www.musicweek.com PRODUCTREISSUES
MORRISSEY • NANCY WILSON • LIVING IN A BOX • GO WEST • AIR SUPPLY MORRISSEY • Viva Hate (Liberty/EMI CDSMLP 72)
Initial concerns that Morrissey would flounder without the songwriting and
instrumental support of his Smiths colleague Johnny Marr were firmly laid to rest when he released his now iconic debut solo album in 1988. A critical, creative and commercial success, it smoothly took up the baton, with Morrissey's engaging, unique and witty lyrics shining through melodies written by producer Stephen Street, including the Top 10 singles Suedehead and Everyday Is Like Sunday. Street has now supervised this crisply remastered version of the album that comes with new artwork, an introduction by Chrissie Hynde and the rare track Treat Me Like A Human Being – though the introduction of the latter is at the expense of original album track The Ordinary Boys whose removal is
bound to upset fans, particularly as there is enough room on the CD for both. It is released simultaneously as a heavyweight double vinyl set in a gatefold sleeve with poster (SMLP 72). Suedehead will also be released as a limited 10-inch picture disc in a remix by Sparks, supplemented by two unreleased live tracks from the BBC archives.
NANCY WILSON • All In Love Is Fair / Come Get To This / This Mother’s Daughter / I’ve Never Been To Me (SMCR 25010; 25041)
Joining
soulmusic.com’s stellar collection of unique female singers alongside
Marlena Shaw, Dionne Warwick, Natalie Cole, Jennifer Holliday, Esther Phillips and Tata Vega, supreme song stylist Nancy Wilson’s music moved subtly from jazz towards a more mainstream R&B/soul sound when she was with Capitol in the 1970s. All four
of the albums here date from that period and are a superb showcase for a vocalist of some stature. A lovely, wistful interpretation of Stevie Wonder’s title track is one of several highlights on the first album, which also includes the sublime rare groove favourite, Ocean Of Love, penned by Ray Parker Jr. Perhaps the best illustration of Wilson’s art is represented by the title track of the last album, I’ve Never Been To Me. Wilson takes extraordinary liberties with Charlene’s sickly- sweet chart-topper, introducing unusual phrasing, whispering and talking in a dramatic re-reading much more worthy of the song’s regretful lyric.
LIVING IN A BOX • The Very Best Of / GO WEST • The Very Best Of (EMI/Music Club Deluxe MCDLX 151 / MCDLX 153)
Both emerging from the Chrysalis label in the latter half of the 1980s, Living In A Box and Go West each put together a run of hit singles, all of which are included on these new double-disc retrospectives. LIAB had fewer hits – by a margin of eight to 12 – and their eponymous introductory 1987 single was very much of its time, with a funky, galloping bassline pilfered from Level 42 harnessed to a smooth synth wash and some soulful vocals. A succession of similarly- styled songs met with less success but the band temporarily arrested their decline in 1989, with the beautifully constructed, slower and anthemic Room In Your Heart, a No.5 hit which should have prefaced a new chapter but was actually their last Top 40 entry. Go West’s hitmaking started before and finished after Living In A Box, and was decorated by a succession of beautifully crafted and highly commercial singles, including Call Me, We Close Our Eyes and The King Of Wishful Thinking.
AIR SUPPLY • Lost In Love / The One That You Love (Robinsongs/Cherry Red CDMRED 398)
Air Supply rocketed to international fame with the release of Lost In
Love, from their 1980 album of the same name. Representing the maturation of their rich melodic style it was the first of six straight top five hits the band had in the US, all taken from Lost In Love and the following year’s The One That You Love, which are available now for the first time on a single CD. Dramatic balladry was their strong suite, with wistful, earnest intros building to powerful finishes, and making the likes of All Out Of Love, Sweet Dreams and Every Woman In The World into big hits. It sounds a tad formulaic now but those who enjoyed it at the time will be delighted by this value-for- money package.
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