Red Box "Plenty"

I come across these things in all manner of ways, and this one was different from any before.  I had to move one of the big storage containers full of vinyl for a carpet repair job, and the only way to do so was empty it enough to allow it to be picked up.  Well, I can't just grab stacks of my vinyl (which see daylight only once or twice a year) without thumbing through a few and traipsing down Memory Lane.  I came across this record and the memories came flooding back. 

The cover was in excellent condition, but I know the vinyl had hundreds of spins in its history.  This came out in 1986 with little fanfare, just another of the many two-person English new wave bands happening during that time; Yaz, Erasure, OMD, Pet Shop Boys, etc..  I put it in light rotation in-store at the old Custom Sound location in the mall in Tullahoma.  Over the course of the next few months, this record got better and better, slowly but surely sinking its hooks in me.  A couple of the tracks hit the Top 10 in the UK, and apparently are still staples of British radio today.  Here's the original video for "Lean On Me", which went to #3.  You'll hear some of the vocal chorus effect that was used extensively throughout the album.  The record also featured a substantial portion of Native American Indian-styled chants and other World influences, similar to a very successful album in the same year doing the same thing, Paul Simon's "Graceland."  So let me summarize and say that it took well over a year for "The Circle & the Square" to become one of my most favorite records from the last half of the 80's. 

Now that I've offered my Memory Lane story, suffice it to say that I really wanted to hear TC&TS again, and since I'm sans a record player, off I went to the Internet to see if I could possibly find it available somewhere, anywhere.  Imagine my surprise to discover it had been re-released in 2008, along with a second album from 1990 that I never knew existed.  "Motive" was also a major label release, but I was probably so busy with the Music 4 Less expansion in Orlando and elsewhere that it slipped past me.  And hello?!  What is this?  A release from October of last year called "Plenty?"  Surely that's not new...

But it is.  And I purchased it immediately.  The European import with an additional six songs.  Straight into the changer at position #1.  In no way, shape or form did I expect 80's-era music, but I admit to being surprised at the quiet beauty of the album.  Down to one member, Simon Toulson-Clarke, "Plenty" is the definition of an Adult Alternative Contemporary record, mostly three to four minute songs with worldly lyrical content, set upon a soft musical palate of acoustics, piano, occasional strings, etc..  Of the fourteen domestic tracks, only three hark back the twenty-something years to a more full-bodied arrangement, flashing a chant or two, too.  This was the first single, "Hurricane", and my favorite of the record.  Just this week, the second single was released, "The Sign," one of the other two tracks with ties to the past sound.  Overall, the record is expertly played, as I'm sure Mr. T-C called in plenty of favors.  He has remained in the music biz as a consultant to A&R, producer and songwriter, so why not get some contacts to help out.  He's not the strongest of vocalists, and it's more noticeable in the stripped-down instrumentation of this album, but that's not a concern to Europeans.  It reminds me of Tony Carey/Planet P and how he was a master of the keyboards but not a microphone.  American audiences want all the vocal histrionics.  Eeesshh, just sing with passion, please . 

So I am adding "Plenty" to the vault, though certainly not a typical Mad Rocker selection, based on how long it took TC&TS to get to me.  While researching for this post, I found a review with a summary that stated it quite well, from rockfeedback.com: 

"Plenty is a beautiful album, as out of time and place as the band have always been, even during their early flush of success. It has been released without much fanfare, which is a shame, as it will have an appreciative audience if they can find it."