Music Review: 1416-1420

 This week we're in 1987 which is meant to be a Bad Time for pop music, but on first glance I'm optimistic about this set. 

1416 - Madonna - Who's That Girl 💚
Sleeve notes: I think it's supposed to be like a screwball romcom poster with the fun font and graphics? It does remind me of something specific from a couple of decades before this single but I can't put my finger on it. Madonna looks cool on the front; I'm not sure whether this look is a Reinvention™ for a new year. 
The song finds Madonna in her Spanish phase - a continuation of La Isla Bonita - with both lyrics and rhythm. There's also a bit of a Caribbean vibe with keyboards imitating a steel dream sound. It's a fun, catchy record - not one of her greatest ever but certainly not bad at all, just a little repetitive. I haven't seen the movie that this is the theme for, but I'm betting it's not as good as the song. 

b/w White Heat 💙
I love the gangster movie vocal samples on this - I've never known where they originate from but Google tells me they're from the James Cagney film that gives the song its name. I think this is a better song than Who's That Girl although it's cheesier. It's a cut from True Blue so not a new song that's been recorded for the single or the film Who's That Girl but I can understand why they chose it for the b-side since it ties in with the themes of that movie. Madonna is in control of the relationship here, as she usually is, using the metaphor of robbery/arrest to make her lover submit to her. It's a good song that I have a soft spot for and will definitely talk about again when we get to True Blue. I'd be happy if I bought the single and got this thrown in, as I think it outshines the a-side. 

1417 - Genesis - Throwing It All Away 🟠
I like the minimal sleeve but it doesn't make me think Genesis - if you showed me it but blurred out the artist name, I'd have guessed Pet Shop Boys. The song reminds me a bit of a Boyzone ballad but aimed at dads instead of young girls. It's got that Police staccato to it as well that I don't like; the vibe is middle-aged white men trying to weave in 'world' music. As for the lyrics, Phil Collins is telling a lady that she'll regret leaving him. It's a real downer, and if this is the best he could do to convince me to stay, I'd divorce him too.

b/w I'd Rather Be You 🟡
This is much jauntier! It's got the funky bassline and handclap drums that are typical of a lot of late 80s bands. The lyrical subject matter is a continuation of the a-side though. I spent a lot of this song looking up the state of Phil Collins' marriage and found that he was 3 years into a 12 year marriage when this record was released, which seemed ludicrous until I found out that it was actually Mike Rutherford who was the lyricist of Throwing It All Away. However he was a decade into a marriage that's still going, which is even more shocking! If I was Mrs Rutherford I'd have some serious questions about this record. Like Madonna, the b-side is better than the a-side, but just being better doesn't make this good.

1418 - Terence Trent D'Arby - Wishing Well 🟡
Terence Trent D'Arby is hot. Imagine having a son this gorgeous and giving him the name 'Terence', it doesn't bear thinking about.
I know that he was compared to Prince and Michael Jackson a lot at the time and while he is sexy like Prince and has a good voice, he has the range of neither of those American greats. I was looking forward to this song but sadly it's very average and I don't have much to say for or against it. I just wish it lived up to the sleeve.

b/w Elevators & Hearts 🟡
This one has those gospel choir style backing vocals on it but he still sounds like Primark Jackson. It's a really slow song with one sudden fast bit in the middle, which was such a shock to me that I got a little fright and checked the record player in case it had malfunctions. Aside from that frisson of excitement this is a very dull song. Very disappointed with Terence. 

1419 - Echo & The Bunnymen - Lips Like Sugar 💙
Not to turn this into 'hot singer review' but Ian McCulloch looks very good on this sleeve in a fey indie softboi kind of way - it's a well composed cover. 
This is indie disco music but in spite of knowing how cliché it is for me to like it, I can't help but dance anyway. The song has one of those big empty indie/goth choruses - "lips like sugar, sugar kisses" which is the kind of meaningless romantic imagery that I'm all about. It has a guitar solo but it's interesting enough for me not to be mad about it. Lips Like Sugar is dreamy and I would like to listen to it again. 

b/w Rollercoaster 🟡
Tonight, Echo & The Bunnymen are... The Doors! The song is fine but seriously, it is very Doorsy, like, I checked the credits in case this was a cover of a Doors song. There's nothing wrong with it but it's not nearly as good as the a-side and it drags on a bit too long.

1420 - Black - Wonderful Life 🟢
The sleeve is stark, industrial, monochrome, Joy Division-esque. It's wrapped in a poster of Black, who looks like he's stepped out of 1955. Despite all of that, the song sounds very 1987. I think it's one of those songs that sounds very morose but is supposed to be uplifting when you listen to the lyrics. Something about it screams 'gay rights' to me - I thought it was maybe from the Smalltown Boy stable of hits to give hope to disenfranchised gay men - but Wikipedia tells me that Black had a wife and when he wrote the song he was being sarcastic so maybe not. Again, the song is alright but nothing special.

b/w Life Calls 🟢
Before I address the song, I need to mention the back of the sleeve, which has a colour photo of him smiling while going down a chute at a funfair. Total opposite vibe to the front cover. 
The guitar part has a touch of Johnny Marr - in fact it sounds a bit like What Difference Does It Make? - but then there's horns. The song is quite fun and the backing singer girls are good in this, much better than Terence Trent D'Arby's ladies. It has a great abrupt ending as well. However, once I'd started daydreaming about what The Smiths would be like with a horn section, I kind of lost interest in Black. Sorry. 

Overall I feel that perhaps my optimism about 1987 was misplaced. A couple of good songs in here - White Heat is fun and I've added Lips Like Sugar to my Spotify playlist - but nothing that's truly great. These are from my dad's collection so I can't get rid of them, but when it comes to Genesis I'd be Throwing It All Away.