YouTube
I don't think I still have it, but back in 1996, Polydor sent me a print of the picture used for the cover of this single (relax girls) to try and induce me to buy the thing. I didn't, in the end, because I made do with the album, but the very fact that the marketing budget ran to these lengths is, I suppose, a sign of how successful Cast actually were for a while. To wit, their first ten singles (of which this was the fourth) all entered the Top 20, more than half even reaching the Top 10, then suddenly as the turn of the century neared it all seemed to vanish and they're barely mentioned now.
Cast were as identifiably Liverpudlian a band as Space, but in other respects they were really quite different; although normally grouped among the later Britpop groups, they never seemed to be that fussed about being considered alternative; they just wanted to get on with it. To that end, 'Walkaway' [all one word, I don't know why either] is a simple, Merseybeat-esque ballad that doesn't exactly break new ground lyrically but is remarkably well put together, with the assistance of John Leckie's sure-footed though subtle production. Cast arrived on the record racks with an excellent reputation as a live act, and they don't seem to have needed a lot of fuss to get this down on tape, before doubtless heading to the pub. I'm not going to go so far as to agree with the YouTube uploader who called this "One of the greatest ballads ever", but it's one track that I enjoyed more than I expected to. I noticed a rather pretty bit of string arrangement just after the instrumental break too.
Also appearing on: Now 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 43
Available on:All Change
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