Huang Chung Tonight

I just received The Best of Wang Chung from my CD club www.yourmusic.com, a bargain at 6 bucks! The late 70's produced a number of bands that were, to coin an oxymoron, "intelligent punk" - children of the mid-70's punk phenomenon that were talented nevertheless - The Police, XTC and Tears for Fears come to mind. Huang Chung were trying to break into this niche when we used to go down to the 101 Club in Clapham and see them perform, led by Sting-wannabe Jack Hues (the liner notes of this CD are very informative - Jack attended the Royal College of Music and "Jack Hues" (note "Hues" not "Hughes") is a nom de tune based on "j'accuse"!). Some of the songs we heard there appeared on their first album (which I still have), including the wonderfully titled I Never Want to Love You in a Half Hearted Way ( "a love that's fallen, that makes no sense Is better than indifference"), Hold Back the Tears and Dancing.

Richard, Duncan and I loved those songs (and I still do), though, sadly but predictably, none of these appear on the Best of. For Huang was westernized to Wang and the band's thoughts turned to having fun - Dance Hall Days, What's So Bad About Feeling Good, Everybody Have Fun Tonight. As these titles suggest, the band turned bland and these are lightweight catchy offerings compared with the initial promise of Huang. But that said, they are fun stuff, Jack's unique intonation is ever-catchy, and there are flashes of brilliance here and there: Everybody is an infectious dance number (with the now classic lyric "everyone wang chung tonight") that includes a wonderfully anomalous middle section - modulating down a major third, Jack suddenly bursts out "On the edge of oblivion All the world is Babylon And all the love and everyone A ship of fools sailing on". I guess the message is "enjoy now for tomorrow we die". And Don't Let Go is somewhat Huang-ish in its pulsing verses. Worth 6 bucks, but hardly worthy of the moniker on the CD cover "20th Century Masters".

Wang's last album was 1989's Warmer Side of Cool. It's final track is something unusual for them - a slow heavy number, worthy of 70's Genesis, whose repeating chorus contains a brief excerpt from Huang's Dancing. I guess dancing music was what they were about all along!