Morrissey
and Siouxsie are the latest in a long line of singers teaming up to
prove that two is better (or more profitable) than one
When perfect
soul couple Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston sang It Takes Two back in 1966,
they could have had little idea of the bizarre musical pairings that
were to follow. Released this week, the latest in a long line of
unlikely duets features Morrissey and Siouxsie (she of the Banshees),
who have joined fleetingly for Interlude, a single which the record
company insists unites "two of pop's major ironists".
"Ironists"
perhaps, misanthropes certainly. Combine the passionate pessimism of the
songwriter who penned Girlfriend in a Coma with the dour diva who sang
Love in a Void, and the result is a double dose of misery that will be
hard to equal. Interlude is a lugubrious, haunting and occasionally off
key ballad, which should do neither party's enviable reputation for
wretchedness any harm. But it seems peculiar that they should have
teamed up at all.
Morrissey is
the quintessential loner who spent his teenage years holed up in his
bedroom, Siouxsie the fiercely independent first-lady of punk with a one
time penchant for dominatrix outfits. You'd have thought Morrissey was
too shy to show his tonsils and Siouxsie to haughty to hand over the
mike.
But perhaps
they're just kowtowing to fashion.
There's always
a subtext to these odd couplings, sometimes no more than a smart move by
a record company to the mutual benefit of two of its signings.
"Putting people together can be an attempt to broaden an artist's
or music's appeal", explains Steve Redmond, editor of trade bible
Music Week.
It's easy to
see why Elton's at it. He was dogged for many years by the fact that
despite being one of the country's best-selling artists, his only number
one was Don't Go Breaking My Heart, a duet with Kiki Dee released in
1976. It took him another 14 years to do it on his own with Sacrifice.
In the meantime, he'd partnered Millie Jackson, John Lennon and the
Muscle Shoals Horns, Cliff Richard, Dionne Warwick, Jennifer Rush and
Aretha Franklin. He'll try anything that Elton.
It can also be
an image thing. Better than pulling on a new jacket, pull in a new
partner, and you'll suddenly be seen in a different light. Even the
hopelessly naff English footie squad recognised the tactic and looked to
New Order for some indie chic before setting off for Italia 90.
But the
ultimate mismatch has to be Bing Crosby and David Bowie, who came
together for Peace on Earth / Little Drummer Boy, which reached number
three in 1983. It was difficult enough to listen to the song, but quite
impossible to watch the frosty-edged footage of the spaced-out androgyne
and the be-cardiganed granddaddy belting it out from under a Christmas
tree.
So perhaps
Morrissey and Siouxsie aren't such an unlikely double act after all.
Perhaps they're working on the premise that two people can generate
twice as many sales. More charitably, they could be playing a knowing
post-modern joke on the record buying public. Let's face it, we're
dealing with a pair of pop's major ironists here. Jim Davies
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