Wednesday 20 January 2010

Kane Gang 'Respect Yourself'

Chart Peak: 21

YouTube

For some reason I'd always thought that some or all of the Kane Gang were actually called Kane, and that they were Scottish. Neither of those things seems to be true, so I was probably getting them mixed up with Hue & Cry. They do seem to have a little in common, with their very 1980s take on soul music. And as if to prove the point, they make their only Now appearance with a cover version, suggesting that EMI missed the boat for their self-composed (and bigger) hit 'Closest Thing To Heaven'.

Needless to say, this is better than the Bruce Willis version [click at your own risk] but fails to convey the passion of the original. They give it a decent shot but can't transcend the very 1980s sound; perhaps it's unfair of me to criticise a record from 1984 for that, but I struggle somewhat to see the appeal of listening to this version when there are others around. The strongest thing about it is probably PP Arnold's sterling backing vocal.

Available on: The Miracle of the Kane Gang: Remastered & Expanded

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