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And another accidental connection here; 20 years later Kane Gang singer Martin Brammer co-wrote Tina's last hit to date, 'Open Arms'. This however comes from the more famous pen of Mark Knopfler, who supposedly realised at a rather late stage that this song didn't suit a male vocal and dropped it from the Love Over Gold album. In the spirit of waste not, want not, it went on to become the title track of the comeback album I referred to before as a big in-car favourite during my formative years, and this song still reminds me of motorways.
Of course, as a child I didn't grasp the meaning of the lyric. In fact, I think I even romanticised it a little by mishearing "...keeping your eyes on the wall" as "...keeping your eyes on The One", but nonetheless something in the melody and atmosphere of the track caught my attention, and it's a song I've always remembered. Now I do know what's going on, it's all the more difficult to imagine Dire Straits ever releasing this (apparently they are still on the backing track, although Jeff Beck takes over the lead guitar). It's Turner's vocal that makes it work, sounding appropriately weary but not too dark to overpower it; it seems as if the protagonist is a little in denial about the true sadness of her position.
Needless to say, this single version is heavily edited from the seven-minute album track, but most of what gets cut seems to be sax solo, which I don't consider a great loss. According to the internet, a further edit had to be made for Top Of The Pops to remove the advertising slogan "American Express will do nicely thank you". The past is a foreign country indeed.
Also appearing on: Now 1, 6, 16, 17, 18, 21, 25, 26, 32, 34, 44
Available on: All The Best
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