Slaves To The Rhythm
Reviewer: Tom Leins
Issue 106 August 2008
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Feeling Horn-y?
Review: What have Seal, Belle & Sebastian and Dollar got in common? More than you think! At one time or another they have all been produced by pop producer extraordinaire Trevor Horn! The three aforementioned acts, along with Grace Jones, tATu, Pet Shop Boys, Frankie Goes To Hollywood and many more all turned up at Wembley in 2004 to celebrate Horn’s 25-year anniversary as one of the world’s most successful pop producers. Horn kicks the evening off himself with an irresistible run through ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’, the classic pop song recorded with his side-project, Buggles. After bringing the house down, he makes way for an impressive trail of hit-makers, all of whose work bears his distinctive sonic fingerprints.
Grace Jones ably demonstrates that her craziness hasn’t dimmed one iota over the years, stalking the stage in headdress and flowing cape, whilst ABC turn back the years with a slick exercise in 80s wine-bar-pop and 70s dinosaurs Yes rock out with a determined version of ‘Owner Of A Lonely Heart’. Horn’s most recent protégés, winsome Scottish indie geeks Belle & Sebastian and po-faced Russian sex-pots tATu bring things bang up to date and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with their retro predecessors, even if tATu’s kinky lesbian shtick has been toned down noticeably. A super-cool Seal delivers the most compelling performances of the night, oozing star appeal as he cuts loose with ‘Killer’, ‘Crazy’ and ‘Kiss From A Rose’. Finally, Frankie Goes To Hollywood (playing their first gig in 17 years) take centre stage for some red-hot pop that brings events to an emphatic close. There is a slight whiff of cabaret about several of the acts (step forward Dollar) but the concert is generally as entertaining as it is unpredictable.
DVD special features include a behind-the-scenes featurette featuring contributions from Trevor Horn and all of the evening’s main players. When trying to explain his enduring appeal, Horn assesses: “The music business is like a dog that’s sleeping. Every couple of years the dog turns over and a load of fleas fall off. You’ve just got to hang on really tight!” Another interesting feature in this era of omnipresent TV talent shows is the ‘Frankie Say Reform’ featurette, which was originally recorded for VH1. When original Frankie Goes To Hollywood singer Holly Johnson declined to take part in the reunion, the remaining band members auditioned for a new singer. However, they can’t quite give Simon Cowell a run for his money – they actually let a team of assistants handle the first round of auditions due to some nasty hangovers! Rounding things off is a jukebox feature that lets you listen to a selection of hits as you please.
What guest of honour Prince Charles made of the evening’s entertainment is anyone’s guess, but this DVD offers a fizzy pop masterclass and a worthy tribute to Trevor Horn’s twisted pop genius. It won’t be to everyone’s taste, but pop aficionados won’t go far wrong with this heady brew.
FILM: 7
EXTRAS: 6
DVD Info:
Certificate: E
Directed By: Janet Fraser-Crook, 2004
Distributor: Clear Channel Entertainment
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Visuals: 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen
Running Time: 138mins
Price: £15.99
Special Features:
Song Selection
Jukebox Facility
‘Documentary’ Featurette
‘Frankie Say Reform’ Featurette
Tracklisting:
1. Video Killed The Radio Star (Buggles)
2. Living In The Plastic Age (Buggles)
3. Give Me Back My Heart (Dollar)
4. Slave To Rhythm (Grace Jones)
5. Poison Arrow (ABC)
6. All Of My Heart (ABC)
7. Look Of Love (ABC)
8. Close To The Edit (Art Of Noise)
9. Dr Mabuse (Propaganda)
10. Cinema (Yes)
11. Owner Of A Lonely Heart (Yes)
12. I’m A Cuckoo (Belle & Sebastian)
13. Step Into My Office (Belle & Sebastian)
14. Left To My Own Devices (Pet Shop Boys)
15. It’s Alright (Pet Shop Boys)
16. Takes A Woman To Know (Lisa Stansfield)
17. All The Things She Said (tATu)
18. Killer (Seal)
19. Kiss From A Rose (Seal)
20. Crazy (Seal)
21. Welcome To The Pleasure Dome (Frankie Goes To Hollywood)
22. Two Tribes (Frankie Goes To Hollywood)
23. Relax (Frankie Goes To Hollywood)
