DEACON BLUE – REAL GONE KID

Publicada: 3 d’octubre de 1988

Llistes: Regne Unit: #8

“Real Gone Kid” és una cançó del grup escocès Deacon Blue. Van prendre el seu nom de la cançó de 1977 de Steely Dan, “Deacon Blues”. El cantant Ricky Ross la va escriure després de veure Maria McKee, anteriorment de Lone Justice, oferir una actuació explosiva com era habitual mentre les dues bandes feien gira juntes. La seva personalitat escènica ferotge i desfermada va causar una impressió tan gran que Ross va construir tota la cançó al voltant de la seva energia salvatge, utilitzant l’expressió “real gone kid” com una manera lúdica de resumir el seu carisma caòtic. El resultat és una peça que se sent esbufegada i impulsiva — un retrat musical d’algú impossible de contenir.

La gravació també va marcar un punt d’inflexió per a Deacon Blue entre bastidors: va ser el primer senzill en què participava la vocalista Lorraine McIntosh, la xicota de Ross en aquell moment, les harmonies de la qual es convertirien en una part essencial del so del grup.

Comercialment, “Real Gone Kid” es va convertir en l’èxit que els va fer destacar. Va arribar al número 8 de la llista de singles del Regne Unit, va entrar al Top 10 a Irlanda i va assolir un impressionant número 5 a Nova Zelanda. A Espanya, la cançó va pujar fins al número 1 durant tres setmanes — un cim que no tornarien a igualar fins que el seu “EP de versions de Bacharach & David” va escalar al número 2 al Regne Unit el 1990.

Deacon Blue no van ser els únics artistes inspirats per la volatilitat emocional de Maria McKee. Només dos anys abans, Feargal Sharkey havia aconseguit el seu propi Top Five al Regne Unit amb “You Little Thief”, escrita per Benmont Tench sobre la seva ruptura amb McKee. Carismàtica, talentosa i sovint mitificada, McKee tenia clarament una habilitat especial per inspirar compositors a banda i banda de l’Atlàntic.

El videoclip mostra l’esperit eclèctic de la cançó, alternant entre imatges del grup actuant en un estudi blanc i una sèrie de vinyetes que impliquen una cua de fotomaton. Entre les instantànies ràpides: un petó gai, una baralla darrere de la cortina, membres de la banda passant pel fotomaton, i Ross saltant teatralment d’un piano Yamaha CP-70. És caòtic, divertit i lleugerament surrealista — capturant perfectament l’energia que va inspirar la cançó en primer lloc.

DEACON BLUE - REAL GONE KID

Released: October 3, 1988

Charts: UK: #8 

"Real Gone Kid" is a song by Scottish band Deacon Blue. They took their name from the 1977 Steely Dan song "Deacon Blues”. Frontman Ricky Ross wrote it after watching Maria McKee, formerly of Lone Justice, deliver a characteristically explosive performance while the two bands toured together. Her fierce, unrestrained onstage persona left such an impression that Ross shaped the entire song around her “wild” energy, using the phrase “real gone kid” as a playful shorthand for her chaotic charisma. The result is a track that feels breathless and impulsive — a musical portrait of someone impossible to contain.

The recording also marked a milestone for Deacon Blue behind the scenes: it was the first single to feature vocalist Lorraine McIntosh, Ross’s girlfriend at the time, whose harmonies would become an essential part of the group’s sound.

Commercially, “Real Gone Kid” became the band’s breakout. It hit No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart, cracked the Top 10 in Ireland, and reached an impressive No. 5 in New Zealand. In Spain, the song soared to No. 1 for three weeks — a peak they wouldn’t match again until their 1990 “Bacharach & David covers EP” climbed to No. 2 in the UK.

Deacon Blue were not the only artists inspired by Maria McKee’s emotional volatility. Just two years earlier, Feargal Sharkey had scored his own UK Top Five hit, “You Little Thief,” written by Benmont Tench about his breakup with McKee. Charismatic, gifted, and often mythologized, McKee clearly had a knack for inspiring songwriters on both sides of the Atlantic.

The music video shows the song’s eclectic spirit, switching between stark white studio shots of the band performing and a series of vignettes involving a photo booth queue. Among the rapid-fire snapshots: a gay kiss, a scuffle behind the curtain, band members cycling through the booth, and Ross theatrically leaping from a Yamaha CP-70 piano. It’s chaotic, playful, and slightly surreal — perfectly capturing the energy that inspired the song in the first place.

KATE BUSH - WOW

Released: March 9, 1979

Charts:  UK: #14 

With “Wow,” the standout single from her 1978 album “Lionheart”, Kate Bush delivered one of her earliest and most incisive dissections of the entertainment world. Released as a single in March 1979, the track climbed to No. 14 on the UK Singles Chart and lingered there for ten weeks. It also found success across Europe, including a No. 17 peak in Ireland.

“Wow” emerged from Bush’s fascination with the ethereal soundscapes of Pink Floyd. Determined to write something spacey, she drew on the influence of the very band whose David Gilmour had helped launch her career by funding her early demos. The result is a lush, slow-burning ballad anchored by soaring strings and Bush’s expressive, theatrical vocals—a sound world that feels simultaneously glamorous and melancholic.

Lyrically, “Wow” is a sharp, satirical portrait of show business. Bush slips into the character of a glamorous actress or sex symbol, navigating a world of superficial praise, backstage politics, and fragile egos. In a 1979 fan club newsletter, she described the track as a send-up of the entertainment industry in all its contradictions: the “ripoffs, the rat race, competition,” but also the undeniable magic of performance. That tension—between disillusionment and wonder—forms the heart of the song.

One of its most controversial lines, “He’s too busy hitting the Vaseline,” sparked conversation and a BBC censorship moment. Bush later clarified the lyric as a simple observation about the prevalence of homosexuality in show business, not a critique. But her cheeky on-screen gesture during the line—playfully patting her backside in the song’s original music video—was enough for the BBC to pull the clip from airplay.

The video itself captures Bush in her element: emerging from darkness, spiraling into light at the chorus, embodying both the theatricality and vulnerability conveyed in the song. A second video, released in 1986 for her compilation “The Whole Story”, abandoned the controversy in favor of a montage of live performances.

The momentum around “Wow” coincided with Bush’s first—and for decades, only—major concert tour. Her appearance performing the song on ABBA in Switzerland in April 1979 further boosted its visibility, helping to push “Lionheart” back into the UK Top 20.

KATE BUSH - DECEMBER WILL BE MAGIC AGAIN

Released: November 17, 1980

Charts:  UK: #29 

Released in November 1980, “December Will Be Magic Again” finds Kate Bush bringing her singular imagination to the festive season, crafting a Christmas song that feels intimate, dreamlike, and unmistakably her own. Reaching No. 29 on the UK charts, the single remains one of Bush’s most beloved non-album releases—an atmospheric ode to winter nostalgia and childhood wonder.

The song was first unveiled on Kate, her BBC Christmas special broadcast on 28 December 1979. Sitting at the piano, Bush painted her wintry tableau: snow settling on soot-stained rooftops, lovers beneath mistletoe, and Bing Crosby singing “White Christmas.” Delivered with her characteristic theatricality, the performance captured an idealised, almost enchanted vision of the holiday season. Just days later, Bush offered a strikingly different interpretation on the BBC Christmas Snowtime Special. This version featured percussionist Preston Heyman on bongos, with Bush performing an expressive, interpretive dance instead of playing piano.

The studio recording—without bongos—had been completed earlier at Abbey Road’s Studio 2, with Heyman on drums, Alan Murphy on guitar, and Kuma Harada on bass. Released nearly a year later, it arrived as a standalone single following “Never For Ever”’s “Army Dreamers”. 

Bush’s literary leanings surface in the second verse with a nod to Oscar Wilde, whose writing profoundly influenced her. Though not known for Christmas stories, Wilde’s winter-themed children’s tales—particularly “The Happy Prince”—left a lasting impression on the young Bush. Fittingly, the single appeared near the 80th anniversary of Wilde’s death.

“December Will Be Magic Again” was chosen by Elton John for the 2005 compilation of his favorite Christmas songs “Elton John’s Christmas Party”. 

KATE BUSH - THE SENSUAL WORLD

Released: September 18, 1989

Charts:  UK: #12 

Released in September 1989, “The Sensual World” served as the title track and lead single from Kate Bush’s sixth studio album. Blending Celtic tones with Middle Eastern–influenced instrumentation, the song reached No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart and marked a shift toward warmer, more feminine production following the bold, muscular sound of “Hounds of Love”.

The song was originally conceived as Molly Bloom’s final soliloquy from James Joyce’s “Ulysses” set to music. Bush was captivated by a recording of actress Siobhán McKenna reading the passage years earlier and had imagined using Joyce’s exact text. When she was unable to obtain the rights from the Joyce estate, she reframed the idea: instead of quoting Molly Bloom directly, she wrote from the perspective of the character stepping out of the book—leaving her “black-and-white, two-dimensional world” and entering the vivid physicality of reality. The song expresses Molly’s astonishment at the sensuality of the natural world: touching grass, feeling the ground, seeing color, and experiencing the richness of being fully alive.

Bush told NME that the first element she had was Molly’s famous “Mmh yes,” which helped her shape the impressionistic, hushed quality of the vocals. After the Joyce estate initially denied permission, it took a year to rewrite the lyrics while keeping the emotional essence of the material. (In 2011, the estate finally granted rights, and Bush rerecorded the song with the original text as “Flower of the Mountain” for Director’s Cut.)

The track begins with chiming bells—an image tied to Molly Bloom’s memory of a marriage proposal in Joyce’s text. Bush chose bells for their celebratory resonance, noting that they mark major transitions in life: births, weddings, and deaths. She also felt they set a warm, open atmosphere for the album as a whole.

Irish uilleann piper Davey Spillane features prominently, performing a Macedonian melody called “Nevestinsko Oro.” Bush included it on instinct, saying it was one of the album’s many “Oh, what the hell—let’s try it” decisions that ended up working unexpectedly well.

Bush co-directed the music video with Peter Richardson of The Comic Strip. She appears as a timeless, almost medieval figure in a woodland setting, surrounded by elemental imagery—wind, leaves, textures, and movement. She wanted the video to remain simple and rooted in nature.

“The Sensual World” marked Bush’s third consecutive album as sole producer. She described its creation as an attempt to explore her femininity in a direct, unapologetic way—something she felt she hadn’t fully embraced during the powerful, more male-energy production aesthetic of “Hounds of Love”. She viewed Molly Bloom’s speech as a deeply positive expression of female interiority, and the title track was her way of channeling that voice through music.

HAIRCUT ONE HUNDRED – LOVE PLUS ONE

Publicada: gener de 1982

Llistes: Regne Unit: #3 | EUA: #37

“Love Plus One” va ser la segona publicació de Haircut One Hundred, el sextet amb jaqueta de punt que ja havia cridat l’atenció amb l’encant nerviós de “Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)”. Però aquesta vegada van tocar la tecla d’or: “Love Plus One” va pujar fins al número 3 a les llistes del Regne Unit, convertint-se en el seu èxit més gran al país i en l’únic èxit dins del Top 40 als Estats Units.

Guiats pel querubínic Nick Heyward, Haircut One Hundred ocupaven un racó peculiar i entranyable del pop de principis dels anys vuitanta — una mena de “funk preppy” que barrejaven guitarres àgils amb esquitxos de percussió i vents que sonaven com si haguessin estat importats directament del Carib. Les seves cançons rarament tenien sentit líric, però no els calia. Les paraules de Heyward — “Ring, ring, ring, ring / When I call love / Love plus one” — tenien més a veure amb el so i el ritme que no pas amb la narrativa. S’assemblaven a les converses sentides d’un jove enamorat, reunint emocions en un disbarat enganxós. Era, com va dir un crític, “la poesia d’un noi educat que acaba de descobrir el romanticisme però que encara no sap ben bé què fer-ne.”

La textura irresistible de la cançó es deu molt al productor Bob Sargeant, ja admirat pel seu treball amb The Beat. Sargeant va animar la banda a inclinar-se cap al ritme i l’espai, superposant marimbes, bongos i timbales d’acer al costat del saxòfon soprano de Phil Smith. El resultat va ser un groove alegre, amb tocs tropicals, que d’alguna manera aconseguia sonar alhora sofisticat i innocent — un tast primerenc del que més tard es coneixeria com a “jazz-pop”. Heyward recordaria més tard: “Pots sentir-ho tot a ‘Love Plus One’, però és contundent. Bob Sargeant era el nostre George Martin — va donar sentit al caos i el va convertir en una cosa bonica.”

Si “Love Plus One” tenia un arma secreta, era el seu videoclip, dirigit pel sempre visionari David Mallet, que havia treballat amb David Bowie i Queen. L’MTV acabava de llançar-se uns mesos abans als Estats Units, i la cadena tenia desesperadament gana d’importacions britàniques visualment atractives. Mallet va oferir espectacle: una fantasia tropical plena de palmeres, tapalls, i perill trapella, on Nick Heyward es balancejava amb cordes com un Tarzan juvenil entre donzelles de l’illa i salvatges còmics. Era escapisme pur, i s’emetia sense parar a l’MTV — on la imatge neta de la banda i el seu romanticisme suau destacaven al costat de la vora més dura del rock americà.

El grup va fer gira pels Estats Units gràcies al single, però l’impuls no va durar. Quan el seu primer èxit al Regne Unit, “Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl),” va ser reeditat a l’altra banda de l’Atlàntic, va quedar-se al número 101 — potser massa peculiar, massa britànic, o simplement massa ple de jerseis de punt per a un públic americà que desitjava drama neó. Tot i així, al Regne Unit, Haircut One Hundred estaven en plena forma. Van seguir “Love Plus One” amb dos senzills més dins del Top 10 — “Fantastic Day” i “Nobody’s Fool” — abans que Heyward abandonés de sobte el grup, incòmode amb la fama i amb ganes d’evolucionar. Haircut One Hundred potser es van apagar ràpidament, però durant una breu i gloriosa temporada del 1982, van regalar al pop el seu somriure més contagiós.

HAIRCUT ONE HUNDRED - LOVE PLUS ONE

Released: January 1982

Charts:  UK: #3  US: #37 

“Love Plus One” was the second release from Haircut One Hundred, the cardigan-clad sextet who had already turned heads with the jittery charm of “Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl).” But this time, they struck gold: “Love Plus One” rose to No. 3 on the UK charts, becoming the band’s biggest hit at home and their only Top 40 success in the United States.

Led by the cherubic Nick Heyward, Haircut One Hundred occupied a peculiar and endearing corner of early-’80s pop — a kind of “preppy funk” that blended nimble guitars, splashy percussion, and horns that sounded like they’d been imported straight from the Caribbean. Their songs rarely made sense lyrically, but they didn’t need to. Heyward’s words — “Ring, ring, ring, ring / When I call love / Love plus one” — were more about sound and rhythm than narrative. They felt like the overheard chatter of a love-struck youth, piecing together emotions into catchy nonsense. It was, as one critic quipped, “the poetry of a polite boy who’s just discovered romance but hasn’t yet figured out what to do with it.”

The song’s irresistible texture owes much to producer Bob Sargeant, already admired for his work with The Beat. Sargeant encouraged the band to lean into rhythm and space, layering marimbas, bongos, and steel drums alongside Phil Smith’s soprano saxophone. The result was a buoyant, island-tinged groove that somehow managed to sound both sophisticated and innocent — an early taste of what would later be dubbed “jazz-pop.” Heyward later recalled, “You can hear everything on ‘Love Plus One,’ but it’s punchy. Bob Sargeant was our George Martin — he made sense of the chaos and turned it into something beautiful.”

If “Love Plus One” had a secret weapon, it was its music video, directed by the ever-visionary David Mallet, who had worked with David Bowie and Queen. MTV had launched just a few months earlier in America, and the network was desperate for visually engaging British imports. Mallet delivered spectacle: a tropical fantasy filled with palm trees, loincloths, and playful danger, where Nick Heyward swung on ropes like a boyish Tarzan amid island maidens and comic savages. It was pure escapism, and it played endlessly on MTV — where the band’s clean-cut image and soft romanticism stood out against the harder edge of American rock.

The group toured the US on the back of the single, but the momentum didn’t last. When their first UK hit, “Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl),” was reissued stateside, it faltered at No. 101 — perhaps too quirky, too British, or simply too cardigan-clad for American audiences craving neon drama. Still, in Britain, Haircut One Hundred were on fire. They followed “Love Plus One” with two more Top 10 singles — “Fantastic Day” and “Nobody’s Fool” — before Heyward abruptly departed the band, uncomfortable with fame and eager to evolve. Haircut One Hundred might have burned out quickly, but for a brief, glorious season in 1982, they gave pop its most infectious smile.