7 June 1986
Falling almost halfway between Gilbert O’Sullivan and James Blunt in time, sound and fashion, Mick Hucknall in 1986 was still kind of tolerable. You can hear why ‘Holding Back The Years’ was such a hit. Yes, it’s bland pseudo-soul like most Simply Red songs, but this one has streaks of genuine hurt and bitterness, meaning it doesn’t completely capitulate to the ersatz nostalgia of its “I’ll keep holding on” refrain and sugar-coated trumpet accompaniment.
Hucknall’s colossal ego already manifests itself here, though. For all its sparse restraint in other aspects, ‘Holding Back The Years’ is buttered, jammed and creamed with his constant vocalising. Whoever wrongly told him he had a soulful voice worth noticing—himself, perhaps, or a cruel and unjust God—is responsible for a lot of subsequent needless suffering.
