Released
on February 11th, 1983, The The’s single, Perfect, turns 40 years old
today. It’s my favorite song ever released by Matt Johnson and
completely summed up my feelings about the the times, as well as being
the best dance floor fodder in a year with some dead-on all-time
classics in the clubs.
In 1982, Matt Johnson was working closely
with Stevo from Some Bizarre Records and jockeying with a number of
major record labels for a contract. He’d released a debut solo album
under his own name, but was now working on a debut under what would
become his more popular moniker, The The. Johnson and Stevo had gone to
NYC to work with producer Mike Thorne, who had been at the console for
the recent success of Soft Cell. They initially worked on the Uncertain
Smile single, which was released in October of 1982. Work on that song
proceeded very effectively, though there was some issues in terms of
Stevo and his verbal agreement with London Records to release the
singles. He’d reneged on that agreement and, instead, had Johnson sign a
deal with CBS/Epic, despite London Records footing the bill for their
trip to NYC.
At the time of the NYC sessions, the new album was
tentatively titled The Pornography of Despair. After the release of
Uncertain Smile, Johnson and Stevo returned to NYC to record a second
single in advance of the LP. The song they chose to work on was written
for the new album and called, Screw Up Your Feelings, but would become
re-titled as "Perfect". By the time Johnson had returned to NYC, he’d
gone from penniless to having an £80,000 advance from CBS, so he took
advantage of his financial situation to partake in some of the pleasures
of the city, disappearing from the studio to explore the Lower East
Side and take drugs. He and Stevo also took a side trip to Detroit
where Johnson felt he could spend some time really getting into the
headspace he needed to sing the lyrics for his new song, which were
about being “down-and-out”, so he wanted a taste of that lifestyle so he
could bring some authenticity to his performance.
Eventually,
the pair managed to get back into the studio to record, but by this
time, their indulgences were wearing thin on Mike Thorne’s patience and
further disagreements on the song’s production didn’t help. Thorne had
wanted to use his fancy new Synclavier sampler/synth on the track, but
Johnson was insistent on using his “cheap & cheerful” Omnichord
electronic auto-harp instead. With all this conflict, Thorne bailed
from the project after completing the single and Johnson headed back to
London to start from scratch, where he’d record the entirety of what
would become the Soul Mining LP, recording new versions of both
Uncertain Smile and Perfect.
The single for Perfect, especially
it’s 12” extended mix, clocking in at nearly 10 minutes, became an
immediate sensation on the dance floors of the underground and
alternative clubs. I had just started going out to them at exactly the
time this song was released and I remember being immediately enthralled
by it from the very first listen. I have to agree with Matt about that
Omnichord because the bass sound it created is completely essential to
the song’s groove, backed up by that insistent, hypnotic Linn Drum
machine back-beat. And that high-lonesome harmonica on it was played by
none other than New York Dolls front-man, David Johansen. Lyrically,
Matt tapped into the quintessential mood of youthful despondence and
malaise that was essential for the emerging Goth/Industrial dance scene
of the day. His lyrics were so poetic and I had so many days like that
where his words echoed in my head as my post-teen angst over the sadness
of the world loomed in my mind. Yet it was all done with this killer
fucking groove.
Every time this song came on in a club, I HAD to
get on the dance floor, and I was NOT at all into dancing in clubs
before this, being painfully shy and self-conscious. This song, along
with Blue Monday by New Order and All Lined UP from Shriekback, were
irresistible when they came on. Heaven forbid some DJ should play all
three in sequence, which I distinctly remember happening at least once,
necessitating nearly a 30 minute continuous stint of high energy
boogieing until I was a sweaty rag doll. It remains one of my all time
favorite songs, EVER!!!
