The Lucy Show: "Undone"

6 November 1985

"Not much of a song tune-wise, but the sound is dashingly gloomy. You can dance to it, you can call it "art" if you so wish — either way it's shimmeringly cool."
— Tom Hibbert

As I wrote last week, changes were afoot at ver Hits during the final months of 1985. Colourful pages abound with the black and whites being left mainly for the crossword puzzle and the letters page. The singles review has recently started using SINGLE OF THE FORTNIGHT as a banner, albeit tucked away in the bottom left-hand corner. It's a good thing they've brought in this designation since you might not guess simply by reading about what's on offer.

Taking a casual glance at page forty-two of this issue of the Hits, you might assume that Wham! would be walking home with SOTF honours. The write up on their latest single "I'm Your Man" is accompanied by a large photo of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, prominently placed just below reviewer Tom Hibbert's name in bold print. And His Nibs (or shall we say "His Hibs"?) is taken with their latest effort. He observes that Michael has shown no sign of losing his touch while recognizing just how redundant Ridgeley has become. He doesn't gush over it or anything but he sees it for what it is: yet another well-crafted megahit for a group at the peak of their powers.

Hibbert likes other records as well. His review of "In This Heat" by Simonics (whoever they are) concludes with an observation that despite the "absurd" narrative, its "overpowering hypnotic qualities will get you anyway. Ber-rilliant." Meanwhile, "No Rope as Long as Time" by Latin Quarter is a quietly poignant affair about average citizens caught up in the midst of Apartheid in South Africa. "This Is What She's Like" by a returning — and, inevitably, restructured and remodeled — Dexys Midnight Runners he considers "LUDICROUS" but I reckon he means it in the best possible sense. His former Smash Hits colleague Neil Tennant has been giving this pop stuff a go and his latest, "West End Girls", is chilling and sinister.

But there's another single that has really drawn Hibbert's attention. He's already a fan of these guys, regarding everything about them highly save for the well-nourished frontman's image. Everything they've done previously has been "impeccable" and this new one is "lovely". A bit confused as to the story going on, he decides to give it another listen — "don't mind if I do..." he concludes. And he's right: "The Lost Weekend" by Lloyd Cole & The Commotions is a fantastic single. Strange it's not his SOTF.

Finally we get to "Undone" by The Lucy Show. While he has plenty of praise for it, I'm not convinced he actually prefers it to Cole's latest. He doesn't exactly go over his word limit here and much of what little he has to say (see the quotation above) is on how one might approach it. Not unlike earlier pick "Monkeys on Juice", he sees value in dancing to songs one might not normally think of as floor fillers. That's fine and even kind of noble in a way but what does it tell you about his appreciation for the record? He enjoyed "I'm Your Man" and "The Lost Weekend" but this one? I suppose he must have done but other than the claim that it's "dashingly gloomy" he's rather stingy with his praise.

So, I think that Hibs wanted to give a struggling band a leg up. The Commotions had already received loads of acclaim for their debut album Rattlesnakes a year earlier and "The Lost Weekend" was set to become their second Top 20 hit on the bounce so what did they need with a critics choice in a top pop mag? Dexys had had their time and still had a loyal following to ensure respectable sales (well, not really...). Choose the Pet Shop Boys and he might have felt like he was going to be accused of giving a boost to a mate. He could have opted for Simonics or Latin Quarter but neither possessed the hip indie factor that would have marked them out as acts to watch out for. I can go either way with "Undone" but it's easy to see they had promise.

Tom Hibbert wasn't about to spoonfeed us "viewers" his pick and, SINGLE OF THE FORTNIGHT mini-banner aside, perhaps he was content to let young people read these reviews for themselves and see what, if anything, they'd want to search out. Nevertheless, I can't imagine many who happened to have a few extra bob laying around looked at this piece and decided to go round to the Boots on High Street to see if they had a copy of this new Lucy Show single. Hibs being a mischievous presence in pop lit, he wasn't about to care either way. The SOTF didn't necessarily have to go to the best record on offer, just the one that stood out the most or the one that might be a harbinger for things to come or whatever he felt like. He could pick a specimen with a drama school background who never met a spotlight he didn't have to be dragged away from for all he cared.

~~~~~

Also Reviewed This Fortnight

Pet Shop Boys: "West End Girls"

Now a bona fide classic, it's difficult to imagine listening to "West End Girls" for the first time — as well as wondering quite what to make of it. A posh English accent rap about dive bars and hard or soft options doesn't quite scream 'world-wide chart topper' nor would you guess that it would provide the basis for a remarkable thirty-five years of Pet Shop Boys. Of course what Tennant and Chris Lowe had already mastered was mixing London's Beefeater postcard image with its seedy underbelly into a place even more glamourous than anyone could have imagined. With top notch pop instincts, a passion for imported 12" dance singles and grounding in British culture from top to bottom, they pulled off their first of many superlative singles here. They got jobbed out of the SOTF (though maybe they should have been co-winners with Lloyd Cole) but we'll be seeing them here again before long.