by Mark Nobes, chief editor
Christian was the first song by the Liverpudlian band to break
into the UK Top 40, reaching No.12 during January 1983. It was lifted from their
debut album Difficult Shapes & Passive Rhythms, Some People Think It's Fun to Entertain -
which gave album chart compilers a headache - and peaked at #21
in the UK album charts and gained Silver status.
Black Man Ray was lifted from the English Band's third studio album Flaunt The Imperfection, and was one of four singles to break into the UK Top 20, reaching #14 in March 1985. The other singles were; Christian (#12), Wishful Thinking (#9) and King In A Catholic Style (#19).
China Crisis are one
of those bands that I never became a fan of until after the 80s. I guess
the quality bands kind of pass you by until your brain matures after
your teen years. I must've missed out on some really great songs back then, but at least I caught up with them, eventually!
The English post-punk/new-wave band formed in Kirkby in
1979. They released six studio albums between 1982 and 1994. However, the band were only successful during a short period in the first half of the
1980s, with only the first three albums breaking into the Top 40 album
charts.
The release of the fourth album, What Price Paradise, (released in 1986) failed to break into the Top 40 album charts, as did the following two albums.
Flaunt The Imperfection
was the band's most successful album, reaching #9 and achieving Gold.
It was a very polished album with a sophisticated 80s sound. There was
less use of the synthesizer than on the previous album (that may have
been part of their downfall), but every song was strong on melody and
well-constructed. It's ironic that such a perfect album should be titled
Flaunt The Imperfection, as
there weren't many to find and maybe it was all just a little too
perfect. Having said that, if you like a highly polished production then this will be right up your street.
