I can imagine longtime fans going crazy over it. And that's what they had left: a loyal cult following which hopefully grew after their stint of national exposure. Try telling their fans that they were just a one-hit wonder.
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Also Reviewed This Fortnight
Spandau Ballet: "Chant No.1 (I Don't Need This Pressure On)"
The incessant rhythms and slick horns may indicate otherwise but Gary Kemp's clipped guitar playing and Tony Hadley trying just a little too hard to sound like a mix of Bryan Ferry and David Byrne give away that the Spands had glam and new wave values at heart. Or at least they once did. They were quicker out of the gate than New Pop rivals Duran Duran, Culture Club and Wham! but they blew their creative load an awful lot faster as well. Starr likes it in spite of the odd complaint (despite what I said above, I actually kind of like Hadley trying to sound like his idols: it's certainly preferrable to when he sounds too much like himself) and hopes that it's a "sign of better things to come" but I'm not so sure they ever managed to better "Chant No.1". A welcome reminder that these "clothes horses" sure could play though.
(See my original review here)
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