I’ll add links when I get a min Timbo.
Meantime, one of my picks, The The - Uncertain Smile.
This is the album version and I originally posted that it has to be the 12”.
Wrong! I actually love both versions but they are very different and I think I might have mixed them up in my mind. It’s the album version that has Jools’s piano solo on.
https://www.youtube.com/v/5bErFXjUGvQ
Interesting snippet (well, interesting if you like the song!) from the comments section that I never knew:-
“A bit of history behind "Uncertain Smile", which to me represents almost seven minutes of pure bliss that is over far too soon & easily ranks as one of my favourite songs EVER, not just within the context of the 80s.
Here's what I recall reading about the song's solo: Apparently, when Jools Holland arrived at the studio, he didn't have a solo mapped out. Matt Johnson had told him very little about the song on purpose, to guarantee spontaneity from the jazz pianist.
Speaking of jazz.. take note of how the type of the piano chosen & the recording methods used combined to make the solo sound a bit like it had been recorded in a jazz café. It's not quite as distant, muted, and percussive as the signature Rudy Van Gelder piano sound one hears on many of the famous Blue Note jazz recordings from the 1950s, 60s & 70s, but neither is it the bright Yamaha CP-70 piano sound that is foreever associated with the 80s - heck, even Elton John & Biily Joel switched to the CP-70. lol. So, in addition to the notes chosen, Jools Holland's contribution to "Uncertain Smile" just sounds like a jazz solo.
Anyway...so, on the day the piano solo was recorded, Jools Holland arrived, absorbed the groove & overall 'vibe' of the song, called upon his artistic instincts, and improvised through a bunch of takes. When Holland was finished, he wasn't thrilled with the results, which he felt were not complete or good enough. However, Johnson liked most of what he had heard, so Johnson spent the next few days cutting & splicing the reel-to-reel tape, choosing the best sections from all the takes & experimenting with different orders for the sections until Johnson was happy with the flow & pace of the entire solo. (BTW, this technique has also been used on some famous guitar solos from the 1960s & 70s)
Consequently, what we hear in this masterpiece composition is the huge talent, impressive 'chops' & creative interpretive skills of Jools Holland, but also Jools Holland's creative juices expertly distilled by Matt Johnson into a heady mixture of potent alt-rock & jazz.....and, yes, one of the great piano solos in the history of rock music.”
Got to admit RM that, as you’ll glean from my own faves, I’m no huge fan of synth pop/rock type stuff (is that what it’s called) such as The The and Joy division, New Order etc. I can fully appreciate the artistry that creates it but clearly I was born 20 years too soon for that stuff to reach into my soul. Some decent tunes of course but that’s as deep into my musical heartland as it goes.
In fairness, the same lukewarm sentiments go for a lot of other genres. Throwaway pop for a start, most self indulgent prog rock and heavy metal and whilst I’m at it most punk and most definitely most, rap, hip hop and what they term modern R&B.
You’d think from all those exclusions it wouldn’t leave much that did reach into my heartlands but of course that’s far from the case.
Anyroad, as it is I genuinely did enjoy Uncertain Smile and especially the Jools Holland improvised piano. Also loved reading that insight into what brought it about. Fascinating stuff.