Gary Clail/On-U Sound System: "The Emotional Hooligan"

4 September 1991

"If Gary would only adopt a more pop star moniker — Tarquin, perhaps — I'd give this one 11 out of 10. As it is, 9¾ out of 10."

— Caroline Sullivan

Well, what d'ya know? A flop. We haven't come across a chart not factor in some time. Singles of the Fortnight failing to crack even the lowest positions of the UK Top 75 or 100 occurred fairly often in the early days of Smash Hits but it became much more of a rarity in the late eighties and early nineties. In 1979, for example, eleven SOTF ended up missing the charts; a year later, there were nine failures. By 1990, however, only Sly & Robbie's tepid "Dance Hall" and the brilliant Ben Chapman remix of Monsoon's "Ever So Lonely" managed to miss out on the hit parade — and until the first week of September, 1991, this trend would only continue.

For Gary Clail to fail to hit the Top 100 must have been surprising. He and his On-U Sound System organization had enjoyed a breakthrough when their single "Human Nature" managed to make the Top 10. Not bad for a former roofer from Bristol in his mid-thirties. The presence of charismatic LGBT singer and dancer Lana Palley (aka Alan Palley, aka Lanah P, aka quite a few not-so-secret identities actually) must have paid off; she didn't return for follow-up "Escape" which ended up just missing the Top 40. Between the two, there's a gulf that's much wider than more than thirty chart positions: "Human Nature" is unique, catchy and fun in places (though still not exactly my cup of tea) while "Escape" has superfluous backing vocalists and a tune that appropriately continues to escape me.

But Clail had more left in the tank. "The Emotional Hooligan" is such a good title that it also managed to be the name of his debut album, released following the success of "Human Nature". Perhaps his darkest record to date, it didn't have the commercial potential of its predecessors but there's enough going on in it that it's not difficult to picture it returning him to the Top 30 or so. But the fact that it couldn't even manage to make number sixty is shocking. Radio One must've stayed away. The Chart Show clearly didn't want to have anything to do with it. No one decided to take punt based on Caroline Sullivan's recommendation. Oh, how wrong the populace got this one.

Sullivan describes Clail as a "caring, sharing sort" with concern for people being "nicer to each other". He doesn't quite look the part though. He appears distant in his videos for one thing. He also looks like the sort who could've found himself caught up in lad culture had he emerged five years later. The early nineties ended up being a critical time for English men. The working class had been altered dramatically by Thatcherism. Football hooligans had become so notorious that English teams ended up getting banned from playing on continental Europe. Clail wishes to lift these sorts up while Britain at large looked to reduce males to the lowest common denominator: rather than working class types aspiring to becoming middle class, the middle classes looked to lower themselves by becoming ironically working class lads.

Sullivan also notes that a "ridiculous sample of a baking dog, a big one by the sound of it, rounds things off". Indeed, there hadn't been such an arresting sound of howling canines on a record since the Pet Shop Boys' remarkable "Suburbia" (especially in its "Full Horror" extended form). (With all due respect to the memories of Louie and Banana, it clearly beats out the rather pointless barking which closes out The Beach Boys' classic Pet Sounds album) While white boys were clamouring for Public Enemy and NWA records loaded with urban decay, other genres were being ignored if they looked to examine what might be wrong in the 'burbs. Odd, since the supposedly facile eighties had room for crappy English new towns while the authentic nineties apparently had more pressing matters.

Few had time for "The Emotional Hooligan". Being something of a grower, this is understandable. Nevertheless, the punters missed out on a fine record with a message that ought to have been more commonplace back then. And Gary Clail missed out on being sufficiently rewarded for his efforts. Such is the way in the fickle world of pop. You sometimes hit, you sometimes miss but at least there are those who may feel its impact — they're Singles of the Fortnight for a reason, you know.

~~~~~

Also Reviewed This Fortnight

Wet Wet Wet: "Make It Tonight"

We're not supposed to have guilty pleasures anymore which is both liberating and also a bit depressing. A part of me misses the days when music listeners had those people it was okay to like as well as a handful that we'd never be caught dead admitting to liking. One of mine was Wet Wet Wet. They had a pair of horrible cover versions that I always wanted found myself singing along with and those early soulcialist hits were shameful delights. Somehow or other their third album High on the Happy Side is actually quite good, just about pulling them out of the guilty pleasure hellhole — at least for a little while. Marti Pellow could never hope to match Al Green and it's here that it sounds like he's accepted this hard reality — and all the better for it. "Make It Tonight" is more Nashville than Memphis which seemed to be a more appropriate home for rootsy Scots. No, ver Wets weren't the rootsy types but this shows that they had it in them. Just as they were with Gary Clail, however, the public wasn't interested; "Make It Tonight" only just scraped the bottom of the Top 40. Follow-up, the Celtic folk-tinged "Put the Light On" performed even worse despite also being a fine song. Things looked bleak for Wet Wet Wet until they served up a dismal ballad for the people to lap up. But at least I had my guilty pleasure back.

Diana Ross: "Mirror Mirror"

4 February 1982

"The 12" version has a lot going on, and may be worth paying more for."

— Charlie Gillett

"Not only is this Diana's first release on Capitol," states Bev Hillier in her November, 1981 review of the album Why Do Fools Fall in Love, "but also her first shot at producing her own material". They wouldn't introduce Album of the Fortnight to Smash Hits for a while but if it had existed at the end of 1981 she would have taken the runner up spot behind Fad Gadget's Incontinent. Among the LP's Diana Ross finished in front of in a pretty strong batch are Japan's Tin Drum (a very worthy 8 out of 10), Depeche Mode's Speak and Spell (a respectable 7/10), Earth, Wind & Fire's Raise! (also a 7/10 but surely it deserved better), The Bee Gees' Living Eyes, Adam & the Ants' Prince Charming (both with a deserved 5/10), Prince's Controversy (4/10 seems ungenerous but I'm not sure Hillier's wrong) and Rush's Exit...Stage Left (again, 2/10 is a bit of a chintzy score but Mike Stand's remark — "I would close with the standard attack on their interest in dodgy philosopher Ayn Rand if only I knew who the hell he was" — makes it all worthwhile). Bloody hell, this Fad Gadget dude must've been good...

For Diana Ross to have thrived up against such strong competition (and Rush!) is not such a big deal for someone with her pedigree but for her to have done so on an album she also produced is another matter entirely. One would think that a diva of her stature would have more pressing matters than sitting behind a grubby mixing desk with a sad, friendless engineer while barking orders at overworked, underpaid session musicians. Yet, she proved up to the task enough that she would go on to produce the bulk of the material that would make up her next three albums.

Not to take anything away from the legendary ex-Supreme but she did have a few advantages that your average first time producer wouldn't normally enjoy. First, she had use of the finest recording studios in the United States at her disposal. She also had a team of first rate musicians in her employ, including well-rounded guitarist Eric Gale and tenor saxophonist Michael Brecker, individuals who had played on her now overlooked 1979 album The Boss (her much better remembered Diana LP from '80 had been done with Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers who effectively made a Chic album with Diana Ross singing on top of it; Why Do Fools Fall in Love set the clock back by utilizing previous sessioners and is probably a more accurate indication of where she was creatively and professionally at the time). Finally, she had nearly twenty years of studio experience to rely upon; in my previous review of "Mirror, Mirror" I argue that years of working alongside Motown's studio wizards as well as Edwards and Rodgers must have rubbed off on her.

The one thing that Ross failed to account for was decent songs. Well played and sung by all concerned, "Mirror, Mirror" is nevertheless a flimsy composition. Time had not endeared it to me since the last time I wrote about it though I will acknowledge that Charlie Gillett was correct in favouring the 12" mix to its 7" counterpart. Disco tunes need time to settle in and, if anything, six minutes is probably not quite long enough. Eric Gale's hard rock guitar playing doesn't quite fit the shorter version while the lengthier mix allows for sufficient space. Seemingly stuck in a noble sixties' mindset of keeping albums down to thirty to forty minutes, Ross' album sacrificed dancefloor excellence for unnecessary brevity. Instead of "Mirror, Mirror" being the album's longest track it should have been the median. 

I love Chic as much as the next person but to give them the bulk of the credit for Diana Ross' success in the early eighties overlooks the fact that their team-up was short lived and that she was doing well for herself both before and after they worked together. With all due respect to their talents as ace musicians and producers it was their songwriting that likely benefited her most. Not since the heyday of Holland-Dozier-Holland had Ross worked with such a formidable team. Producing seemed to suit her so why didn't she take up songwriting while she was at it? She could've given it a go by collaborating with colleagues like Lionel Richie or Smokey Robinson a busy-but-always-willing-to-help-a-friend Michael Jackson. She could have even written a few songs on her own and it's not a stretch to suggest she would have been capable of something better than the cliche-ridden "Mirror, Mirror" or the dated "Why Do Fools Fall in Love". Why rely on covers and third rate nonsense when she could have done it herself? After-all, Diana Ross was no mere diva.

~~~~~

Also Reviewed This Fortnight

Fun Boy Three with Bananarama: "It Ain't What You Do..."

"Somebody should give these guys a lesson on writing dynamics into their records, with middle-eights and bridges and all that stuff," states Gillett in an otherwise complimentary review. He doesn't seem aware that Terry, Lynval and Neville, along with newcomers Sarah, Siobahn and Keren, didn't compose this record. Indeed, he seems unaware that it was already over forty years old and had been a jazz standard until the FB3 gave it an update. All things considered, the Boys and the 'Narns had a minor masterpiece on their hands. Lots of fun (I like the Fun Boy Three a lot but they didn't always live up to their name), catchy, addictive and a great way to introduce the world to the genius of Bananarama, who would soon overtake their male counterparts as regulars on the giddy carousel of pop for the remainder of the decade. Gillett concludes by wishing a poorly Lynval Golding well; I'll sign off with a regretful RIP Terry Hall. (And RIP Charlie Gillett while I'm at it)

(Click here to see my original review)

Kylie Minogue: "Word Is Out"

21 August 1991

"You could listen to this 100 times and never get bored of it."

— Sophie Lawrence

So, a minor request, though one I don't see being fulfilled: I'd quite like to write about a Kylie Minogue record that I genuinely like.

The Australian sensation was first awarded a Smash Hits Single of the Fortnight back in the spring of 1988 when Richard Lowe gave the nod to "Got to Be Certain", the follow-up to Kylie's number one smash "I Should Be So Lucky". It's a song that has its fans (it had a four week stay at number two, a chart position she'd become very familiar with) but I'm not one of them. It isn't horrible, just nothing special. The song crops up as the last track on the first side of her debut album Kylie and falls a bit flat next to its companions. (It always seemed like the glorious "It's No Secret", a North America-only release, merited being a single more)

Hits reviewers would pass on Kylie's stuff for a while in spite of the fact that everything from "Je ne sais pas pourquoi" through to "Never Too Late" a year later is superior to "Got to Be Certain". (Incidentally, it must be said that Minogue's run of singles in the late eighties and early nineties is pretty impressive, making for one of the finer greatest hits albums of the era this side of Pet Shop Boys) It was only with her dramatic 1990 reinvention that Mike Soutar felt the need to give his due to "Better the Devil You Know", the lead off track from her third album Rhythm of Love. The ninth of her last ten singles to reach either number one or two, it also proved to be the end of Kylie playing the role of close friend or older sister offering sound advice to a love lorn youngster. Both "Certain" and "Devil" were about making the right choices; from here on out, the choice became simple: it was all about desiring Kylie or wanting to be just like her.

The fact that Minogue had by then put out three LP's, along with ten singles, in such a short time is impressive, especially since this was the start of an era in which artists would go longer and longer between albums. But where both Kylie and Enjoy Yourself were number ones, Rhythm entered at a disappointing number nine and dropped steadily from there. (Fourth LP Let's Get to It only got to number fifteen which only goes to show that the better the photo of Kylie on the cover, the worse the chart performance) She still had a few more Top 10 singles in her but clearly interest in Kylie was becoming more selective.

The British public had grown weary of the Aussie and they took out their newfound disinterest on "Word Is Out", a brand new single that was expected to keep her streak of Top 10 hits going. Instead, it entered at eighteen, rose two spots the following week and then tumbled down to thirty-three during its final spell of Top 40 action. A shockingly poor performance from such a reliable hit maker. Word Is Out That Kylie's Heading Down the Dumper, the headlines amazingly didn't say.

It's nice to think that ver kids had missed out on a gem as they clamoured for Mariah Carey or Dannii Minogue instead but they were right to give it a miss. Like "Got to Be Certain" and "Better the Devil You Know" it is just so plain; unlike them, however, Kylie's vocal doesn't stand out. Comparisons were constantly being made around this time to Madonna but Madge on her worst day wasn't nearly this generic. Fellow actress-turned-wannabe-pop-starlet Sophie Lawrence thinks it sounds a bit like "La Isla Bonita" but all I can hear is Stevie Wonder's 1976 hit single "I Wish" from his classic double album Songs in the Key of Life. Either way, it's not enough to pull Kylie out of mediocrity.

"Word Is Out" also marks the departure of Matt Aitken from the Stock Aitken Waterman songwriting/production empire. Kylie was by now their last remaining star and the now duo of Stock Waterman poured their energies into their cash cow. Unfortunately, they were in a no win situation: complaints that their work had become too formulaic were in abundance but there was little interest when they did try to depart from what had made them so big. Minogue going R&B was obviously the next logical step but it proved to be one that no one else wished for her to take. (The Let's Get to It album only ended up producing one big hit and — huh! — it ended up being her final stab at pure pop for quite some time...but we'll get to that soon)

Meanwhile, I continue to wait for a potential Kylie Minogue SOTF that I genuinely like. I was a big fan then and I continue to have some regard for her now; she did some great songs prior to "Word Is Out" and she'd put out quite a few more in the years to come. I'll just have to keep waiting.

~~~~~

Also Reviewed This Fortnight

Tin Machine: "You Belong in Rock n' Roll"

Response to the first Tin Machine album must have been so encouraging that David Bowie and his buddies just had to get together again for Tin Machine II. Lawrence suspects a guaranteed hit only because of Dame David which would be true but for a) Bowie lacked the commercial clout he once enjoyed and b) this hard rock side project of his had yet to yield a single Top 40 entry. Tin Machine II is the end of Bowie at his absolute suckiest but there are signs that he would soon pull himself up to being "all right, I suppose" before long. Still, this "you" in "You Belong in Rock n' Roll" can't possibly be about Bowie himself: I'd take him playing keyboards, sax and "Chamberlin" (whatever that is) over all these damn guitars. Mind you, there's some mad fret work on Ziggy and Heroes and even a bit on Low and that was Bowie at his seventies paradigm best so there you go.

P.M. Dawn: "Set Adrift on a Memory Bliss"

7 August 1991

"Melt city!"

— Johnny Dee

As Brian Eno said, "only 10,000 people bought the first Velvet Underground album but everyone who did formed a band".

As Brian Eno also (probably) said, "only 10,000 people bought the first Flying Burrito Brothers album but everyone who did formed a country-rock band and purchased Nudie suits".

As Brian Eno also also (very probably said), "only 10,000 people bought the first Blue Nile album but everyone who did formed a sophisti-pop band and invested in Linn drum machines".

Oh, to be an unsuccessful but highly influential band. That's the life, man.

Being influential really is the dream. Especially if you love your pop and rock that stays true and doesn't sell out. And it gives critics and fans something  to talk about when there's not much else to say about its quality. Sod it if this album is a pain in the ass to listen to — *cough* Unknown Pleasures *cough* — just look how many groups I don't listen to that happened to be influenced by it!

Of course, being influential and successful aren't mutually exclusive. One only need look at The Beatles, even if it sometimes seems like they only impacted tired old three-chord power pop and not, like, the whole of popular music. Louis Armstrong was widely popular and deeply influential. So, too, was Duke Ellington. And also Hank Williams. And Elvis Presley. And Chuck Berry. And Bob Dylan. And so on and so forth. Honestly, every recording artist who reaches a certain level of popularity will have an impact on youngsters with dreams of careers in music. When groups like The Cure or Nine Inch Nails get elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame they're credited with their influence — but is this really any different from, say, Whitney Houston or James Taylor? (Though I will grant that the Dave Clark Five probably weren't very influential)

Tom Breihan's piece about P.M. Dawn's "Set Adrift on a Memory Bliss" on Stereogum goes heavy into its influence. And, sure, a unique hip hop single that managed to reach number one in the US was bound to have had an impact on the future of rap, even if it did little in the short term (though this is something I will soon dispel). But why lean into it so much? Could it be there's not much else to say about it? No, there isn't. Breihan likes it enough to give it a score of eight out of ten though you'd be hard pressed to be able to tell why. But, hey, it was influential, am I right? 

So, let's get into the impact. It's fascinating to consider that brothers Attrell and Jarrett Cordes had pieced together a number that fused many of pre-grunge trends of 1991. They had seemingly inherited the mantle of those flower power rap acts from a year earlier like Dream Warriors, The Jungle Brothers and Monie Love (even though they didn't appear to associate with these types). They were carrying on where German act Enigma had left off with the then astonishing "Sadeness Part 1" with samples from disparate sources providing them with a cool new age music. They were even early to hop on board of the eighties nostalgia train with the song's heavy reliance on Spandau Ballet's 1983 hit single "True". This may be the immediate legacy of "Set Adrift on a Memory Bliss" as from here on there came a steady stream of "Something Good" by Utah Saints (which borrowed from Kate Bush's "Cloudbusting"), "Save It for the Mourning After" by Shut Up and Dance and "I'll Be Missing You" by Puff Daddy over the course of the decade. There's your influence right there — one that isn't nearly as long term as Breihan thinks.

With my long-standing love of the eighties and allegiance to hippie hop, I should've loved P.M. Dawn but I just never connected with them. "Set Adrift" seemed neat and clever the first time I heard it but I could never get anywhere beyond admiring it. Prince Be's raps were really strong but his vocals came worryingly close to that sad nineties brand of R&B that would take over before long — and this is something they would lean more heavily on moving forward. I'd like to think that it's just the sort of chill out music for evenings in with a bottle of wine but it gets jarring to be a serious rival to Chet Baker or an ECM album. It's busier than you remember it being. Nowhere near as laid back as Johnny Dee reckons and I wasn't melting to it then and it has yet to melt me since. Nothing against it, mind you: it seemed utterly original at the time and was far from the worst thing on the charts. But it washed over listeners and has become strangely forgettable in the decades since.

Still, as Brian Eno also also also (very plausibly) said, "over a million people bought the first P.M. Dawn single and some of them formed hip hop combos and began scouring eighties' compilation albums for bits to sample". Suck it, Joy Division.

~~~~~

Also Reviewed This Fortnight

Flowered Up: "It's On"

There apparently was a time when Camden wasn't overrun with hip indie bands and tourists trying their best to find some charm in a frankly lifeless part of London. Somehow both dated and ahead of their time, Flowered Up tried to be an authentic baggy act from the nation's capital but the charms of Madchester had clearly begun to wear on the public after the (yet another) second summer of love. In a way, they were P.M. Dawn to De La Soul's Stone Roses, only much less successful. Dee suggests it's a bit of a grower and that's probably the case but ver kids weren't given the chance to let it grow on them. Britpop wouldn't come along for another three years but they seemed to be one of the acts that bridged the gap between eras. Buyers may have been ready for them by then but for the fact that Flowered Up clearly hadn't chosen a side: if they weren't quite Blur meets Oasis then they were Menswear meets Cast. North and south don't mix, lads but thanks for giving it a try.

Depeche Mode: "See You"

21 January 1982

"If it doesn't make Number One, I'll write and complain."

— Mark Ellen

Letters

Smash Hits Letters

52-55 Carnaby Street

London W1V 1PF

£5 record token for the viewer who we take pity on the most.

~~~~~

OH LOUISE, won't you smile at me

Like that time in R.E.?

Miss Wickens spoke with scorn

Though she seem rather forlorn

Telling us to compose our own private creed

(Mistaking me perhaps for the Venerable Bede)

Then you shot me a glance

And my heart did a dance

But ever since then you just look away

Though my eyes, they refuse to stray.

You act as if you simply don't care

Of my heart, you just aren't aware

And that's why Louise, I really must speak

Because my will goes ever so weak

I swear I won't touch

I just wish to be with you so much

And now all I want is to see you again

Though I know not where or when

Maybe it will be over half-term break

When you're out for a stroll 'round Appleby Lake

Then you'll pop over to mine on Galveston Road

We'll listen to Altered Images and Depeche Mode

Maybe you'll even smile at me

Like you did that time in R.E.

Graham D., Cheltenham

Are you sure this Louise of your's doesn't prefer other groups? Groups that might make her smile more than once? Groups that do not make her look away? Groups that she'll happily spend half-hols with? Have a record token so you might impress her more. Just a bit of advice from one lonely git to another.

~~~~~

Q: IF THE members of Depeche Mode became members of MI6, what would they call themselves?

A: Basildon Bond.

Lucy, Torquay

~~~~~

WHAT A nice surprise to see the newly three-piece Depeche Mode on the cover of the latest issue of Smash Hits! My delight only grew when I saw that the wonderful Mr. Mark Ellen named their latest hit See You as his single of the week! I suppose I ought to be grateful that the Hits has finally started to recognise the abilities of Basildon's finest but I can't help but feel a slight sense of anticlimax: what took you so bloomin' long?

Depeche Mode have been gradually gaining momentum over the last year or so and it has been disappointing that the music press has ignored them up until now in favour of Haircut One Hundred and The Police. What do they have that the Mode doesn't? Do third form students jot down Sting's lyrics in the margins of their notebooks in the middle of geography class? Do the Haircuts inspire a dreamscape world of art, groovy people and philosophy? I think not!

Good job but try harder with emerging acts next time.

Nancy, Braintree

We imagine that Haircut 100 and Bucks Fizz inspire a love of pop music in people, as do Depeche Mode. But our apologies nonetheless. The next time synth-noodlers from an English New Town emerge from the shadows we'll be there. Count on it!

~~~~~

WELL DONE, Mark Ellen. You had so many good records to choose from. You had The Jam. Spandau Ballet. Soft Cell. Japan. Bow Wow Wow. I would've even accepted Hazel O'Connor for god's sake! But to pick those talentless turds Depeche Mode? I'll admit that "Just Can't Get Enough" was all right but all the pop flash they had has departed along with Vince Clarke. I can't believe you'd praise something so dull and lacking in merit. If they're light years ahead then I'd hate to see what's in our future. Thankfully they've had their last hit and we won't be hearing from them again, you watch. Write in and complain about that!

Richard Skegness

We'll hold you to that, Rich. Send us a crate of Skegness Rock to the address above if the Deps do manage to eek out one more hit.

~~~~~

I notice that Depeche Mode's latest single has the line "I know five years is a long time and that times change". With that in mind I thought I share my predictions about what the pop world will be like for them in 1987.

1) Vince Clarke begs his old band to bring him back. They only agree but he is relegated to being a junior member as punishment. His lyrics are even tweer than ever.

2) Andy Fletcher solves the problem of their dull live shows by frolicking about on stage like Heidi. Depeche Mode's popularity goes through the roof but he can never show his face in Basildon again.

3) Martin Gore discovers that he is indeed the genius Vince pegged him to be. His genius is for knitting. He revolutionizes the Irish wool jumper industry.

4) Dave Gahan becomes an even bigger pop pin-up than he already is. This, however, leads him more in the direction of pure pop which makes the group's old audience cross. Sensibly, he chooses the adoration of girls over students.

5) This Alan Wilder bloke eventually becomes a full-time member (even he has seniority over Vince!) but he quickly becomes the one no one knows anything about. Mums are over Britain reckon he's "dishy".

Dillon, Cambridge

~~~~~

DID YOU know that if you rearrange the letters of Depeche Mode you get 'Chop Me Dee Dee'. What a violent image.

Terry, Arundel

So what? If you do the same for Kim Wilde you get 'Wide Milk'. Toyah turns into 'Ya Hot'. ABC becomes 'Cab'. Duran Duran...'And And Ru Ru"? We've been struggling for an anagram for Dexys Midnight Runners. Suggestions to the address above. A five quid record token to anyone who can manage it.

~~~~~

Also Reviewed This Fortnight

Soft Cell: "Say Hello Wave Goodbye"

SOFT CELL'S records ever since "Tainted Love" have been missing something, haven't they? It's almost as if they've been incomplete. With this in mind, I have decide to try to improve on "Say Hello Wave Goodbye". Mark Ellen thinks the words are up to much and I think he's on to something. Starting with The Jam and Elvis Costello and working backwards from there, I'm going to take the lyrics of other songs and see if they fit better. Eventually I'll find something deep and poetic that works and helps to make it into a much better song. Then I'll send it to Marc Almond and Dave Norris, If they don't like it, maybe I'll record it instead. Who knows? Maybe I'll be in the pages of Smash Hits someday!

David G., Sale, Cheshire

We at Smash Hits salute your efforts David. The songs of Weller and Costello will be good starting off points but you may want to try someone a little older. The late John Lennon perhaps. Or Ian Anderson from ancient progers Jethro Tull. Maybe Ulster shouter Van Morrison even...

(Click here for earlier correspondence from ver "kids". They're largely the same only not as good. Not unlike if you compare Soft Cell's "Say Hello..." to David G.'s way off in the future)

Manic Street Preachers: "Stay Beautiful"

24 July 1991

"To some, this is a tacky attempt to hang their coat on the peg of 70s punk rock, to others they're merely a bargain bin Welsh version of Guns N' Roses. But as long as it's just as tuneful, cantankerous, boisterous, guitar-filled and jolly as this, then who cares?"

— William Shaw

ARE KIDS INTO MANIC STREET PREACHERS

OR ARE THEY HORRIFIED BY THEM?

Hailing from Monmouthshire (it's in Wales, fact fiends), Manic Street Preachers are the latest group of guitar gods set to conquer the charts with their latest single "Stay Beautiful". But we here at Smash Hits haven't the faintest idea quite what to make of them. Aren't they just an old hat rock group? Aren't styles like metal and punk meant for dinosaurs? And who dresses like these four blokes? Bitz has admitted defeat and we have found some youngsters to guide us through a band that is either (a) the future of music, (b) the sort of thing everyone will forget about by the end of the year or (c) somewhere in between a and b. Let's see if they can edify this bunch of old codgers.

Joanne (15), Walton-on-the-Naze

"Ooh, I like this lot. I think I saw them on the telly last month. The singer's dead dishy, ain't he? I'm glad he's not one of those blokes who works out too much and has lots of muscles. I like slim guys. This song's good but I don't think it'll be a hit. I don't think it's pop enough for the charts. If they do some slushy love song then they'll have a hit but I won't like them as much."

Grant (16), London

"They're all right, I suppose. I reckon they're trying not to be clever but they all went to uni so they must know more than they want us to think. I do like what they're about but the records just don't connect with me. It would be nice if they had a laugh from time to time. The best indie bands are those that have a lot of fun when they're playing. I prefer The Wonder Stuff."

Natasha (15), Hull

"I've never heard of them. It's not really my thing but I guess it's all right. You should ask my older brother, he might know about them. They don't shock me though. There's some people in the town square who are much scarier than this bunch. I wish indie bands weren't such snobs. I bet they're always slagging off Kylie but they love miserable groups like the Inspiral Carpets. Indie groups are all the same."

Tracy (11), Poole

"Do you have the new Chesney Hawkes? I got his tape for my birthday. My friend Jane went to see his concert but my mum wouldn't let me go because we had to go visit my nan in Reading. (Bitz puts the Manics on but Tracy isn't paying attention) Chesney has a sister called Keely and she's dead nice too. Did you know that his brother is also his drummer? (Bitz admits that we do know this fact before we direct the conversation towards the band that is playing) Could you turn that down a bit? I want to sing "The One and Only" for you." (Bitz proceeds to turn the Manics up to full volume)

Steve (14), Ambleside

"Is the drummer a girl?"

Francis (18), Leicester

"They sure put a lot of themselves into such empty material, don't they? I mean, some people I know think their lyrics are really good and moving but I think they just put a lot of passion into them. Don't get me wrong, their songs are exciting and I'm sure they're good live, it's just that it's not as profound or radical as they'd like you to think it is. Other people have said this all before and a lot of them have said it better as well. They do have some skill so they might get better. There again, we'll probably have forgotten all about them in a year from now. Not like Ned's Atomic Dustbin, they're built to last!"

~~~~~

A MESS OF EYELINER 'N' SPRAYPAINT!

Those are the tools the Manic Street Preachers use for designing their famous handmade t-shirts. (Well, maybe not so much the eyeliner) And this is your chance to win one! Impress your mates! Be the envy of your neighbourhood playground! Make your granny nervous! Manics James, Richey, Nicky and Sean have each designed a one-of-a-kind shirt that they have kindly donated to your favourite pop mag (ie this one). They won't reveal exactly what will be written on each shirt but they promise it will be something like FASCINATING (a good 'un!) or CHARMING (another winner!) or UNWELL (uh, not so good) or ATROPHY (?????). The band have also promised not to use any naughty language either, much to the relief of grannies the world over.

To win a custom Manics spraypaint shirt, answer the following question: what did Richey carve into his arm as a message to people who questioned him, (a) 4TUNE, (b) 4REAL or (c) 4TOPS. Answers on a Cornflake packet to: Smash Hits Manic T-Shirt Competition, 147 Holkless Rd, Orton Randgate, Peterborough PE2 SNB. Get 'em in by August 19 or you'll have to make your own bloomin' t-shirt!

~~~~~

Also Reviewed This Fortnight

The Shamen: "Move Any Mountain"

Simon (23), Croydon

"Nah, I don't wanna listen to no Manic Street Peaceniks. Why would you want to play a guitar when you can turn on a synth and let them do all the work. I got a band with me mate Jez. We're called Toe Jam on Toast but we used to be called Blu Tack Soul. Have you heard of us? (No, I don't think we've had the pleasure) We do big beats. I wanna sample some beats but I don't know how to work this sampler thing so I just do the sound of those beats meself, like this: umph, umph, umph, umph, umph, umph (Simon keeps the umph's going for much, much longer). Good, ain't it? My favourite record these days is this one called "Move Any Mountain" by The Shamed Men. It's got some solid beats. Umph, umph, umph... (Oh do stop it!) "I can move, move, move any mountain...": I'm gonna read those words at my wedding some day. (Er, cheers for that Simon. We at Bitz are looking forward to writing about the Toe Jams one day. Might want to give the name a rethink though mate)

Seal: "The Beginning"

10 July 1991

"He was at the George Michael party and I couldn't get over how big he was. That must be where his powerful voice comes from — the soles of his boots."

— Kenny Thomas

Kenny Thomas? Who???

There have been a lot of pop stars who've joined Smash Hits to give one off singles reviews over the years. Some did well, others less so but I have been aware of all of them. Until now. At first, I wasn't even sure that this Kenny bloke was a rider on the Giddy Carousel at all and that maybe he was a new face in the Hits staff. (It was only the obligatory photo of him holding a half-dozen records, making a face and giving them the thumbs down that clued me in) But certainly he didn't have the look of a pop star. In the past, a critic like Peter Martin tried to make himself look like he belonged in the pages of ver Hits; now, pop stars looked like they were more at home on the editorial board of a top pop mag.

The name couldn't have helped. When Bros emerged in 1988, the one member who wasn't a Goss twin, bassist Craig Logan, was almost immediately dubbed "Ken" by pop mags like the Hits. (Suddenly, Larry Mullen Jr. being "the other one" in U2 didn't seem quite so harsh) But where did ver Hits get the idea that "Ken" was that most generic of names to apply to the most generic of people? Ken Barlow off of Coronation Street? (Fittingly, the Ken from Corrie would sue The Sun for being boring) DJ Kenny Everett, yet another British pop culture figure who meant next to nothing elsewhere? Ken the longtime paramour of Barbie who no doubt had difficulty pleasing her? Nothing against the Kens of the world — I used to know one who was a sweet guy — but there's a reason so many of them are notable only for being so painfully Kennish.

Though she had been kicking around for almost the entirety of the eighties, Lisa Stansfield didn't amount to much until she recorded her vocal part on Coldcut's 1989 single "People Hold On". The DJ/production duo of Matt Black and Jonathan More had managed to make a star out of Yazz when she guested on their hit "Doctorin' the House" a year earlier and it seemed likely they were going to repeat the trick. The result was astounding: a loopy, irresistible house tune with the elastic voice of Stansfield commanding the top. It gave her a long sought after hit but in reality it should've performed better than number eleven. It was fantastic then and it remains every bit as great more than thirty years on.

The only problem was it proved to be unfollowable. Sure, Stansfield had bigger hits to come. "All Around the World" even gave her a number one smash in the latter part of '89. She would prove to be a reliable hit maker up until about 1997. But she would never cut anything nearly as good as "People Hold On". Not only that, it was a success that gave everyone the wrong idea that she was going to be a far more significant figure going forward. Lisa Stansfield seemed like the coolest person on earth for a few weeks there but it wasn't to last.

House producers have a way of lending out their cool to guest vocalists. One of the most striking examples occurred in 1990 when an obscure singer called Seal appeared on "Killer", the aptly-named chart topping single by Adamski. No, it wasn't credited to 'Adamski featuring Seal' or 'Adamski with Seal' or (mercifully) 'Adamski vs. Seal', it was marked simply to the alter ego of British DJ Adam Tinley. The guy singing on it went uncredited (at least for the time being). Though the public in the UK were made aware that there were two individuals behind one of the most striking records of the era, I was in Canada and only first heard about it from Now That's What I Call Music 17. Information was scarce and I assumed that this Adamski character had been responsible for everything. Whoever was behind it certainly earned every penny they made: "Killer" is simply one of the finest records of the era, superior even to something like "People Hold On".

Though the single-artist credit would cause a rift between the two, Seal managed to earn sufficient notoriety from "Killer" to launch his solo career. "Crazy" emerged and proved to be only a notch below his first hit. Listening to them both now, it's clear that "Killer" is the much stronger effort: not only is the music powerful and sinister but Seal's vocal performance is abrasive, confident and vulnerable. With "Crazy" it was as if he was left to his own devices and struggled a bit with it. "We're never gonna survive unless we are a little crazy" was the junior high school yearbook quote of choice that summer (at least for me) but in terms of profundity, it pales next to something like "solitary brother, is there still a part of you that wants to live?". Nevertheless, Seal's debut as a solo artist was excellent. Without an acid house DJ to work with, the former Henry Samuel smartly signed with the hip ZTT label, which meant that he had Trevor Horn as his producer. Though not as renowned as Horn's eighties' work with ABC, Frankie Goes to Hollywood and the Art of Noise, he still had an innate grasp of modern techno pop. Seal went from one cutting edge figure to another and this no doubt helped prolong his own cool factor.

Inevitably, however, it wasn't to last. The association with Horn would continue over four albums (almost all of which were given the imaginative title Seal) but his place as a leading figure in dance pop would vanish. In the UK, he would rack up five hits from his debut LP but in North America most of the interest centred around "Crazy". A rerecorded "Killer" returned him to the British Top 10, this time with Adamski's name removed in favour of the now more famous singer. As for "The Beginning", it makes more sense as an album cut, appropriately as its opener. The LP version is also superior to this single remix, which tries a bit too hard to get that "housey sound" that Kenny Thomas is so fond of. It's a good example of the sort of no-win situation artists like Seal can get themselves into: great singers become tethered to their vocals to the extent that when they try to do something musically adventurous, their singing gets drowned out or becomes an afterthought — but if we're not meant to be as impressed with his voice then what's the point?

"The Beginning" continued a downward trend of Seal singles. While "Crazy" got all the way up to number three, follow-up "Future Love Paradise" fell short of the Top 10, in spite of it being a strong record in its own right. People were buying Seal's album, which suggests that he was already cultivating an older audience than the pop kids who snapped up "Killer" a year earlier. Even with the aforementioned remix, "The Beginning" only managed to go Top 30. It no longer mattered that if he happened to be on the nexus of nineties' dance because people loved Seal because of that voice. (That and he looked really good) Good singers become victims of their vocals even though they owe their careers to them. I wonder how Kenny "Ken" Thomas managed to do with his?

~~~~~

Also Reviewed This Fortnight

Guns N' Roses: "You Could Be Mine"

Rock 'n' rollers were finding themselves in a no-win situation of their own in 1991 — and this is still prior to the rise of grunge which uprooted everything to do with heavy rock. Their fast paced numbers (such as GNR's "You Could Be Mine") proved to be far less popular than their over-done ballads (like Thomas' fave "Patience" or the still-to-come "Don't Cry" and "November Rain") and yet it is those bone crunchin', head smashin' rockers that are the essence of everything they stand for. Getting a boost from the forthcoming and much-anticipated Terminator 2, "You Could Be Mine" was nevertheless a far more modest hit in the US than pounding hits "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Paradise City". Yeah, Thomas has a point that it gets samey after a while but I don't think people flocked to Guns N' Roses to be surprised — and in any case, given how they would fall off a creative cliff post-Use Your Illusion, it really doesn't seem so bad in  retrospect. GNR should've stuck to their boozy rockers and kept the slow songs to a minimum. But I would say that, wouldn't I? Girls would never dance with me to "November Rain", just as they similarly turned me down to "Kiss from a Rose". But I'm not bitter, god no.

Haircut One Hundred: "Love Plus One"

7 January 1982

"A band who'll have us all slipping into chunky knits and brogues before you can say Captain Mark Phillips."

— Ian Birch

Where do we go from here?

Nick Heyward's goofy yet handsome face ("Everyone keeps saying to me I look just like their brother") graced the cover of Smash Hits on three occasions. The first time was alongside fellow members of his band Haircut One Hundred just as stardom beckoned. A few months' later he had returned but this time he was on his own and he was busy formulating plans for further notoriety and success. It would be more than two years' later by the time he'd be back for a third cover and this time he was now searching for advice on how to move forward when everything had imploded in on him.

Nick Heyward only enjoyed a brief period near the top — and all at an age in which he may not have fully appreciated it. He was still in his early-twenties when he began to go down the dumper, a place he has managed to more or less remain in ever since. And, yet, he has maintained a career as one of pop's finest songwriters. Few have managed to reside in the dumper with their dignity still intact.

In a talk with former Hits staff members David Hepworth and Mark Ellen (who wrote the first two profiles on ver Haircuts in the top pop mag), Heyward has stated that he spent his youth soaking up musical influences, in large part due to his older brother's own pop music aspirations. From the boozy hard rock of Montrose and Status Quo to Yes's intricate progressive rock adventures, the adolescent Nick was open to all of it. Unwilling to disavow prog and jazz fusion, he found punk appealing because he was able to play it. It was then that he began tripping on some of the more musically accomplished new wave acts, particularly Talking Heads and XTC.

I previously had "Love Plus One" down as his own "Listen to What the Man Said" but I think that was at least in part down to the use of soprano sax on both. Yet, the Paul McCartney influence weighed heaviest on Heyward. His gift for ear-catching melodies could not have come from any other source. Yet, this song is very much an amalgamation of his myriad influences.

Recency bias favours the work of David Byrne and Andy Partridge of brainiac groups Talking Heads and XTC respectively. The former is especially identifiable with jangly guitars that also manage to stutter, the use of unconventional rhythms and Heyward spinning an oddball tale that we as listeners are convinced must have some kind of meaning precisely because we have no idea what he's on about. There's certainly more than a little of that in Partridge's work as well (this very fortnight also saw the release of XTC's lone Top 10 hit "Senses Working Overtime", a song which one would assume to be a father to "Love Plus One" but for the fact that the two are far too contemporaneous for there to have been much influence in either direction) but it's probably a little closer to the compositions of Colin Moulding, someone Heyward acknowledges as being a major influence on his bass playing.

Heyward tells Ellen all about his theory of the changing tastes of your average pop kid (basically, it's preteen Beatles and Monkees, followed by rejecting them in favour of hipper acts, then a depressing jazz phase and ending with being resigned to a happy life of yet more Beatles and Monkees) while bassist Les Nemes admits to massive funk influences while disavowing the latent Brit-funk movement. All seems well in Haircut land — even if there are hints that his bandmates are as puzzled as anyone over the those lyrics — but there are already signs that there may not have been the required group unity to ensure a lengthy tenure. While Heyward spent the seventies absorbing his older brother's record collection, Nemes along with Blair Cunningham, Graham Jones and Phil Neville Smith had their own interests.

Quite what the rest of them were into six months later is anyone's guess. This time, it's just Ellen and Heyward discussing the state of the band and plans for a TV series. All that knitwear and those boating jackets was still a part of the group's distinctive look but the singer admits that a change is likely in order for the follow-up to their brilliant debut album Pelican West. A major change was certainly forthcoming, something that, again, is just hinted at by Heyward's ambitions being far beyond the scope of a mere pop outfit. He doesn't come across as arrogant or spoiled by fame, merely a young bloke who is just interested in making the most of his opportunity.

Finally, Nick Heyward is on the cover of ver Hits to interview erstwhile punk and sometime pop star Feargal Sharkey. That's correct, he made the cover as a glorified member of the Smash Hits editorial crew. (In fairness, he did have more of a face for magazine covers than the former lead singer of The Undertones) Both had departed successful groups and were struggling with what to do next. Both, Heyward reckons, have battled with that whole 'next Beatles' nonsense which he considers to be a "kiss of death". Hits or misses, prolific pace or keeping still for a bit, he learns from the Ulster vet that there's contentment to be had in writing and recording.

Where do we go from here? If not necessarily in the direction of the career young musicians set out for then the sort of career that individuals can look back upon with pride. What I wouldn't give to have Nick Heyward's talent for just long enough to compose one song, even if it's a poor cousin of "Love Plus One" or "Tell Me Why" or "Perfect Sunday Sun". There's a reason people like Heyward make songwriting seem so easy — and that's because it's so damn hard for the rest of us.

~~~~~

Also Reviewed This Fortnight

Robert Palmer: "Some Guys Have All the Luck"

As I observed the last time I blogged about "Love Plus One", this fortnight's singles are a thin bunch. Not necessarily in terms of quality, mind you; there's a solid selection of XTC, Joan Armatrading, OMD, a post-Hall/Staple/Golding Special AKA and Orange Juice up for consideration. (I also hinted that Ian Birch made the wrong choice for Single of the Fortnight but pay no attention to what I used to think) Robert Palmer was entering his prime years of soul, rock, calypso, lounge and overall tastelessness and his cover of The Persuaders' "Some Guys Have All the Luck" is a good primer on his skills as a vocalist. Never an easy guy to sing along with and this is one of his trickiest yet. While a generation of nineties divas chose to both astonish and frustrated listeners by hitting single notes for as long as possible, Palmer unleashes his incomparable range here with soulful, Marvin Gaye-like passages through to his ability to munch on sandpaper in song like few others, Not one of his absolute best (it's no "Clues" or "Woke Up Laughing") but "Some Guys Have All the Luck" is a tasty thing indeed — and one that far surpasses Rod Stewart's unconvincing cover. (I mean, seriously, does anyone think that Rod is envious of anyone else's dumb luck? The man has fallen upward more times than he can count)

(Click here to see my original review)

Billy Bragg: "Sexuality"

26 June 1991

"His bonnet bee is buzzing about sex this time, brothers and sisters. Billy says: don't worry if you haven't got a body like Madonna because he'll like you anyway."

— Miranda Sawyer

The concert didn't get off to a great start. Coming on stage at approximately 9:00 PM, Billy Bragg didn't appear keen to be there for long. He zipped through a handful of numbers, not even pausing for between-song banter. His nibs looked distracted and his rather sloppy performance indicated that he didn't care. Then, a heckler emerged to save the show.

"These people aren't your fans", he shouted. "They're on your bandwagon."

Bragg didn't respond much at first. He simply kept on playing. But the disturber in the crowd wasn't going to let himself be ignored. With each number, our friend in the audience found a way to be offended. If Bragg played something from the recent Mermaid Avenue project, the heckler accused him of commercial pandering; if he played an old favourite, he'd sulk that the rest of us weren't around when they first came out. And, he demanded, what were these people doing dancing at a Billy Bragg concert?

"They can dance if they want to," replied Billy. "They can talk if they want to. This concert's for them".

The crowd roared with approval. At last audience and performer were seeing eye-to-eye. Bragg's patience eventually evaporated and the heckler was forcibly shown the door. His solo acoustic set ended well; after a short break, he was back out with his band The Blokes and they proceeded to tear the house down. What had started off as a by numbers show had come to a close with everyone looking pleased with themselves.

After the show ended, I went down to the campus pub with my friend Tasya. As she proudly looked at the copy of the setlist that she snagged from the stage, I sipped at my pint and wondered why anyone would shell out twenty bucks just to roast a supposedly favourite singer. Didn't he have anything better to do? What did he think he was achieving? And what was he doing at a Billy Bragg concert to begin with?

I had been a fan for about seven years at that point. It started off with "Sexuality". At first, I was into the catchy tune and I dug the video, particularly the bit in which he covers the first two letters of the sign for 'ESSEX' with 'SAFE' and 'NO'. I've always been a sucker for sunshine indie pop because of course I am. It was the song's message that resonated with me most though. Having been ostracized by a small group of so-called friends the previous year, it was welcoming to have a singer accept me for who I am.

Gay? No, I'm not that way inclined. But the fact that these people had a problem with it seemed to be reason enough to be rid of them. Even if I happened to be gay, what the hell was it to them? No matter my sexual orientation, I didn't deserve their harassment.

Luckily pop music wasn't going to turn its back on me. My modest collection of tapes had no interest in judging me, even if none of them were up to tackling my current state of angst. I was then listening to Pet Shop Boys and Erasure, groups with strong LGBTQ connections but they weren't in the business of addressing straight fans who were being wrongly outed at school. Few, if any, are.

Billy Bragg wasn't even addressing my predicament in "Sexuality" but that's how I chose to take it. Being sex-positive meant that it was all good, something I was already aware of, but I needed to hear someone state it. "Just because you're gay", Billy sang, "I won't turn you away": here was someone who was going to accept me no matter what, so to hell with those losers at school.

Bragg's 1991 album Don't Try This at Home has often been labelled as an attempt to make him into a proper pop star. With a full band, a selection of big name guests and goofy videos, it seemed like Go! Discs was finally going to cash in on their long term investment. To an extent this worked out: the LP sold well and some new fans had come on board. But to deal with gay pride was bound to be a risky chart proposition. "Sexuality" only barely outperformed his last real hit "Levi Stubbs' Tears"  when it had all the elements to possibly take him into the Top 10. If Go! figured they had a new pop star in the works, their protegee wasn't about to make it easy for them.

It was on a summer's night in 1998 that a lanky individual in his late-twenties went to a Billy Bragg concert. He was probably a decent enough fellow. I'm sure he could be a nice guy with progressive ideals that dovetailed with most of us who go to see the Bard of Barking. The only trouble was, he figured he owned a piece of Billy and could dictate just how he wanted him to be. He tried to stick around but he didn't allow himself much common ground, something you need to have if you wish to be a real fan of his.

~~~~~

Also Reviewed This Fortnight

Cathy Dennis: "Just Another Dream"

Miranda Sawyer describes this fortnight's also-rans as a "sorry troupe" and she couldn't be more correct. Alongside a down the dumper Bros and Martika, there's a bevy of no-names. 35 Summers, The Party, Subsonic 2, Paul Varney: not exactly a bumper crop of stars. (Dannii Minogue also appears but at least she was something of a hit maker, even if her singles were on the duff side as well) Cathy Dennis seems like a big name only she wasn't terribly big in her homeland despite a string of early-nineties hits in North America. I thought she was really good at the time though I wonder quite what I saw in her at the time. Her voice seemed really good then but, as Sawyer states, she struggles with a "nasely squeak". The song itself is nothing special either: Dennis would go on to compose far better pop songs a decade later but that's no reason to be curious about her own brief career as a starlet. Lousy and yet probably the second best new release this fortnight. The world of pop was entering a sorry state indeed.

Erasure: "Chorus"

12 June 1991

"More power to your perv-tights, "missus"!! (P.S. And it made the household cat jump out of the first floor window, nearly, and you can't say fairer than that.)"

— Sylvia Patterson

Gracing the cover of this fortnight's issue of Smash Hits is The Twins, an Australian sister act of Gayle and Gillian Blakeney. The not-entirely-ugly pair had been on the popular soap Neighbours which led to them getting signed up for a music career in the UK. While the likes of Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan (see below), Stefan Dennis and Craig MacLachlan had all enjoyed some degree of chart success, Gayle and Gillian flopped. They flopped hard in fact. In a steady decline for nearly a year-and-a-half, the songwriting/production team of Stock Aitken Waterman had been hemorraging acts and Kylie was really their last vestige. Figuring they needed to roll the dice, SAW handed the single "All Mixed Up" to The Twins. Unfortunately, the combination an uninspired composition, a Euro-pop sound the once-powerful trio struggled with and some ghastly singing torpedoed its chances.

With The Twins getting an undeserved Hits cover, Erasure were once again denied the chance to finally grace the front of the magazine themselves. In the five years since "Sometimes" broke them in the UK, the likes of Nick Kamen, Nick Berry, Pepsi & Shirlie, Philip Schofield (three times!), Sinitta, Halo James, Candy Flip (twice) and Gazza all graced the front of the top pop mag. Between them, these seven acts had nineteen Top 40 hits; Erasure had have thirty-five. (The duo would remain a top pop act for the next three years but coming changes at ver Hits meant that Christian Slater and the cast of Beverly Hills, 90210 would become preferred cover stars at the expense of actual pop groups)

I've written before that Erasure were the last major synth-pop group but this depends on how one would go about defining the term 'major'. They had seventeen Top Ten hits and five of their albums went to number one in the UK so they were hardly a minor act. Yet, they had trouble avoiding the 'also-ran' tag. Pet Shop Boys, their closest competitors, were bigger around the world and they seemed to matter to people more. Label mates Depeche Mode weren't hit makers on nearly the same level but they, too, outstripped them internationally and they had indie cred. So did New Order, whose legacy was already immense. All three synth acts had also been seminal at some point, as were The Human League, OMD and Soft Cell. But Erasure? They just never seemed as important as their synth-pop brethren.

There was also the problem of consistency — specifically, their lack of it. Though mostly a singles band (it's still hard to believe they had so many chart topping albums considering what a mixed bag their LP's are), their 45's didn't always hit the mark. On 1989's very patchy Wild!, for example, there's one absolute belter ("Blue Savannah"), another one that's quite good ("Drama") and two more that just go through the motions ("You Surround Me", "Star"). '88's mighty The Innocents produced two bangers ("Ship of Fools", "A Little Respect") and another that was just all right ("Chains of Love").

Returning swiftly in '91, Andy Bell and Vince Clarke were back (BACK!!) with some of their strongest material to date. The four singles were all top notch and the Chorus album would prove to be one of their better long players. (Ver Hits' Johnny Dee was less impressed, arguing that much of it sounded like "frightening techno muzak they play in McDonald's to make you eat your cheeseburgers quicker") Overall, it's probably a notch below both The Innocents and their self-titled 1996 release (ie the first one in ages not to got to number one) but it's still a quietly brilliant work. But even Erasure's best albums weren't especially essential affairs: you could always enjoy the hits if you couldn't be bothered with the LP.

First up was the title track and it's as great as anything they've ever done. The song's first half is seemingly as repetitive as "Stop!" until the bridge kicks in ("Holy Moses, our hearts are screaming...") which then gives way to another bridge ("The sunlight rising over the horizon..."). If the standard verse-chorus was thrilling enough (and it is), its these sections that put it over the top. And then there's Clarke putting away his acoustic guitar. I don't know, sometimes that strumming can be just the thing an Erasure song needs it's not what we were there for. "Chorus" opens some computerized notes and electronics are what the listener is treated to throughout — and it paid off. At last they had a single that was as good as "Don't You Want Me", "Tainted Love" and "West End Girls". (Sadly they were unable to repeat the chart topping success of those singles; the public, as ever, was much more willing to take a punt on drippy love songs)

Sylvia Patterson suggests that "Chorus" might have something to do with the environment. Its chorus does go on about covering up the sun, birds flying away and the fish going "to sleep" so she may be on to something but who's to say? Bell has always liked spouting indecipherable philosophical lyrics; the more difficult to pull apart the better, in fact. It could be all about their ecological concerns or about some of Bell's patented overwrought heartbreak or it could be just yet more or his nonsense set to a blistering techno-pop tune. Whether meaningful or meaningless, Bell had the voice to pull it off

Erasure always seemed like a group that everyone 'quite liked' but was nobody's favourite. While they may not have inspired the devotion that fans had for Depeche Mode, New Order and Pet Shop Boys, they managed to avoid the backlash that the others occasionally faced or were visible enough that they weren't easily forgotten about. They somehow toed the line between prominence and obscurity into over a decade of hit singles and best selling albums. They weren't as big or as important or as seminal as their contemporaries but they continued to be Erasure, a band who were sometimes great, typically reliable and seldom boring. What more could they have done?

~~~~~

Also Reviewed This Fortnight

Jason Donovan: "Any Dream Will Do"

Some broke away from the Stock Aitken Waterman hit factory in order to assert their creative independence; Jason Donovan wasn't one of them. No one leaves one restrictive media empire for an even bigger restrictive media empire thinking that their artistic vision had any kind of hope. Then again, Jase never gave anyone the impression he had an artistic vision to begin with. You would at least expect the jump from SAW to Andrew Lloyd Weber's inner circle would've resulted in better "sounding" records but "Any Dream Will Do" is as cheap as they come. As Patterson says, it's distressingly superior to the detritus Pete Waterman had been flinging his way (possibly his best single since "When You Come Back to Me") but this wasn't saying much. Though it would spent a fortnight at number one, it would quickly become overshadowed by the single which would usurp it. It's one you might know.