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From ‘Stay’ [2007] to ‘Blue Eyed Soul’ [2019] through ‘Big Love’ [2015], I haven't wasted time on them anymore.
I don't like people who whistle absentmindedly, not in terms of musical vinyl records. And the latest studio works of Simply Red, and 'Simply Red' means Mick Hucknall, have nothing to do with me.
Simply Red stopped pleasing me the moment Mick was no longer hungry.
In 1985 Mick was hungry, devilishly hungry. Try to catch it in ‘Money’s Too Tight (To Mention)’, when he sings ‘…so I went to the bank…’, the way he says 'bank...', how he attacks the experience.
He was hungry, I said, even in the studio. Stewart Levine, the producer chosen for the debut album, had his work cut out for him disciplining, slowing him down, teaching him how to approach a microphone during recording.
The cliché, or rather, the postulate, that Simply Red were ‘Mick + the band’ was immediately clear to those who revolved around the project.
The feeling was unique and unambiguous: what a voice, the singer: amazing. But the songs and the rest of the group? There was work to be done.
Elliot Rashman, the long-time manager, Stewart Levine, and Hucknall himself worked to polish, implant, and invigorate. Dave Fryman, a guitarist who also has a writing credit in ‘Red Box’, was let go because he was judged a weak point in a crucial role. The replacement was recruited from Levine's notebook: Sylvan Richardson, akin to the type of sound the producer wanted.
‘Holding Back The Years’ was completely re-arranged. Again, the manager and producer had to do their best to convince Mick, who was reluctant to review his work, partly due to his haughty character, partly due to a cursedly ingrained underlying pride.
With Richardson recruited, the rest of the core was confirmed: Tony Bowers on bass, the splendid Fritz Mcintyre on keyboards, Chris Joyce on drums, and Tim Kellet on the trumpet.
The cornerstone of the project, Hucknall's voice softened by Mcintyre's luxurious keyboards. Levine, for his part, made the previously live-performed tracks listener-friendly and structured, filling in evident gaps.
Elektra, a subsidiary of Wea, stepped forward to sign the project.
The highest points of the album turned out to be the lead single, ‘Moneys Too Tight (To Mention)’, a cover by the Valentine Brothers, the title track boasting a poignant DNA, and the jazz-fusion ‘Sad Old Red’. But driving the wagon and taking them to number one in America was ‘Holding Back The Years’ which, as of today, remains their everlasting trademark.
The other two extracted singles, ‘Come To My Aid’, which opens the album, ‘Jericho’ and 'Red Box', had little impact. In selected markets, a limited edition of ‘Love Fire’ was also released.
In retrospect, Hucknall and Levine have contrasting opinions on ‘Picture Book’.
‘It sounds too dated, too sparse. Some tracks, reinterpreted and reworked in life, deliver. For the rest, I struggle to listen to it today’ says the leader. On the other hand, the manager, who will also work on another three albums, ‘A New Flame’ (1989), ‘Stars’ (1991) and ‘Life’ (1995), considers it the best ever made with the band: fresh, powerful, complete.
The one writing to you places himself halfway. ‘Picture Book’ is a solid, linear album. It features some weak points: I am not convinced by the guitar, too sparse, and the overly academic approach to the drums.
Not by chance, in what remains, for me, their milestone (‘A New Flame’) Heitor TP will replace Richardson, and for the multi-golden ‘Stars’ the crazy intuition was placing Gota Yashiki on the drums instead of Joyce.
The hunger, as I said, divides man from beast if only because the former has the faculty to choose. Here, Mick was a bit of a man and a bit of a beast. He chose, and he chose well. He bit into the opportunity with ferocity, having the foresight not to tear it to pieces.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
01 Come to My Aid (04:03)
(M Hucknall/F Mcintyre)
come to my aid you're sweet as everything
come to my aid i'd give you anything
i feel so betrayed by the people i love
come to my aid it's you i'm thinking of
prouder than wild
sad enough to sing
come to my aid and care for social living
Why are we liable to die for survival?
why is our nation divided?
come to my aid..
in the poverty stakes see just what it means
when welfare decimates you'd better care
about your fellow people
why are we liable to die for survival?
why is our nation divided?
come to my aid...
come on board
03 Look at You Now (03:02)
Right from the start you tried to hurt me,
But look at you now, behaving like a fool.
A long time ago you treated me so mean but
Chorus:
Look at you now.
Look at you now.
You threw me away like litter in the gutter.
I had to pick my self up and find something better.
-chorus-
I looked so hard, I'm looking hard now
Looking at your head.
Don't talk about birthdays, that don't mean a thing to me.
Don't throw it in my face, it's too sweet to sting.
-chorus-
I kept on looking hard (repeat)
Looking at your head, head!!!
04 Heaven (04:32)
Ev'ryone is trying to get to the bar.
The name of the bar,
The bar is called Heaven.
The band in Heaven,
They play my favourite song.
They play it once again,
They play it all night long.
Chorus:
Heaven,
Heaven is a place,
A place where nothing,
Nothing ever happens.
-chorus-
There is a party, everyone is there.
Everyone will leave at exactly the same time.
It's hard to imagine that nothing at all
Could be so exciting, could be so much fun.
-chorus-
-chorus-
When this kiss is over it will start again.
It will not be any different, it will be exactly the same.
It's hard to imagine that nothing at all
Could be so exciting, could be so much fun.
-chorus-
05 Jericho (06:06)
Listen boy, I'll tell you a thing.
I'll make you a career in the business I'm in.
I'll make you rich, I'll make you a toy,
I'll make you turn over into my little boy.
Y'see I'm going somewhere.
I don't know what I'm gonna do when I get there.
I know money's a thing - your only inspiration
And your only meaning.
You must think that all I do
Is spend my time making pretty pictures of you.
You can fall when I will climb,
But I'll be falling over just by having you in mind.
1st. chorus:
Mend that fight - oh listen to them
Kickin' up a ball inside a Jericho wall.
Mend that fight - it's all twisted through them.
If you ain't rich then you won't go to the ball.
Having mercy and licking up love,
And moving through your ocean like I've never had enough.
Y'see you ain't all I want,
You're everything and more that I have ever hoped for.
You must think that all I do
Is spend my time making pretty pictures of you.
You can fall when I will climb,
But I'll be falling over just by having you in mind.
-1st chorus-
2nd chorus:
You won't go to the ball.
You won't go to the ball.
You won't go, you won't go,
You won't go to the ball.
(repeat)
You must think that all I do
Is spend my time making pretty pictures of you.
You can fall when I will climb,
But I'll be falling over just by having you in mind.
Mend that fight - oh listen to them
Kickin' up a ball inside a No.10 wall.
Mend that fight - it's all twisted through them.
I'm rich, you ain't, so you won't go to the ball
No more!
-2nd chorus-
Outro:
Yeah, if you ain't got nothing
You'll never go there
(Repeat)
I tried to make you see
I tell you, I'd had enough.
Money was a thing, money was a thing,
Money was a thing that I believed in.
(Repeat)
06 Money's Too Tight (to Mention) (04:13)
I been laid off from work
My rent is due
My kids all need
Brand new shoes
So I went to the bank
To see what they could do
They said son - looks like bad luck
Got-a hold on you
[Chorus:]
Money's too tight to mention
I can't get an un-em-ploy-ment ex-ten-sion
Money's too tight to mention
I went to my brother
To see what he could do -
He said bro-ther like to help you
But I'm unable to
So I called on my fa-ther fa-ther
Oh my fa-ther
He said
[Chorus:]
Money's too tight to mention
Oh mo-ney mo-ney mo-ney mon-ey
Mo-ney's too tight to mention
I can't even qual-i-fy for my pension
We talk a-bout rea-gan-on-ics
Oh lord down in the con-gress
They're passing all kinds - of bills
From down cap-it-ol hill - (we've tried them)
[Chorus:]
Money's too tight to mention
[spoken] cut-back!
Mo-ney mo-ney mo-ney mon-ey
We're talk-in' a-bout mon-ey mon-ey
We're talk-in' a-bout mon-ey mon-ey
We're talk-in' 'bout the dollar bill
Now what are we all to do
When the mon-ey's got a hold on you?
Mo-ney's too tight to mention
Oh mon-ey mon-ey mon-ey mon-ey
Mo-ney's too tight to mention
A-mero - mon-ey oh yeah
We're talk-in' a-bout mon-ey mon-ey
We're talk-in' a-bout mon-ey mon-ey
We're talk-in' a-bout mon-ey mon-ey
We're talk-in' a-bout mon-ey mon-ey:..
07 Holding Back the Years (04:30)
Holding back the years,
Thinking of the fear I've had so long.
When somebody hears,
Listen to the fear that's gone.
Strangled by the wishes of pater,
Hoping for the arms of mater,
Get to meet her sooner or later,
Holding back the years,
Chance for me to escape from all I know.
Holding back the tears,
Cause nothing here has grown.
I've wasted all my tears,
Wasted all those years.
Nothing had the chance to be good,
Nothing ever could, yeah.
I'll keep holding on,
I'll keep holding on,
I'll keep holding on,
I'll keep holding on.
So tight.
I've wasted all my tears,
Wasted all those years.
And nothing had the chance to be good,
Cause nothing ever could, yeah.
I'll keep holding on,
I'll keep holding on,
I'll keep holding on,
I'll keep holding on
So tight.
That's all I have today
It's all I have to say.
09 No Direction (03:41)
Singing hymns on road and pavements.
Hungry Jims, no one saves them.
Walkin' north, talkin' south
With firm intention.
And I don't know what I'm talking about,
It's firm intention.
Chorus:
In this dreary life, with no direction,
What this cause says about my life
And no direction, no direction!!!
To enter a place like an alien.
To leave a place like an alien.
What's this calling? What's this calling?
Firm intention.
Better feel it, better believe it.
Firm intension.
-chorus-
Watch that feeling, watch that feeling
Or I'll grab it, or I'll grab it.
Watch that feeling, watch that feeling
Or I'll grab it, or I'll grab it.
-chorus-
10 Picture Book (05:49)
Many types came to see the picture.
Many types came to see the picture.
Only he had the right to come.
Only he is long gone.
Will or win or wicked, it's written in it.
(repeat)
Quivering in mutual agression,
Women sing remembering affection.
Only he had the right to come.
Only he is long gone.
Will or win or wicked, it's written in it.
(repeat)
Here by the side of the book.
(We beseech thee, we beseech thee.)
Here by the side of Piero's spirit.
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Other reviews
By woodstock
"Picture Book contains tracks that are 80s classics, like 'Money’s Too Tight (To Mention)' or 'Holding Back The Years'."
This album... remains one of the cornerstones of the English group’s over twenty-year career.
