PETE WYLIE AND THE MIGHTY WAH!

TEACH YSELF WAH! – A BEST OF

Pete Wylie is possibly the greatest songwriter to come out of Liverpool since The Beatles. Ian McCulloch might have had better cheekbones, FGTH sold more records, but no one could write songs that dig into the deep human need for hope and reassurance that sustains us during the darkest of times like Wylie. Really, he should be up there as a British icon alongside Kevin Rowland, if not Paul Weller.

That Wylie’s case still has to be made can be put down to (a) his contrary nature – see our interview in the last issue – (b) a failure to master the album format and (c) that ridiculous policy of changing his band’s name every year.

You’d hope this long overdue Best Of might start to correct this, even if casual punters will only recognise three songs. The Story Of The Blues, Come Back and Sinful are all present and correct: heart-on-sleeve punk/soul anthems made for punching the air at stadiums. You could power the National Grid on the passion Wylie generates here.

Beyond these three are the should-have-been hits, which still seethe with a barely restrained ardour. Hope (I Wish You’d

Believe Me) strains every sinew over the course of its six-and-ahalf minutes, Diamond Girl is a 60s pop-influenced tribute to long-time girlfriend and collaborator Josie Jones, whilst Fourelevenfortyfour swings like a packed Kop.

Then there’s the closing track, the notorious Imperfect List. First released under the name Big Hard Excellent Fish in 1990, it sees Jones recite everything in hers and Wylie’s own Room 101. Mixing mundanities and societal injustices with a scathing wit, and including everything from lost keys to Hillsborough and sexual harassment to apartheid, it’s the sort of novelty record we used to do so well. Someone – perhaps Wylie himself? – really should record an updated version for 2024.