ZTT Records co-founder Trevor Horn was the man behind Buggles, giving us the immortal “Video Killed the Radio Star”, but is perhaps best known for producing Frankie Goes to Hollywood and their notorious number one hit single “Relax”. His output is nothing if not diverse having worked with artists such as Roy Orbison, Tom Jones and, famously, with the session musician collective known as (The) Art of Noise. This ensemble included classically-trained Anne Dudley, later to compose the terrifically jolly theme tune of “Jeeves and Wooster”! As is usually the case when making choices, I prefer some of Trevor’s lesser known output. In particular, Propaganda’s “A Secret Wish” is one of my three favourite non-Roxy Music pop/rock albums of all-time (the others being Siouxsie and the Banshee’s “The Scream” and Magazine’s “Real Life”).
“A Secret Wish” spawned the hit single “Duel”, one of the finest pop songs of the Eighties and this post’s featured clip, and, before that, the equally excellent “Dr. Mabuse” which unforgettably asks, “Why does it hurt when my heart misses the beat?”. Trevor Horn also produced a single by a little known Parisian chanteuse called Anne Pigalle, “He! Stranger”, which is also well worth a listen. And, bringing us into the 21st Century, he has applied his skill to making Russian pop duo t.A.T.u. accessible to a British audience, initially with the single “All the Things She Said”. If you don’t know the song “Duel”, or even if you do, give it a listen but try and divorce your mind from the theatrics of the video, fun though they are, as I’d be interested in knowing what you all think of the track. I’d also be interested in knowing what are your all-time favourite albums?
