Boyz II Men: "Motownphilly"

9 December 1992

"You'll be singing it 'til the reindeer come home."

— Tony Cross

Taking a break from covering the comings and goings of the cast of Beverly Hills 90210, the opening pages of Smash Hits' penultimate issue of 1992 are instead devoted to the magazine's annual Poll Winners party. Rather than showing off pics of the acts with their awards, we have a smattering of people of some note who happened to turn up. The cover features Kylie, Take That's Mark Owen and erstwhile New Kid on the Block Jordan Knight; on the inside, they're joined by East 17's Brian Harvey and a very uninterested Mark Wahlberg (who may well have been plotting his shift from pitiful rapper to overrated actor). What doesn't feature is a spread on Smash Hits trying to work out the favourites for the coveted Christmas Number One.

To what should have been the surprise of absolutely no one, Whitney Houston took the title in '92 with her memorable if hugely overplayed "I Will Always Love You". I'm not sure how it would go on to become her signature song when she already had "How Will I Know" and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" but there's no denying that it was widely popular and remains so to this day. Also it the chart's upper echelons was Michael Jackson with a single I have no memory of ("Heal the World", I'm just going to assume it was another "Man in the Mirror"), Take That continuing to slowly establish themselves as Britain's most popular group, a pair of undoubtedly hopeless "mega-mixes" and a collaboration between the Stars of the World Wrestling Federation and the now duo team of Stock Waterman with "Slam Jam" (such is the rapidly changing world of pro wrestling that the British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith is one of the vocalists yet was already gone from the WWF by the time the single hit the shops; in fact, by early 1993 only two of this Smash Hits poster's stars — Bret "Hitman" Hart and The Undertaker — were still regulars in the fed's squared circle). It is only if you scroll down a bit that you'll find "Motownphilly" by Boyz II Men reaching what would ultimately be its peak of number twenty-three. I think they call that an also-ran.

"Motownphilly" had already been reviewed just over a month earlier when Mark Frith predicting that their "laid back harmonies and doo-wop hip hop that only Americans love" would catchy on pretty quickly over in Blighty before long. Presumably held off for the Xmas rush, Tony Cross similarly looks into his crystal ball and foresees a festive fave. Well, they aren't professional fortune tellers and even if they had been they would've also messed this one up.

The British have long embraced African American pop stars. Though they took to the likes of Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Prince and Whitney Houston, they often gave particular love to acts that had largely been ignored back home. I already blogged about Shalamar and Cameo becoming like national treasures in the UK and they were joined by Alexander O'Neal and Inner City as Americans with little-to-no popularity in the States who managed to break Britain. But this didn't work out for everyone. Luther Vandross was a big deal in the US for much of the eighties but he only made a modest impact across the water. Similarly, while Boyz II Men would enjoy a string of hits in their homeland, their success in the UK was decidedly more mixed — especially if you happen to ignore that hit.

But let's not ignore it for the moment. Even in the case of "The End of the Road", its record-shattering thirteen weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 dwarfed the fortnight-and-a-half it spent at number one in Britain. Nevertheless, it had an extended chart run, first when it took its sweet old time getting all the way to the top spot and then as it reluctantly worked its way down the listings (in the week after Christmas, it was still lingering and was just one spot below "Motownphilly" in the Top 30; a week after that and it was up a bit while its predecessor was beginning to fade away). You'd think with such a big hit on their hands that this re-release of a Top 5 US smash from a year earlier would've gone down a treat but the public hadn't yet become tired enough of the one they knew; by the time they did, they had evidently also become sick of Boyz II Men.

Tom Breihan in a largely positive retrospective review of "The End of the Road" admitted that when he was a kid he found the first Boyz album to disappointingly over-stuffed with slushy ballads. He wanted more of "Motownphilly", a song that he couldn't get enough of at the time and which he rates as a ten out of ten classic. I understand the frustration. The masses love their slow songs from movie soundtracks that they can slow dance to in their high school gymnasiums but I'm far less impressed by gushy songs sung with "meaning" and which as clearly meant to be "important statements". They're boring for the most part, especially in the hands of groups who trade in nothing but these slush-fests. Except for one vital problem: Boyz II Men were in their element with slow songs while fast-paced dance tracks didn't suit them one bit.

"Motownphilly" is such an on the nose title but does it really bear any resemblance to the music therein? Motown? Well, I think they were signed to what remained of the old Detroit-based Tamla label but I don't hear it myself. Philadelphia soul? Maybe in the case of something like "The End of the Road" but, again, I can't spot it here. More to the point, citing black popular music's most dominant styles of the sixties and seventies did them a world of good in terms of credibility. Just being yet another reasonable new jack swing dance number just wasn't going to cut it. It was only recently that I discovered that ver Boyz had been the prodigies of Michael Bivins, the Biv of Bell Biv DeVoe, the New Edition offshoot whose hit single "Poison" had been the rap-soul anthem of 1990. Having been globally successful with two separate groups over the past few years, Biv must've reckoned he could be a svengali in his own right for fellow Philadeliphians Boyz II Men. But new jack didn't suit this foursome nearly as well and not one of them could rap worth a damn so they were right to go the Babyface route to smooth R&B chartdom.

The British could only dabble in this kind of thing and I couldn't blame them. Having found a renewed appreciation for female-fronted acts of the time, I was also reminded of just how much I couldn't stand their male counterparts. The girls seemed to have a way with pop hooks and they seemed to delight in their status as riders of the giddy carousel; the guys seemed forever in a pickle over how serious they were meant to be. It was in December of the following year that Boyz II Men guest starred in an episode of the popular sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Will made a silly pledge to have them sing at his cousin's baptism which he somehow managed to pull off. While everyone else cracked gags with ease, the Boyz came out and did "Silent Night" or "Away in a Manger" or whatever it was (did I mention that it also doubled as a Christmas episode?) looking, as always, like they meant every single word of it. Being funny, looking like they were enjoying themselves, having a laugh, these were all meant for others in the world of pop.

~~~~~

Also Reviewed This Fortnight

Nirvana: "In Bloom"

I always forget that Nevermind had four singles taken off of it. Nirvana's breakthrough which somehow isn't overrated didn't seem like it was potentially hit-packed but they did well with what they had, especially for a rock album. The first three simply had to be singles but I imagine there was some debate over the fourth. Luckily, the sneering sarcasm of the chorus of "In Bloom" was enough to ensure that they be able to fashion yet another nice video around it which I have to think must have sealed it. The funny thing is, you kind of want to mime along with it like a bunch of dweebs even if you haven't seen its memorable promo. I prefer the subtler Pet Shop Boys-ian style of irony but I dig Kurt Cobain's own unique take on it. An easy Single of the Fortnight Best New Single in my book even if it didn't need to be one.

Nirvana: "Come as You Are"

4 March 1992

"Pogo-ing has never been so much fun."

— Tom Doyle and Cecy (his cat)

"Come as you are, as you were, as I want you to be,

As a friend, as a friend, as a lame-ass limey band..."

This is something I just can't let go of. Nirvana had been scheduled to headline the final day of the 1992 Reading Festival with Kurt Cobain being given special permission to choose that day's line-up. His picks leaned heavily on American alternative acts though it is less grungy than one may have expected. It's surprising to note that Pavement were relatively low on the bill (eighth, one spot below Aussie ABBA tribute act Bjorn Again; the lo-fi'ers' superb debut Slanted and Enchanted had only recently hit the shops which may explain their bottom-feeding position) while Mudhoney were fairly prominent (third) but most notable is the almost total lack of British bands. Scots Teenage Fanclub aside, they're nowhere to be found. Cobain wished to keep the "lame-ass limey bands" as far away from him as possible.

But why? Cobain was a massive fan of The Beatles, his band did a memorable cover of David Bowie's "The Man Who Sold the World" for their famed appearance on MTV Unplugged and he spent his youth in Olympia, Washington listening to post-punk acts like The Raincoats, The Slits and Young Marble Giants (who, it should be noted, happened to be Welsh). 

A schism developed between American and British indie rock as the eighties came to a close. While Morrissey and Robert Smith may have still been worshiped by angsty youngsters throughout North America, a younger generation of UK bands had more trouble connecting with listeners outside their shores. At the same time, the US music press was becoming much more dismissive of supposedly over-hyped Brit rock (it's always struck me as rich that Americans of all people would object to anyone else overdoing it on the praise front but maybe that's just me). Groups like The Stone Roses claimed they were sure to "crack" America but the more this kind of thing got bandied about, the more it seemed sure to fail. British bands like Elastica, James and Dodgy started to seem like token acts on North American festival bills. The "lame-ass limeys" were being left out everywhere.

As a longtime Anglophile, I can't help bristling at this "lame-ass limey band" comment. But even more significantly, it seems to undermine the welcoming vibes of one of my favourite Nirvana songs. Or does it? Here is the VER HITS guide to just who Kurt Cobain may have been referring to when he condemned the crummy bands from a nation that had once been a musical powerhouse.

Blur

Nirvana played on the opening day of Reading '91 alongside the likes of Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth and headliner Iggy Pop; I daresay he was happy with that day's bill. Less so the next day, however, as buddies Teenage Fanclub were followed by Blur who had recently enjoyed a Top 10 breakthrough with "There's No Other Way". It's easy to picture Kurt seething at the sight of Damon Albarn's cockney schtick but this likely never occurred since Nirvana played at another festival in Cologne, Germany that very same day. In any case, Cobain is said to have loved "There's No Other Way" as indeed he should have.

EMF

With the Second British Invasion having long since faded, UK groups entered the nineties struggling to make much of an impression in the US. Jesus Jones' earnest, End of History hit "Right Here, Right Now" proved a rare success story, as did EMF's "Unbelievable", an American chart topper at the start of 1992. Of the two, I would take the Forest of Dean's hip hop rock any day over the insufferable Jones but it was clear which way the backlash was heading. Plenty of people hated EMF and I'm not so sure it was entirely down to being sick to death of their one major hit. Of the bands listed here, they're the most deserving of the "lame-ass" tag. Not as deserving as Jesus bloody Jones mind you.

Manic Street Preachers

What if Cobain objected to the only band in Britain that could conceivably provide an alternative to his own? He was known to have disliked both The Clash and Guns N' Roses, both of whom ver Manics were often compared to which (I suppose) is something but there's not much else to go on with this theory. Manic Street Preachers were still not a big deal in the UK at this point and their visibility across the pond would never be notable. For what it's worth, the Manics were huge fans of Nirvana, covering "Pennyroyal Tea" (often as "Penny Royalty"...they were so clever) and using the Cobain's true masterpiece In Utero as the basis for their mostly great third album The Holy Bible. Oh, and, like Young Marble Giants, the Manics hail from Wales so get your slurs straight there, Kurt!

The Wonder Stuff

It may seem hard to believe now but the Stuffies were one of Britain's leading groups at the beginning of the decade. Other bands had some hope of eventually cracking America but they weren't one of them. There was even talk that Americans had been turned off by the likes of leader Miles Hunt and Shaun Ryder of Happy Mondays being allegedly anti-American. (It's impossible to imagine either of them excluding US groups from an American music festival because they wanted to have nothing to do with "hopeless Yankee bands") But their presence in North America was minimal so it's hard to picture Cobain being bothered enough with them. They headlined the Friday night of Reading so I don't imagine they felt put out had they been spurned. Plus, I have a sneaking suspicion that Cobain and Hunt would have liked each other. (During the group's eighty minute Reading spot, Hunt took jabs at both John Lydon and Morrissey; if he'd had any kind of beef with Nirvana's leader he would've shared it with everyone who either wanted to know all about it or the vast majority who didn't give a toss)

British Bands in General

It's always possible that Cobain wasn't thinking of anyone in particular and that he just imagined a bunch of groups who all looked and sounded like The Lightning Seeds. He wouldn't have been entirely wrong on that one.

No One at All

What if the whole "lame-ass limey band" thing had just been made up or uttered by a stoned Cobain who didn't know what he was saying? What if he just picked a bunch of friends to share a bill with him, along with Nick Cave, who it's easy to imagine Cobain adoring, and Bjorn Again just for shits and giggles? What if it's all as simple as that? (Additionally, what if it was just some dumbass in Nirvana's orbit who claimed he wanted to keep the limeys out when all he had wanted to do was get his pals in?) A British press which had been hounding the singer over his whirlwind relationship with Courtney Love and rumoured drug habit chose not to follow-up on his dismissal of some unnamed groups from their homeland seems a little odd.

"Smells Like Teen Spirit" had broken Nirvana outside of the Pacific Northwest and it would go on to top many 'Greatest Songs of All Time' lists but I was indifferent to it. "Entertain us? How about you entertain me? You're the goddamn singer!" People I hated in school all loved it (something that would parallel Cobain's own aversion to his band's popularity as he noted glumly over jocks who liked his music) "Teen Spirit" may have been an anthem for a generation but "Come as You Are" was much more effective at speaking to the individual.

Being in the bubble of the Canadian prairies, I wasn't up on grunge culture. Those grey cardigans with holes were probably unwanted items in a Value Village thrift store but seemingly overnight they became sought after fashion accessories. Those flannel shirts were being scooped up from Eddie Bauer locations, something I was blissfully unaware of until after Cobain's death. That silly Generation X fad of wearing cool t-shirts over a long sleeve tee was something I was similarly slow to adopt.

But all of this made "Come as You Are" all the more appreciated by awkward youths like myself. It didn't matter that I still wore high top running shoes and nut-hugging jeans and bland stuff my mum and grandmothers bought for me. (For god's sake, my favourite item of clothing back then was a sweatshirt with an outline of the Great Lakes and the moronic slogan Let's Keep Them Great!) I was fourteen and was into mostly British indie but also "I Love Your Smile" by Shanice and "Jump" by Kris Kross. I wasn't in any way cool and was decidedly behind the curve. Even if I had little in common with most of the Nirvana fans I knew of, I could rest assured that Kurt Cobain wouldn't have cared.

Musically, it is also superior to "Teen Spirit" since there's Krist Novoselic prominent bass part that I, a rookie bass player of very little promise, could aspire towards. Is it repetitive? I suppose but that meant there was that faint possibility that I might be able to replicate it (I couldn't). A bit Peter Hook, a bit Mike Mills, a little bit Tina Weymouth, I ate this shit up. Critics would later claim that well-spoken Novoselic happened to be Nirvana's weak link: this was news to me.

It's now time to exorcise my annoyance over a comment that Kurt Cobain may or may not have made over thirty years ago. Even if he meant it and even if it was intended to coat down every single British band I've ever held dear (he couldn't possibly have been referring to XTC, could he?), what do I care? He was a troubled soul but one who accepted everyone from all walks of life. And he loved "There's No Other Way" so he probably had soft spot for a fair share of "lame-ass limey bands" all along. Bless him.

~~~~~

Also Reviewed This Fortnight

The Cure: "High"

What's odd about older English acts being still held in high esteem was that they were all getting so boring around this time. Robert Smith and Morrissey had long been adversaries but they did both have some undeserved popularity in '92 in common. On paper combining "The Lovecats" with "Pictures of You" seems intriguing but the results smack of a band trying way too hard to sound way too much like themselves. I have time for GothCure and I'm particularly fond of PopCure (and how I wish they'd done more JazzCure) but BoringCure trying to be all things to all people is the worst Cure of all. A good song if I haven't heard a Cure number for a while; much less so if I've recently been playing my copy of Not one of their classics though it would suddenly start to sound a whole lot better once its follow-up came out.