Cocktail Hour And Cool Emotions (Teldec, 1985)

Review
1985 was the year of the Teldec sampler. The West German record company released Power Of Love, Hot Music Summer, Super Maxis on CD and this one, Cocktail Hour And Cool Emotions. This succinct 12 track compilation has a late night laid-back feel which is borne out by the groovy female silhouette on the sleeve.

Start: Matt Bianco and Whose Side Are You On. Waiters and microdots. Weird, eerie and dorky. Basia in the video. Followed by the mod stomp of Big Sound Authority and This House (Is Where Your Love Stands). Julie Hawden’s powerful vocal and a memorable Top Of The Pops appearance during January 1985. This was also the era of The Style Council. My Ever Changing Moods is here; the piano arrangement that was included on Café Bleu. The jazz club vibe continues with Everything But The Girl and Tracie. Each And Every One was originally compiled on The Hits Album while (I Love You) When You Sleep was performed on The Tube in 1984. Written by Elvis Costello and produced by Paul Weller.

Men in black: The Stranglers and The European Female. Magical with a brilliant intro and an Iberian flavour. The obscure Mubare and their long-forgotten Man At The Door is a sinister story of surveillance. Next: the bossanova shuffle of Girl From Ipanema which works brilliantly here.
“The paradigm of the young Carioca: a golden teenage girl, a mixture of flower and mermaid, full of light and grace, the sight of whom is also sad, in that she carries with her, on her route to the sea, the feeling of youth that fades, of the beauty that is not ours alone—it is a gift of life in its beautiful and melancholic constant ebb and flow”.
(Vinícius de Moraes)

Denise Jannah’s Halloween is evocative Amsterdam nightclub intenso. Time for some non-stop erotic cabaret with Jon Mark and Johnny Almond. The City was a long suite from their 1971 debut; the first section titled The City: Grass And Concrete is reproduced here. It blends into the blue bossa jam of Cocktail Hour from avant-garde jazz funkateers Defunkt. The beat winds down with Terri Wells. Who’s That Stranger mixes smooth boogie with a vibraphone and a great melody. Closing time.

Favourite tracks
The Stranglers – The European Female

Terri Wells – Who’s That Stranger

Lest we forget
Tracie – (I Love You) When You Sleep