Having always been a nerd I have always been interested in sub-divisions of things: plants, animals, books, films, toys and music to name a few.
Regarding pop music I heard a song the other day in a shop and I was entranced by it's tribal swaying beat. The song was one I'd heard before and sort of guessed at the artist, one Brian Ferry singing Don't Stop the Dance.
As I adore the tribal rhythms of Talking Head's glorious LP Remain in Light I wondered if Don't Stop the Dance was of a similar throbbing vein, but I was wrong.
Brian Ferry's Don't stop the Dance is a cornerstone of a pop sub-genre called Sophisti-Pop. From an LP I know nothing about called Boys and Girls, ex-Roxy Music's frontman Ferry appears to be the Soph-father of this particular 80's tributary.
Swaying, lazy jazz-pop with strong beats, Sophisti-pop was blended into the background of my Twenties, a more refined blend I largely heard but didn't take note of. With my head in studies and being a young Dad new music took a natural dive. Certainly contemporary music in the mainstream. I was still discovering older singers like Van Morrison, Peter Finger, Pat Methany, Joni Mitchell, along with my own rock LP collection, which moved round the country and Europe with me during that decade.
Now I'm 60 I'm fascinated by that background sound as me and the Missus were young parents in the 80's. First Punk, then New Wave and the New Romantics, with a peppering of Soul, Rockabilly, Ska and Reggae, the mainstream meandered around looking for smooth new flavours. Sophisti-pop appears to be one of those. Back then I may even have dismissed it as yuppie jazz. I was still in a local rock band in 1980, but time and tastes moves on.
It has some famous names, Sade being its Queen and Ferry the King. Simply Red's there too, along with the Style Council and the great Joe Jackson plus many more.
Having listened to many of this particular sub-division's entries this week there are for me a few stand-out tunes that make my neck-hair rise they're so damn good. Here are three sophisticated toons:
Its a Wonderful Life by Black, 1986: there is something simply haunting about this song, which I never ever tire of. A beautiful hymn written in Black's darkest personal period. A Liverpudlian, after his own private turmoil he wanted to be ironic with this tune but for me Wonderful Life is simply gorgeously optimistic. Watch it with the original video for added monotone atmosphere. Sadly Black was tragically died as a result of a car crash in 2016. Such a lost talent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1ZoHfJZACA
Mary's Prayer by Danny Wilson, 1987: now this was a revelation. One of those catchy melodies echoing in my deep RAM and almost forgotten, I listened to it again and was knocked out. The sheer energy and verve of this band's performance demands respect and the song itself is quite magnificent. Soulful, sincere and heartfelt, it reminds me of the artistry of bands like Dexy's Midnight Runners and Hothouse Flowers. Looking like a gathering of Gene Vincent, Chris Isaacs, Vincent D'Onofrio and an unseen drummer, Danny Wilson, the name of this terrific Dundee band [and no-one in the grou], had sadly faded away by 1991. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hqgC3W9GUI
Steppin' Out by Joe Jackson, 1982: a tune from an earlier year, Steppin' Out is a fast-paced, sharp, almost two-tone eulogy to the nightlife at the start of the Eighties. From Burton on Trent, Jackson's infectious voice and insistent beat make this a postcard for youth everywhere. His line "We are young but getting old before our time" holds the essence of being young, that fragile mayhem just before adulthood when it will all change. It may also be an early reference to the emergence of AIDS in New York City. However the optimism of its message, to step out into the city, reminds me of the jazz-frontiers of Donald Fagen's The Nightfly album from 1982. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJwt2dxx9yg
Do you have a favourite sophisti-pop song?