Terence Trent D'Arby - Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby (1987)

Note: this release was originally purchased as a cassette tape, later replaced by a CD.

A spring/summer album for me (see personal memory, below). To be honest, I didn't give this album much of a chance when it was released even though it was breath of fresh air in the world of late '80s R&B. That said, I certainly enjoy it more now than I did then. To my admittedly contrarian way of thinking, it didn't help that to promote this release, TTD went around declaring himself a genius, and allegedly describing his debut as better than the Beatles' legendary Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (I could not locate any primary sources for the Beatles boast, but I really didn't put in much effort -ed.). The Beatles it ain't, but once you get past the silly lyrics and vocal pitch problems, there's a lot of good grooves here, helped along by co-producer Martyn Ware (Heaven 17, British Electric Foundation).

The album was awarded the Grammy award in the (now-discontinued) category of Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male.

Press of the time:

• Billboard: "so impressive it simply can't miss"
• CashBox: "one of the freshest, sassiest, most welcome breezes to whistle through this year."
• Rolling Stone: "D'Arby's writing isn't always up to the measure of his vocal prowess."
• Smash Hits (9⅔ out of 10): "no one could ever sing these pop pilferings quite as unbelievably confidently and blisteringly brilliant as he can."
• Stereo Review: "isn't as good as you want it to be."

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #4
• Billboard Pop CD: #3
• Billboard R&B: #1

Tracks, ranked in order of personal preference:

1. Wishing Well (#1 pop, #1 R&B, #7 Dance, #44 AC)
2. Dance Little Sister (#30 pop, #9 R&B, #7 Dance)
3. If You Let Me Stay (#68 pop, #19 R&B, #47 Dance)
4. Who's Lovin' You
5. Rain
6. Let's Go Forward
7. I'll Never Turn My Back On You (Father's Words)
8. Sign Your Name (#4 pop, #2 R&B, #13 AC, #23 Dance)
9. Seven More Days
10. If You All Get To Heaven
11. As Yet Untitled

I've never heard another song like Wishing Well - the sparseness of the arrangement coupled with TTD's pleading vocals. I also enjoy many of the song's updated attempts at Motown soul. I must not have listened to side two of my cassette very often because when I bought the CD, I had no memory of the later tracks.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Even though this album was released in the US in the fall of 1987, I didn't buy it until the spring of 1988, which leads me to The Lost Summer Of Mark memories. In particular, I'm reminded of the end-of-semester party me and my two roommates held at our small house near campus. Our aim was to have the party go from noon one day until noon the next day, and while we started on time, things sputtered to an end in the early morning by which point all the living room furniture had been moved to the front yard. The party even had its own promo poster, courtesy of a friend who was majoring in art:

My roommates and I all had permanent addresses
in San Antonio so our house was normally referred
to as "The San Antonio House"

I'm not sure any legacies actually began that evening, but you never know. Yes, May 11 was a Wednesday - what of it? Anyway, while cleaning up the next day and preparing for a run to take all the empty beer cans to the local recycling center, I remember this album playing.