It was the early 90's hit from Dutch band Ten Sharp (or maybe 10# ?). Like a piece of plastic flotsam it was washed up from my memory. Unfortunately it has stayed in my head for the past week.
I have reflected deeply on this - why has this song stuck around? Why will it not leave me alone? I have come to the conclusion that there are some key ingredients which makes this song so addictive.
The first is the rambling, persistent piano. It wanders around your head, often rising up to an optimistic swell. It just keeps going, twirling around, ignoring everything around it. To this day, the pianist is STILL playing.
The second element is the gravelly voice. The singer is clearly putting a lot of effort in to this song. Every... word... is... drawn... out... from... his... manly... throat. This song required every ounce of emotion, every memory, every feeling. Remember this is the early 1990s, when men started to cry, hold babies and do the washing up. This singer has emerged from a sweaty, testosterone-filled trading room with a song in his heart that the world simply had to hear.
Then there's the lyrics:
"The night, always a good friend
A glass of wine
And the lights down low"
The singer emphasises the "low" with a subtle downward key change. Amazing.
Fourthly there's the video. The Athena-themed video. Two guys, two girls, seaside, champagne, boats, cars, optimism. All in black and white. This was a time before the Maastrict treaty, before Clinton, before the Internet. This was 1991. Terminator 2 was released in 1991. 1991 was the last year when the idea that by 2000 we would be engaging with robots or flying around on hoverboards or using lasers for combat seemed plausible. Ever since the present has been a prolonged anticlimax. iPhones are a limp alternative to robots that actually cry.
Finally, there's the symbol behind the musical duo in the video. It's brilliantly meaningless.
Ten Sharp never had another hit like "You". They are among all those other one-hit-wonders: Charles and Eddie, Baha Men, Los Del Rio, The Mock Turtles. We all know these songs, but little else. We will never know their bad music or their embarrassing opinions. We are left with their unique gems.
Recently I discovered that Chesney Hawkes and Nik Kershaw are very good friends. I have seen the photographic evidence. I hope that all of these past pop stars are friends, gathered around a campfire singing their one-off wonders. Anyway, here's a t-shirt:
I am the one and only
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