— Marc Andrews
1990 draws to a close with a barely remembered remix of a classic eighties' pop song. A bit of an anticlimactic way to finish off a year? Possibly but it is all too appropriate as well. It is the tenth Single of the Fortnight to be either a reissue, a remix/re-recording or a cover version — and that's not including Salt-n-Pepa's "Expression", which would go on to be remixed in order to give it further chart life, and FAB featuring Aqua Marina's "Stingray Megamix", which was crafted in the spirit of DJs tinkering with samples and the like. Looking to recall the fresh sounds of the early nineties? Don't go flipping through the singles reviews in Smash Hits from this time.
But things weren't any better on the charts. Of the seventeen UK number ones that year, four were covers, four more were reissues and one relied heavily upon the bassline of a familiar chart topper from nearly ten years' earlier. Yes, there were cutting edge artists out there but clearly the public weren't all that keen: they had loads of old stuff to be buying — and boy did the record companies who were gearing up for the 1990 Christmas rush know it. In addition to this 1991 remix of "Smalltown Boy", Marc Andrews has plenty of other shenanigans to deal with. Megamixes from Black Box and the cast of the 1978 movie Grease were just crying out to be reviewed as well as the pointless Robert Palmer medley of Marvin Gaye hits "What's Going On" and "I Want You". Somehow or other, two of these records did well (the one by Black Box didn't) so there was an appetite for such stuff.
Not that all that many purchased this one, even though so many did the first time round. "Smalltown Boy" had first emerged in June of 1984 and it must have seemed like a sure-fire number one smash. Unfortunately, its rightful place was denied by Frankie Goes to Hollywood's unstoppable "Two Tribes". (It was even kept from the runner up spot by Wham!'s "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" which was clinging on) The charts were loaded with quality at this time and so for Bronski Beat to get into the Top 3 with their debut single was no small accomplishment. Jimmy Somerville's falsetto was so affecting that it gave them a big hit all over the world, except for in the US where hints of it being a gay rights anthem likely turned off radio station programmers.
Somerville's career took off even after he left Bronski Beat. He quickly teamed up with Richard Coles to form The Communards, another highly successful synth-pop group. While they would go on to have a number on with "Don't Leave Me This Way", they were never able to top "Smalltown Boy". I've written before that The Communards were more in their element when they were doing cover versions than when they tried to go political but Somerville more than made up for it with "Read My Lips (Enough Is Enough)". Although only a Top 30 hit in early 1990, it proved to be his finest gay rights anthem since "Smalltown Boy".
He was only in Bronski Beat and The Communards for short spells and had just one solo album under his belt but the decision was nevertheless made to put out a compilation. While I'm less keen on the likes of Bryan Ferry (he's guilty of trying to make his solo career appear to be on an equal footing with that of Roxy Music) and Sting (just sad) doing so, this is an instance in which I can understand putting out a greatest hits that mixes material from both group and solo artist. It's also a fine collection, ruined only slightly by a lousy cover of The Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody". Bronkski, Communards and Somerville albums are hit and miss affairs but they all had their moments on 45.
Not on The Singles Collection 1984/1990 is this remix of "Smalltown Boy", yet it was still released as a single to promote it. Andrews is so pleased that (a) an old favourite is back (BACK!!) and (b) it has only been remixed and not canabalized into a ghastly megamix he doesn't even bother mentioning the altered credits. If 'Jimmy Somerville with Bronski Beat' seems akin to issuing "Yesterday" by 'Paul McCartney with The Beatles', ver Hits only makes it that much more grievous by marking it down as a straight up Somerville solo outing. While relegating Bronski to a guest star role is unfortunate, the pop kids of the early nineties were more likely to flock to a product with Jimmy's name on it than an outfit that had become a bit of a relic.
Speaking of which, fellow eighties' pop veterans ABC had issued their first compilation album earlier that year. Titled Absolutely, it brought together their dozen Top 40 hits along with a few remixes. One of them was "The Look of Love". A highlight of their still remarkable Lexicon of Love album, it had been re-jigged into a depressing and tuneless mess. The group did not sanction its remixing and were said to be against its inclusion on Absolutely but record label priorities won out. The single failed to chart mostly because it sucks something awful.
It was perhaps with this disaster in mind that ace synth-pop producer Stephen Hague was commissioned to give a tasteful update to "Smalltown Boy" for the Somerville comp. The drum machines are sharper and Hague has transformed it into more of a floor-filler but the essence of the song remains. Unless you play it and the original back-to-back you probably wouldn't even notice the difference. The worst I can say for it is that it sounds like "Smalltown Boy" had it been recorded in 1990, rather than in '84. And this is the how the best remixes succeed: they may have been touched up by a producer and/or DJ but they retain what made them great all along and even manage to sound like the group or artist behind them could have recorded them in their remixed form.
"Smalltown Boy (1991 Remix)" only just hit the Top 40 for a couple weeks during the dead post-Yuletide period. It deserved better but at least it didn't spoil the original for everyone. And it would be followed by an equally nice remix of Soft Cell's eighties' classic "Tainted Love" which was done along much the same lines: a synth-pop producer at the helm (in this instance it was the great Julian Mendelsohn) to make sure that the life wasn't sucked out of it with just some subtle additions. It was even released to promote Marc Almond's compilation Memorabilia. A pity we won't be encountering it in this space as we dive into '91. Oh well.
~~~~~
Also Reviewed This Fortnight
The Righteous Brothers: "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling"
"If it's not a megamix or a remix, it's a re-release!" cries an exasperated Andrews. "Really, readers, just what are they playing at, eh?" "Unchained Melody" had been memorably featured in the Patrick Swayze/Demi Moore pic Ghost and it promptly became the biggest selling single of the year. So, why not give The Righteous Brothers' true masterpiece another try too? I'm not the biggest Phil Spector fan in the world but he sure hit it out of the park on "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling". While I'm more than satisfied by the remix of "Smaltown Boy", I'm glad they didn't bother updating this brilliant record. Why mess with a good thing — even if that's what everyone else was doing at the time.
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