I'm fairly sure that Malcolm Ross rejoined them for that final Brixton Academy gig, at least; I think he also played later that night with Aztec Camera, who headlined.
― mike t-diva, Friday, 23 July 2021 11:22 (two years ago) link
Re: piano on the Sylvian record: everything on "Red Guitar" is Sakamoto, you can tell by the jazzy, delicate filigrees. Sylvian plays prepared piano on "Backwaters".
― Halfway there but for you, Friday, 23 July 2021 14:37 (two years ago) link
good for him panning that awful wham song
voted for ultravox even tho he didn't like that either
― dyl, Friday, 23 July 2021 15:05 (two years ago) link
Have to say, his writing style is very "old man from the fifties"...
― Mark G, Friday, 23 July 2021 15:20 (two years ago) link
Wake Me Up is both the best song and the best review on that page.
(in the US that was the first we heard from them, so it's weird to think of that as a disappointment to long time fans)
Dominatrix sounds like you had to be there.
Solo David Sylvain (for me) is one of those I keep trying to get into, but it isn't working.
― enochroot, Friday, 23 July 2021 15:37 (two years ago) link
Wake Me Up was Wham! nadir imo. Also completely unavoidable in UK at the time to the point of total over saturation. To this day just hearing "Jitterbug..." is enough to set off a Pavlovian reaction.
― stirmonster, Friday, 23 July 2021 16:46 (two years ago) link
https://giphy.com/gifs/vintage-80s-RG01kHJGpCAY8
― tean mean poleand cheaseang theas means hamseak feasts (breastcrawl), Friday, 23 July 2021 17:47 (two years ago) link
fucked that upanyway, #teamIWannaDanceWithSomeoneWhoGo-Go
― tean mean poleand cheaseang theas means hamseak feasts (breastcrawl), Friday, 23 July 2021 17:50 (two years ago) link
https://media4.giphy.com/media/RG01kHJGpCAY8/200.gifthat’s the way you do itmoney for nothing and your gifs for free
― tean mean poleand cheaseang theas means hamseak feasts (breastcrawl), Friday, 23 July 2021 17:53 (two years ago) link
Sade was great at the time, but my love for her didn't survive the seemingly endless afterlife of that first album, the lazy soundtrack choice for every crummy joint with pretensions for years to come. Very much the Moon Safari of its day.
Totally get this but Love Is Stronger than Pride is the best Sade song/single.
― Halfway there but for you,
Thanks for that info. I could probably have just looked out the record. It makes sense that that's not a prepared piano. I should have known that already.
― Heavy Messages (jed_), Friday, 23 July 2021 23:01 (two years ago) link
Always good to see mike's lists. Wild that you've kept them all the years!
― Heavy Messages (jed_), Friday, 23 July 2021 23:02 (two years ago) link
Here's the full issue from this fortnight: https://www.flickr.com/photos/51106326@N00/albums/72157643123473814/
― Heavy Messages (jed_), Friday, 23 July 2021 23:07 (two years ago) link
Fantastic footage of Sylvian with Sakamoto, Czukay, Hassel, Ronny Drayton and Steve Nye from the Brilliant Trees recording sessions.
https://vimeo.com/575291448/1874bdcf17
― mr.raffles, Friday, 23 July 2021 23:20 (two years ago) link
despite ‘bad life’ being repudiation of original pil project etc, can’t help but feeling quite fond of it - as a relatvely context-free teen i liked it as a funky weird pop single, and actually appreciated the cynicism!
― lemmy incaution (emsworth), Friday, 23 July 2021 23:21 (two years ago) link
^From that issue: The two page spread where Boy George, Marilyn, Pete Burns and someone called Tasty Tim (who has escaped my memory) all bitch about each other is grimly amusing
― Heavy Messages (jed_), Friday, 23 July 2021 23:21 (two years ago) link
Thanks for that raffles!
― Heavy Messages (jed_), Friday, 23 July 2021 23:22 (two years ago) link
Am curious to see what this Mr. Rimmer thought of Wham!’s Fantastic-era singles. “Wham Rap” is generally regarded as a joke these days (I think Allmusic gave that album one-and-a-half stars), so I’m pretty surprised people at the time felt let down by “WMUBYGG”
― Mr. Snrub, Friday, 23 July 2021 23:43 (two years ago) link
Wait -- was cappuccino such a part of The Style Council's ethos? Really?
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 23 July 2021 23:53 (two years ago) link
"Wham Rap" is anti-Thatcher.
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 23 July 2021 23:54 (two years ago) link
i like "Wham Rap".
They also played a benefit gig for the miners' strike.
― stirmonster, Saturday, 24 July 2021 00:05 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdCs2K_ZEpU
― brimstead, Saturday, 24 July 2021 00:26 (two years ago) link
Apparantly (according to this) (and it is witten partly by the C D'A crew) Wham Rap the Francois K version was a tune at Cocktail D'Amour.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/dec/10/cocktail-damore-berlin-worlds-best-parties
― Heavy Messages (jed_), Saturday, 24 July 2021 00:27 (two years ago) link
Well, their sleeve notes were penned by "The Cappuccino Kid" (actually Paolo Hewitt), and their debut album was called Café Bleu...
― mike t-diva, Saturday, 24 July 2021 11:20 (two years ago) link
Re. Wham!, they were originally seen as somewhat conceptual, witty and subversive, playing ironic games with male archetypes. "Wake Me Up" felt like a sharp break from all that, shedding nuance in favour of banal mass appeal. We'd expected more.
― mike t-diva, Saturday, 24 July 2021 11:26 (two years ago) link
Yeah, it was a let down, away from 'credible' funk pop into radio friendly etc.
― Mark G, Saturday, 24 July 2021 12:22 (two years ago) link
Oh, and at the time, cappuccino was a pure cafe/Italian thing, but subsequently.. I'm sure the Style Council had a lot to do with it!
― Mark G, Saturday, 24 July 2021 12:24 (two years ago) link
It's "You're The Best Thing" vs. "Panama" over here. Mike, great hearing about that era, and agree on '83-'84 Style Council (and EBTG and Carmel from those same years).
― ... (Eazy), Saturday, 24 July 2021 12:50 (two years ago) link
― mike t-diva, Saturday, July 24, 2021 7:26 AM
Until the ebullience and craft of "Careless Whisper" and "Everything She Wants" and "Freedom" made you renounce this apostasy.
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 24 July 2021 12:54 (two years ago) link
I disliked "Wham Rap" at the time. Haven't heard it for years. "Wake Me Up" I seem to remember thinking was a record I would never like enough to buy but it was pleasant enough if it came on the radio. I've always liked that bit where it breaks down to organ chords and the singing comes back in with "I wanna hit that high...". "Careless Whisper" I found irritating at the time but now think is a masterpiece. "Freedom" I can hear in my head now and I like it. "Everything She Wants" I can't bring to mind.
― dubmill, Saturday, 24 July 2021 13:34 (two years ago) link
Hated "Careless Whisper", thought it was such a dreary dirge; I'm sort of OK with it now, but I'd take "Nothing Looks The Same In The Light" off the debut album every time. I identified with it very strongly, and decided there and then that only a gay man could have written it.
Didn't rate "Freedom", couldn't see past the surface jollity, but there's no arguing with the majesty of "Everything She Wants".
― mike t-diva, Saturday, 24 July 2021 13:45 (two years ago) link
I never knew Wham did a song called "Nothing Looks the Same in the Light". When you mentioned it I immediately thought of "U Sure Do" by Strike (1994). That same phrase occurs in the lyrics. I guess they must have stolen it from Wham.
― dubmill, Saturday, 24 July 2021 13:59 (two years ago) link
'nothing looks the same in the light' is so good, but i think i like this one even more:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AuEbm6hD7s
― disraeli grinds my gears (NickB), Saturday, 24 July 2021 21:48 (two years ago) link
wow, I'd completely forgotten about that track. Thanks for the reminder!
― Heavy Messages (jed_), Saturday, 24 July 2021 22:00 (two years ago) link
I actually found a bootleg extended edit of it that's good. Pretty true to the original which is a bit too short. I can't send that to you (or anyone else) if you care for that kind of thing.
― Heavy Messages (jed_), Saturday, 24 July 2021 22:59 (two years ago) link
These threads are a bright spot on ilx atm
― Linda and Jodie Rocco (map), Saturday, 24 July 2021 23:25 (two years ago) link
*thumbs up emoji*
― Heavy Messages (jed_), Saturday, 24 July 2021 23:29 (two years ago) link
This is an interesting one because I remember hardly any of these singles.
Sorry to be a bonehead but I have to vote for Van Halen. The PiL would be #2. For a long time I've owned the Commercial Zone record, on which "Bad Life" is called "Mad Max," as well as the This Is What You Want... record, and I have to say I much prefer the latter.
― Josefa, Sunday, 25 July 2021 00:42 (two years ago) link
George produced that amazing track Blue (Armed With Love) that NickB posted. Really gorgeous production.
― Heavy Messages (jed_), Sunday, 25 July 2021 22:16 (two years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Thursday, 29 July 2021 00:01 (two years ago) link
'State Of Love' - didn't know it as a kid but holds up v well
― nashwan, Thursday, 29 July 2021 09:16 (two years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Friday, 30 July 2021 00:01 (two years ago) link
Eddie's guitar was mostly red, just like Sylvian's.
― Halfway there but for you, Friday, 30 July 2021 01:52 (two years ago) link
What on earth...
― Heavy Messages (jed_), Friday, 30 July 2021 10:25 (two years ago) link
I got hard thinking of David Sylvian singing "Panama."
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 30 July 2021 10:26 (two years ago) link
wake me up before you cum-cum
― tean mean poleand cheaseang theas means hamseak feasts (breastcrawl), Friday, 30 July 2021 10:38 (two years ago) link
That's a rough result for Divine Sounds and The System. Are we doing another one? Please?
― mike t-diva, Friday, 30 July 2021 10:49 (two years ago) link
will try to post one before or during the weekend.
― think “Gypsy-Pixie” and misspelled. (We are a white family.) (forksclovetofu), Friday, 30 July 2021 16:16 (two years ago) link
SMASH HITS Singles - September 26 1984
― think “Gypsy-Pixie” and misspelled. (We are a white family.) (forksclovetofu), Saturday, 31 July 2021 17:28 (two years ago) link