Arlene Phillips' Hot Gossip* – Geisha Boys And Temple Girls

While Martyn Ware and Ian Marsh forever deserve respect for their contribution to the history of modern (electro) pop, their post-MK I Human League ambitions showed worrying signs of self-indulgence even then, with this, Hot Gossip's lonesome LP attempt definitely remaining one of the weakest in their (early) catalogue.

Personally, as an admirer of their early BEF/Heaven 17 work, I remember being particularly intrigued by this album (as well as "Music of Quality & Distinction" V/A LP), only to face the bottom line of it; teaming up with Arlene Phillips' dance troupe, Ware and Marsh probably hoped to re-gain, at least some of the public interest in earlier HL material (they already did a similar thing, butchering "Being Boiled" that appeared on "Travelogue") - especially as synth-pop got its glorious second coming with Human League MK II's massive success of "Dare!" (or even more so, their own tedious exercise known as "Love And Dancing").

And while the idea behind Hot Gossip's renditions doesn't sound as bad on paper, the performances have very little (if anything) to offer. The vocals especially, whether male or female, are so painfully flat, shallow and generic - but it's not the only problem; here, Ware and Marsh sound so stuck up their own arses in a pathetic attempt to compete on the market, exploring "commercial possibilities" of their output, presenting BEF as "the norm". Comparing Hot Gossip's versions of "Circus Of Death", "The Word Before Last" - even "I Don't Depend On You" - to the timeless (and of course, superior) originals, brings the impression of nothing short of a total self-parody. "Soul Warfare" and "Geisha Boys" themselves, needless to say, feature the original bits or entire instrumentals borrowed for the occasion, straight off of Heaven 17's very own "Penthouse & Pavement" for a dreadful karaoke fest.

But to show how dreadful it can really get, try and listen to BEF/troupe's attempt at rendering Talking Heads' "Houses In Motion" - and then cast the album aside like a frisbee... Nostalgists will defend this album but their sentimentality aside, it doesn't save this album from being one big crappy exercise.