1987 was a great time for many things
including the birth of yours truly in that turbulent and blustery November,
however a vintage year for music it was not. Having a look at a laughably dated
compilation LP I own from that year, here are a pick of the pops from The Hits
Album 7: 'Strong as Steel' - Five Star; 'Funky Town' - Pseudo Echo; 'Bridge to
your heart' - Wax… need I say more. Of course there were some glimmers of light
in the darklands of a market flooded by Stock, Aitken and Waterman's monotonous
drum machine riffs. Albums like Prince's Sign O' The Times, Eric B &
Rakim's Paid in Full and Jesus & Mary Chains's Darklands were rightly
praised for their creativity in such a poor market, one such album that is
often overlooked from this period and should be given some fresh recognition is
the inventive and beautifully crafted Raintown by the Glaswegian group Deacon
Blue.
Something of a concept album, Raintown opens with the sombre, brooding 'Born
in a Storm' making good use of echoed vocals and sparse keyboards before
building to the fast paced, dramatic and forceful title track - giving an aural
depiction of Scotland's second city. Most of the tracks talk of social trouble,
destitution and the need for escapism in an unforgiving and harsh environment.
Nowhere is this more felt than in two of the album's more successful tracks:
'Ragman' and 'Dignity'. The latter is joyously pretentious but is laden with
fantastic hooks and a rising chorus. Ricky Roos has a fantastic, raspy voice
which give this album so much character, even on the more slushy numbers like
'Chocolate Girl'.
Perhaps I have been a little unjust about
1987 for having listened to this offering I have since discovered that the
Glasgow music scene was pretty exciting in 1987. Albums such as this one, Wet
Wet Wet's debut (and only worthy) album Popped in, souled out and
Returning to the Album, my favourite track,
if I was to choose one would be the tour de force, romantic ballad, 'Love's
Great Fears'. The guest guitar solo from the ever reliable Chris Rea is one of
the best on any album I own or have had the fortune/misfortune to listen to.
Deacon Blue's great advantage was have two very strong lead vocalists (Ross and
Lorraine McIintosh) and a really upbeat rhythm section. Each track on this
album is interesting if not a joy to listen to, the final track on the album
'Town to be blamed' is so incredibly bleak that it would be more appropriate on
one of Pink Floyd's later albums than on Raintown, in fact it almost derails
the whole album - if I had been in the band's position I would have left it
off. This is a mighty shame as the album, up to this end point, is so
consistent and successful in balancing hard social issue in Glasgow, with more
upbeat, optimistic and radio friendly material. However this is mere taste more
than anything else and as the rest of the album is so good I can happily
forgive it this blip.
As such I am going to give Raintown an
impressive and deserved 9/10 for I feel that it both captures a very exciting
time in Scotland's music scene!
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