31ST MARCH- IT'S RAINING MEN- Weather Girls (1 week)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/34/Weather_Girls_Raining_Men.jpg

 

OK there's a row of tents, no that's not quite enough. Julian Clary, Babs Windsor, and Dale Winton are walking along the street, no still not there. Fair enough "It's Raining Men" is a different class of its own camp wise, the sequined gloves are off and it's a full on "gay off" as Barrowman would term it. It's also a song that has been so overplayed that it's difficult to bring some new perspective to it, yes it's a party anthem that gets trolled out for any "cheesy music" night in any gay club up and down the land, and therefore must have some quality to rank it as a camp classic, for my part it's a record that bores me.

 

Maybe because it has no charm, or depth beyond what it is, but moreover, I suspect, because it has become a parody, in many ways the original parody of gay anthem- a kind of "I am what I am" for the 80s. The Weather girls are the models for a whole generation of drag queens, indeed it seems like they are woman singing about men interested in men, no knowing wink and a nod to gay culture but full on appraisal of sexual avarice and promiscuity. In 1984 pre the widestream knowledge of AIDS and HIV, pop was a playground for gay culture, Frankie, Bronski Beat, Dead or Alive, Divine, Marilyn, Boy George, were all staples on the charts and it was proabably the most "gay- friendly" year of the decade in terms of out gay stars doing well and so culturally this track is a reflection of just that.

 

I think the problem with the Weather Girls and this record is just that though- it's how gay culture is viewed by straight culture, shallow, sex obsessed, and in your face. Now those things are all true, but it's only one facet of it, so what disappoints me about it is that one dimensional angle to the song, its only pop music, but trouble is that genuine gay stars were producing much meatier songs than this piece of throw away trash ("Smalltown Boy" for example) in conclusion I dislike this record for what it isn't rather than what it is....

 

Edited July 3, 201114 yr by gezza76

7TH APRIL- A LOVE WORTH WAITING FOR- Shakin Stevens (2 weeks)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/7364.jpg

 

 

Shaky's back, and for the last time in the decade. By 1984 I imagine he was starting to look quite dated, all stars reach the point where their name is no longer enough to sell a single and it therefore depends on the popularity of the song itself, on that basis one has to conculde that Shaky had already raided the best of the 1950s jukebox, it's the only reason to be thankful for Richie's "Hello" which was at No 1 at the time holding this off.

 

The song itself is a chirpy enough affair and Shaky of course delivers it in his most "Elvis-esque" manner but overall it leaves you with no strong impression one way or the other, a damning verdict on any record, 84 is a great year for pop music, sadly this is not the evidence for it, let's leave Shaky in his perma-50s world and get on with the serious music of the day.....

 

Edited July 3, 201114 yr by gezza76

21ST APRIL- YOU TAKE ME UP- Thomson Twins (1 week)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/7377.jpg

 

None of them were twins, and none of them were called Thompson, but back in 83/84 they were pretty big news on both sides of the Atlantic and scored 5 top 10 hits in the UK the biggest of which was "You Take Me Up". It's a laboured song in my opinion, there is something forced and "clunky" about the track which just suggests too much effort to be a joy, it lacks the unbridled pleasure of say "Doctor Doctor" (though the later track is probably more dated now), and an analysis of the lyrics don't really throw any more light on the topic of what the bloody hell it's all about.

 

In part the problem lies in the fact that "You Take Me Up" sounds about two years too late when synth pop was at it's height, sadly the Thompson Twins arrived too late for that party, "Doctor Doctor" probably apes this era more convincingly than "You Take Me Up" which piles all of its allure into the verse which seems to erupt from nowhere like a tidal wave, but it's just too late to salvage it when the mind is made up. Doing reviews like this however does illustrate one thing which arises time and time again, that an artists greatest work rarely ends up being their biggest hit, even on a small scale like here. Bands do good records which build fans and get better chart positions until the name sells it alone whether the track merits it or not. "You Take Me Up" doesn't belong on this list really, palatable enough but it's not going to be anyone's favourite song of all time......

 

Edited July 4, 201114 yr by gezza76

28TH APRIL- AGAINST ALL ODDS (TAKE A LOOK AT ME NOW)- Phil Collins (3 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6b/Phil_Collins_Against_All_Odds_single_cover.jpg

 

Good Points: It's reassuring to know that this was originally written by Collins for his 1981 debut album "Face Value" (but didn't make it onto that album), the subject matter was therefore his real life divorce, and so this is a song born of real grief and despair rather than faux emotion for a movie pic (which is where it eventually found light). It has the effect of making a listen of the track take on a real perspective, it's a song of redemption, of hope against all odds (gettit! :D ) and the personal angle is an engaging one- it makes my dislike of the song somewhat more understandable when I think about it- the reasons for my dislike aren't actually Collins's fault (well not directly anyway).

 

Bad Points: The fact that this song has been "de-personalised" by covers is what grates about it. Being stripped of it's background environment and context creates blandness that offends on most levels. Steve Brookstein, Mariah Carey, Westlife etc have all robbed this song of any charm it may actually have possessed. I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that Collins circa 1981 was actually pretty good, in terms of his disection of his marriage failure, but take that away and it becomes balladering by numbers, full of false angst and wild gesticulation and that's a shame- perhaps he should be more careful over he allows to record his material or maybe he just needs the money, either way his hands aren't clean on this.....

 

Edited July 4, 201114 yr by gezza76

MAY 19TH- AUTOMATIC- Pointer Sisters (2 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9e/Automatic45.jpg

 

I've got a confession to make- in a year when the No 2 list is not really that strong "Automatic" towers amongst them. As opposed to the Thompson twins, the Pointer Sisters were sisters and did have the surname Pointer, and after a successful 70s career in the states which didn't really translate over here, they finally hit the mark with the gorgeous "Slow Hand" in 1981 which should have been a chart topper or at the very least on this list, and then nothing again until this creation. "Automatic" is a record which fizzles with Mid Atlantic soul of the good variety, the almost baritone nature of the verses develops into a chorus of sheer pleasure which I suspect the Thompson Twins would have killed for.

 

It was the beginning of a string of mid 80s hits for them with "I'm So Exicted" and "Jump (For My Love)" (later covered by Girls Aloud, following this into the top 20 here. Nothing profound here but a timely reminder that in 1984 Music was a joyous celebration and the Pointer Sisters delivered that little bit of glamour to the proceedings. Indeed as if to prove the point it's a song about abandonment "Look what you're doin to me/ I'm utterly at your whim/ All of my defenses are down" of consumation- an embrace for the pop world of 1984, when it really believed it mattered- hell it DID matter.

 

This was the year of the T-shirt war between Wham!s Katherine Hamnett designed "CHOOSE LIFE" and Vivienne Westwood's "FRANKIE SAYS", it was the year that pop went truly tribal and what side you were on mattered more than ever (and probably until the Blur Vs Oasis battle in 95 than it ever would again). But here I Digress, put simply the sentiment of "Automatic" is the coda for the pop world circa 1984....

 

Edited July 5, 201114 yr by gezza76

2ND JUNE- LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE BOY- Deniece Williams (2 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c8/Deniece_Williams_the_Boy.jpeg

 

As an artist Williams had been a fairly regular visitor to the UK charts in the late 70s even getting a chart topper in 1977 with "Free"- this however was her sole 80s hit. It's largely here thanks to its inclusion in the film "Footloose" and was also a US Chart topper, it's alright but I find it hard to love as a record. I think it's too cutesy for me, too twee, the fact that she appears to be singing to a eight year old in the video might be the deciding factor here. I'm not doing too well with 1984 really which surprises me- I love many of the chart toppers of the year and in nearly all cases so far the No 1 has rightly triumphed over the No 2, don't worry my seeming agreement with the charts will change before the year is out I promise.....

 

Edited July 5, 201114 yr by gezza76

30TH JUNE- I WON'T LET THE SUN GO DOWN ON ME- Nik Kershaw ( 1 week)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d3/Sunorig-l.jpg

 

"The Riddle" was fantastic gubbins wasn't it? A great big heap of 80s pomp wrapped up in an enigma which actually meant......nothing. Meanwhile "Wouldn't It Be Good" was a fine example of synth pop which still hits the spot all these years later. Whilst having a little whizz around you tube Kershaw video's these were my thoughts, then I started listening to "I Won't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" and to be honest it suffers by comparison. On it's own it's not a bad record actually, a tale of the end of the world delivered via the nuclear bomb and arms race, it's potent stuff wrapped up in a catchy tune so why does it disappoint?

 

The answer, I believe, rests in the fact that Kershaw circa 84 is by far and away at his best when he's singing about nothing at all, it's the carefree element of his songs that he sings and communicates so effectively. Gravitas is a charm lost on him, that's not a bad thing in a pop star who knows their limitations. He would make recompense for this (if that is how you view it) years later when he penned "The One and Only" for Chesney Hawkes, but back in the day I always think it must have been quite hard to deliver a message of impending nuclear apocalypse whilst wearing a snood, and fingerless gloves. It is therefore a song with limitiations, of ambitions far weighter than its frame supports, and it's this which creates my unease- perhaps the end of the world shouldn't be so melodic?......

 

Edited July 6, 201113 yr by gezza76

21ST JULY- HOLE IN MY SHOE- Neil (3 weeks)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/7557.jpg

 

In another year this would be viewed as atrocious, but this is 1984 and much much worse is to come. Viewed as a comedy record which is how it was conceived then it is a success. Neil was of course a comedy character from the show "The Young Ones" played by Nigel Planer who released this cover of the Traffic 1967 hit "Hole In My Shoe" which also made No 2 (held of by the Bee Gees). Indeed such was its success that it won a BRIT in 1985 for "Best Comedy Single" which was more or less a category invented for it to win, so it is perhaps best to view and review it as just that and dismiss it's "musical greatness" or lack of.

 

Lodged behind "Two Tribes" (as indeed everything was for 9 weeks that summer) it was never in with a shot at the top, and "Neil" never had a hit again proving that all best comedy moments should be one off's and left in their time and place rather than dragged on forever and a day......

 

Edited July 6, 201113 yr by gezza76

18TH AUGUST- AGADOO- Black Lace (2 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/af/Agadoosingle84.jpg

 

It would be easy just to slate this song from the off so let's try to be a bit more constructive. Yes Black Lace were failed Eurovision entrants (1979) who had been attempting to break the charts since the mid 70s without any success until "Superman" made the top 10 in 1983, and in 1984 they got their final couple of top 10 hits "Do the Conga" and of course "Agadoo". It's pointless to say it would never happen now- every decade has it's "Agadoo", the 90s had tracks like "Saturday Night" and "Macarena" and the 00s had "Cha Cha Slide" and "From Paris To Berlin" those big continental hits that transport themselves over to the UK (usually with a dance routine), but the fact is that "Agadoo" holds a special place in many people's hearts- sadly for the wrong reasons.

 

Actually it's a naughty little number how the singer meets a girl who teaches them to dance and hula and "Down on the shore they gather romance/ she showed me much more, not only the dance" :o It's unfair to recall the 80s for "Agadoo" as anything representative of it, but the record buyers of the time did little to redeem it with making this song such a smash, but to deny that a catchy song with dance moves that everyone from 2 to 89 can do isn't a genius stroke, or that the money generated from this would have been fantastical, would be trite. The song itself had been doing the rounds for some time in the 70s in different versions and in different languages but this has become the definitive version- sadly.

 

The very traits that make the song easy to remember, the simplicity of the lyrics, the complete lack of any depth, and the undeniable catchiness of the tune, are those same traits that caused it be reviled. It is cheesy beyond belief but the fact that the band made a whole career out of novelty hits clearly aimed at the lowest denominator of music is hardly endearing, though they did redeem themselves slightly for the wonderful "we're having a gang bang" in the film Rita Sue & Bob too. Yes it's awful, yes it's the worst No 2 of 1984, possibly the whole 80s, but to keep it in perspective there aren't many of us that didn't join in at the time, and as a child of 8 yes I was one....

 

BTW- that cover is truly horrendous- no seriously it is.....

 

Edited July 7, 201113 yr by gezza76

22ND SEPTEMBER- GHOSTBUSTERS- Ray Parker Jnr (3 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/31/RayParkerJrGhostbusters7InchSingleCover.jpg

 

Let's not kid ourselves that the success of this track is in any way different to the same principles that made "Agadoo" so hated. It probably appealed to the same audience, has a smiliar simplicity lyrically, and is just as irritating and overplayed (actually because of halloween this is probably more played now). Why it does not have the infamy of that previous No 2 is down to two things I believe. Firstly it was to accompany a major blockbuster in 1984 (the film of the same name), and secondly it was American, now in the 80s (and to some extent even to today) anything American is considered superior to its UK counterpart, and certainly very much cooler.

 

The formula is quite simple, take a song, put some (for the time) special effects into the video, shove in some cameo's from US actors and hey presto it's a hollywood creation that is gonna blanket the globe- well the newsflash was that it succeeded in it's aim. It's chant led chorus made all the schools up and down the land resound with kids singing along, and it's hard to dispute that 1984 certainly produced memorable pop, but quality is another matter. So when looking at "Agadoo" and "Ghostbusters" it's an interesting experiment in perception, audience, and in part how the UK rewards the US for things that it criticises itself for attempting (successfully)....

 

Edited July 7, 201113 yr by gezza76

13TH OCTOBER- WAR SONG- Culture Club (1 week)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b9/The_War_Song.jpg

 

There's a sense of a band with the egg timer running on them here. "The War Song" is naturally an anti-war track which is the final time we'll meet the band on this thread, and I'm afriad to say it's a weak single. Like Kershaw earlier in the year it suffers from lofty ambitions when George's voice lends itself best to fragile songs where he can showcase the vulnerability of its protagonist. The "reggae lite" tone of the song is woefully out of place come 1984 which is literally a year of big bold characters, of conflict (miners strike, Brighton Bomb etc) and a year when the pop world was at it's most bombastic with FGTH ruling the roost. It was also the year when pop music became conceptual in a visual sense. Post "Thriller" music video's had to be bigger, glossier, extravagant, almost conematic experiences, far removed from the comparatively amateur, have a go and make do approach of the 80- 82 period which saw the bands rise to fame.

 

Music had simply moved on and Culture Club got left behind, "War Song" is the sound of the past, compare this to "Two Tribes" for example- both with similar themes. The problem is immediately apparent, one is the sound of 1984 consolidated into a 4 minute pop song and the other is "War Song". War is a concept that is alive in FGTH, the video tackles the issue head on in a manner which is brave, bold, controversial and headlong, this song is more or less George throwing in hands up in despair and telling us like children to just calm down and put the kettle on. Lyrically inept and clumsily executed, and the deft touch that the band evidenced in 1982-83 deserted them in one stroke and they never recovered....

 

Edited July 8, 201113 yr by gezza76

27TH OCTOBER- NO MORE LONELY NIGHTS- Paul McCartney (1 week)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d9/NMLN_1984.jpg

 

What the "Let's Dance" period was to Bowie's career "No More Lonely Nights" was to McCartney, the point at which he ceased to have relevance as a pop star and simply became an "influence". The film from which this is taken "Give My Regards to broad Street" was a comercial failure and marks the point that McCartney suffered his first real blow since he became famous, previously every project he touched was a commercial success.

 

The song itself is a saccherine ballad, insipid, and pretty forgettable, an embarrassment to 1984 in fact, it's telling that only 3 top 10 hits followed this track for him, which given his history was a shocking fact. Of course the end had to happen sooner or later, it's just a shame that it ended with a whimper rather than a bang. Not to worry we're about to end 1984 with a couple of right corkers- good review alert!!!.....

 

Edited July 8, 201113 yr by gezza76

17TH NOVEMBER- WILD BOYS- Duran Duran (1 week)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ec/Duran_duran_wild_boys.jpg

 

This is what 1984 should have been about. A video costing a million pounds (and looking uncannily like a Mad Max deleated scene) this is a song that proclaims the bands importance on the pop landscape of the time, and it takes as a theme a supposed musical score from the book "Wild Boys: A Book of the dead" by William Burroughs which Mulcahy (the video's director) was keen to make into a film. The video therefore has a cinematic feel to it and did the job of maintaining the bands reputation as THE visual group of the time, the alteration between the videos for their 82 hits and 1984 videos are that their is clearly no subtlety left in the barrell, now it's bold, extravagant and implies an active participating in the "Conspicuous consumption" that was so very mid term Thatherism.

 

For all that it is a glorious tour de force, the verses are sung with an appropriate sneer by LeBon who seems certainly to have rediscovered his masculinity, there is testosterone on this record, it drips with it (if you can get over that image) its an attempt to make a "defining" record by them it doesn't entirely fail. This is the kind of record that makes 84 a great year for pop, there is pomposity here certainly, but what sells it is the clear belief and assurity that the band deliver the song, its hard to doubt them, its the opposite in fact of that Culture Club record.

 

It's also a tribal record as well, not intended to win over new fans- this is reassurance and reaffirmation that the brans "Duran Duran" is still somehing to believe in, still something to tell the unconverted......

 

Edited July 9, 201113 yr by gezza76

15TH DECEMBER- LAST CHRISTMAS/ EVERYTHING SHE WANTS- Wham! (5 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3b/Last_Christmaswham.jpg

 

Let's brake this down into two seperate reviews as it's one of those nasty double A Side creations.

 

LAST CHRISTMAS- It's over played now, and been stripped of its original charm but "Last Christmas" is a passable record. Somehow the connection between christmas and all the cliches that go with it (family, presents, merry making etc) seem perfectly in tune with Michael's warm tones. Wham! as a band had progressed with frightening speed to a self assured band with seemingly a vision and a purpose- that purpose being to become the biggest band in the world. This was a delibrate ploy by Michael, it shows a deft touch and sound knowledge of pop history, the chart toppers in the US has began, and in 85 Wham!'s trip to China provided blanket media coverage. By the time they had agreed to split a pepsi deal was on the cards, a sure sign in the 80s you were a BIG deal. As a song it's well crafted and an appropriate sprinkling of sleigh bells finishes it off nicely. Naturally it's twee and a bit cheesy but that's an occupational hazard when writing a big Xmas hit....

 

EVERYTHING SHE WANTS- THIS is an amazing record. Darker than anything Michael had written before it's a tale of marriage gone wrong, that horrible feeling of something failing right before your eyes, and the mixed feelings that inspires. It's great song writing too "And now you tell me that you're having a baby/ I'll tell you that I'm happy if you want me too/ but one step further and my back will break/ If my best isn't good enough/ how can it be good enough for two?...And all I could see was the end of the week/ all the things we sign/ and the things we buy/ ain't gonna keep us together/ girl it's just a matter of time". It shows an emotional maturity quite impressive for the then 21 year old who had by this time already produced the million selling "Careless Whisper". What Duran attempted and succeeded at with "Wild Boys" Wham do with "Everything She Wants" with parallel success.

 

The beat is borrowed straight for US "black music" as it was termed back then, it's a bleak tale, set to a meaty groove (Don't be rude) and is up there with the best thing he ever wrote in my opinion- unquestionably one of my fave records of the decade.........

 

Edited July 9, 201113 yr by gezza76

26TH JANUARY 1985- 1999/ LITTLE RED CORVETTE- Prince (1 week)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/7823.jpg

 

I know this isn't a popular point of view but Prince and I haven't really got on. I'd love to be in on the Prince fanclub, to "get it", to view him along with Madonna and Jacko in the pantheon of 80s greats, but I just can't for the life of me. As a popstar I was too young really to buy into him when he first started producing hits (I've just turned 9 by this point remember), there are some songs of his that are quite good, my problem with him therefore is as a popstar. He has a tangible sense of ludicrousness, self importance, pomposity, and general pretentiousness, it's all this that turns me against him, his name change in 1993 was the nail in his coffin for me and him. Don't get me wrong I know that Madonna and Jacko also hav that sense of self importance, I suppose you have to to be able to convince your audience, after all if YOU don't think you're something special then why should anyone else, and the mid 80s was period when not only did you blow you're own trumpet but you hired an entire brass section to join in with you, but with Prince he never had the consistancy to warrant it

 

LITTLE RED CORVETTE- You know I don't actually mind this track, a tale of sleeping with a promiscous lady who Prince urges to "slow down", it benefits from being relatively underplayed over the years so still sounds quite endearing and sweet and simple, a reminder of when his music was more important than his persona. Of the two sides this is the far better one in my opinion and must be up there with my favourite Prince songs ever.

 

1999- As opposed to this song which has been truly overplayed. It must have had some charm as some point I Suppose but now it's a bland track, I recall it being played on New Year's eve in both 1998 and 1999 in various clubs I was at- all well and good in a party kinda way "Lemme tell ya somethin/ If u didn't come 2 party/ Don't bother knockin on my door" he sings, it's an attempt to throw off the shackles of the working week I suspect and just party. I can see it's appeal it's a drunken context.

 

In a way this review is symbolic of what is wrong with Prince, hard to talk about the records and easy to write about the star- the inbalance is hard to address....

 

Edited July 11, 201113 yr by gezza76

9TH FEBRUARY- LOVE AND PRIDE- King (3 weeks)

 

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/7815.jpg

 

Ever considered spray canned Doc Martins as a fashion accessory? Well if you have then chances were you were a King fan in 1985, their name teken from the lead singer Paul King, who the younger memebers may know better as being a VH1 presenter for many years since the 90s. The band were from Coventry (Specials apart not a city known for it's musical heritage) and really hit the big time for about a year with "Love and Pride" being their biggest, and I'm not going to lie it isn't a fantastic record, but neither is it awful, a staple at disco's of that time (I sound so old now) and I do actually recall this from the time when I attended a school friends party one sunday afternoon , presumably in 1985. The video is incidently unintentionally humourous, I suspect the band may have wanted to start off a fad amongst the youngsters, I can recall from my school days that that was a FAIL if it was their intention.

 

A likeable enough song, if no great shakes, a phrase which pretty much sums up the No 2 hits of 1985 really, we're starting the run in to quite a bland period of the 80s.....

 

Edited July 11, 201113 yr by gezza76

23RD MARCH- THAT OLE DEVIL CALLED LOVE- Alison Moyet (2 weeks)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/7909.jpg

 

Some singers could sing the phonebook and make it interesting- Moyet is one of those singers. Proving that she could do solo whatever she did with Vince Clarke, her cover of a 1944 Billie Holliday track is enticing. Moyet's vocal is all smouldering, you can imagine being in a smoky jazz club back in the 1940's pretty much the biggest compliment you could pay to Holliday's memory, adn it's not an easy trick to pull off but Moyet manages it through her sheer classiness. In a year of much mediocrity this is a like a beacon of light, so much more the injustice that it should be held off the top by the two Phil's with "Easy Lover" a bland piece of AOR that should have been maybe a top 10 hit at a push.

 

Moyet would never get that UK chart topper making this her highest placed single, she pours heartbreak into a three minute pop song and convinces the listener of her plight, you also get a sense of an artist in control here, this is isn't just a cover done at the benest of the record company, or to fill a gap between albums (which this was) but a cover chosen with care and with love, their is respect there, if only all covers were done with such blatant affection....

 

Edited July 12, 201113 yr by gezza76

6TH APRIL- WELCOME TO THE PLEASUREDOME- Frankie Goes To Hollywood (2 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/35/WTTP_-_single.jpg

 

It was an attempt to break a 22 year old record, back in 1963 a fellow Liverpudlian band successfully placed their first three singles at No 1, no not the Beatles, but a group called Gerry & The Pacemakers. Their fourth Single "I'm The One" peaked at No 2 in early 64, and so too FGTH's fourth single (that record wouldn't be beaten until the Spice Girls did it in 1997) but that didn't stop FGTH promoting this record as "Their 4th No 1" now you may think that's big headed but the truth is that they promoted "The Power Of Love" as their third No 1 and it actually turned out to be just that.

 

Another expensive video was commissioned to promote the song featuring the band hijacking a car and driving to the "Pleasuredome" where they all come a cropper after being enticed into various traps. The song is essentially a re-telling of the "Canterbury tales" with a bit of Coleridge thrown it "Using my power/ I sell it by the hour/I have it so I market it/ You really can afford it-yeah" it's a song which mixes the dizzy highs of modern capitalism and consumerism with a warning that all is not as it seems (the "Vanity Fair" angle). It's all heady stuff, but remember FGTH were on a roll with a cracker of a debut album and a period where they could do little wrong, but within just 2 years of this the band were on their last legs with a poorly received second album and a split imminant, still though a great record with a funk beat and as good as anything produced in 1985....

 

Edited July 12, 201113 yr by gezza76

20TH APRIL- EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD- Tears For Fears (2 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/64/TFF_EWTRTW.jpg

 

It's a song which is good just for it's simplicity. A beat that chugs along with occasional key changes, though simple, it's simply brilliant, and again, like Prince, King, and Alison Moyet, the nearest they got No 1 here though of course they were rivalling Wham! in the US with a string of Chart toppers including this track. It's there most recalled hit with good reason, it seems more structured, more layered than their earlier hits 82-83 (this in part obviously to do with chaging musical fads and production techniques) but it seems to be that this is an attempt at anthem rock.

 

During this period 85-86 was a fantastic time for that (assuming you like it) when appealing to the masses was the new challenge, Tribalism was all quite 1984, (we'll discuss this more in the next post) but this TFT record is emblematic of that, the time of Dire Straits, Simple Minds, U2 and another example that we'll come across very shortly. Lyrically however the message (assuming there is one) is blunted, there is yearning there and a desire to reach out to the listener but meanings are neither explored nor described with any kind of clarity, however as with anthem rock what that allows the mass audience to do is to place their own meaning on it, interpret as they wish, and so a song becomes everybody's. It's a clever trick, to sing about something that sounds important yet reading the lyrics doesn't really hint at what it is.

 

No matter, a very catchy song that deserves its place, now I think i've already written good reviews for more records in 1985 than I did in 1985 so i've contradicted my earlier statement- hey ho- more good things to come!....

 

Edited July 13, 201113 yr by gezza76

25TH MAY- A VIEW TO A KILL- Duran Duran (3 weeks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7f/Duran_Duran_A_view_to_a_kill.jpg

 

Now about that Tribalism. Duran Duran perfectly in tune with times do an about face and transform from the tribalism of "Wild Boys" to the mass appeal of "A View To A Kill", in part through necessity- being part of a film franchise means of course compromising their normal style and adjusting it to suit the "bond theme" requirements, to be honest it's almost seemless, and it's probably the best bond theme in my opinion. Moreover it meant opening the band to an audience that may not be used to hearing the band, or in countries they may not have broken, the Durannies are up for the challenge though and pull the whole thing with admirable panache, in truth nothing much was beyond them at this point.

 

The "False note" at the Live Aid concert that summer is popularly described as the moment that the pop world moved against the band, now I was too young to recall that, but if true then they reached their absolute height before the fall, an element of the tragical about the affair, but this was the end of Duran Duran as a provider of regular top 10 hits, the end of the golden period. In all honesty their golden period was longer than most bands entire career so it's still a fantastic story and "View to A Kill" is shining illustration of a band at the height of their powers....

 

Edited July 13, 201113 yr by gezza76