Still treading through the 80's and concentrating on jazz music once more tonight as I do my first ever feature on the Scottish duo, HUE AND CRY. They are one of the last remaining sophisti-pop groups from the 80's I've never gotten into, despite the fact that I've known about them for years. I'd always wondered what the significance behind their name was. It was like a strange sense of déja vu when I read up on them and discovered that their name shares the exact same name with a concept in common law where, by definition, public bystanders can be summoned to aid in the capture of a criminal who has committed a crime (something else new and interesting I've learned in my cross-referencing). Déja vu, because it was just yesterday that I found out the significance of the fellow sophisti-pop group MATT BIANCO—a fictitious spy from an imaginary crime story. And I also learned that "Hue And Cry" was also the name of a 1940's comedy film. So I would think that these guys group took their name from either one of these two entities or, perhaps more likely, from the lyrics to the opening song on their debut album, "Seduced And Abandoned", which mentions the phrase 'hue and cry' many times throughout the main chorus. By the time I was halfway through "Strength To Strength", I was already impressed with this group's sound and eager to hear much more. Immediately thought about the British group SPANDAU BALLET, because they both share that dramatic, new romantic style that was so huge in the 80's. I can even picture SPANDAU's front man, Tony Hadley, on lead vocals for that song, now that I've heard enough of him after recently being given practically the entire SPANDAU BALLET discography from my friend Kim. I just may end up acquiring HUE AND CRY's complete discography as well, because after I listened to "Strength To Strength" and the equally-as-impressive "History City", I was hooked. There was especially no prying myself away from what would become my favorite, "Goodbye To Me", which is where the jazz sound was most noticeable—a harmonious trumpet that's played briefly at specific points of the song that contrasts with the deep r&b groove. Nor could I step away from "Just One Word". There's a bit of jazz coming from the trumpet here too—primarily in the main chorus. Just as with "Goodbye To Me", I needed to play it again once I'd gotten through the album. I'll be coming back to these guys for sure, seeing that I've gotten 'seduced' by their music and don't see myself 'abandoning; them for too long:
1. Strength To Strength
2. History City
3. Goodbye To Me
4. Human Touch
5. Labour Of Love
6. I Refuse
7. Something Warmer
8. Alligator Man
9. Love Is The Master
10. Just One Word
11. Truth
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