— Neil Tennant
Looking over the charts in the eighties, it's interesting to note how often American dance music was able to penetrate the UK Top 40 while failing to garner much interest at home. Some, like The S.O.S. Band and Cameo, enjoyed early success in the States before achieving fame across the pond, while others like techno pioneers Inner City were never able to gain much of a footing at all. Of course they all found success on the R&B and/or Dance Music charts which only goes to show how ghettoised black pop music was at the time. The British, unencumbered by (musical) prejudices, just lumped it all together and let punters go out and vote with the few bob in their pockets.
Written and recorded by Eddy Grant, the original "Walking on Sunshine" probably didn't have much potential for club play. It is a dance number but better suited for a Mardi Gras parade in the middle of Port of Spain than Studio 54. Reggae adjacent, it brims with sunny vibes — even if it's let down by a horribly weedy synth driving the arrangement — and a lighthearted vocal from Grant, who may not have given the sort of powerful throaty performance with which he was often capable but one that suits this lighthearted record nonetheless.
The Arthur Baker-led Rockers Revenge got hold of "Walking on Sunshine" and added some much needed big city sizzle. Yes, the clubs got a hold of it and took it to the top of the Club Play Charts but it's just as easy picturing this blasting out of a boombox on a street corner in the middle of Harlem — assuming, of course, that radio was having anything to do with it, which, at best, was likely only selective. Perhaps no one knew quite how to classify it. I for one love how this seems to be a throwback to a wonderfully catholic New York scene. Rap was beginning to emerge, the DJ's from the disco boom were looking at ways to move on, home computers were making programming and sampling as easy as playing an instrument and there was room for funk, synth-pop, soul and reggae mixed together in such a landscape. The British were keenest to listen but only American producers, remixers, singers and musicians could have forged such an effort.
By now a committed fan of dance music, it's easy to hear this track having a profound affect on Neil Tennant the budding pop star. (Honestly, I had no idea that an offshoot of this blog would be to act as a deep dive into the psyche of the future Pet Shop Boys vocalist as he goes from Smash Hits scribe to stardom but I might as well go with it at this point) Just as important, New York's musical culture was rubbing off on him as well. All he needed was to find an NYC studio boffin of his own.
Written and recorded by Eddy Grant, the original "Walking on Sunshine" probably didn't have much potential for club play. It is a dance number but better suited for a Mardi Gras parade in the middle of Port of Spain than Studio 54. Reggae adjacent, it brims with sunny vibes — even if it's let down by a horribly weedy synth driving the arrangement — and a lighthearted vocal from Grant, who may not have given the sort of powerful throaty performance with which he was often capable but one that suits this lighthearted record nonetheless.
The Arthur Baker-led Rockers Revenge got hold of "Walking on Sunshine" and added some much needed big city sizzle. Yes, the clubs got a hold of it and took it to the top of the Club Play Charts but it's just as easy picturing this blasting out of a boombox on a street corner in the middle of Harlem — assuming, of course, that radio was having anything to do with it, which, at best, was likely only selective. Perhaps no one knew quite how to classify it. I for one love how this seems to be a throwback to a wonderfully catholic New York scene. Rap was beginning to emerge, the DJ's from the disco boom were looking at ways to move on, home computers were making programming and sampling as easy as playing an instrument and there was room for funk, synth-pop, soul and reggae mixed together in such a landscape. The British were keenest to listen but only American producers, remixers, singers and musicians could have forged such an effort.
By now a committed fan of dance music, it's easy to hear this track having a profound affect on Neil Tennant the budding pop star. (Honestly, I had no idea that an offshoot of this blog would be to act as a deep dive into the psyche of the future Pet Shop Boys vocalist as he goes from Smash Hits scribe to stardom but I might as well go with it at this point) Just as important, New York's musical culture was rubbing off on him as well. All he needed was to find an NYC studio boffin of his own.
The UK took to "Walking on Sunshine" nearly as enthusiastically as Tennant but it predictably went nowhere beyond the charts that had been earmarked for African Americans and the clubs. So much so that it would quickly become overshadowed by another pop song with the same name. Katrina & The Waves happened to be white and they sort of looked like a rock band which was evidently all it took to give them a Trans-Atlantic smash in 1985, one that remains well-loved to this day. In terms of quality the two Sunshines are mostly a wash but only one of them had much of a chance of taking the charts by storm in the US. Shame.
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Also Reviewed This Fortnight
The Flirts: "Passion"
It's kind of disappointing that Tennant didn't go with this Canadian 12" import instead of Rockers Revenge. Not because I was interested to hear what this obscure all-female Canuck group sounded like that they could have charmed Neil so much (because they weren't Canadian and don't sound one bit like the Martha & The Muffins rip offs I had imagined) but because it's an early Bobby O offering. Yes, the very same NYC studio boffin that I mentioned above. The very same Bobby Orlando who guided Tennant and Lowe to recording some club faves that the public either didn't have the time for or hadn't been exposed to. Neil would soon give a stronger Bobby O record a Single of the Fortnight so I guess there's some justice. Actually, scratch that: I wish Tennant had given his approval to a sub-Muffins Canadian girl band who sang with little emotion and played guitar solos like they were Peter Hook going nuts on a bass. It could've done him some good. Granted, maybe not in the same way same way Bobby O did but still. NYC dance pop, Canadian indie, either way.
(Click here to see my original review)
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