17 December 1983
Congratulations to anyone in early 1983 who predicted that the year’s Christmas number one in the UK and Ireland would be an a cappella version of a 1982 synth-pop hit performed by a group of flamboyantly-dressed socialist actors named after their previous participation in industrial strike action.
The Yazoo original, kept off the top of the charts in both territories by Nicole’s Euro-folk-mass ditty ‘A Little Peace’, showcased Alison Moyet’s towering vocal performance: dignified strength shot through with traces of uncertainty and hurt, like veins of colour in a slab of marble. It’s a fine little song too, and Vince Clarke adorns it with plenty of charming synth hooks. In hindsight you can see its appeal for a vocal group; chapeau to whoever in this particular vocal group had the foresight to choose it.
The Flying Pickets aim for a quieter show of dignity, which suits the song’s reflective mood just as well. The opening “ba-da-da-da” is soothing and reassuring, and every vocal contribution is restrained and precise; no showy melisma or stagey scat. What scuttles their version for me is the production, and specifically the echoing reverb that soaks each individual voice. As a result, the track has no space to breathe; by the end I almost had a headache. Oddly enough, it makes The Flying Pickets’ version sound more artificial and novelty than the delicacy and poise of Yazoo’s. A synth act sounding warmer and more human than a vocal group; I doubt you’d have predicted that in 1983 either.
