45 REVELATIONS
The perfect pop record of 1987 has arrived. Actually, it arrived in mid-1986 in Australia, but it took me until 1987 to get hold of it, plus the album it’s on just came out in the U.S. (it should be a single here late in the year or even in 1988), so I say it’s the pop record of 1987 and let’s get to it.
45 REVELATIONS
Ken Barnes
SINGLE OF THE MONTH
The perfect pop record of 1987 has arrived. Actually, it arrived in mid-1986 in Australia, but it took me until 1987 to get hold of it, plus the album it’s on just came out in the U.S. (it should be a single here late in the year or even in 1988), so I say it’s the pop record of 1987 and let’s get to it.
“Before Too Long” by Paul Kelly & The Coloured Girls (who, being neither coloured nor girls, have been renamed the Messengers for American consumption) is damnably difficult to describe without dallying with dangerous superlative references to the Beatles and other kiss-ofdeath comparisons. Nevetheless, those are the comparisons that come to mind; this record has the timeless qualities of an instant pop classic. You can hum the tune after the first verse, and it’s resonating in your bloodstream after one hearing. The spare, to-the-point guitar breaks hit just the right notes, and the harmonies are gorgeous. Make sure you hear it.
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