Full Monty Vol.1, The - Original Soundtrack

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Average
Lyrics	Standard
Quality and consistency of tracks	Mixed
Value for Money

Advantages:	Some of the tracks
Disadvantages:	Some of the tracks

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

A couple of years ago, Lewis, the elder of the two dave27-ettes, and his mates were absolutely obsessed with the whole Full Monty thing - they had never seen it mind, they were just fascinated by the curious craze of getting naked in public and as his birthday party was fast approaching there was an inevitable schoolboy plan developing in their young heads.

We'd decided to have Lewis' party in Kirkham Village Hall, and had booked a disco. Feverish plotting began and it was soon obvious that there was going to be something pretty reprehensible going on when they played 'You Can Leave Your Hat On'. In the end there was a near riot and Lewis got piled on by all the male children in the locality at the height of the ritual and there was rotund flesh all over the place - YUK!

Yes, this film and soundtrack has an awful lot to answer for as far as the dave27 clan is concerned....

The British film about a bunch of stripping ex-steel workers was phenomenally successful, one of the biggest ever and it spawned a pretty big selling soundtrack CD as well.

As far as soundtrack albums go, this is a pretty excellent one, even though it's got some very cheesy stuff on there (like Mr Tom Jones), but it undoubtedly works best when seen in the context of the film. It's a big, good time blast of an album, perfectly matched for the bump and grind of Robert Carlyle, Tom Wilkinson and their bunch of cronies.

Let's just run through the tracks before we go any further.

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David Lindup - The Zodiac
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It's on with the show and one of the cheesiest of big band sounds that you could hope to hear, though it actually sounds quite good at times - just makes you ache for the better 60s swing stuff like 'Watching The Girls Go By' however.

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Hot Chocolate - You Sexy Thing
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Old Baldy and his multiracial band were a big 70s band on RAK and produced some truly excellent pop songs, this was one of them and was undoubtedly a dance floor filler with its seductive bass lines and conga fills. Errol Brown was well into pop star mode when he made this and his sleazy little smirk to the camera on TOTP was a thing to behold. My fave Hot Choc track was the morbid death number 'Emma', but this is classy if very bland 70s disco. Check out the strings on the old cheesometer.

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Tom Jones - You Can Leave Your Hat On
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The man who makes middle aged perms wet their knicks, 384 year old Tom Jones winds up his waist to a sinewy dance track, but don't it make your flesh crawl when you see his perm and enormous head. Do you think he's sexy? Well, Mr Jones certainly does. He's a powerful vocalist, however, and this is the sort of bump and grind which brings out the best in Old Taffy Bach.

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M People - Moving On Up
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The deep chocolatey voice of Heather Small is one of the richest sounds around and when M People burst onto the scene they were like a breath of fresh air. This track does them full justice with its enticing keyboard opening and driving dance beat. Stonking, honking Stax style deep sax licks and THAT VOICE, moody rhythms which pull insistently at your groin (Steady, you old git - Mrs D).

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Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel - Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)
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Steve Harley was an enigmatic and arrogant bastard, but he made some excellent records. I preferred him when he started with 'Judy Teen', 'Mr Soft' and the epic 'Mr Raffles (Man, It Was Mean)', all sub Bowie posturing and sleazy, all too knowing decadence, but he made some classic pop after dumping his old art school band and bringing in the session musos and this is a great example. Perfect pop music and shalalalalee type harmonies which stormed to the top of the charts. It feels a bit out of place here, but it's pleasant enough. Damned by faint praise, or what! That acoustic guitar intro excuses all the cliches, however, and Harley's seedy, sneering, lisping, lascivious phrasing is totally distinctive. Try stripping to this one, however, I dare you.

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Anne Dudley - The Full Monty
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Big band theme tune for the movie, all orchestral cod reggae skank with bluesy horns and woodwinds. I shouldn't like it, but it's nice(!) enough.

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Anne Dudley - The Lunchbox Has Landed
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More orchestral plucked strings to a reggae feel - interlude music, seductive but forgettable.

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Wilson Pickett - Land of 1,000 Dances
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Ah, the Wicked Pickett and sultry American nightclubs. Good time rock and roll trash, but try and keep your feet from tapping along. Can you do the Mashed Potato .... and why not? Dig THE MAN'S grunt.

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Gary Glitter - Rock And Roll Part 2
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The boy Glitter may have fallen into the sleaziest of disrepute in recent years, but back then in the early 70's he made some of the strongest pop rock records of all time, all swagger and strut and double drummer driven grind, a decade before AntMusic capitalised on the Burundi sound. And this was the song where it all began. CHUNKACHUNKACHUNKA dance floor bump, totally silly yet absolutely addictive, subliminal grunting from the man with odd eyebrows and shoulder pads, HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY. Play it loud...

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Donna Summer - Hot Stuff
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Disco diva who graduated from the sex grunts of her early stuff to make some huge dance floor fillers with a great beat. This one is more instant seduction, although you know you shouldn't. Remember this from the film

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Sister Sledge - We Are Family
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'WE ARE FAMILY' insisted the flat nosed American disco sisters from the Chic stable. They were pretty odd looking but they certainly knew their chops (and their steaks - Gary Rhodes). Plink plink plink plink plinkaplink.

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Irene Cara - Flashdance ... What A Feeling
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Another supreme dance classic, say no more (I'm getting bored). The opening always reminds me of 'Seven Tears' from the Goombay Dance Band for some obscure reason, until the beat takes over and we're up and away.

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Joe Loss & His Orchestra - The Stripper
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The cheesiest of cheesy sounds - the first among equals when it comes to cloying cliche - everyone knows this tune - say no more. Did you know that Elvis Costello's dad used to sing with Joe Loss' band?

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Surprisingly good, if irredeemably cheesy in parts, the soundtrack album of the 90's, even if all the stuff's from a different era.