China Crisis – Black Man Ray
#quotefromthe80s
Forever change as time goes by
Yes, yes, I could be wrong
Why, why, should I pretend
God only knows in the end
#ChinaCrisis #BlackManRay
Spring was definitely blooming in the weeks around mid-March 1985. In those days a very nice single came out, which had to introduce the new album of one of the most underrated groups of the 80s. Let’s talk about China Crisis, a group with several years of experience and a lot of quality music, perhaps not excessively commercial, and always in the middle between easy listening, new wave and pop.
Gary Daly and Eddie Lundon were quite well known in the Liverpool scene, a real talent workshop in the late 1970s and mid-80s; we can think of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and Enola Gay, but also A flock of Seagulls, the great Pete Wylie and Josie Jones, the Mighty Wah of Come back, up to Frankie Goes to Hollywood themselves. The two boys had found a great producer for their next album, Walter Becker who had been a member of Steely Dan. The record company had asked them who they wanted for the next record, and they answered… someone from Steely Dan! And the request was satisfied.
China Crisis were at their third album, and the first two had impressive titles, such as Difficult Shapes & Passive Rhythms, Some People Think It’s Fun to Entertain or Working with Fire and Steel – Possible Pop Songs Volume Two. Long titles bordering with provocation. I guess they felt guilty when they chose the title of the new album, a simple Flaunt the imperfection.
The song that paved the way for the album was this beautiful Black Man Ray. A very sweet song, with a vaguely Oriental melody as the name China Crisis rightly dictates. A deep and nostalgic song, if it is true that it opens with the question “What are you thinking?” with the woman answering “Just remember all the times in this room”. A song on the wings of that feeling of doing things for the last time, maybe emptying a house where we had a good time. In short, the feeling of a page that is turning forever, halfway between tears and the hope for a better future.
The song’s title has always been mysterious. We don’t know who Black Man Ray is, a nickname that today could sound beyond political correct. The most credible theory is that Ray was a gentleman of Nigerian origin who ran a kind of youth center with a basic recording studio, where China Crisis also went to play. I do not know if this is true, but let us say that it is more plausible than other interpretations.
The video in my opinion is very beautiful, always on the wave of melancholy, and goes perfectly with the atmosphere of the song. The suggestions and memories related to the room are mixed with the images of that last moment in the room.
China Crisis are still in business, but did not achieve the popularity of Black Man Ray again. Probably their multiversed talent kept them a little stuck between various styles, and this prevented them from deepening a genre or style. Or maybe, this mix of styles was their own style.
China Crisis on Wikipedia
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