Brother Beyond 'Be My Twin'

Chart Peak: 14
YouTube

'Be My Twin' was the 3rd hit for Carl, David, Nathan and Steve... It reached No. 14 in late January 1989 following their earlier hits 'The Harder I Try' and 'He Ain't No Competition'.

This isn't a Stock Aitken Waterman production, but the two previous singles mentioned in that sleevenote were of course; I've mentioned before the famous story that EMI bought the services of the production giants in a charity auction and asked them to do these two singles for a British boyband-with-instruments who'd had some success in Italy but failed to wow the home market. They were presumably unable or unwilling to continue the relationship, though, so they returned to the group's debut album for a follow-up single. Indeed, 'Be My Twin' was the opener on the original version of the album, though it was booted to mid-table when the set was re-issued to accommodate the SAW tracks. It did at least receive a remix from big-name 80s producer Stephen Hague (with Don Was also producing one of their other tracks, you can tell they were a big investment for the label) and in places it sounds a bit like an attempt to replicate the SAW sound with the synthesised bass.

What it doesn't really have is the catchiness of the big SAW numbers, which are hard to forget even if you want to. Neither does it do enough to distract you from Nathan Moore's rather weak singing. You can almost hear them falling between stools.

Also appearing on: Now 13, 16 (CD only)
Available on: Get Even

Brother Beyond 'Drive On'

Chart Peak: 39

YouTube

Our third and last CD-only track, so no sleeve notes again. It's a pretty minor hit, but one can only assume that at time of going to press it was expected to climb further than it actually did. With hindsight, Brother Beyond were something of a precursor to the boy-bands-with-guitars of the 2000s, their struggling career having been rescued the previous year by the intervention of our old friends Stock/Aitken/Waterman. After the first album finally became successful they made what they now acknowledge was the classic mistake of thinking they didn't need SAW and could do the next album on their own.

'Drive On' was a self-penned song; ironically enough guitarist David White is the brother of the band's original drummer Eg White, who later made quite a name for himself as a songwriter, with many a Top 10 hit under his belt. I did find a lot of them quite dull though, so I wouldn't necessarily say this was much worse, but it obviously wasn't the target audience wanted, with its grown-up moodiness and attempt at a political lyric. It also seemed to expose some less than brilliant singing and understandably only just grazed the Top 40. Even playing it safe with a cover version as the next single couldn't revive their career.

And on that not exactly uplifting note, Merry Christmas. Next post coming on Boxing Day.

Also appearing on: Now 13, 14
Available on: The Very Best Of Brother Beyond