— Mike Soutar
On November 8, 1988 the characters of Charlene Mitchell and Scott Robinson were married in an episode of the widely popular Australian soap Neighbours. (Apparently they had already tied the knot some eighteen months earlier back home) To celebrate, the actors that portrayed them released a duet that seemed to blur the lines between their fictional love and real life friendship. "Especially for You" was a monster smash for Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan, capping a big year for her and ushering in a huge one for him. There had been persistent rumours that they were as much of a couple as their pair they played on TV but the two always denied them. Then another Aussie superstar came forth and made it be clear that he wanted some sweet Kylie action. Minogue was soon seen in the company of Michael Hutchence, lead singer of INXS and major sex symbol. They were no longer together but that was when everyone found out that Kyles 'n' Jase had been a couple all along.
Their music careers had been guided by the team of Stock Aitken Waterman, a trio who could on occasion do tailor made numbers for acts in their stable. As if reacting to the breakup, they gifted Donovan "When You Come Back to Me" in the build up to the 1989 Christmas Number One sweepstakes. It had some festive cheer to it and it was about a young man dealing with heartbreak as he awaits the return of his departed. If Minogue wasn't going to fall for him again then at least thousands of teenage girls were going to. (I get the feeling that SAW was much more invested in this relationship than new exes themselves) For her part, Kylie already had material from second album Enjoy Yourself to be focused on and her breakup song was just going to have to wait.
Pete Waterman has stated that "Better the Devil You Know" is about their view that she should've stayed with Donovan, the safe choice, over Hutchence, the classic rock 'n' roll bad boy. To imagine the squeaky clean Jason as a devil of any kind must have seemed odd but the song suggests that there was a lot more going on behind the scenes than the public suspected. The girl-next-door that they had tended to was gone and it was all the doing of that sex god with the long hair who sang that he needed her tonight and he damn-well meant it.
That is the narrative surrounding "Better the Devil You Know" but it probably only represents part of the story in the eyes of SAW. While Minogue was being led astray by Hutchence, she was also feeling the pull of other writers, producers and genres. Rick Astley and Bananarama had already pulled away from the trio and Donna Summer severed her brief relationship with them when she couldn't be arsed about flying back to Britain to record more material. Though they were still having hits, the days of them having three singles in the Top 10 and four more spread throughout the charts were now over. (By that October, there wouldn't be a single SAW production in the entire Top 75) As if suspecting that their one remaining big star was about to depart, they offered her a not-so-subtle reminder that they were the devil she knew and was comfortable with. Look elsewhere at your own peril, Kyles.
There is a great deal to be said about this record but, sadly, I have trouble getting enthused about the actual song. There's nothing really wrong with it, only that it's just more of the same, especially coming from SAW. True, as Mike Soutar says, Minogue's voice is much stronger than on any of her previous hits. (She also happens to look great in the video which only reaffirms that she's easily the best thing about it) The tune is yet another catchy but forgettable SAW number, a sure a sign as any that their time really was just about up. And don't get me started on those irritating backing vocals, a SAW hallmark they really should have done away with by this point.
Clearly I'm just about alone in giving "Devil" just a shrug of the shoulders — though as the anecdote down below suggests, there were others who were equally indifferent. The single got to number two and it remains one of her most popular early releases. Yet it lacks the ecstatic joy of "I Should Be So Lucky", the careful craftsmanship of "It's No Secret" and the pop breeziness of "Wouldn't Change a Thing". Yet it must be said that it reinvigorated her and SAW's remaining traces of creativity would be concentrated on her records. After playing it safe with this one, she returned later in the year with "Step Back in Time", an absolute stormer in spite of the fact that it undermined SAW's stand against oldies in their appalling '89 hit "I'd Rather Jack" by the Reynolds Girls. Subsequent hits "What Do I Have to Do" and "Shocked" also proved to be stronger than "Devil" and her unbroken run of Top 10 hits continued. Matt Aitken would soon depart leaving SAW as simply 'SW', a pair that was able to get by on fumes from their last year or so with Kylie.
My first encounter with "Better the Devil You Know" happened to be on AM 106, then Calgary's leading teen radio station. Most nights they would do a segment in which two recent singles would battle for the hearts of listeners, who would call in to vote for their favourite. The winner would move on to face another challenger the next night while the loser would quickly vanish off the face of the earth. One night in the autumn of 1990, this latest single from Kylie was in contention against a song I can't even recall. Her star was already in sharp decline since her cover of "The Locomotion" gave her a hit in 1988. (The Enjoy Yourself album had a radically different cover in North America which may have been an attempt on the part of record label Geffen to make her out to be less of a plastic girl-next-door; it was because of this photo that I figured she was going to become a bit of a granola rather than sexKylie) But people just about still remembered her and this latest single was up for consideration on one weekday night in a Canadian city. Needless to say, Kylie got trounced. Doubtless "Devil" had been tested out in various markets in the US and Canada and it wasn't going well. Third album The Rhythm of Love didn't even get released. It would be some time before we'd be hearing from her again on this side of the Atlantic.
~~~~~
Also Reviewed This Fortnight
The Beloved: "Time After Time"
British indie's explosion in 1990 encompassed a lot of styles. Obviously Madchester set the pace but there was also post-Smiths gloom rock, jangle pop and early shoegaze about. And then there was The Beloved, a post-punk band who underwent a sonic makeover at the end of the eighties — and then spent the bulk of their brief chart lifespan bouncing from genre to genre. I honestly never knew they had synth-pop in them but here it is, their very own attempt to compete with Depeche Mode, New Order and Pet Shop Boys (yeah, that didn't work out so well, did it?). The group's eclecticism made them interesting but it probably resulted in them struggling to cultivate a loyal fanbase at the same time. "Time After Time" strives for something but you can't help but feel that they missed the boat. Oh well, I'm sure they were able to hop on another vessel promptly.
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