When Paul Haig, Malcolm
Ross and co called time on Edinburgh's jangular art-rock funkateers
Josef K following the release of both theirs and Alan Horne's
Postcard label's sole album release, 'The Only Fun In Town', in 1981,
Haig styled himself as the original European son, all electronic
beats and artfully moody sidelong glances. In the NME, Paul Morley
even went so far as to somewhat fancifully declare Haig as 'the face
and sound of 1982' and the 'enigmatic fourth man' in a parallel
universe imaginary New Pop quartet which also included Billy
Mackenzie of The Associates, Simple Minds singer Jim Kerr and ABC
front-man Martin Fry, and look how that worked out.
As this two CD
compendium of some thirty tracks recorded during a peripatetic tenure
between 1982 and 1991at Michel Duval's chic post-modern Belgian label
and some-time Factory Records affiliates, Les Disques du Crepescule,
testifies to, Haig was more slippery than all of his then
contemporaries. It may come gift-wrapped in all too appropriate
monochrome package, but there's nothing black and white in this
selection of singles, B sides, album tracks and a previously
unreleased 1984 album heard here in its entirety.
The opening cover of
Sly Stone's 'Running Away' was a statement of intent, with
French-Belgian female trio Antena's backing vocals over synthesised
horns giving its jaunty funk guitar and Haig's lead vocal a lip-gloss
smooth sheen that suggested crossover was imminent. As indeed it did
for The Raincoats, who released their own version at much the same
time.
What follows is an
ongoing exploration of marrying classic song-writing to technology
that moves from an early version of future major label single,
'Justice' to adventures in New York via Grace Jones, Thompson Twins
and Duran Duran producer Alex Sadkin's fleshed-out work on twinkly
solo takes of Josef K sired songs, 'Adoration' and 'Heaven Sent'.
There are experiments in sampling with electro-pioneers Cabaret
Voltaire, themselves in the midst of a sound-changing trip onto the
dance-floor; and, in three different versions, 'The Only Truth', a
euphoric indie-dance 12” produced in alliance with Be Music and
DoJo, aka New Order's Bernard Sumner and A Certain Ratio's Donald
Johnson respectively.
If such chameleon-like
collaborations suggested Haig was finding his electronic if not
actual voice, the latter remaining gloriously doleful throughout his
1983 'Rhythm of Life' album and 1985 follow-up, 'The Warp of Pure
Fun', right through to the voguishly sleek material recorded in 1990
with the likes of Mantronik, Lil Louis and long-term Edinburgh
collaborators James Locke and Mike Peden for the 1993 'Coincidence Vs
Fate album', the almost missing links count just as much.
In this respect, Haig
sounds most comfortably confident on Alan Rankine co-productions,
'Heaven Help You Now' and 'Love Eternal', one imagines it was only
spite that caused Island Records to pull the plug on the lost second
album's eight Haig/Rankine meisterworks that open CD2, with 'The
Only Truth' sandwiched between. By turns heroic and awash with some
of the maverick zeal that pulsed The Associates, 'Shining Hour', 'Big
Blue World', 'Fear and Dancing', 'Love and War', 'All Our Love' and
other life-and-death affirmations are as wide-screen as Haig gets,
deathly serious in intent as he squints into an aspirational
chrome-reflected 1980s sunset.
It's a shame for
completists that there's nothing here from the Crepescule-released
'Swing '82' mini album, on which Haig took his Frank Sinatra/Cole
Porter Sunday afternoon matinee idol obsessions to the limit. This
was done via covers of 'The Song Is You', 'All Of You', 'Let's Face
The Music And Dance', 'Love Me Tender' and 'The Way You Look
Tonight', all recorded with an old-time Brussels jazz trio (a version
of 'Send In The Clowns' was eventually vetoed prior to its eventual
release three years later).
As recompense, we can
make do with a twangingly raw cover of Suicide's 'Ghost Rider' and
aborted but magnificent Haig/Cabaret Voltaire mash-up, 'The
Executioner'. Like previously unreleased dance track, 'Change of
Heart', this resembles several cuts on Haig's 2013 album, 'Kube'. A
final US remix of 'The Only Truth' by Man Parrish completes a
collection that may be of its time, but also suggests that Haig found
the future earlier than most.
The List, March 2014
ends
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