Jan
5
Rediscovered track of the month: Jan ’15
January 5, 2015 | Leave a Comment
Was Not Was, Spy in the House of Love
I first came across this track properly on the album “Hello Dad. . . I’m in Jail”. It had crossed my path before but this glorious compilation album one summer in ’96 was on constant repeat round my place…I think I picked up the cassette on a trip to Liverpool back in the days when you could still buy music from a physical store on the High street. I remember driving around Germany later on with my manager at the time the both of us really enjoying the tunes and left-field lyrics on tracks like “Out come the Freaks” or the classy musicianship and achey-breaky emotion of “Somewhere in America (There’s a street named after my Dad)” — it was my first “Was . . .” album and as an introduction to their music I thoroughly recommend it. “Spy . . . ” stands out for me though…not just ‘cos it was a commercial success but there’s a hard-assed, unsentimental tinge to it and even though it’s a perfect piece of funk pop there’s an uncompromising edge to it which all good music should have. And of course Sweet Pea Atkinson’s voice is a delight as ever.