Number one for one week from w/e 4th December 1982
By 1982, it was becoming unusual for artists to issue singles which weren’t tracks on their current or subsequent albums. The major labels in particular had begun to work to a very simple and successful model, which saw singles as potentially loss-making promotional devices for the albums. As well as forking out for expensive videos, they were even happy to bundle expensive free gifts with singles in chart-return shops; famously, there’s the case of Rod Stewart’s single “Baby Jane” potentially reaching the top spot in ‘83 thanks to the free Adidas t-shirt that accompanied it in the “right” stores.
Indie labels couldn’t afford to play those kinds of games, and besides the financial constraints, Indie artists often had ideas of their own, asking to put out stand-alone singles which didn’t appear on any of their studio albums. There were a number of motivations for this – perhaps they were sitting on something which didn’t fit thematically with their current LP, but felt too good to be left cooling on the shelf. Maybe they wanted to experiment with a new direction, or had enough similar ideas for an EP but not a whole album. Possibly they felt that making fans pay for the same songs twice was just a rip off. Or sometimes… and this is harsh, but hear me out… perhaps it dawned on them that the track just wasn’t good enough to put on their next 33rpm platter.
“The Other Side Of Love” is an example of one of these orphaned singles. As the first piece of fresh Yazoo material to emerge since the release of their debut album “Upstairs at Erics”, it should have created much more of a buzz than it did, but the end result was a number 13 national chart placing, their only single to fail to reach the top three in the UK. When the group reformed in 2008 for some live shows, Alison Moyet was asked why it had no place in their set list. She described it as “A bit wank. It’s my least favourite track”.
In truth, “The Other Side Of Love” isn’t terrible but it’s certainly the pair’s weakest single. Built on a backbeat of cheapo electro-bongos and Binatone bleeps and trills, and fleshed out with a repetitive, “Just Can’t Get Enough” styled riff, it feels as if Clarke was reaching backwards for inspiration rather than looking forwards. Moyet does her best to insert some passion into her delivery, but for the first time it sounds mismatched – the song needs lightness of touch to succeed as a piece of bright synthpop, and instead gets a treatment that’s almost too loaded for it to bear.
At the risk of sounding like a Disc and Music Echo critic from 1965, the main thing the track has in its favour is an upbeat, catchy charm that slowly becomes more appealing after the first few listens. Speaking purely from personal experience, though, “The Other Side Of Love” is the only Yazoo single whose melody you can’t recall if it’s been a few years since your last listen. It sticks to an extent, and the central riffs are naggingly insistent, but it never burns itself into your brain, forever remaining one of those forgotten singles whose contents are doomed to be on the tip of your tongue until you press “Play” on Spotify.
The video is a fascinating historical document, though. In it, Moyet and Clarke are supposed to act resentfully towards each other as they cavort around a ballroom together. Neither are great actors, but there are moments where the stiltedness and the frustration feel all-too-real; the director clearly had the measure of the state of their relationship the first day he met the pair, and it sums up the fact that their differing personalities and approaches to music had become too much to continue.
Sadly, their next single would be the final one.
15. Violators – “Summer of 81” (No Future)
Peak position: 8
While many of their travelling companions and labelmates were defiant noiseniks who wanted to strip punk to its absolute bare bones, Violators still had one eye on the old school – vocalist Helen Hill in particular is the star of the show here, sounding anguished, angry and angelic, sometimes within the same line. The rest of the group thrash and grind chunky riffs behind her, but give her enough space to breathe and never quite overload the song, which is a simple but effective track about a corrupt police force:
“Nightstick in hand, he tried to rule this land/ But that's no way to make a country great/ It takes more, more than force/ You've got to give it a voice”.
An unexpected treat, in all.
Indie labels couldn’t afford to play those kinds of games, and besides the financial constraints, Indie artists often had ideas of their own, asking to put out stand-alone singles which didn’t appear on any of their studio albums. There were a number of motivations for this – perhaps they were sitting on something which didn’t fit thematically with their current LP, but felt too good to be left cooling on the shelf. Maybe they wanted to experiment with a new direction, or had enough similar ideas for an EP but not a whole album. Possibly they felt that making fans pay for the same songs twice was just a rip off. Or sometimes… and this is harsh, but hear me out… perhaps it dawned on them that the track just wasn’t good enough to put on their next 33rpm platter.
“The Other Side Of Love” is an example of one of these orphaned singles. As the first piece of fresh Yazoo material to emerge since the release of their debut album “Upstairs at Erics”, it should have created much more of a buzz than it did, but the end result was a number 13 national chart placing, their only single to fail to reach the top three in the UK. When the group reformed in 2008 for some live shows, Alison Moyet was asked why it had no place in their set list. She described it as “A bit wank. It’s my least favourite track”.
In truth, “The Other Side Of Love” isn’t terrible but it’s certainly the pair’s weakest single. Built on a backbeat of cheapo electro-bongos and Binatone bleeps and trills, and fleshed out with a repetitive, “Just Can’t Get Enough” styled riff, it feels as if Clarke was reaching backwards for inspiration rather than looking forwards. Moyet does her best to insert some passion into her delivery, but for the first time it sounds mismatched – the song needs lightness of touch to succeed as a piece of bright synthpop, and instead gets a treatment that’s almost too loaded for it to bear.
At the risk of sounding like a Disc and Music Echo critic from 1965, the main thing the track has in its favour is an upbeat, catchy charm that slowly becomes more appealing after the first few listens. Speaking purely from personal experience, though, “The Other Side Of Love” is the only Yazoo single whose melody you can’t recall if it’s been a few years since your last listen. It sticks to an extent, and the central riffs are naggingly insistent, but it never burns itself into your brain, forever remaining one of those forgotten singles whose contents are doomed to be on the tip of your tongue until you press “Play” on Spotify.
The video is a fascinating historical document, though. In it, Moyet and Clarke are supposed to act resentfully towards each other as they cavort around a ballroom together. Neither are great actors, but there are moments where the stiltedness and the frustration feel all-too-real; the director clearly had the measure of the state of their relationship the first day he met the pair, and it sums up the fact that their differing personalities and approaches to music had become too much to continue.
Sadly, their next single would be the final one.
New Entries Elsewhere In The Chart
15. Violators – “Summer of 81” (No Future)
Peak position: 8
While many of their travelling companions and labelmates were defiant noiseniks who wanted to strip punk to its absolute bare bones, Violators still had one eye on the old school – vocalist Helen Hill in particular is the star of the show here, sounding anguished, angry and angelic, sometimes within the same line. The rest of the group thrash and grind chunky riffs behind her, but give her enough space to breathe and never quite overload the song, which is a simple but effective track about a corrupt police force:
“Nightstick in hand, he tried to rule this land/ But that's no way to make a country great/ It takes more, more than force/ You've got to give it a voice”.
An unexpected treat, in all.
16. Lords of The New Church – “Russian Roulette” (Illegal)
Peak position: 12
Another single from the Lords which, while awash with apocalyptic imagery and rage, nonetheless results in a track which was incredibly ahead of its time for 1982, taking anthemic rock, goth melodrama and the atmospheric, darker end of synth-pop and gaining easy command of the lot.
“Russian Roulette” may have a slightly Bobby Gillespie-esque try-hard iconoclastic edge to its lyrics, but to give them credit, they beat him to that too. There again, so did Mick Jagger.
24. The Wall – “Day Tripper” (No Future)
Peak position: 24
The Beatles “Day Tripper” has been one of the more appealing Fab Four tracks for groups to cover, its irresistible but simple riff and lyrical subversion (“She’s a big teaser/ she took me half the way there”) making it feel like catnip to amateur local groups and live audiences.
Was there any reason for the long-serving Sunderland punks The Wall to issue a perfunctory run-through of it for their last single, though? This is probably one of the least interesting final efforts any band has committed to vinyl and a sad end to a once-promising career.
30. Thomas Leer – “All About You” (Cherry Red)
Peak position: 21
More sophisticated but minimal synth pop from the Glaswegian master of the form. “All About You” is a deceptive five minutes, in that it feels more intricate that its low key production and arrangement actually is. This is partly thanks to Leer’s restless vocals and the song’s continued evolution. It’s not the stuff hit singles are made of, but it ensured it hung around the lower reaches of the indie chart for some time.
For the full chart, please go to the UKMix Forums
Number One In The Official Charts
The Jam - "Beat Surrender" (Polydor)
No comments:
Post a Comment