Reason #211:Working With Fire And Steel: Possible Pop Songs, Volume 2
Of course there has never been a “Volume One”, but that was the ’80’s. China Crisis were among the best and brightest of the British synth-pop bands. Often (and oddly) considered the English Steely Dan, China Crisis took the subtle charms of their first album and blew them up into technicolor pop gems on WWFAS. They were smarter than your average band and had hooks coming out of their ying-yangs. The title track’s pulsing charge is my personal favorite but this album is just littered with should have been smash hits. Uptempo numbers like Hannah Hannah, Animals In Jungles are nearly the equal of the title track, and the mid tempo songs are some of the highlights of the band’s career.
If you know China Crisis by one song it’s probably a good bet it’s Wishful Thinking. I’m pretty sure it appeared in at least one John Hughes movie, but I am not certain. It deserves it’s accolades, too. It’s one of the best ballads of the decade, synth-pop or no. Tragedy and Mystery and Soul Awakening are the other two stand-outs.
WWFAS pointed the band in the direction of next album and career highlight Flaunt The Imperfection where they (surprise surprise!) almost had a North American hit on their hands.
Great album, lots of great tracks, all of which you touched on
WWFAS 12″ is a personal favourite.
Sadly, this whole album is hard to find on the streaming platforms. And there’s alot of sketchy Greatest Hits comps there which do them no justice. Glad I have my vinyl 🙂
Me too, Dave, although I have a CD as well of the first 3 China Crisis albums, all terrific. I have a double CD greatest hits-type package but as you say it’s dodgy and contains too many post Flaunt The Imperfection tracks….
I always meant to dig a bit deeper into this band. I owned What Price Paradise and enjoyed most of its’ slick pop. But their next album, Diary of a Hollow Horse (produced by Walter Becker) disappointed me. And I always loved “Africa and White,” but never bought the album it was from. Maybe it’s time to go back and check this stuff out.
They played a works do at a friends’ solicitors firm a year, or two ago. I remember their name, but not really their music from the 80s.
My entree to the world of China Crisis and I was immediately smitten with this album because it was just sick with a combination of synthesizers and oboe playing! I thought at the time, “can it get any better than this??!” If there’s anything I love even more then synths, it’s the holy oboe! My favorite woodwind.