102b. New Order - True Faith/ 103b. The Smiths - Girlfriend In A Coma
New Order: One more week at number one on 5th September 1987
The Smiths: One more week at number one on 12th September 1987
Here the record buyers go again, ruining the natural cut and flow of my blog with their historical purchasing decisions.
As we've seen before, rebound number ones are very common in the NME Indie Chart - sometimes because a record doesn't immediately realise its full potential and has a second or even third wave of mainstream support ("Blue Monday"), sometimes because a limited edition single only offers a short-term threat to the top spot and allows its predecessor to take back the prize, and occasionally just because two extremely competitive singles are out at the same time. And that's essentially what happened here - "True Faith" and "Girlfriend In A Coma" were two huge alternative singles in September 1987, and while in most indie charts "True Faith" held the top spot confidently, that wasn't the case in the NME.
There's nothing more to say beyond that, so let's look at the new entries lower down those charts.
Week One
5. The Soup Dragons - Soft As Your Face (Raw TV)
Peak position: 4
The Soups return with a soft chunk of sixties inspired pop; there had been signs of this proclivity before, most notably in the Byrdsian chimes of the wonderful "Head Gone Astray", but never had they been so directly expressed. These aren't touches or hints of an influence so much as a full-blown homage.
Despite this, the single was popular with fans and only just missed matching the Official Chart peak of its predecessor "Can't Take No More" (it peaked at number 66 versus that effort's number 65 placing). Its fey, summery paisley tones are pretty, merry, and unlike a lot of other groups from this period, not remotely snide or condescending towards late sixties pop - until I started writing this blog, I'd totally forgotten how many eighties indie acts suffered from the Austin Powers Tendency. Despite this, it feels like a weaker effort when placed up against the sheer power of their previous four singles, and as time went on, the group began to lean into this side of things increasingly often, sacrificing abrasion and firepower for slower, brighter harmonies.
Meanwhile, we should obviously be grateful to Sean Dickson for the YouTube upload, but it's a shame his copy of the video has suffered a bit of damage over the years.
Week Two
8. Big Black - He's A Whore / The Model (Blast First)
Peak position: 2
Steve Albini's gang return with two sonic blasts, neither of which are quite as uncompromising as I remember. "He's A Whore" sounded difficult for 1987 but wouldn't have been remotely out of place in 1993, thanks to his continued cultural spell-casting through the American alternative scene. In truth, it's beginning to sound strangely tepid these days, with those solid, steady beats making it seem almost (but not quite) as ordinary as a rough Beatles Cavern bootleg.
A lot of people bought this for the cover Kraftwerk's "The Model" on the other side, which replaces basic electronica with guitars which sound like insects stuck on flypaper. On the general spectrum of punk cover versions, it's closer to Devo than The Dickies in its stylings, but once again doesn't sound as impressive or as mighty as I remember. Or maybe I've reached the point in my life where genre-bending covers no longer seem that interesting.
9. Depeche Mode - Never Let Me Down Again (Mute)
Peak position: 3
This was taken from "Music For The Masses", the LP which turned the suburban Essex boys into a stadium band, and created so much of the trouble and confusion that lay ahead for them. "Never Let Me Down" is a beast worthy of any arena, though, an absolute juggernaut of a single which oscillates between slapping industrial rhythms and an almost symphonic sounding chorus. At this point, Anton Corbijn had also got fully on board to produce all their videos, grainy Super 8 affairs laced with dream-like imagery which worked with the music almost perfectly. Everything was gelling.
"Music For The Masses" came in a sleeve featuring a glossy photograph of a huge red megaphone, presumably broadcasting the album to an abandoned piece of twilight countryside, a string of lights from a road in the distance being the only sign of life. Internal sleeve shots showed the megaphone up mountains or by lakes and canals - in my mind, the bash and clatter of "Never Let Me Down Again" was coming out of all of them. What else would be? The track sounds like a proclamation, an announcement worthy of instant attention. It's a truly great single, the sound of all the best and most interesting elements of the eighties rolled into one ball.
At the time, it didn't really command the attention it warranted in the UK, slipping out as a cult single in common with all their other recent shots. Over time, though, it became the high point of their live set to fans, their hands waving in the air like fields of barley. It might seldom be heard on Radio Two, but it's as important to the clan as "Enjoy The Silence".
26. Poison - Cry Tough (Music For Nations)
Peak position: 26
Meanwhile, here was the "true" sound of the stadiums and concert halls of America, operating in tandem with Depeche's ongoing threat. Poison's glam metal feels strangely cushioned and polished by our modern day standards and expectations of rock, closer to One Direction on one of their glam tips than any of the current pretenders. Nonetheless, something about that gloss and sheen obviously appealed just slightly to the Manic Street Preachers, whose first album "Generation Terrorists" occasionally has a little bit of that cushioned blow to its production.
It's also surprisingly enjoyable, its daftness and flamboyance seeming as breezy and daffy as a Dick Emery sketch these days.
28. The Three Johns - Never And Always (Abstract)
Peak position: 7
In which the Johns link up with Adrian Sherwood to explosive effect, causing them to sound more challenging and current than any of the other new entries in the chart this week - those rattlesnake drum machine rolls and jackhammer beats suddenly give the group a modern but also deeply threatening foil to react against. It's nasty but strangely compelling, not Indie Dance in any conventional sense of the phrase, but persuasive nonetheless. Probably their most astonishing single.
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