BLACK Comedy (A&M)

Black (a.k.a Liverpudlian Colin Vearncombe) was a kind of late 80s equivalent of The Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon - just as dapper, but without the irony oozing from every pore. "Comedy" is his/their second album, notable for containing a re-recording of his/their undoubted finest moment, the sublime "Wonderful Life", which you may know from its revival on an advert a few years back. Unfortunately the remainder of the album has aged less gracefully, with a nightmarishly faddish production sadly typical of the times and lightweight songs that make contemporaries like Deacon Blue and China Crisis look like The Smiths or The Wedding Present. Nevertheless, "All We Need Is The Money", dedicated to the people of Liverpool, is not unpleasant, and it's still worth picking up the album for the might of "Wonderful Life" alone.