ANTHOLOGY

RawPower/Castle Communications
1987 Made in England
Cat No.s
RAW TC 035 (double cassette)
RAW LP 035 (LP)
RAW CD035 (CD)

An Appreciation

In retrospect, the maestro's statement "I'm not a real star, I'm just a musical representative of certain human tendencies" fittingly cuts through the difficult gauntlet of myth, endemic to any influential character. Certainly, this anthology, spanning over 10 years of work, ratifies this, it being a full catalogue of the artist's/humanness' part to stretch, pull and push the parameters of expression. The problem once successful, is to occupy the territory gained with style.

"The Verb To Love" is a graphic example; ease into this atmospheric cocktail. The rhythm lilts, sways, stumbles an almost falls on itself .... and then picks up, not the usual form never mind the content. Yet, this is typical Todd, playing it for real, as it is, teasing the question in every way possible, almost with hue and cry,. The ice cold piano midway. A love song, without doubt, that suggests in the end, by its tenacity, that there was never a question.

For those who want the obvious, many of the tunes included could be termed romantic. The more recent single "Bang The Drum All Day", has at it's core, a love of youthful enthusiasm. "Hello It's Me" (a reheat of the Nazz single) is embued with emploring endearment, lovingly. This even extends into Todd's esoteric aspects. "Tiny Demons", a track lifted from an EP (previously only available with some copies of "hermit Of Mink Hollow") displays no fear of these elfs, only a humour and companionship. He'd be lost without them, but our hero knows no bounds. He doesn't open the gate and trudge through, he merely jumps over. Listen to the hallelujah chorus of "Can We Still Be Friends" (his most covered song).

How can one man extract so much from so little? This sleeve isn't big enough to consider the task, nor suffer the proposition of the other tracks. If Todd is worth his salt, then the clues and answers are in the music. So be it. When interviewed in the video "The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Affect, in response to "how did you become a musician?", Todd replied, "I got out of high school and didn't have an aptitude to do anything else". Now that's what I call devotion. Viva la influenza.

M.J.Rochester

Side One

Side Two