20 August 1988
There’s a neat symmetry here: Otis Clay, who originally recorded and released ‘The Only Way Is Up’ in 1980, had started out in groups such as the Christian Travelers and the Gospel Songbirds before moving into what we could call secular music. Yazz, who has a number one hit with it in Ireland and the UK, left chart pop behind and eventually became an active Christian; in 2008 she released an album of faith-inspired songs called Running Back To You. Truly the Lord moves in mysterious ways.
Independent of its singers, ‘The Only Way Is Up’ aspires to be a feel-good inspirational anthem. The blaring trumpet at the start certainly gets me out of my seat, but otherwise this doesn’t inspire me greatly. Even at a young age I found its words of wisdom a bit odd: “But if we should be evicted from our homes / We’ll just move somewhere else” is fatuous stuff, regardless of any property crisis. Yazz’s voice, despite her forceful delivery, is pretty thin and hollow, like that of a sentient Wavin pipe. The 1988-era hi-NRG beats and cluttery effects are doing a lot of the inspiring and feel-gooding here, and it all gets tiring quickly. By the end, ‘The Only Way Is Up’ has me wondering if it’s not too late to reconsider ‘down’.
