YEARS AND YEARS

HUCKNALL’S BEST LONG-PLAYERS

Simply Red Picture Book

(Elektra EKT 27, LP, UK, 1985) £5

Hard to believe that, when they started, Simply Red’s mix of socialism and soul music aligned them with The Style Council and Redskins. Their cover of The Valentine Brothers’ Money’s Too Tight To Mention signalled Hucknall knew his stuff. A cover of Talking Heads’ Heaven provided their debut album’s other peak.

Simply Red Men And Women

(WEA WX 85, LP, UK, 1987) £4

Hucknall’s reading of Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye proved he could take on the classics. The Right Thing proved he could write one of his own. Unhappy while it was made, he nevertheless got to write two songs, Infidelity and Suffer, with Lamont Dozier, one of his heroes.

The Frantic Elevators Singles

(Essential! Records ESMCD 797, CD, UK, 2000) £4

Over a serious of short, furious, Buzzcocks-inspired blasts, the fledgling Hucknall convinces as a punk frontman. But there has yet to be a complete anthology of his early group’s work, instead just their 45 and EP from ’79 reissued multiple times. This is the latest iteration.

Hucknall Tribute To Bobby (simplyred.com R2 511844, CD, UK, 2008) £4

What it says on the tin: Hucknall’s first of two solo albums sees him putting his own stamp on 12 Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland songs. Farther On Up The Road is jazzy with a dance beat; Stormy Monday Blues has him vamping over an acid funk groove.

Simply Red Time

(Warners 5054197429996, LP, UK, 2023) £20

With his wild years behind him, Time sees Hucknall growing old gracefully and pondering what makes him tick on songs celebrating family and love. The voice is still very much intact, as is the pop-soul with mass appeal.