Tuesday, November 03, 2009

T Party Express: Deacon Blues Edition

The T Party Express continues to celebrate music coming out of the U.K. in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Yesterday we enjoyed selections from the Beautiful South, a British band that featured rotating vocals among two male and one female vocalist.

Deacon Blue was a Scottish pop band that gained a large regional following on the strength of its energetic live performances. Deacon Blue is often confused with Prefab Sprout, a British quartet from the same era that we will explore someday soon. Both groups featured a male lead backed by a prominent female vocalist – in Deacon Blue's case, the husband and wife team of Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh. Their wonderful 1989 album When the World Knows Your Name hit #1 in the U.K., due in no small part to its tales of bittersweet love and hard luck, including Love and Regret and Real Gone Kid.





Deacon Blue took their name from the epic Steely Dan ode to the spoils of romantic loss. When did lead singer Donald Fagen turn into Ray Charles?




Previous stops:

My Book by the Beautiful South (1990).

A Little Time by the Beautiful South (1990).

Your Ex-Lover Is Dead by Stars (2005).

This Woman's Work by Kate Bush (1989).

Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division (1980).

Reptile by the Church (1988).

Accidents Will Happen by Elvis Costello (1979).

Tears Run Rings by Marc Almond (1987).

Killing Moon by Echo and the Bunnymen (1984).

Love Lies Bleeding by Elton John (1973).

Last Time Forever by Squeeze (1985).

Conjure Me by the Afghan Whigs (1992).

Debonair by the Afghan Whigs (1993).

Hallelujah by Jason Castro (2009).

Total Recall by the Sound (1985).

Fly by Jars of Clay (2002).

Train in Vain by the Clash (1980).

It's My Life by Talk Talk (1984).

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