When the question of the most embarrassing album in your collection comes up, my instinctive reaction is to point at my Dollar album. It’s true at college this LP used to be well hidden below my Stranglers, Jam, Cure and plenty of other trendy punk/new wave albums at the time.
Dollar were formed as an offshoot of Guys And Dolls, a cheesy three girl/three boy line up that made The Brotherhood of Man seem edgy, and when Thereza Bazar and David van Day split to form Dollar it initially seemed to be a recipe of more of the same.
However, the release of the ballad “Love’s Got A Hold Of Me” featuring the soft, fragile vocal from Thereza rather than the dominant vocals from Van Day was an eye-opener, and hinted that there was something promising lurking under the surface.
After a couple more throw-away singles, Dollar teamed up with ex-Buggles song-writer/producer Trevor Horn, who contributed four songs to their third LP, and also brought along Bruce Woolley ( ex-Buggles ) and Anne Dudley ( who went on to work with a whole cornucopia of artistes from ABC, Lloyd Cole, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Rod Stewart and Wham amongst others ).
The result was four stunning singles from the pop/synth, vaguely new wave genre, all of which charted in the UK Top 20, after which Bazar and Van Day then recorded additional material to complete an album. This produced another hit single and several other songs which remained in my consciousness, and looking at the track listing, there was only two songs I couldn’t remember.
My copy of the LP still had a £5.99 sticker on the cover from Our Price.
The track
listing of the album was structured so that the strong Trevor Horn songs were to the fore on each side. Therefore, side one begins with “Mirror Mirror ( Mon Armour )” the
second single from the LP. A mid-tempo song, lyrically it could be David declaring his love for himself " I've been looking at you you've been looking at me, And I want you to know that I like what I see" !
The second
song is for me, the most memorable on the whole LP, as again Thereza had a rare prominent
part on “Give Me Back My Heart” especially in the coda, which gives the song an
almost heavenly feel. Starting as a slow ballad with a catchy chorus, there is an urgent piano break before the pace almost comes to a halt. However, it is just temporary before launching into the soaring finale.
“Hand Held In Black And White” was the first single released and is another fine example of electronic/dance pop, and has a great bass line submerged beneath the synths and piano." On a ticket Tokyo return, colour evening palaces that burn"
Written by Theresa, the dreamy "Pink And Blue" shows Dollar were not totally reliant on Trevor Horn material as it has one of the strongest hooks an the whole album,
Van Day's "I Got Your Number Wrong" continues the formula of a slow verse followed by a big chorus, and whilst suitable for a bland Saturday Evening family entertainment show, there is nothing memorable about it.
"Guessing Games" has an electronic beat intro similar to New Order's Bizarre Love Triangle but its the strong chorus that takes the track out of the mundane. "Tell me why your face won't fit the frame, its not a guessing game."
The Van Day/Bazar "Give Me Some Kinda Magic" opens side two which again has the slow verse/big chorus and was the one non-Trevor Horn hit from the album. It also has a great synthesizer break before another big finish "You give me some kinda magic, and I don't wanna lose my hold on you"
"Videotheque" is as far away from cheesy pop as it is possible for electronica to get, bold, confident and futuristic. Duran Duran, Ultravox, The Pet Shop Boys and their ilk would have been proud to have released this song. Bucks Fizz eat your hearts out ! "At the videotheque we can dance forever......Ghosts are only lovers on the screen"
"Dangerous Blondes" is very much an album filler, a little silly and whilst inoffensive, instantly forgettable.
"You Made Me Love You" is another slow ballad, it's quiet nice, whereas "Anyone Who's Anyone" is a lively toe-tapper with a strong hook "Had a date last night, now I've got me a brand new boyfriend"
The LP closes with "The Second Time Around", which is perhaps the only dud track out of the 12 on show here.
Overall, The Dollar Album remains a very good album from a seriously under-rated duo.
Track Listing :
Side One :
1. Mirror Mirror ( Mon Armour )
2. Give Me Back My Heart
3. Hand Held In Black And White
4. Pink And Blue
5. I Got Your Number Wrong
6. Guessing Games
1. Give Me Some Kinda Magic
2. Videotheque
3. Dangerous Blondes
4. You Made Me Love You
5. Anyone Who's Anyone
6. The Second Time Around
Released 1982
UK Chart Position : 18
Singles :
Hand Held In Black And White ( No 19 - 1981 )
Mirror Mirror ( Mon Armour ) ( No 4 - 1981 )
Give Me Back My Heart ( No 4 - 1982 )
Videotheque ( No 17 - 1982 )
Give Me Some Kinda Magic ( No 34 - 1982 )
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