Imagination:
Flashback, The Very Best Of:
Sony Music:
Out Now:
★★★1/2
There was a time, during the early to mid '80s to be precise, that three grown men dressed in foil-lined trousers and jackets might have been sneered at by soul purists. After three straight successful years of slick, polished and near-the-knuckle sex-pop, the very British vocal trio Imagination are perhaps having the last laugh some three decades later.
Formed in the early part of a decade where pretty much anything came and went, key songwriter and falsetto-tonsilled lead-singer Leee John and his merry duo crossed more boundaries than first appeared. When Brit-funk petered out, the likes of Linx, Beggar and Co and Central Line were struggling to keep up with the New Romantics, Durannies and Whams of this world - Imagination on the other hand injected memorable pop hooks and ever-so-slightly suggestive lyrics and gave birth to commercial payload.
Mention 'Body Talk' to anyone old enough to remember Top Of The Pops and they'll remember the slow-grind beat, the sensitive strings and the dripping hot sultry gaze cast from John's flamboyant persona. In essence, Imagination left very little to the, er, imagination. In reality, I can name a few girlfriends of my acquaintance (back in the day) who lost control of their hormones when that or 'Music and Lights' came on the radio, including one who normally dressed as a goth and worshipped Sisters Of Mercy. I know, I know but it was true.
'Body Talk' kicks off this new 15-track compilation in grand style (the full album mix, no less) and is followed by the typical likes of the perkier title-track, the similar 'In and Out of Love' and the two key highlights here, 'Just an Illusion' and the U.S. club hit 'Burnin' Up', a track that surprisingly failed to hit big over here - squeeze in 10 more b.p.m.s and you'd have a piano-house classic ahead of its time. Add in 'Looking at Midnight' and 'In the Heat of the Night' and you have a string of smash singles, all of which earned them regular airplay on Radio 1 and TOTP.
But then, after eight consecutive Top 40 hits, Imagination's star began to fade. 1984 brought just the one modest hit in 'Thank You My Love' before the lean years set in. After dabbling in the UK garage scene and a spot of reality TV, Leee John has reclaimed the Imagination brand, forged ahead with a UK tour and knocked out two new songs for this compilation, one of which 'Krash (All Nite Long)' sounds like the glory days of the mid-'80s, the other 'The Truth' comes across as a little too Prince for comfort.
Overall though, for the first nine songs alone, 'Flashback' is a sturdy resume of one of Brit-soul's long-forgotten but still revered pop outfits that sold an incredible amount of records in a short space of time.
For information about Imagination shows, head to Allgigs here
Flashback, The Very Best Of:
Sony Music:
Out Now:
★★★1/2
Formed in the early part of a decade where pretty much anything came and went, key songwriter and falsetto-tonsilled lead-singer Leee John and his merry duo crossed more boundaries than first appeared. When Brit-funk petered out, the likes of Linx, Beggar and Co and Central Line were struggling to keep up with the New Romantics, Durannies and Whams of this world - Imagination on the other hand injected memorable pop hooks and ever-so-slightly suggestive lyrics and gave birth to commercial payload.
Mention 'Body Talk' to anyone old enough to remember Top Of The Pops and they'll remember the slow-grind beat, the sensitive strings and the dripping hot sultry gaze cast from John's flamboyant persona. In essence, Imagination left very little to the, er, imagination. In reality, I can name a few girlfriends of my acquaintance (back in the day) who lost control of their hormones when that or 'Music and Lights' came on the radio, including one who normally dressed as a goth and worshipped Sisters Of Mercy. I know, I know but it was true.
'Body Talk' kicks off this new 15-track compilation in grand style (the full album mix, no less) and is followed by the typical likes of the perkier title-track, the similar 'In and Out of Love' and the two key highlights here, 'Just an Illusion' and the U.S. club hit 'Burnin' Up', a track that surprisingly failed to hit big over here - squeeze in 10 more b.p.m.s and you'd have a piano-house classic ahead of its time. Add in 'Looking at Midnight' and 'In the Heat of the Night' and you have a string of smash singles, all of which earned them regular airplay on Radio 1 and TOTP.
But then, after eight consecutive Top 40 hits, Imagination's star began to fade. 1984 brought just the one modest hit in 'Thank You My Love' before the lean years set in. After dabbling in the UK garage scene and a spot of reality TV, Leee John has reclaimed the Imagination brand, forged ahead with a UK tour and knocked out two new songs for this compilation, one of which 'Krash (All Nite Long)' sounds like the glory days of the mid-'80s, the other 'The Truth' comes across as a little too Prince for comfort.
Overall though, for the first nine songs alone, 'Flashback' is a sturdy resume of one of Brit-soul's long-forgotten but still revered pop outfits that sold an incredible amount of records in a short space of time.
For information about Imagination shows, head to Allgigs here
