— Dr Robert
Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe had been the darlings of UK pop for almost four years by the summer of 1989. Not a whole lot of time, no, but more than enough for them to have seen off a host of groups who came and went as well a series of changes in tastes among the public. Due at least in part to Tennant's previous occupation, they never seemed to lose favour with critics, even when their film was panned or when they toured to mixed reviews. 1989 had been their quietest year to date but they still had yet another Top 5 hit, played concerts in the UK and Asia, wrote and produced successful records for both Dusty Springfield and Liza Minelli and were relevant enough with ver kids that they finished second in that year's Smash Hits reader's poll.
Yet some were beginning to tire of the Pet Shop Boys. Harriet Dell exposed the first crack earlier that summer by not being terribly fussed by their latest single "It's Alright". (Erasure weren't all that impressed by "Heart" but they liked it enough to make it their Single of the Fortnight) Hits "viewer" Alison Taylor of Paisley objected in the letters page to their "obnoxious" attitude in a feature from early July and predicted that the "dumper beckons" for the pair. (Tennant and Lowe memorably fretted over this piece of correspondence in Chris Heath's superb book Pet Shop Boys, Literally; Alison would receive a sternly-word response from "The Boys' Defender" in Leicester in a subsequent issue in August) And now Dr Robert of the Blow Monkeys weighs in not once but twice with his own thoughts about why the Pet Shops aren't up to much. (He also bashes them in a review of Liza Minelli's cover of "Losing My Mind" which they produced; at least this trashing is connected to the record in question)
The "good" doctor wasn't just a member of the Blow Monkeys, mind you. He was also behind the very record he pushes for this fortnight's top single honours. Yes, Slam Slam were a dance pop unit made up of Dee C. Lee of The Style Council and one Robert Howard, aka Dr Robert. He might have mentioned the conflict of interest as Jools Holland, Martin Degeville and Neal X were good enough to do (Loadsa "Francis" Money didn't bring it up either but what's the use of having scruples if you've got plenty of dosh?) but he decided to act as if he just happened to bring in a record at random to share with the peeps at ver Hits. Top bloke.
I'll get to him raving over his own record in short order but I want to discuss his disgust with the Pet Shop Boys first. Robert seems to reckon he's a dab hand at dance music and he's actually not wrong. While the Blow Monkeys were faltering with a series of forgettable singles, he and Kym Mazelle somehow struck gold with "Wait", a fantastic deep house duet that gave the pair of Top 10 hit in the early part of 1989. His band had never shown any inkling for modern house music previously but he managed just fine. Deep house was something that English pop stars were beginning to explore at around this time with both The Style Council and — huh, imagine that — the Pet Shop Boys enjoying chart action with covers of club favourites "Promised Land" and "It's Alright" respectively. To Robert's credit, he managed to compose his own effort. This success must have given him the idea that he was suddenly an expert at crafting serious dance pop, one far in advance of amateurs like Tennant and Lowe. He had bona fides to build up in the minds of the kids and within the industry: why not try to do so by knocking down the competition?
Unfortunately, "Wait" was not something he could easily recapture. The single quickly got snapped up for third Blow Monkeys album Whoops! There Goes the Neighbourhood but subsequent singles "This Is You Life" and "Choice" only benefited minimally, not helped by the fact that neither of them were any good. Robert had to look elsewhere to build upon what he started. The Style Council's cover of Joe Smooth's "Promised Land" had given them a minor hit to go with their Singular Adventures of the Style Council compilation album but the group got dropped by Paul Weller's longtime label Polydor due to being dissatisfied with the deep house-influenced Modernism: A New Decade, an LP that would remain unreleased for almost a decade. So why not join forces?
With Howard, Weller and Lee having been part of the Red Wedge tours, there was every reason to expect more political pop from their latest project Slam Slam. But The Style Council had begun moving away from overtly left wing proclamations in their songs following arguably their finest album Our Favourite Shop and Dr. Robert's socialist convictions were being spurned by record buyers who preferred "Wait" (a song that, to be fair, has a subtle political message of its own). More importantly, very little of the genuine musical talents of these three manage to shine through on a track like "Move (Dance All Night)". At best it captures that tried and true disco parable of ordinary people living miserable lives who find solace in being stars on the dancefloor. Quite what these three very skilled individuals had in mind by churning out bland, tenth rate house music is anyone's guess.
Nevertheless, the single's poor chart performance (on multiple tries at that) combined with the relative anonymity of the pop stars behind it meant that "Move" wouldn't end up being a serious blemish for the parties involved. Further Slam Slam records did well in dance circles and they would even release an album but they were done within a couple years. Weller would kick start his very strong solo career, Lee would pop up here and there and Dr Robert would continue to work with the two from time to time. The Blow Monkeys would end up reforming in 2007 and they're a better band now than they ever were when they were having hits. His nibs went from trying to be an expert at genres he didn't know much about to doing what he does best. There's always going to be a place for singing and writing fine material for a stylish pop group.
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Also of some cop
Fine Young Cannibals: "Don't Look Back"
Less characterful than "She Drives Me Crazy" and "Good Thing", "Don't Look Back" is actually the FYC single that I think of first when they come to mind. The two big hits were both kind of gimmicky but this one felt like something that came naturally to the trio. Roland Gift's voice sometimes gets on my nerves but the crunching pop power pop drowns him out enough that I'm not so bothered. I understand people not liking it (the record fell way off from the heights of the previous two, particularly in Britain) and even Dr Robert's critique makes sense — yes, it does sound "like The Bangles" (although I'm not sure how that's a bad thing) and it does sound like a "tired piece of American new wave" — but I like it all the same. The riff is a bit like "Day Tripper" and it has frantic energy that's not unlike what lesser known Cannibals Andy Cox and David Steele did back when they were in The English Beat. As I say, it's best to stick with what you know.
