Springtime for the World

Springtime for the World
Studio album by The Blow Monkeys
Released 1990
Recorded 1989
Genre Dance, pop rock, new wave
Length 44:58 (LP)
49:24 (MC)
54:02 (CD)
Label RCA/Ariola/BMG
Producer Dr. Robert & Hector for Springtime for the World Productions
The Blow Monkeys chronology
Choices - The Singles Collection
(1989)		 Springtime for the World (1990) Blow Monkeys The Masters (1997)
Professional ratings
Review scores
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Springtime for the World was a 1990 album from The Blow Monkeys. The work represented the band's ultimate transformation into a dance music act, a direction that had been slowly started by their biggest hits ever, "It Doesn't Have to Be This Way" (Number 5 in the UK), and the album it was taken from, She Was Only a Grocer's Daughter, which, by reaching Number 20 in the UK Album Chart, in April 1987, became their only LP to enter the British chart.

The Blow Monkeys' next album, Whoops! There Goes the Neighbourhood, out in 1988, and still pervaded by a political undercurrent, enhanced the dancey vibe recently picked up by the band, culminating in their 1989 remix of the opening track, "This Is Your Life", which reached Number 32 in this new version, whereas the original track never got higher than Number 70. This earmarked the group's status as dance innovators, not only by embracing political themes, but also by seeing the potential in the dance/pop experimentation crossover, at a time when the whole dance scene had yet to go overground. It was all this that definitively convinced the group to act for a major change of genre, leading to the composition of the ten dance songs featuring on their last CD - The Blow Monkeys actually split up (after nearly ten years spent together), soon after the release of the Springtime for the World album, in late 1990.

The latter saw that fearless experimentation achieving its full fruition (and, predictably enough, consequent commercial flop). After all, being the band's last long-playing work, their path as a group had to necessarily get to some sort of conclusion, and, not at all casually, the essential red booklet, that came along with the disc, highlighted the phrase "will explode in the midday sun" (from one of the stand-out tracks, but also referred to the album title itself, Springtime for the World, and ideally linked to it, as shown by the non-capital initial letter of the quotation). So, as their label RCA released Choices - The Singles Collection (going gold on release, and reaching Number 5 - their highest achievement ever - in August 1989), The Blow Monkeys were meanwhile working on what would be an eclectic and unusual album which, despite confusing both record company and music critics, has retrospectively become revered as an innovative record, perhaps some way ahead of its time (and that's why it flopped).

The first single to be taken out was the title-track, "Springtime for the World", the only one exception of the work, with its more traditional pop rock and new wave flavour, and Dr. Robert's many layers of acoustic guitars, which had characterized the band's early works, especially their first and second albums, Limping for a Generation and Animal Magic, respectively.

The second promotional choice fell on the Balearic classic called "La Passionara", which came out in single format in a new vocally remixed version, whereas the album's track, less powerful though well constructed, was almost fully instrumental, except for the intro and some other additional tiny bits of vocals here and there, making it sound as a kind of temporary structural sketch for the final cut.

"La Passionara" was actually released as a double A-side single, also containing one of the album's stand-out tracks, "If You Love Somebody". This song, the Balearic vocal remix, and the LP's title-track were also included on a joint release, a maxi single extended play, which took the same name as the album and first single, Springtime for the World, featuring four tracks, the fourth being an alternative dub version of "If You Love Somebody".

Neither the singles, nor the album or the EP were commercial successes, only "Springtime for the World" reaching Number 69 as a single, in the UK, in May 1990, though the work also contained many other stand-out tracks, most notably the one called "Be Not Afraid", a duet with Algeria's primo raï exponent, the popular singer Cheb Khaled. The track, fully sang in Arabic, with Dr. Robert only providing some kind of "instrumental" backing voice, without uttering any words, gave the band a profile in such rarely charted pop places as Pakistan and North Africa. The booklet, the first and only from the band not to feature the full lyrics to all songs (except, of course, for greatest hits albums and collections in general), only included this tune's Arabic text, as well as a poetically suggestive English translation.

The CD and MC editions of Springtime for the World contained two bonus tracks: "The Other Side of You", which was the B-side of the independent single for "La Passionara"; and "Checking Out", a high spirited remix of a 1987 song, originally featuring on She Was Only a Grocer's Daughter, which was expanded and remodelled here, both musically and lyrically, resulting in a remarkable dancey performance, confirming the correctness of The Blow Monkeys' choice to turn to this genre, in the springtime of their career, that was about to "explode in the midday sun" (to put it in "Be Not Afraid"'s own English words), yet mostly unexplored at the time.

Track listing

  1. "In Too Deep" — 4:33 (Dr. Robert)
  2. "Springtime for the World" — 3:25 (Dr. Robert)
  3. "Vibe Alive!" — 2:50 (Dr. Robert)
  4. "Reflections '89" — 2:57 (Dr. Robert)
  5. "Be Not Afraid" — 6:54 (Robert Howard, Cheb Khaled)
  6. "If You Love Somebody" — 5:08 (Dr. Robert)
  7. "La Passionara" — 4:43 (Dr. Robert)
  8. "Let the People Dance" — 3:43 (Dr. Robert)
  9. "Fruits of the Earth" — 4:43 (Dr. Robert)
  10. "As the Dust Settles" — 6:02 (Dr. Robert)
  11. "Checking Out" — 4:56 (Dr. Robert) [CD/MC only]
  12. "The Other Side of You" — 4:38 (Howard, Kiley, Anker, Henry) [CD only]

Singles taken from the album

The Springtime for the World EP

The three songs above were also released on a joint double A-side four-track EP, collectively entitled Springtime for the World, featuring two alternative versions of "If You Love Somebody".

  1. (A1) "Springtime for the World"
  2. (A2) "La Passionara"
  3. (AA1) "If You Love Somebody" [Musto & Bones 12"]
  4. (AA2) "If You Love Somebody" [Musto & Bones Dub]

Personnel

Musicians

Production

Staff

Release details

Springtime for the World album

Country Date Label Format Catalogue
UK 1990 RCA/BMG/Ariola CD PD 74539
LP PL 7459
MC PK 74539

Springtime for the World maxi single

Country Date Label Format Catalogue
UK 1990 RCA/BMG/Ariola EP PT 43626
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