The Passions: "Skin Deep"

9 July 1981

"Not exactly commercial but brave and definitely Single Of The Week."

— Red Starr

This again? Longtime followers of this blog (cheers for that, by the way) will know that this is the same record that got this whole thing going way back in the spring of 2018. After posting on Tom Tom Club's "Wordy Rappinghood" two weeks ago I finally ran out of early Singles of the Fortnight — both acknowledged and inferred — and I decided to keep it going. Looking back at some of those first few posts on here I was struck by how little I had to say about some of them, how poor the writing was and, most of all, how I had very little idea what I was doing. But now that I am in the swing of this blog I think it's time that I did some revising. This entry is a complete re-write but others may just be edits of what I had previously scribbled — it all just depends on how satisfactory I reckon the originals to be. Links will be included at the bottom for anyone wishing to see what I had posted first time round. In addition, the 'Also Reviewed This Fortnight' section will sometimes cover a completely different secondary record, as is the case this time. As has been the case since February of 2020, these re-dos will be posted on alternate Saturdays.

A big thanks to everyone who has read all or some of this blog, whether out of genuine interest or pity (either way, I'll take it). Readership is low and I've struggled to build it up but I still hope to get more people interested. Please share or give me a comment on here or on social media. I'll even take some harsh criticism over being largely ignored.

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I don't know about you but I have no need to ever see another one of those lists of so-called one-hit wonders. Nor do I have any desire to watch a YouTube video all about the '50 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the Eighties'. I don't even wish to discuss them again once I'm done with this blog post — even if I reserve the right to go back on this promise in the future. One-Hit Wonders? How about 'More Original Discussion Topics on Social Media' instead?

So, yeah, I'm sick of hearing about them. But also, I'm not so sure there's much merit to a run down of one-hit wonders in the first place. For one thing, people tend to focus on the US charts. Dexys Midnight Runners had several hits in their native UK but just the one in America so they qualify, though I don't think I've ever heard the term applied to Styx who only had one hit in Britain. (And this doesn't even get to how an act did in other countries as well) In addition, it ignores the fact that having just one hit single is still better than none. Finally, and most significantly, it doesn't even matter all that much in the end. Are eighties and nineties artists beating themselves up for failing to duplicate their solitary chart success thirty and forty years later in spite of constantly being reminded of such? What good does belittling one of these bands do anyway? Why not celebrate acts on the fringes who were fortunate enough to get themselves on Top of the Pops and in the music mags and who now have fond memories of the experience instead?

The Passions are one such group. Initially on indie label Soho, they got themselves signed to Fiction, longtime home of The Cure. By 1981 they had been upgraded to Polydor, a major that had recently struck gold with The Jam. Not bad progress in the space of two years. (Like their better known label mates, The Passions were from the London area which no doubt helped them get the attention of big name moguls) Clearly someone saw something in them. Had they stayed on a tiny, enthusiast label, there would have been little chance for them on a national level.

were never able to translate the Top 30 performance of "I'm in Love with a German Film Star" from earlier in 1981 into further hits. Frankly, they were probably lucky just to have copped the one so they needn't have been too disappointed that no more were forthcoming. This isn't a knock against them: they put out some terrific singles right from debut release "Needles and Pills" in '79 but they never possessed the key to immediate, radio friendly pop; even "German Film Star" could have easily disappeared without trace. Bassist David Agar admitted to Smash Hits that the band tended to sell far more albums than singles so they knew the score.

Even still, the charts would have been a much better place had there been room for something as out there and as futuristic and as addictive as "Skin Deep" during the summer of 1981. Red Starr describes it as "much more aggressive" than it's more successful and better-remembered predecessor but that's not even the half of it. "German Film Star" could have been done by Young Marble Giants but "Skin Deep" is unlike anything you're likely to hear. If the tribal percussion brings to mind Talking Heads then the layers of guitar effects and robotic voices give it whole new depths. If Barbara Gogan's "indecipherable wailing" makes you think of Cocteau Twins then the steady funk grooves up the enjoyment level considerably. It's as if they were channeling new wave, post punk, blue-eyed soul, industrial, dream pop and world beat — genres and sub-genres that represented pop's past, present and future — all in one.

Yet, few were listening this time round. It's likely that such an intense record turned people off after their ethereal hit. How would it have gone over live though? While newcomers may have tried to tune it out, I can imagine longtime fans going crazy over it. And that's what they had left: a loyal cult following which hopefully grew after their stint of national exposure. Try telling their fans that they were just a one-hit wonder.

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Also Reviewed This Fortnight

Spandau Ballet: "Chant No.1 (I Don't Need This Pressure On)"

The incessant rhythms and slick horns may indicate otherwise but Gary Kemp's clipped guitar playing and Tony Hadley trying just a little too hard to sound like a mix of Bryan Ferry and David Byrne give away that the Spands had glam and new wave values at heart. Or at least they once did. They were quicker out of the gate than New Pop rivals Duran Duran, Culture Club and Wham! but they blew their creative load an awful lot faster as well. Starr likes it in spite of the odd complaint (despite what I said above, I actually kind of like Hadley trying to sound like his idols: it's certainly preferrable to when he sounds too much like himself) and hopes that it's a "sign of better things to come" but I'm not so sure they ever managed to better "Chant No.1". A welcome reminder that these "clothes horses" sure could play though.

(See my original review here)

The Passions: "Skin Deep"

9 July 1981

"A near-instrumental with wiry guitar and hustling beat taking first place over choirs and bursting balloons...Barbara Gogan ...contribute[s] some spirited but largely indecipherable wailing"

— Red Starr

Our first proper dip into the Smash Hits Singles of the Fortnight and we've already happened upon a flop. The Passions were coming off their first — and, as it would turn out, only — Top 40 hit with "I'm in Love with a German Film Star", a reasonably good tune which descends into novelty too much for me to take it seriously. But they took a bold step with its follow up. Dispensing with that whole song thing, they manage to carve out a groove with layers of robotics, funk guitar, synthesized choirs and, yes, Gogan's wailing (I can't hear the bursting balloons myself but there's lots going on in there) building upon each other. It doesn't seem especially remarkable at first but as it all frantically comes together the effect is startling and begs for repeat listens. 

It would be easy and understandable to look on askance at such a good record being denied even a nominal chart entry but I just don't see it. If anything it strikes me as the sort of little-known album cut that fans trot out to self-righteously belittle casual listeners. And they'd be right to do so. It may not have made an impact at the time but hopefully their fanbase appreciated it for the killer live showstopper that it almost certainly had to have been. And they had a SOTF as a feather in their caps — assuming anyone bothered to tell them. (Quite what effect, if any, that this modest achievement had on peeking the interest of readers is something I hope to go into at some point in the future)

To be fair, though, the competition isn't exactly stellar. Beyond this and the little number I've praised below, the only other single that has made of an impression is the lightweight but charming and catchy "When You Were Mine" by Bette "Mrs. Suggs" Bright (which Red Starr didn't think much of). Elsewhere we have some familiar acts doing pretty substandard work. U2's "Fire" is not even particularly notable for this single-word-album-title/Christian-lite rock period prior to their ascendancy, Kate Bush reminds us that she could be just as capable of irritating listeners as captivating them and did you know that Spandau Ballet is an anagram for Paul's Bland Tea? Just saying.

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Also Reviewed This Fortnight

Icehouse: "We Can Get Together"

We're a half-dozen years ahead of the pink-florescent-leotard-soft-rock-slickness of "Electric Blue" — not to mention one positively epic permed mullet in the accompanying video — but this is equally drenched in the eighties, albeit in far less grievous fashion. Some new wavy guitar, a synth and some big drums provide the backbone to a simple yet spirited piece with a promo featuring some state-of-the-art early eighties graphics. Dated but in a good way — and that goes as much for song as video. So worthy of praise that it could have easily been a co-SOTF alongside The Passions. Perhaps "Red Starr" felt that they had brighter days still to come and didn't need to be propped up. "File under Highly Promising," his nibs concludes but I'm quite sure they never bettered this little gem. Their hairstyles, on the other hand, still needed some work.