In my imagination, there is no complication

Starting my trip back through the 1988 album charts.

25/12/88 : Kylie - Kylie Minogue

Our seventh visit with Ms Minogue, moving her level with such exulted company as Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen - and if we stick with things long enough, she's going to overtake The Beatles. This is the one where it all began - back to the days when I used to, for no obvious reason, watch Neighbours twice a day. I think it's fair to say I'm expecting a bit of nostalgia, but not exactly a masterpiece.

Well, it certainly starts with the nostalgia because four of the first tracks were released as singles and I do have to admit to enjoying "I Should Be So Lucky", "The Loco-motion" and "Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi". However, I also have to admit to thinking "they're not really very good, are they?" and my enjoyment would have been quickly stopped had I been made to listen to them again. I think a big part of this was that (unlike some artists) Kylie doesn't deny that's she's done some absolute cheese in her past but accepts that it all means a great deal to some of her fans. I saw her do all those tracks (and many others) at British Summer Time last year and she and the audience just had a great time with them - it definitely helps that she now does them all so much better than the original versions. 

But that really wouldn't be difficult because the production here is just bad - it's mad that Stock, Aitken and Waterman were seen as some kind of evil geniuses (they were just evil). And that's true for the rest of the album as well, but without the benefit of familiarity of the singles. I'd also say her voice ain't great on any of the tracks, but again it's more than possible that the production is responsible for that as well. They also, for no obvious reason, made nearly all the songs about Kylie being absolutely heartbroken about a failed romance - the girl was twenty years old at this point, is she not allowed to just have a good time? So, all in all, it's a peculiar album because it's objectively quite terrible - but subjectively it's hard not to view it all through rose-tinted glasses because it reminds me of a fun time in my life and it's also interesting to consider it as the start of a very long journey for the lass. Why isn't she Dame Kylie Minogue yet?

We're at #5 in the charts this week on her 25th week of a 67 week run, with it having peaked at #1 in six of the previous weeks - it didn't leave the top ten until its 29th week. The rest of the top five was a compilation heavy mix of a Cliff Richard best-of, Now! 13 and best-ofs from Fleetwood Mac and Andrew Lloyd-Webber - the only other album in the top ten that wasn't a compilation is Michael Jackson's Bad (#10) with the highest new entry being the Classic Love Songs compilation (#52).

Wikipedia has a huge amount on the album (474 milliPeppers) - it's a weird mix of interesting background detail (Bernstock Speirs, the company that designed the hat she wears on the album cover were so embarrassed about it that they didn't own up to it for years) and pompous pointlessness or obviousness ("the album avoided getting into heavy statements and deep themes that might alienate Minogue's young fans"). We were actually lucky to get the album at all, because SAW treated her appallingly when she came over to meet them - if she'd not been so desperate/determined/confident, she'd have headed back to Australia in a huff (and she would have been well within her rights). I was also surprised to learn that "The Loco-motion" was written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin and has made the US top 3 in three different decades - Little Eva (#1 in '62), Grand Funk Railroad (#1 in '74) and Kylie (#3 in '88). I also leaned it's an interesting example of the dance-song genre, where the song describes the accompanying dance - but in this case, unusually, the song came before the dance.

The critical reviews at the time were actually surprisingly positive (8/10 from Smash Hits!) and retrospective reviews have just been kinder as time has passed (and I think that's perfectly fine). Commercially, it did very well here, being the best selling album of the year (and the fifth highest of the decade, selling over two million copies) but it did better than I expected globally - making the top ten in quite a few European countries and even #53 in the US, but it only managed #2 in Australia. If you've got a spare week, her entry is quite interesting because the lass has done quite a bit over the years, including being the highest selling Australian female artist of all time (although Olivia Newton-John's entry also claims the same for her)

I'll be quite surprised if there are versions out there that collectors are desperate for and discogs.com tells me you can pick up a decent version for a couple of quid. However, if you want the collector's edition box set (and who doesn't given it contains a picture disc, several remastered CDs and a DVD?) then it's going to set you back £575 - sorry Kylie but I'll stick with your rosé. In fact, I'd take the rosé over the two quid copy because whilst this was a surprisingly pleasant visit, I can't say any kind of critical re-evaluation took place - if we take it on the tracks alone, then it's really a pretty bad album. 

18/12/88 - An enjoyable revisit
1979 - Better than expected