14 December 1988 (with more rantings from the lovely Ms. James here)
— Wendy James
The second to last issue of Smash Hits in 1988 (with the final not including a singles review page, as was typical) came out in the middle of December by which point the Christmas Number One had already been locked up. Favourites Bros had entered the charts at number two during the last week of November with the strategic double A-side "Cat Among the Pigeons" / "Silent Night" and this seemed to give them the early advantage over Cliff Richard's "Mistletoe and Wine" which only came in at seven. A week later and it was the wily old vet who showed the young stars how it was done, holding off Neighbours power couple Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan while Bros began sliding down the charts. Kylie and Jason's "Especially for You" had far more staying power than "Cat Among the Pigeons" but it was clear that "Mistletoe and Wine" wasn't going anywhere. It only remained to be seen if the Aussies could nab a week or two at the top once the seasonal goodwill was in the can (they managed to squeeze in three weeks at number one before the public got completely sick of it/them).
It is, therefore, odd to see further Christmas hit hopefuls up for consideration at this late stage in the game. The late Natalie Cole has a cover of a yuletide favourite that her father imortalized, "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)", which Wendy James gives faint praise. Elsewhere, in the unreviewed Also released between now and Christmas sidebar, is the then-obscure but now perennial "Driving Home for Christmas" by Chris Rea. And then there's James' choice for Single of the Fortnight which has a downhome, "In the Bleak Mid-Winter" seasonal air about it. These artists, their management and their record labels may have felt a late release might work to their advantage but the outlook would have been grim when it became clear that this would be the Christmas of Cliff. (This batch of "new" records is more that a little curious: two of the others reviewed here — Inner City's "Good Life" (see below) and New Order's "Fine Time" — were already in the UK Top 40 prior to this issue's publication)
There have been a fair few stinkers when it comes to guest critics of the singles in Smash Hits. Sigue Sigue Sputnik tried the bitchy-comedic angle but it very quickly grew tiresome. Samantha Fox has received some flack for her brainless turn (how dare she dislike The Fall and The Smiths!) but I'm less concerned with her taste in music than I am her horribly dull observations. Still, I'd take her review over Gary Numan's self-serving nonsense, even if he manages to be endearing at times. Wet Wet Wet and Hue & Cry sure seemed to enjoy riding on their high horses much more than evaluating the quality of the records. Bros, as I have already hammered home, made the entire thing all about themselves. With her penchant for mouthing off and fondness for skimpy clothing, Wendy James of rock combo Transvision Vamp was bound to be another one to add to the list of guest reviewers who make you wish that the magazine's staff would put down the mince pies, lay off the brandy and get on with evaluating the bloody records themselves.
The first thing to report is that James isn't interested in the spotlight here. Down for an accompanying photo session, she's wearing jeans, a feathery jumper and heels and is sporting an over-sized silk hat and holding a pair of 12" records (one of which is by Electribe 101, which she didn't review and isn't even in the aforementioned Also released section). Viewers can still catch a glimpse of her striking facial features but these aren't the sort of photos of her that prepubescent boys (myself included) would have been drooling over. She also keeps the personal shots at pop foes (both real and imagined) to a minimum with just a pot-calling-the-kettle-black swipe at Climie Fisher's videos ("[it] will probably have some beautiful models crawling all over them underneath a shower or something") taking her down the low road. Otherwise, she's keen to point out that she's "not a very dancy sort of person" (except for when she is) with the odd pointed observation ("It seems to me this band started out at The Miami Sound Machine, then it became Gloria Estefan And The Miami Sound Machine and pretty soon it'll probably just be Gloria Estefan").
One of the more surprising aspects of James' critique is her choice for SOTF. She came close to being more predictable by anointing The Pogues with their beat group homage "Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah" but decided to go with Enya instead. Something closer to her punk/hard rock roots would've been what everyone would have expected only there's very little of that to choose from this fortnight. She had to make due with a record that she couldn't have made herself, which, all things considered, is a good way of choosing a favourite.
James' praise of Enya as the "greatest female talent to emerge in 1988" is no faint praise either. Female solo acts and girls fronting bands were all over the place that year. January saw Belinda Carlise top the British charts with "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" which was quickly followed by Kylie Minogue's "I Should Be So Lucky" and Tiffany's "I Think We're Alone Now" at the chart summit. Never before had three women been number one on the bounce. As if to emphasize this achievement, the feat was repeated that autumn, this time with Whitney Houston, Enya and Robin Beck scoring the treble. Four of these six number ones were recorded by superstars (Tiffany was a flash in the pan but she was huge for a time; Carlisle was ultimately unable to sustain her success in America but she became a chart regular in Europe from then on) while Beck's fluke smash was the result of a popular Coke commercial. Among this crowd, the Irish woman with the angelic voice who looked like she was into healing with crystals really stood out.
"Orinoco Flow" had been a surprise number one but I spearheaded a backlash (one that didn't extend much past my front door and on the school playground) because she kept Kylie from the top spot. I didn't expect to enjoy "Evening Falls" but I really liked it and it now brings to mind the week before Christmas which we spent in Wales and Devon. Indeed, it might as well have been playing on a blustery Tuesday when we visited a beautiful but deserted wind-swept beach in Pembrokeshire or that evening as we walked along a very quiet part of Swansea Bay. We only spent a couple nights in Wales but the overall impression was of never seeing anyone and feeling like we were about to fall off the face of the Earth. (If I ever get the chance to visit the Falkland Islands, I'll be comparing the experience to my brief trip to Cymru) No wonder it could have been soundtracked by a sparse Gaelic tune of haunting loveliness.
It may have lacked the new age freshness of its predecessor but "Evening Falls" was and still is a beautiful creation. Still, it isn't exactly commercial and its chart potential was limited (I actually thought it charted lower than it did). Radio hardly ever played it and Top of the Pops and other music programmes gave it short shrift when they had been more than happy to promote "Orinoco Flow". As James suggests, it is much closer to the singer's background with her family's group Clannad. It is also a vehicle to better appreciate the purity of her voice, note perfect like fellow Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor and dreamy like All About Even's Julianne Regan. Closer to the real Enya.
"Evening Falls" disappeared quickly and would quickly be forgotten. Enya wouldn't have another Top 40 hit until two years later when "Caribbean Blue" was released. Meanwhile, Wendy James rose to the peak of her fame with "Baby I Don't Care" and Transvision Vamp's number one album Velveteen (a big favourite of mine when I was twelve). She then floundered trying to follow it up and her solo career didn't amount to much. But she has carried on and remains unapologetic. And why should she? She made the most of her modest talents, gave pop journalists plenty to write about and didn't try to unduly hog the spotlight — it was on her enough as it was.
~~~~~
Also Reviewed This Fortnight
Inner City: "Good Life"
So much for the influence of Smash Hits. "Big Fun" had been an unexpected Top 10 smash in September and October and "Good Life" was set to capitalize on their sudden British fame but reviewers didn't bother including them. Miranda Sawyer passed on them nearly a month earlier but it comes up here with James doing the singles. (Kind of makes you wonder how far in advance they got the singer to do the task) James likes the record but hates the sorts of places where it gets played but, speaking from my own experience at that time, you didn't have to be visiting the discotheques to be enjoying the "Good Life". Another top notch effort from the techno pair and a single many pop kids remain fond of into middle age. (The video shows a not-entirely camera shy Inner City vocalist Paris Grey taking in London. British kids of the time who had been raised on Michael Jackson, Madonna and Dallas must have found the sight of an American cavorting around the dour capital while praising the "Good Life" to be very strange indeed. And to think, the suits and Brit-pop types who created 'Cool Britannia' were just a glint in the double-glazing salesman's eyes)
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