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Poor Jazzie B. The brains behind Soul II Soul is a pop hustler who
convinced the world--first the excitable dance world, then the hip
black-pop world, then the insecure crossover world--that he was
a humanist visionary. So now he's stuck with the impossible task
of whipping up a fake revolution every time out. No wonder Vol
II--1990: A New Decade
(Virgin) is selling like stale granola. All it is is a stylistically
consistent improvement on last year's likable but overrated smash,
Keep On Movin'--without a dance-defining signature groove
like that album's title track. No matter that this year's title
track is the smoothest, happiest world-lite rip ever, or that against
your better judgment you'll be singing the kiddie chorus's "What's
the meaning, what's the meaning of life?" third time you hear it.
Disco is fickle--pop is fickle--and if what's important to you is
keeping up, you'll seek your humanist dance music elsewhere in 1990.
But if you gave Keep On Movin' the credit it deserved and
could fancy its next phase, you'll buck the crowd.
And if it's actual humanist visionaries you hanker for, try the
Deighton Family's Mama Was Right (Philo). The Deightons
are from Bronte country rather than London, but that doesn't make
them Anglo-Saxons like Papa Dave, oldtime British busker into blues
and bluegrass as well as native-grown stuff. South Moluccan Josie
plays guitar (and bodhran) with an Indonesian accent, and their
five kids are just, well, Deightons. They play fiddle, mandolin,
electric guitar, flute; they play Cotton Eyed Joe, Castle
Kelly, When You're Smilin', even (on their first album)
All Shook Up, with the best tracks here written by Eric Clapton
and obscure folkie Billy Marlowe. Maybe Angelina, who looks about
seven on the cover, will take up the synthesizer. Loosen them up
a little.
Playboy, July 1990
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June 1990 |
Aug. 1990 |
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