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Review: Jack Foley
SUPER producer, Trevor Horn, has been responsible/accountable
for some of the biggest chart hits in recent memory.
This chirpy compilation double album features a broad cross-section
of the Horn back catalogue, from the out-and-out cheese of ABC
and Dollar, to the chart dross of TaTu, right through to some
of his more interesting work with the likes of Simple Minds and
Belle and Sebastian.
You can pretty much guess that the album is a mixed bag, a retro-tipped
guilt trip through the tracks of yesteryear that will probably
have owners blushing at admitting to possessing.
Take the likes of Buggles hopelessly 80s-based electronica-feast,
Video Killed The Radio Star, or Spandau Ballet's cringe-worthy
Instinction (definitely not the best of their back catalogue).
That said, there are some gems tucked among the dross.
Eighties chart-busters and controversy-freaks, Frankie Goes To
Hollywood, contribute three of their biggest hits - the banned
sex anthem, Relax; the emotive anti-war anthem, Two
Tribes, and the powerfully heartfelt ballad, The Power
of Love.
While Simple Minds crop up with two of their most serious singles,
the self-explanatory Mandela Day and the eye-opening
Belfast Child (both from Street
Fighting Years), which marked a stark change of pace from
their Don't You Forget About Me mainstream fare.
Of similar note, are Godley and Crème's timeless Cry,
a scratch mix of Malcolm McLaren's fun Buffalo Gals,
Grace Jones' Slave To The Rhythm, and, of course, one
of his most recent (and best) offerings, Belle & Sebastion's
I’m A Cuckoo, taken from the glorious Dear
Catastrophe Waitress LP.
Tracks such as these do much to erase the memory of the mind-numbing
blandness of Horn's mainstream fare, such as LeAnn Rimes' Can't
Fight The Moonlight, which really do sink the soul.
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Track listing:
Disc: 1
1. Buggles – Video Killed The Radio Star
2. ABC – Poison Arrow
3. Frankie Goes to Hollywood – Relax
4. LeAnn Rimes – Can’t Fight The Moonlight
5. Pet Shop Boys – Left To My Own Devices
6. Dollar – Give Me Back My Heart
7. Seal – Crazy
8. Lisa Stansfield – Say It To Me Now
9. Shane MacGowan – You’re The One
10. Godley and Crème – Cry
11. Art Of Noise – Il Pluere (At The Turn Of The Century)
12. Buggles – Living In The Plastic Age
13. Dollar – Mirror Mirror
14. Spandau Ballet – Instinction
15. Belle & Sebastian – I’m A Cuckoo
16. The Frames – Angel At My Table
17. Simple Minds – Mandela Day
18. taTu – All The Things She Said
Disc: 2
1. Yes – Owner Of A Lonely Heart
2. Art Of Noise – Beat Box (Diversion)
3. Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Two Tribes (Hibakusha Mix)
4. ABC – Look Of Love (Parts One & Two)
5. Pet Shop Boys – It’s Alright (10” Version)
6. Grace Jones – Slave To The Rhythm
7. Art Of Noise – Moments In Love
8. Frankie Goes To Hollywood – The Power Of Love
9. Simple Minds – Belfast Child
10. Seal – Loneliest Star
11. Propaganda – Das Testament des Dr Mabuse (13th Life
Mix)
12. Malcolm McLaren – Buffalo Gals (Scratch Mix)
13. ABC – All Of My Heart
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