FDF Volume 3 Issue 299 - Go West - Go West

Album – Go West

Artist – Go West
Key Players – Richard Drummie – keyboards, bass and vocals. Peter Cox – vocals, guitar, keyboards.

Produced By – Gary Stevenson

Release Date - 1985

What caused me to blow off the dust? - I heard one of the singles on satellite radio, twice in the same weekend. I guess it was meant to be?

Overview – Formed in 1982, London England band “Go West” had a publishing deal before they had a band. They'd record two songs that would be enough to get the recording contract they needed. Their debut album would crack the UK top 10 (8) and the US Top 100 (peaking at 60). The moderate success would afford them the ability to record follow ups. Although success on a grand scale seemed to elude them. By 1990 the band had a song on the Pretty Woman soundtrack (King of Wishful Thinking). They'd win an ASCAP award for it being one of the most played songs that year. By the early 90's the band had started doing things on their own terms and have slowly released solo to best of collections.

FDF Comments (aka the songs) - “We Close Our Eyes”, a well know single opens the album. The electric drums open and the keyboards are right up on you, but have layers. Cox has a solid baritone voice and the bounce of the track is fun. There are a lot of keyboard fills and the chorus is accented nicely with Drummies harmonies. The hand claps and accents make it a perfect time capsule for 80's synth pop. “Don't Look Down” is another big single from the record. Again the drums feel very canned, but the keyboards are again bright. Alan Murphy provides two short guitar solos to mix things up. Drummie has some solid work with the bass on “Call Me”. The two sing a bit towards falsetto and are comfortable taking the vocal tandem. There is a longer keyboard break down with a mix between speakers for the vocals over the buzzy loop. Katie Humble offers some of the higher harmonies on the track. “Eye to Eye” is a little slower on the tempo, with a bit more of a soul feel to it. The keyboards and percussion are the dominate forces here. To add to the soul feel Mel Collins offers a saxophone solo towards the end and through the fade. We have dueling keyboards at the intro for “Haunted” The pace slows as Cox begins to sing. The guitars are here again, and Cox has even more to work with as Humble joins him. Murphy has a clean solo over the bass line from the keyboard. They all return for another run at the chorus and a final verse. “S.O.S” has a solid intro capturing all those classic 80's keyboard/synth moments. The drums and guitar try to keep up, but we are on marching band time here. No departure from what you'd hear otherwise. Gary Stevenson adds more guitar as Murphy solos again. “Goodbye Girl” is another slower track from the album. Cox pushing a little vocally but it all feels very dated. “Innocence” and “Missing Persons” wrap up the record, with the same style we've gotten used to. Not terrible, but really can't hold up to the first two songs.

Where are they now? - The duo are still active as “Go West”. They released a three part album of eps in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Cox took a break from Go West in 1997 and released a solo record and has since released a few more. In 2009 he took over lead vocal duties for Manfred Manns' Earth Band

FDF Personal Comments (aka the Live experience) – Never saw them live.

FDF Overall Take – I'll admit I like the first two songs, always have. The rest of this sort of plays out like a time capsule though. Very much the “same” through out to these ears, and not overly interesting. The cd is easy to find for the cheap, but look for a best of that has the tune from Pretty Woman that so many folks seemed to like.

Links

 

Go West fans on Facebook
 

Curious? Check out some MUSIC!

We Close Our Eyes

 

Don't Look Down

You can still grab the cd at places like amazon

Disclaimer – I am just a music fan. Feel free to comment about something that may be written incorrectly about the band/members etc. I strive to have a fun and enjoyable site. This site used to post mp3s but ran in to many issues. The audio clips provided are usually from YouTube. No copy write infringement is intended. Please alert me if something should be pulled. Finally, support the artist featured, or your favorite artist by purchasing their music, seeing their shows if possible and saying hi. They need your support.