In an era dominated by all kinds of pastiche, it’s fascinating to realise pastiche of this caliber is simply overlooked. Sheer Bacharach, and yet something else. They were big in the 1980s as a kind of more tangible version of Sade, and within the confines of their musical idioms they actually flourished beyond reasonable expectations – and beyond Sade (not that -that- would take much, I dare say).
Or maybe the overlooking of Swing Out Sister is something else entirely: maybe “pastiche” is no longer applicable. I spent some classroom time last week rambling on the difference of “black and white photography as an aesthetic or narrative resource versus black and white as a fake nod to a past that never really existed”. As a pedagogical resource, it is perfectly valid; in broader, philosophical terms, it may be irrelevant.
The nights are now getting shorter… There is Hope.
