VARIOUS ARTISTS
NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL MUSIC II
NOW
H
VARIOUS ARTISTS
BIRTH OF A NATION – INEVITABLE
RECORDS: AN INDEPENDENT
LIVERPOOL 1979-1986
CHERRY RED
H
Now That’s What I Call Music I
was reissued with much fanfare
late last year to coincide with
Now 100, but the second
album in the series arguably
deserves more acclaim.
Originally released in March
1984 and reissued now as
a 2CD set, the
30-track Now
That’s What I Call
Music II was like
a tape recording
of the Top 40
as, mindful of
the phenomenal
success of Now I,
tyro and veteran
artists alike
scrambled to be included.
1984 was the year, of
course, of Frankie Goes To
Hollywood and the big,
bold and banned Relax,
but also of The Smiths and
What Difference Does It
Make?. Duran Duran (New
Moon On Monday) figured,as did lesser lights from the
fag-end of the electro-pop
revolution: Nik Kershaw,
Thompson Twins, Howard
Jones, Fiction Factory.
The dinosaurs turned up:
The Rolling Stones (Undercover
Of The Night), Queen (Radio
Ga Ga), Bowie’s
glistening
Modern Love,
Paul McCartney’s
regrettable Pipes
Of Peace. Nor
was novelty pop
ignored – hello
again Nena ( 99
Red Balloons),
The Flying Pickets
(Only You), Tracey Ullman (My
Guy), and Joe Fagin’s theme
tune to Auf Wiedersehen, Pet,
That’s Living Alright.
The eternal curse and
blessing of the Now series is
that all pop life is there, both
wondrous and wretched. But
this is a fine period piece. IGIt never attracted the acclaim or
profile of a Factory or Postcard,
but Inevitable Records was a
valuable conduit for Liverpool
indie music in the late 1970s
and early 1980s.
Following up last year’s
Revolutionary
Spirit: The Sound
Of Liverpool
1976-1988,
this 3CD set of
singles, B-sides
and Peel sessions
is a similarly
mixed bag. Unlike
its predecessor,
there are no
Bunnymen, Teardrop Explodes,
La’s or Frankie Goes To
Hollywood, but plenty of other
prime nuggets.
It’s a must for Pete Burns fans,
with a wealth of Nightmares
In Wax and Dead Or Alive
material including the three
tracks on NIW’s debut (and
only) release, 1980’s Birth Of
A Nation E P.
Wah! Heat feature large,
with four tracks including
the throbbing Joe, as do
ahead-of-their-time art-rockers
and perennial
Peel faves It’s
Immaterial. China
Crisis’ African
And White, which
used to send
Peel’s Radio 1
colleague Peter
Powell wild with
joy, is a welcome
inclusion.
There’s a little more of the
mildly funky Freeze Frame
than is truly needed, and it’s
no surprise The Builders and
Venus Adore have long since
passed into oblivion. But it’s a
cool snapshot of a time, and a
mindset, long gone. IGFIAT LUX
HIRED HISTORY PLUS
CHERRY REDHHH
Commercial success proved
elusive for Fiat Lux, the gentle
Wakefield synth-pop band who
released a string of early-80s
singles on Polydor for little
reward. This 2CD set collects
those singles, their 1984 mini-LP
Hired History and bonus tracks,
primarily the never-released
1985 album, Ark Of Embers.
It’s sweet, if unspectacular fare,
but tracks such as the haunting
Photography and dramatic Blue
Emotion imply they deserved
a brighter fate. They recently
reformed after a 32-year hiatus
and a new album, Saved
Symmetry, is also out now. IGRAIN TREE CROW
RAIN TREE CROW
UMC/VIRGIN EMIH
The David Sylvian reissue
campaign continue apace with
a welcome re-release on 180g
vinyl of the sole album by Rain
Tree Crow, the name adopted
by the former members of
Japan when they reformed in- Rain Tree Crow was all
spartan instrumentation and
echoing silences under Sylvian’s
husky whispers – its blanched
soundscapes made Japan
murmurs like Ghosts sound
like Slade, while Blackwater
verged on new age music.
It was a silent ripple on a still
lake and then they all went their
separate ways again. IG
MARIANNE FAITHFULL
DANGEROUS
ACQUAINTANCES
MUSIC ON VINYLHH
Broken English was Marianne
Faithfull’s tender masterpiece
and this 1981 follow-up,
reissued now on limited-edition
white vinyl, was a major let-
down. Where its predecessor
wrapped personal trauma in
new wave stylings, Dangerous
Acquaintances seemed happy
to lapse into textbook AOR.
Even Faithfull’s trademark sultry
vocal could not redeem turgid
singles Intrigue or Sweetheart,
which correctly sank without
trace, and only spooky, folk-
hued seven-minute album closer
Truth, Bitter Truth seemed to flow
from her heart. One to avoid. IGDONNA SUMMER
ANOTHER PLACE AND TIME
DRIVEN BY THE MUSICHH
Donna Summer’s Giorgio
Moroder-produced heyday with
I Feel Love was long behind
her by 1989 when, completing
a journey from the sublime to
the ridiculous, she put herself
in the hands of Stock Aitken &
Waterman. Another Place And
Time did OK commercially,
squeezing into the Top 20, but
hearing this 30th anniversary
3CD deluxe set, it’s clear they
merely applied their one-size-
fits-all production to her: its
two big singles, Top Three hit
This Time I Know It’s For Real
and I Don’t Wanna Be Hurt,
just sounded like Kylie, or even
Sonia. Another to avoid. IG