Into The Gap - Thompson Twins

...UK & the USA. Into The Gap was their 4th release but the 1st with the "classic" 3 person line-up of Tom Bailey, Alannah Currie and Joe Leeway.

Bailey wrote words and music, Leeway provided percussion (and some backing vocals) and Currie played xylophone and provided backing vocals. On this album all 3 members of the band are given writing credits but Bailey wrote pretty much everything on his own.

So whats on ...
...the bands break through hit if they are really honest, it charted internationally (UK #3, US #11) and is Tom showing how well he has mastered the Prophet V synthesizer that he loved and favoured so much (if you listen very closely you really can tell that former Twins member Thomas Dolby taught him how to play though as there are fragments of tracks like "Hyperactive" rather nicely hidden so only the educated ear will pick them out). The ... more

Looking on Ciao I was rather surprised to find no-one had done a review of these amazing 80's artists so as an 80's child and a very big fan indeed I felt it was my duty to write a review so here it comes.

Formed originally in 1977 with a massive 11 members the Thompson Twins (who of course took their name from the bumbling detectives out of artist Herge's Tintin comics) released 3 albums before really breaking big in both the UK & the USA. Into The Gap was their 4th release but the 1st with the "classic" 3 person line-up of Tom Bailey, Alannah Currie and Joe Leeway.

Bailey wrote words and music, Leeway provided percussion (and some backing vocals) and Currie played xylophone and provided backing vocals. On this album all 3 members of the band are given writing credits but Bailey wrote pretty much everything on his own.

So whats on the album?

1. Doctor! Doctor!
Probably the bands break through hit if they are really honest, it charted internationally (UK #3, US #11) and is Tom showing how well he has mastered the Prophet V synthesizer that he loved and favoured so much (if you listen very closely you really can tell that former Twins member Thomas Dolby taught him how to play though as there are fragments of tracks like "Hyperactive" rather nicely hidden so only the educated ear will pick them out). The track itself is based around a short arpeggio sequence that Bailey harmonises the lyrics across, Leeway & Currie harmonise very complimentary backing.

2. You Take Me Up
Another track that charted internationally (UK #2, US #44), its written in the style of a chain gang style labour song in almost a delta blues format. Curries Xylophone is fairly prominant as is Leeways understated percussion but the mouth organ line is truly brilliant and cements the track together well, Baileys lead vocal is strong enough to carry the track without smothering it and the lyrics are easy enough to learn that I still remember them now almost 26 years after its release. Harmonica on tracks was popular as Stevie Wonders harmonica line on Culture Clubs "Church Of The Poison Mind" had already shown ( I bet you had no clue he'd played that!).

3. Hold Me Now
Yet another single release from the album that charted all over the globe (as high as #4 in the UK and #1 on one of the US Billboard charts), its a classic love song with a good mix of synth and piano with excellent harmonies from Leeway (yes, thats HIM doing the falsetto harmony!) although people often think its Currie. Its quite simple in terms of lyrical structure but then a good successful song normally is.

4. Day After Day
I seem to recall this was a minor hit getting some airplay on MTV at the time, its lots of Prophet V and drum machine as well as bags of Leeway covering the percussive soundscape. If anything it reminds me of "Tesla Girls" by OMD in terms of its musical structure although the syndrum will probably remind most people of Trio's "Da da da", but it has a great middle 8 with awesome harmonised chords.

5. No Peace for the Wicked
Possibly the least popular track on the album or at least I always felt it was, its more Toms personal litany against record companies making the Twins crank out as many singles and albums as possible. He might not sound bitter as he's singing but listen to "we're dancing til we drop and we're all too scared to stop" and tell me he isn't bitter no matter how fairly upbeat the chord structure of the song may be. Tom even recycled chords from the tune The Gap to provide a backing melody for this just to further reinforce he was having issues at the time.

6. Gap
One of the tracks that came about thanks to the bands trip to Egypt before writing this album, it wasn't huge as a single when it was released but its rather Middle Eastern sounds were very new and different at the time. Its often also credited as being called The Gap, no-one ever seemed 100% sure whether it required a definate article or not as it is billed differently pretty much everywhere.

7. Sister of Mercy
The single release of this reached as high as #11 in the UK and this track featured on the original Hits Tape (it was the bastard son of Now Thats What I Call Music but its franchise died after a 2nd Hits Tape), its a rather well written song about female killer and her life in an institution (where else would "she lives in a big white house" mean?). Currie provides a nice xylophone track that is brought to the fore quite well for the construction of this track. It's possible that the rather grim subject matter kept this very good track from being a bigger hit.

8. Storm on the Sea
A great haunting track really showcasing what Tom Bailey was capable of doing with the Prophet V, Joe Leeways percussion is exceptionally complimentary to the synth and lyrics. I think of it as an "anti love song" about a relation between strangers and their feelings for each other and it has always been a big favourite of mine as far as songs by the Twins are concerned. It is very reminiscent of early Gary Numan (circa Tubeway Army) or John Foxx post Ultravox. I was always saddened that this didn't get a single release as I felt it was commercial enough to have been quite a big hit as it had great prospective appeal.

9. Who Can Stop the Rain
One thing the Twins were exceptionally good at were songs to be miserable to, I should know as I certainly spent enough time moping around listening to them mourning unrequited love and it certainly didn't help being a teenager at the time. This track with its great Prophet V main melody certainly led my misery for a fair while as its lyrics like "Who can stop this pain from drowning me" or "So its raining just for you" certainly spoke to me and it felt like Tom was talking to me as he sang this.

These 9 tracks are the original release of the album and the 2008 remaster included extra tracks taken from the cassette version of the album that were remixes as well as a second cd which comprised of 12 inch and B side releases just to give those tonto die hard Twins fans something to sink their teeth into.

So what else is on the 2008 remaster?

10 - Leopard Ray (Instrumental)
Written very much around the Spanish Guitar, its certainly not a typical Twins track as its more from the later period just before the break up. Its more like the stuff Bailey wrote when he & Currie formed "Drabble Project" after the Twins split.

11 - Doctor! Doctor! (a 12 inch version)

12 - Panic Station
An instrumental reworking of "Day After Day" that also appeared on the "Twin Decision" album.

13 - Down Tools
A remix of "You Take Me Up", Tom was often wont to think-up quirky track names like this for remixes, it was a hallmark of his.

14 - Hold Me Now (a 12 inch version)

15 - Funeral Dance
An incredibly minimalistic track by Twins standards, its a very sparse remix of "No Peace for the Wicked".

So what can you expect on cd2 if you manage to get your mucky little paws on that version?

1 - Compass Points
Its an instrumental of "The Gap" with all vocals apart from some later backing tracks removed.

2 - Still Water
Its a remix of "Storm On The Sea", if its possible to be more minimal than the already sparse original version then they managed it here, Joe does an outstanding job on percussion here managing to bring a fresh sound to this track.

3 - You Take Me Up (Machines Take Me Over)
Its the 12 inch version of "You Take Me Up"

4 - Sister of Mercy 12 Inch version

5 - Let Loving Start 12 Inch version
Its the B side of the "Hold Me Now" 12 Inch.

6 - You Take Me Up (High Plains Mixer)
A different remix of "You Take Me Up", I can't comment on how it sounds as I'm not lucky enough to own this track.

7 - Nurse Shark
A rather wierd slow remix of "Hold Me Now", it was the B side to "Doctor Doctor".

8 - Passion Planet
The B side of "You Take Me Up", its more like a B-52's song than anything typically produced by the Twins. Tom even sounds like Fred Schneider in places!

9 - You Take Me Up
An instrumental version of the track which appeared on the B side of the 12 Inch release.

10 - Out of the Gap (Megamix Extended Version)
Which originally appeared as the B side of the "Sister Of Mercy" 12 Inch release.

You really do get value for your money here as Amazon lists the 2 cd version of this under 5 quid so its well worth a cheeky punt for all the extras tracks that didn't come with the original 9 track release, admittedly a fair few of these tracks were also released on the "Twin Decision" album but this is still excellent value. What are you waiting for? Go and buy it and relive the 80s!  

...less