18. Colin Vearncombe and ‘Black’

 

25 YEARS OF RECORD COLLECTING: MUSICAL MEMORIES 1982 - 2007

 

 

 

“I think my heart must be made of clay because everyone said it would be broken one day and now I’ve come to that fateful day, so I sit on the floor with my head in my hands”

 

“The cotton is high, the field is still full, it’s dust is drifting everywhere, a harvest moon comes up in the sky, the blues to shake me wake me”

 

“Just like a forming rainbow, just like the stars in the sky, life should never feel small”

 

“I need a friend to make me happy not so alone”

 

“There’s so many ways to sing the blues, I’m not afraid”

 

“Look at me standing here on my own again up straight in the sunshine”

 

 

Another of the greatest albums of the 1980s was the first ‘A&M Records’ release for Colin Vearncombe and his ‘band’ Black. In fact, by this time the ‘band’ had shrunk down from a trio to essentially being a solo project lead by Vearncombe, whilst his former band member Dave Dix moved to production duties and ‘the Creamy Whirls’ provided backing vocals.

 

Originally signed to Warner’s ‘wea’ imprint, the band were contemporaries of other great Liverpool bands, such as ‘The Icicle Works’, ‘Wah!’ and ‘Care’, before they found themselves without a major record deal and on the Manchester based independent ‘Ugly Man Records’ label.

 

‘Ugly Man Records’ was the label where the single ‘Wonderful Life’ was originally released, and after this single made headway into the indie charts of 1986, the band singed to the minor-major ‘A&M’ where the single would be re-recorded and would subsequently hit the Top Ten.

 

Unfortunately, the success of ‘Wonderful Life’ was twinned with the similar tempo of the superb ‘Sweetest Smile’ single. Even though these were some of the greatest top ten hits ever, these releases actually formed a rigid opinion of Vearncombe’s musical style in the public’s minds, so when an upbeat funky track such as ‘I’m Not Afraid’ was released the public avoided the record and this great track limped just out side the Top 75 to about number 78. This was a shame as this record is very under-rated and shows that Vearncombe is no ‘one trick pony’. In fact the parent ‘Wonderful Life’ album is one of those albums that still has loads of potential singles on it such as ‘Finder’, ‘Just Making Memories’ and ‘I Just Grew Tired’, whilst ‘Everything Is Coming Up Roses’ and ‘Paradise’ were also released.

 

 

 

25 YEARS OF RECORD COLLECTING: MUSICAL MEMORIES 1982 – 2007

 

you cant have popstars called colin now can you :lol: popstars have to be called things like starfish longhorn, not colin, thats so much a tragic rap real name innit

 

 

The Black albums Wonderful life, and moreso Comedy, are 2 of my favourite ever.

 

He's still gigiing, too.... the new stuff sounds great, have a look on MySpace.

 

I was in a band in the late 80s and we did a gig in Cardiff... and Colin Vearncombe was in the front row ;) Weird - as I'd been watching him from the front row at a gig he'd played the night before.

I remember when You're A Big Girl Now came out (Sadly no video available) and was (musically) devastated when it did not get close to a Top10 placing it richly deserved.

you cant have popstars called colin now can you :lol: popstars have to be called things like starfish longhorn, not colin, thats so much a tragic rap real name innit

 

I think at one point in the early 1990s, Colin was actually referred to as ‘Black’ in his interviews but this soon stopped and after about three more albums he started releasing albums under his birth name. On the other hand, I think Mick Hucknall named his band ‘Simply Red’ because he was actually called ‘Red’ by his friends and wanted a longer name, whilst the band ‘Blue’ also had a member called ‘Red’ alongside Dean Collinson.

 

The Black albums Wonderful life, and moreso Comedy, are 2 of my favourite ever.

 

He's still gigiing, too.... the new stuff sounds great, have a look on MySpace.

 

I think he is back to being ‘Black’ now