The Birthday Party: "Release the Bats" / Jon & Vangelis: "State of Independence"

20 August 1981

"This band is not shy."

"Not normally the kind of thing I would listen to, this was the surprise of the pile."

— Charlie Gillett

Well, time hasn't done anything to endear me to either of these records. I approached this (re)entry thinking that at least one of "Release the Bats" or "State of Independence" would throw me, making me wonder why I was so swift to dismiss one or both of them just over four years ago. Alas, I'm as unmoved as ever — even vaguely resentful of having to evaluate them once again — and I'm not even sure I can understand why Charlie Gillett chose them anymore.

People love their Nick Cave, or so I've been told. I've never known any devoted Cave fans but I imagine they're the sort of people who think The Boatman's Call is in fact one of his weaker albums and not at all representative of his musical talent. Nevertheless, I think most people will agree that he was at his best alongside The Bad Seeds. The Birthday Party, his first group of note, were certainly distinctive but Cave wasn't able to put the care into his songwriting during these early years as he would be towards the end of the eighties.

Many have stated that "Release the Bats" was seminal in the burgeoning goth rock movement. Cave has disputed this but he ought to take that up with youngsters in black who heard it and were inspired. It has been suggested that the song was meant to be a joke but The Birthday Party's "frightening intensity" ensures that the gag is lost on all but the most studious of observers.

Contrary to what punk advocates will have you believe, progressive rock didn't simply shrivel up and die in 1977. Well, it didn't die. During the considerable layover between the end of ELP and Gabriel-era Genesis and the rise of second generation acts like Kajagoogoo, Nik Kershaw and Tears for Fears, holdovers such as Yes went commercial. Prog hadn't been challenging for listeners since the heyday of King Crimson but now it had become especially tame and toothless. Supergroups Asia and Jon & Vangelis were about to inflict far more damage upon prog than the Sex Pistols ever could have.

Jon Anderson had departed Yes and and the late Vangelis had long since bid farewell to Greek act Aphrodite's Child when they formed their partnership. With the latter getting deeper into film scores — his biggest success of 1981 was the soundtrack to Chariots of Fire and would soon work on the music for the overrated Blade Runner — this duo may have been an attempt to keep at least one foot in the pop world. Success for the group was sporadic and it would be a while before they began to reap some financial reward for composing "State of Independence". This windfall came mainfully from Donna Summer's solid cover version. It's much stronger than the original and indicates that Jon & Vangelis had a sturdy composition on their hands, even if they couldn't make much of it on their own.

As if to avoid having to write a proper review, I took up the bulk of my time in this co-Single of the Fortnight's post categorizing some of the other records reviewed by Gillett with oh so clever titles. This time I thought I'd provide classifications for The Birthday Party and Jon & Vangelis. Let's see how I do this time.

People Who Aren't Currently Relevant but Will Be Praised Someday for Their "Influence"

The Birthday Party: "Release the Bats"

As Brian Eno once said, only 10,000 people bought the first Birthday Party album but everyone who did formed a band and bought cowboy hats in an attempt to make goth seem more rustic or something.

People Who Aren't Yet Aware That They're Irrelevant

Jon & Vangelis: "State of Independence"

As Brian Eno once said, over 1,000,000 people bought the J&V album The Friends of Mr Cairo but not one of them formed a band because of it (and it did nothing for the goth cowboy hat industry either). No one seemed to think so at the time but wasn't Kate Bush far more progressive than these two? Vangelis had much more of a future with ambient, impressionist film soundtracks. As for Anderson, I'm sure he had enough money stashed away to open up a pub.

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Also Reviewed This Fortnight

Cliff Richard: "Wired for Sound"

(aka People Who Will Have a Hit (Even If They Don't Deserve To), aka People Trying a Little Too Hard to Keep Their Career Renaissance Going)

Cliff's late-seventies revival of "Miss You Nights", "Devil Woman", "Carrie" and "We Don't Talk Anymore" (a better period than his early-sixties heyday, if you ask this humble blogger) entered the eighties with the popular and well-remembered "Wired for Sound". I'm in agreement with Gillett that the song doesn't deserve Cliff and that it's "clever rather than engaging". The fact that he was soon to dry up almost permanently — even though "Saviour's Day" being a great song is a hill I will die on — probably helped fans have fond memories of this good-but-not-great number. Nevertheless, it would have been my SOTF runner-up, trailing only the brilliant "Mother's Hour" by Ludus. (As Brian Eno once said, only only person bought the first Ludus album but everyone who did formed a band called The Smiths and flirted with racism)

(Click here to see the original post)

Redhead Kingpin & The FBI: "Superbad, Superslick"

29 November 1989

"Look, He's got a CD round his neck."

— Ben

"I like that brring bit."

— Nick

"Energy without violence is just great too."

— Julian

"We'll all choose different records from this as our favourites but this is the one we all agree on."

— Migi

Over the last several months I have looked at bands doing guest spots as Smash Hits singles reviewers. Wet Wet Wet were the first group in some time to take on the task together (and certainly the first quartet to do so), with lead singers or prominent musicians handling said duties for the most part. The Scottish foursome came to a consensus, as did fellow Caledonians Hue & Cry a few months later. Erasure and Aswad also managed to agree on a Single of the Fortnight but this harmonious situation changed when Communards Jimmy Somerville and Richard Coles went with separate picks. Members of Bros, Brother Beyond and T'Pau followed suit. None seemed interested in compromising.

But that is what the members of Curiosity Killed the Cat have done in this issue of ver Hits. As drummer Miguel "Migi" Drummond says above, they each have their own personal faves but they decided to present a solitary SOTF in a show of unity. I have included my thoughts on each of their individual picks before I get to the one they all agreed on.

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Kate Bush: "This Woman's Work"

Julian, the "Kate Bush authority", opts for the dramatic second single from the highly anticipated The Sensual World LP. He makes the faux pas of referring to her as 'Katie' but he's bang on in every other respect. A Top 30 hit though it deserved to do better but I suppose Katie's thirtysomething fanbase had all been happy to snap up the album instead. Nevertheless, "This Woman's Work" is outstanding. Also features a captivating video starring British actor Tim McInnerny, who played Lord Percy and Captain Darling in Blackadder, as Katie's devoted but brokenhearted husband. He even touched her once.

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Glen Goldsmith: "One Life"

Easily the worst of the individual picks. Ben doesn't exactly come right out and say it but it's either this or the hopeless new single from Curiosity Killed the Cat and we're not going to go there. Sounds like generic R&B pop from about three years earlier and its chart prospects were even bleaker than the hopeless new single from Curiosity Killed the Cat.

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Van Morrison with Cliff Richard: "Whenever God Shines His Light"

A clear Christmas number one contender pretender. Nick is very taken with it and Ben is right there with him but, tellingly, the other two don't bother to chime in. I thought it was lame Jesus nonsense as a youth but now I just find it a bore. Van was capable of much better and, indeed, so was Cliff. Amazingly, it was Van's biggest Top 40 hit since all the way back in 1965 when he was a grumpy young man in Ulster group Them.

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Soul II Soul: "Get a Life"

They last had a hit with Single of the Year "Back to Life" and followed it up with "Get a Life" — what the hell was Jazzie B playing at? (I'm still waiting for their cover of Opus' "Live Is Life") Not as immediate as their earlier hits but but the kids chanting "what's the meaning" and the (possibly) sampled flute sticks with the listener. The Bee's raps on Club Classics Vol.1 were a bit more effortless but this is easily the most commercial thing featuring his voice. A near Christmas number one that was only held off by some charity wretchedness and a horrific Jive Bunny megamix. Soul II Soul had managed to tap into the zeitgeist earlier in the year but their luster was soon to slip a bit.

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As for "Superbad, Superslick", it's a solid compromise choice. I wasn't fussed by Redhead Kingpin's "Do the Right Thing" that I covered on this blog a while back but this is a marked improvement. As I think I have said before, hip hop artists could get caught up in the "message" of their records that they'd often forget about trivialities like hooks and melodies and, you know, crafting a sturdy song. It was easy at the time to be down on boastful rappers but nine times out of ten they bested the irritating positive types.

Relying heavily on an organ part that may or may not have been played by David "Redhead" Guppy and a stuttering guitar part in the chorus, "Superbad, Superslick" is largely free of rap cliches. Even the use of a James Brown sample towards the end is a little used "get into it" bit and not one of the Godfather's grunts nor that "Funky Drummer" part that was absolutely everywhere at the time. The Ginger even raps more forcefully on this. His style isn't particularly unique but he's a more than adequate rapper.

The single is superior to its predecessor is every way but this made little difference to the British public as it had a two-week stay in the lower reaches of the charts at the end of 1989. Happily, there was a new form of hip hop that had been emerging over the course of the year and it was soon to really take off. Redhead Kingpin & The FBI might've found a home in this subgenre of jazzy, quirky hippies who opted out of either boasting about themselves or the plight of the streets. I am very much looking forward to the Daisy Age as this blog moves into the nineties.

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Also of some cop

Jason Donovan: "When You Come Back to Me"

With three number one singles and an album that was massive, 1989 was Jason Donovan's year. (His records spent just under seventy percent of the year on the Top 40 but I was expecting it to be higher) His fortunes were to fall off somewhat the following year and "When You Come Back to Me" gives a taste of his imperial period drawing to a close. Not only did it fail to hit number one (which Jase made up for by appearing on Xmas chart topper "Do They Know It's Christmas?" by Band Aid II) but it's duff even by his standards. The members of Curiosity despise it but they do admit to a bias due to their overall distaste for Stock Aitken Waterman. Well, I loved SAW at the time and still like some of their records and I can confirm that this is beyond horrible. Jason sounded lost on debut single "Nothing Can Divide Us" but he's probably the best thing about this. Kylie would be going strong for some time but Jason's fans wouldn't be coming back to him for much longer.