Various Artists: Heaven Sent (The Rise of New Pop 1979-1983)
Cherry Red
4 CD box set available here
Out now
By 1979 punk was pretty much dead and the kids influenced by that ground-breaking movement were splitting into two camps – New Wave and New Pop. Paul Clarke takes a trip down memory lane with some classic New Pop hits and misses.
For those of us who lived through the Punk era it’s often a surprise to look back and see that while it might have one of those rare musical movements that changed the face of society it actually didn’t last very long. In a matter of months kids influenced by Punk’s DIY ethos had split into two camps – one favouring doomy New Wave and others with a more commercial attitude to the post Punk world.
In this disposable digital age you can feel like a dinosaur talking about how influential the music press were back in seventies creating movements, and NME scribe Paul Morley was the man who invented the title New Pop to describe those bands who were not rockist. In challenging the men with guitars who dominated New Wave this was a clarion call to bands to make the pop single count once again.
It was a quest that the bands on this well curated four CD set were only too happy to take on. Like always on Cherry Red compilations, you get plenty of big names and also some long forgotten acts who deserve a second chance in the spotlight. There’s some acts straddling both movements like The Cure with Let’s Go To Bed, or the Clash with Hitsville UK, but most New Pop fans will recall with affection ABC’s still sublime Poison Arrow. There’s the innocent pop perfection of Haircut One Hundred or Kevin Rowland finding his way towards Too-Rye-Ay through Liars A To E.
But mostly it’s bands who put out intelligent singles with fantastic picture sleeves that you saved up hard to purchase in WH Smith, or your local record shop. Weirdly some of these off kilter and strange records made the hit parade at a time when you actually had to sell loads of physical copies.
It’s not clear why former 10cc stars Godley & Creme’s An Englishman In New York (not that one) is on here as while they might be pop they were certainly not new. OMD’s Red Frame/White Light gets the compilation back on track with some smart early electropop, before a stunning reggae cover of She’s Lost Control Again by Grace Jones – backed by Sly and Robbie – totally reimagines the doomy original. Pauline Murray was one of the great punk voices who teamed up with The Invisible Girls that were essentially a who’s who of the Manchester music scene, including legendary producer Martin Hannett, for the still great Dream Sequence. Post split The Human League lay down the blueprint for their mega selling Dare album with Boys And Girls, while former members formed Heaven 17 releasing the wry anti-capitalism single I’m Your Money. And if you want classic New Pop then check out the anti racism anthem African And White from China Crisis and the genius of Is Vic There by London’s Department S.
By CD 2 emerging scene big guns like Eurythmics are flexing their potential superstar muscles as Annie Lennox lets rip on their debut single Never Gonna Cry Again, and Soft Cell follow up Tainted Love with Bedsitter as a commentary on the dark side of clubland. The Slits’ Earthbeat is full of tribal drumming with a clear environmental message and Simple Minds prepare for US superstardom with Sweat In Bullet. Soul and funk start to become part of New Pop with some splendid ersatz Motown from big voiced Mari Wilson, and some top quality funk pop from Blue Rondo A La Turk on the insanely catchy Klacktoveesedstein.
Fun Boy Three were formed by a trio of former members of The Specials and The Telephone Always Rings still stands up today on the third CD, and it’s fun to hear the bonkers top twenty hit John Wayne Is Big Leggy from the ludicrous Haysi Fantayzee. Ten piece Two Tone artists The Apollinaires get funky on The Feeling’s Gone, and Dead Or Alive are more Goth than pop on The Stranger, with fellow Scousers The Pale Fountains featuring Mick Head adding some class on the moving Thank you.
As we head into the final CD New Pop is coming to an end as Paul Weller switches from The Jam to The Style Council contributing the still blissful Headstart For Happiness. Pistols boss Malcom Mclaren teams up with The World’s Famous Supreme Team for the chaotic mash up of Buffalo Gals, and there’s a rare J.J. Burnel lead vocal on The Stranglers’ European Female. County Durham’s The Kane Gang offer some classic white soul, and post Blockheads Ian Dury spits the words over the disco funk of Really Glad You Came. Suitably it ends with Art of Noise – featuring Mr Morley as their ‘ideas man’ – offering a glimpse into the future of pop on B-side Moments in Love.
New Pop like punk was a short lived affair, but it spawned a number of acts that would go onto the global success, and this box set offers some early work in progress that would prove to be a template for bands going onto selling squillions of records. It’s nice to hear some of the big names but much more interesting to hear the likes of Weekend and Rip Rig and Panic show that while they might not have been household names they were central to the New Pop ethos.
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Words by Paul Clarke, you can see his author profile here.
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