Rating: ***
When Johnny Hates Jazz stormed the UK charts in 1987 with their massive hit Shattered Dreams, it seemed nothing could slow the trio down. But after a successful string of hits, including the Top 20 I Don’t Want to Be a Hero, Turn Back The Clock and Heart of Gold, things soon went awry.
Quick recap… Following the commercial success of UK No. 1 album Turn Back the Clock, lead singer Clark Datchler quit the group at the end of ’88 to embark on a solo career – leaving Mike Nocito and Calvin Hayes without a vocalist.
After rounds of auditions, they hired former The Cure star Phil Thornalley for second album Tall Stories, which came after a three-year wait and failed to impact the charts. On the eve of its release, Phil and Calvin were involved in a serious car crash and, amid their recoveries and the record’s commercial failure, they called it quits.
Fast forward a couple of decades, however, and Johnny Hates Jazz is back – this time as a duo, with vocalist Clark and guitarist Mike comprising the new line-up. After an initial return with their third album, Magnetized, in 2013, the group launched its follow-up – bar an ‘unplugged’ Turn Back The Clock re-recording – this week.
The nine-track collection is the group’s second independent release and sees a shift into adult contemporary territory, with a more organic sound than its predecessor. Opener Spirit of Love sets the tone perfectly, proving that after 30+ years, the pair haven’t let their standards slip when it comes to songwriting.
It’s one of a number of collaborations with Phil – including parred-back Love the Light, singalong Free, and closing number My Old Piano – as the group’s former frontman returns to co-write more than half of the new collection with Clark and Mike.
The partnership clearly works, with other co-writes, including title track Wide Awake, strong compositions, and its undeniable that the shift in direction is suited to the pair, with Clark’s vocals particularly complimentary to the full-band sound.
But over the course of the album, it’s numbers like Greater Good and Don’t Stop the Music that really capture the essence of Johnny Hates Jazz – the sophisti-pop charm of their early synth-laden tracks – which characterised the late ’80s and leave us longing for more of that influence, which worked so well back then and triumphed on their 2013 comeback LP.
That’s not to discredit Wide Awake – it’s a strong body of work that highlights the raw talents of the group decades after their debut. Let’s not forget, the return of the ‘manband’ has a proven track record – look at Take That, Boyzone, Backstreet Boys etc.
Go back 10+ years and the idea of a new Johnny Hates Jazz record seemed like an impossibility – so just to have new music is something we should be grateful for. But we couldn’t call ourselves Retro Pop if we didn’t long for just a little more of that classic ’80s sound.
