Music Box: Matt Bianco

With thanks to my friend Christopher for jarring my memory by making a Basia joke: Finally got around to procuring Matt Bianco's classic debut, "Whose Side Are You On?," in digital format the other night, and was delighted by how well it's aged over the past 25 years. I remember buying the vinyl at Zia Records in Tempe, Arizona, when I was in high school -- I had heard the single "Get Out of Your Lazy Bed" on the Rock Over London radio show one Sunday night -- and had naively convinced myself that I was into "jazz" by virtue of my obsession with early Everything But the Girl, Sade, Working Week, Swing Out Sister and Paul Weller's experimental Style Council.

As it would turn out, real jazz kind of annoyed me, but "pop jazz" like Matt Bianco -- riding a revival wave in Britain of early-'60s Brazilian pop music, with classic bossa nova structures and loose horns -- was fun, fresh, and just the thing for a pretentious 16-year-old to latch onto, while dreaming of moving to the big city, reading foreign magazines and drinking white wine. (That's what passed for sophistication in 1980s suburban Phoenix -- and probably still does.) I had purchased "The Best of Matt Bianco" CD in the early '90s, but it included many songs recorded after their classic original line-up of Mark Reilly, Danny White and Basia, so didn't really have that magnetic nostalgia I was hoping for. It then apparently fell behind the TV -- literally -- which is where I found it after catching the Matt Bianco bug earlier this week. While Basia (along with Danny White) would go on to a successful solo career -- I liked the "Time and Tide" album a lot, but then quickly lost interest with that "Cruising for Bruising" bullshit, as did she when she stopped recording for 15 years after a few more albums -- it was as a supporting player that she shined brightest, perhaps second only to Jane Wiedlin as someone who is far better as a backup singer. (Let's be honest: You can only take so much of Basia's voice at once.) Unlike the Go-Go's, however, Matt Bianco allowed Basia to sing lead on a couple tracks, but alas that still was not enough to keep her happy. (The original trio temporarily reunited in 2003 -- as Matt Bianco Featuring Basia -- but I never sought out the album it produced, figuring you can't go home again.)

Fall in love with "More Than I Can Bear" (below) -- the band's videos were memorable too, with their beautiful band members and silent-movie and spy-novel themes -- and if you like what you hear, you might just find the full album HERE. (No sign of it on iTunes, I'm afraid, so what can you do?)

Enjoy!