One of the also- rans of the Synth pop era, The Mood have reissued their, er , greatest hits collection to an indifferent public. The Mood, for those who dont know, fell between two gaudily upholstered stools.
Not having the indie label cred of Some Bizarres B Movie or the bald head and vocal gymnastics of Classix Nouveaux their singles never troubled the charts and the single sleeves which portrayed them with deeply sunken cheeks and lashings of slap probably put off the casual browser.
However, taken as a whole, this CD/Vinly is a lovely little pop gem. Their first single “Is There a Reason” bounces along like a battle between early Depeche Mode v Early Talk Talk. “Dont Stop” was actually big on the UK dance charts with its Chic/Duran Duran bass line and “Paris is One Day Away” boasts a wonderful Oh la la la chorus.
The final single “I Dont Need Your Love Now”, written by former Bilbo Baggins member Brian Spence is a tune that would comfortably sit on either of the first two A-ha albums and is therefore as “the youth” would say is a banger.
The whole thing has come about following the purchase of the mastertapes fron RCA/Sony and digital remastering. So if you have a hankering back to the days when TOTP was all balloons,rah rah skirts and huge shoulderpads this CD is worthy of your time. Up the underdog, I say!
… and that final single
I have recently completed my collection of mid-80s jangle-tastic duo Two People, when I found a 12″ single for a quid in a bargain bin.
I recently found a pair of my best man’s 12″ singles in my Kallax by late-80s electro-jangle-pop-tastic quartet Perfect Day.
It turns out their completed-but-never-released album was released on streaming (and available to download on Qobuz) during the 2021 lockdown. I suppose having a future record label boss in your lineup was a help.
It does make me wonder how many other acts who released a couple of singles still have an unreleased album in the can.
Perfect Day are a …. er .. perfect example of a should have been huge band!
This is The Shirt is one of my favourite pop singles of the 80s. I bought it out of one of those racks they had in newsagents
Me too. I bought This Is The Shirt and Heaven for pennies from the bargain bin in Harum Records (a chart return shop), Enfield, 40 years ago. I got Rescue Me last summer and Mouth Of An Angel recently, each for a quid.
I really do hope there’s an album in the can somewhere.
Think will give these a miss – an era of British pop that really jarred with me
Never heard of them I’m afraid. But then they’ve probably never heard of me either.