— Anon.
An unintended consequence of punk was that it led to a dearth of old school workingmen's bands. Given that they had relocated to the United States at around the same time, Slade would not have been a target of the punks but it was hard-faced, hard-drinking bands like them and The Faces and Status Quo (and, most importantly of all, any potential younger acts) who would really falter as the seventies gave way to the eighties. True, there had been overly working class bands like Angelic Upstarts but they got themselves stuck in the corner of punk; whereas everyone with any kind of future had been able to spread themselves out.
Dexys Midnight Runners were one of the few groups to emerge out of punk to cultivate an image of a gang of lads on the prowl for drink and a punch up. But it was all image. The ever-changing line-up and their practice of adopting new band uniforms on a yearly basis (they went from dock workers to health fanatics to urchins in rags and dungarees to preppies; leader Kevin Rowland even carried this forward in his solo career, famously dressing in drag for the sleeve of flop covers album My Beauty) only confirmed that it was all a show. Whether it was the superstars of New Pop dressing as members of Bananarama or supposed toughs in a badass gang, everyone in a UK dominated by music videos and Smash Hits seemed perfectly happy to get dressed up.
Well, not quite everyone. London's JoBoxers were keen to point out to all who'd listen that they weren't like those "production-line haircut bands" or even Dexys, a band whose Searching for the Young Soul Rebels image appeared to have rubbed off on the suspenders, Doc Martens and flat caps favoured by singer Dig Wayne and the quartet who used to be in punk band Subway Sect. Yet, they claimed this was how they normally dressed. "We're for real," Wayne would claim, perhaps unaware that he'd just set off a big popular music red flag.
Still, the unnamed Hits reviewer this fortnight seemed to buy it. These people who dress like Bananarama (are they the same folk who are in these so-called "production-line haircut bands"? Something tells me there would be plenty of intersection of the two on a Venn diagram) are for some reason the enemy. JoBoxers have "no synths, no wimpy vocals"; the critic here conveniently leaves out that they also have no originality and no creativity but I guess those sorts of qualities don't matter when you're "for real".
I don't mean to trash "Boxerbeat" though. It's a perfectly competent slice of pop-soul, loads of fun and I have no doubt JoBoxers would've been a great act to have seen live back in their day. But in a fortnight with some strong candidates — I would have had a difficult time choosing between Madness' "Tomorrow's Just Another Day" and Orange Juice's "Rip It Up" had I been in charge of the singles in this issue; also coming in strong are OMD's "Genetic Engineering" and Wall of Voodoo's "Mexican Radio" — it's simply an also ran. The same old punk from six years earlier was no different than this spirited but derivative soul.
Having recently been voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Duran Duran aren't the joke they once were. Yes, they were a global phenomenon and hit making juggernaut back in their day but they had their critics. Harsh critics. People who knocked their hair and fashion sense and music videos and they even managed to go after their actual music from time to time. At their best, they were very good indeed but they could also put out some crap. Nevertheless, if it comes down having to choose between a band who is "for real" and a bunch of "pouting pretties" like Duran and the Spand then I'll take the the flash suits, art school pretensions, pin up looks and ridiculous exoticism any day.
~~~~~
Also Reviewed This Fortnight
Men Without Hats: "The Safety Dance (Extended 'Club Mix')"
Bundled together with fellow 12" remixes of Eurythmics and Leisure Process (whoever they are), our anonymous friend isn't terrifically fond of Montreal's Men Without Hats, reckoning they were only capable of "a bit of electronic doodling and a fabulously stupid name". I will say "The Safety Dance" doesn't deserve to be their best-known song since "Pop Goes the World" blows it out of the water. Also, the name isn't that bad especially since their first best of was given the title Greatest Hats which is somehow both on-the-nose and brilliant at the same time. And this "Extended 'Club Mix'" manages to clock in at a reasonable four-and-a-half minutes so it could be worse. A pointless 12" all the same, however.
(Click here to see my original review)
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