Review: Thompson Twins – Into The Gap 40th Anniversary Reissue (BMG)
★★★★☆
For its 40th birthday, Thompson Twins’ biggest commercial moment receives a thorough 3CD set filling in all the gaps of a band relishing the spotlight…
The more you look at Thompson Twins, the more remarkable their success appears. That they were able to be so mainstream is testament to how early 80s pop kids were far more open to outsiders than British and US governments would wish.
Tom Bailey’s move from being at the centre of a trippy anarcho collective to crafting pop bangers to order is a volte-face worthy of Adam Ant’s transition from punk to king of the wild frontier.
Doing it with a black percussionist and a woman whose lyrics inhabited the trio’s feelings was unique, even in the forward-thinking pop eccentrics of the era.
Quick Step & Side Kick had shown how naturally making pop came to the trio. Ironically, the confidence meant they could sound more natural second time around. Allowing instruments other than synths back into the mix instantly paid off on Hold Me Now, whose success before the album had finished recording showed that being more emotional was the way forward.
You Take Me Up
Remarkably, the album’s other singles, including the similarly tender Sister Of Mercy and soaring You Take Me Up were written next. It allowed for a carefree abandon, whether in allowing Alannah Currie to get more political in near title track The Gap’s adventurous travelogue or for the trio to create a tense funk on Day After Day and fame comedown on No Peace For The Wicked.
Only the maudlin Who Can Stop The Rain hasn’t aged well: it should have been swapped for the preceding beauty of Storm On The Sea as the album closer.
Not that the public cared much for such concerns: it was No.1 for three weeks here and went Top 10 Stateside. It couldn’t last and they were all but done by Here’s To Future Days. Their refusal to reform, addressed elsewhere this issue, has enabled Thompson Twins to become progressively more enigmatic, but also commercially overlooked.
That’s addressed on their first thorough expanded reissue. Edsel’s 2008 2CD reissue (repressed in 2016) was decent, but the new 3CD is the first to round up all the assorted B-sides, cassette mixes and promo-only versions, including a sprightly Francois Kervorkian remix of You Take Me Up.
The omission of the tour film Into The Gap Live as a DVD/Blu-Ray is the only frustration: Joe Leeway was one of the great designers of 80s concerts. His work fading into the background should be readdressed.
At least all the music is finally here. Thompson Twins aren’t performing, but at least they’re finally talking. Eloquent as they are, it’s only when you hear Into The Gap that you can appreciate how electric they were at grasping their opportunity with both hands.
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Read More: Thompson Twins / Tom Bailey – album by album
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