My love has taken a tumble but I'm still standing

Continuing my trip back through the 1988 album charts.

17/07/88 : Popped In Souled Out - Wet Wet Wet

They've been mentioned quite a bit but this is our first visit with WWW and somewhat surprisingly,  I don't think I've ever listened to this. I'm quite intrigued to see what I make of it - I'm expecting it to be bearable, but something I'm not sad I've avoided up until now.

Actually, I'd say it reaches the dizzy heights of "better than bearable" and whilst I can't say I'm sad I've avoided it, I'd forgotten how decent "Wishing I Was Lucky", "Angel Eyes" and "Sweet Little Mystery" were (they were all top ten singles). For the most part, this album feels very "blue-eyed soul" and, whilst it stays in that lane, I'd say it's a decent example of it - there are a few tracks where Marti's trying a bit too hard and it borders on the offensive, but fortunately they are few and far between. Interestingly, I fancied hearing someone do a full-on soul version of "Wishing I Was Lucky" or "Sweet Little Mystery", but it seems like such things don't exist - which seems odd because they seem ripe for reinterpretation. Overall though, I thought this was well done, even if it's not something I would choose to listen to. I also commend them on the album title - nicely done, sirs!

We're at #11 in the charts this week on their 3rd week of an impressive 69 week run, with it having peaked at #1 in its sixteenth week - and unlike many albums from this year, it has been seen since, on a three week run in '97 (which was not related to "Love Is All Around" because that was '94). The top five this week were Now! 12 (a new entry about to start a five week run at the top), Tracy Chapman, Kylie, a Billy Idol best-of and Michael Jackson with the next highest new entry being a Joy Division best-of (#7).

Before we rush back to Wet Wet Wet, I think we need to check out Now! 12 to see how representative it was of the times - and I think it did OK. It may not always have the best known tracks from the various artists involved but there was only one artist on there that I don't recognise - although I really feel I should have known Derek B, who was the first British rapper to appear on TOTP (and the third overall after Break Machine and Doug E Fresh). He also co-wrote "Anfield Rap" (which, if you're not aware of, is truly dreadful) along with, obviously, Craig Johnston (the Liverpool midfielder) and one of Gaye Bikers On Acid. Despite this crime against humanity, It sounds like he was quite the pioneer so I will forgive him - unfortunately he died of a heart attach aged 44 in '09.

The top picks on the album for me are Hothouse Flowers' "Don't Go", Morrissey's "Every Day Is Like Sunday", Danny Wilson's "Mary's Prayer", Voice Of The Beehive's "Don't Call Me Baby", Iron Maiden's "Can I Play With Madness", The Timelords' "Doctorin' The Tardis", Tiffany's "I Think We're Alone Now" and S-Express' "Theme From S-Express" - I think these (and other less good tracks on the album) give a good feel for what was going on in the charts around then. The album's "huh?" tracks (and all Now! albums have them) are Phil Collins's "In The Air Tonight" (originally released in '80, this was here because of a remix - and not because of the Cadbury's advert because that was '97) and Rose Royce's "Car Wash" (originally released in '76 and I've no idea why it's here because it didn't chart in this year).

Back to the album we're supposed to be talking about, Wikipedia has remarkable little on such a successful release, but it does tell us that a 5 CD 30th anniversary version is available - who's not going to want to dive into that? Looking at the band's entry, it's quite surprising this is our first visit with them because their first five albums all made the top two, but we've just not bumped into them yet. It also tells us they're still going on the 80s legends circuit, but with only one of the original band members present so I'm not sure how much that counts. Back to the album, the critical reviews were middling to bad, but it did better away from these shores than I expected, getting to #6 in New Zealand, #12 in The Netherlands, #13 in Sweden and #123 in the US. 

discogs.com tells us you can pick up a decent copy for a quid but if you want a copy of the clear cassette version, it's going to set you back £100 - which feels like a lot of cash! I didn't love this album but I thought it was decent enough and I suspect "Love Is All Around" colouring everyone's view of the band has somewhat unfairly erased it from history.

10/07/88 - A curiously detached experience
24/07/88 - A very decent album