- Madonna: Like a Prayer
- Jason Donovan: Too Many Broken Hearts
- Donna Summer: This Time I Know It's for Real
- Paula Abdul: Straight Up
- Soul II Soul featuring Caron Wheeler: Keep on Movin'
- Bananarama/Lananeeneenoonoo: Help!
- Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine: Can't Stay Away from You
- Guns 'N Roses: Paradise City
- Sam Brown: Stop!
- The Reynolds Girls: I'd Rather Jack
- Michael Ball: Love Changes Everything
- S'Express: Hey Music Lover
- Fuzzbox: International Rescue
- Living in a Box: Blow the House Down
- Michael Jackson: Leave Me Alone
- Chanelle: One Man
- Kon Kan: I Beg Your Pardon
- Alyson Williams: Sleep Talk
- Texas: I Don't Want a Lover
- Womack & Womack: Celebrate the World
- New Order: Round and Round
- Simple Minds: Belfast Child
- Tyree featuring Kool Rock Steady: Turn Up the Bass
- Coldcut featuring Lisa Stansfield: People Hold On
- Poison: Every Rose Has Its Thorn
- Dusty Springfield: Nothing Has Been Proved
- Bobby Brown: Don't Be Cruel
- Deacon Blue: Wages Day
- Roachford: Family Man
- The Four Tops: Indestructible
- Elvis Costello: Veronica
- Kim Wilde: Love in the Natural Way
- The Bangles: Eternal Flame
- Pat & Mick: I Haven't Stopped Dancing Yet
- Kym Mazell: Got to Get You Back
- Bobby Brown: My Prerogative
- T'Pau: Only the Lonely
- Depeche Mode: Everything Counts [live]
- Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie: The Rattler
- Paul Simpson featuring Adeva: Musical Freedom (Moving on Up)
~~~~~
At some point in the eighties pop music began to mean something again. Now, the whole notion of the entire decade being one great big yacht leaden with yuppie hedonists in pastel suit jackets freebasing coke to the sounds of fairlight synthesizers and ultra slick alto sax solos has been largely overstated, it must be said that the Kajagoogoos and Duran Durans did provide an all-too appropriate soundtrack to the age of Reagan and Thatcher. Happily, it wasn't to last. The sea change could well have been the Ethiopian famine and Band Aid and Live Aid which were spawned as a result (and, from there, USA for Africa and Northern Lights). Some acts were galvanized into a campaign of good works with Amnesty International benefit concerts for Nelson Mandela, the Red Wedge movement and saving the rainforest. Others may have recognized the folly of the do-gooders but nevertheless attempted to make their songs have a say about what was going on at the time.
While rock looked to the heartland as a means of salvation and pop dabbled in trying to topple Thatcher (it didn't take but it was worth a try!), hip hop, house and soul took the issues in their own direction. While a number American rappers adopted an aggressive, militant stance, there was a certain positivity behind a number of acts at the time but the results were frequently mixed. The pioneering hip hop trio De La Soul managed to pull off their idealism by dispensing with earnestness in favour charm and playfulness. Others had more vague intentions, which could lead to fumbled attempts at the zeitgeist but not in the case of a landmark hit from March of 1989.
Soul II Soul's Keep on Movin' was a fresh and exciting single as England began to enter a lovely though melancholic spring. Though few knew it at the time, it was to become remarkably influential. Festooned with strings, it seemed like the very first house record not to topple over due to the weight of all its samples; at a time when rock was beginning to get obsessed with getting back to basics, this was sparse, warm and every bit as honest to goodness and downhome as a Tom Petty record. Keeping with the spirit of economy, Caron Wheeler's vocal is restrained and, in places, almost whispered. But what was it about? The title makes it seem like it's just another dance record about dance records but the lyrics brim with world in flux and lives that have to keep up. "Why do people choose to live their lives this way?" Wheeler asks. Is she referring to people who stop movin' or those who keep on? The ambiguity here is attractive. Just as restrained as the music and vocal, the lyrics are about something and feel important but refuse to spell it out for the listener.
(Coldcut's People Hold On attempts a similar tactic but the lyrics' kumbaya, make the world a better place sentiment lets it down a tad. Nevertheless it was similarly astonishing at the though for very different reasons. Lisa Stansfield's elastic voice could shape-shift its way around a lyric and it seemed like she was going to be a star for many years to come (well, she did all right). The music seemed to find a middle ground between synth-pop and house that works well enough but it doesn't impress me as much as I expected. I'd say it hasn't aged well but I had not dissimilar reservations about it at the time too)
It was a nice surprise to discover that we were going to have two weeks off for Easter. The itinerary for the first week was less than welcome since my sister and I were still bitter that we wouldn't be going to Greece and had to make do with Liverpool, Manchester and the Lake District instead. Sensing wisely that the famed/notorious industrial towns were worth a visit but not the sort of places to spend the night in, my parents decided that we'd base ourselves in the charming walled city of Chester. While the Beatles and Liverpool FC and Coronation St. were a part of our visits (this being the closest I'll ever get to traveling like an obsessed Japanese fan), the main attraction of our jaunt up to the Northwest was meeting David and Julie and their daughters Helen and one who shall remain nameless due to my unreliable memory. Mum had joined a tracing your ancestors class in Billericay months earlier and had managed to get in touch with the son of her grandmother's brother in Salford. I tried to dump on it by pointing out that they weren't the ones who were long lost since, you know, they stayed in England and we left but no one listened - and who can blame them?
From there we were off to the Lake District where we were greeted by the novel sight of snow. I never read Beatrix Potter as a boy and was a few years away from discovering how gifted yet horribly dull William Wordsworth could be so I was out of my element when it came to the area's icons. Having spent a few summers camping the the Rocky Mountains, this bit of rugged England seemed like small potatoes but it was picturesque enough to lend its vistas to many a postcard, cross-stitch and TV tray. All right, that's glib but it just wasn't my kind of place. It probably would be now because cafes have taken over from record shops in my esteem of town attractions.
Back in Laindon as the first week of the Easter break began to draw to a close, we began to get ready for the arrival of my uncle Dave. On Good Friday my parents drove to Gatwick to meet him. He was probably every bit as exhausted as we were back in August but he didn't show it. He downed a cup of coffee, made it clear he didn't care about having a nap and seemed enthusiastic about going for a ride to some of the more welcoming spots in Essex. I didn't make a mental note of it then but it's something I think about from time to time when travel gets to be a bit much. Dave is happy to roll with it while on vacation and so should I. (I can't say I've been entirely successful in trying to emulate my uncle's laid back approach but I've tried)
Saturday was the famed boat race between Oxford and Cambridge and we were there by the side of The Thames with a supply of turkey sandwiches and cans of Coke to witness a crew in light blue defeat a crew in slightly lighter blue (or was it the slightly lighter blue side that won?). For whatever reason, we were rooting for Cambridge and, thus, quite pleased by the result.
~~~~~
young Paul's favourite: This Time I Know It's for Read
older Paul's retro pick: Keep on Movin'
While rock looked to the heartland as a means of salvation and pop dabbled in trying to topple Thatcher (it didn't take but it was worth a try!), hip hop, house and soul took the issues in their own direction. While a number American rappers adopted an aggressive, militant stance, there was a certain positivity behind a number of acts at the time but the results were frequently mixed. The pioneering hip hop trio De La Soul managed to pull off their idealism by dispensing with earnestness in favour charm and playfulness. Others had more vague intentions, which could lead to fumbled attempts at the zeitgeist but not in the case of a landmark hit from March of 1989.
Soul II Soul's Keep on Movin' was a fresh and exciting single as England began to enter a lovely though melancholic spring. Though few knew it at the time, it was to become remarkably influential. Festooned with strings, it seemed like the very first house record not to topple over due to the weight of all its samples; at a time when rock was beginning to get obsessed with getting back to basics, this was sparse, warm and every bit as honest to goodness and downhome as a Tom Petty record. Keeping with the spirit of economy, Caron Wheeler's vocal is restrained and, in places, almost whispered. But what was it about? The title makes it seem like it's just another dance record about dance records but the lyrics brim with world in flux and lives that have to keep up. "Why do people choose to live their lives this way?" Wheeler asks. Is she referring to people who stop movin' or those who keep on? The ambiguity here is attractive. Just as restrained as the music and vocal, the lyrics are about something and feel important but refuse to spell it out for the listener.
(Coldcut's People Hold On attempts a similar tactic but the lyrics' kumbaya, make the world a better place sentiment lets it down a tad. Nevertheless it was similarly astonishing at the though for very different reasons. Lisa Stansfield's elastic voice could shape-shift its way around a lyric and it seemed like she was going to be a star for many years to come (well, she did all right). The music seemed to find a middle ground between synth-pop and house that works well enough but it doesn't impress me as much as I expected. I'd say it hasn't aged well but I had not dissimilar reservations about it at the time too)
It was a nice surprise to discover that we were going to have two weeks off for Easter. The itinerary for the first week was less than welcome since my sister and I were still bitter that we wouldn't be going to Greece and had to make do with Liverpool, Manchester and the Lake District instead. Sensing wisely that the famed/notorious industrial towns were worth a visit but not the sort of places to spend the night in, my parents decided that we'd base ourselves in the charming walled city of Chester. While the Beatles and Liverpool FC and Coronation St. were a part of our visits (this being the closest I'll ever get to traveling like an obsessed Japanese fan), the main attraction of our jaunt up to the Northwest was meeting David and Julie and their daughters Helen and one who shall remain nameless due to my unreliable memory. Mum had joined a tracing your ancestors class in Billericay months earlier and had managed to get in touch with the son of her grandmother's brother in Salford. I tried to dump on it by pointing out that they weren't the ones who were long lost since, you know, they stayed in England and we left but no one listened - and who can blame them?
From there we were off to the Lake District where we were greeted by the novel sight of snow. I never read Beatrix Potter as a boy and was a few years away from discovering how gifted yet horribly dull William Wordsworth could be so I was out of my element when it came to the area's icons. Having spent a few summers camping the the Rocky Mountains, this bit of rugged England seemed like small potatoes but it was picturesque enough to lend its vistas to many a postcard, cross-stitch and TV tray. All right, that's glib but it just wasn't my kind of place. It probably would be now because cafes have taken over from record shops in my esteem of town attractions.
Back in Laindon as the first week of the Easter break began to draw to a close, we began to get ready for the arrival of my uncle Dave. On Good Friday my parents drove to Gatwick to meet him. He was probably every bit as exhausted as we were back in August but he didn't show it. He downed a cup of coffee, made it clear he didn't care about having a nap and seemed enthusiastic about going for a ride to some of the more welcoming spots in Essex. I didn't make a mental note of it then but it's something I think about from time to time when travel gets to be a bit much. Dave is happy to roll with it while on vacation and so should I. (I can't say I've been entirely successful in trying to emulate my uncle's laid back approach but I've tried)
Saturday was the famed boat race between Oxford and Cambridge and we were there by the side of The Thames with a supply of turkey sandwiches and cans of Coke to witness a crew in light blue defeat a crew in slightly lighter blue (or was it the slightly lighter blue side that won?). For whatever reason, we were rooting for Cambridge and, thus, quite pleased by the result.
~~~~~
young Paul's favourite: This Time I Know It's for Read
older Paul's retro pick: Keep on Movin'
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