The original Thompson Twins were a bungling detective duo in the comic strip The Adventures of Tin Tin. The English pop band on the other hand formed in 1977 and after several line-up changes became a trio of Tom Bailey, Alannah Currie, and Joe Leeway. What’s remarkable is that Thompson Twins were far from a one hit wonder some would consider them and instead regularly hit the dance and singles charts throughout the 80s. The first few tracks on the Greatest Hits from 1996 show off their off-centre dance tracks including the shouty chorus of “Lies” and the minimal Russian sounding “We Are Detective” that reached #7 in the UK singles chart.
The band saw their big breakthrough with one of the more memorable tracks of the early 80s, “Hold Me Now”. Adding a fat bassline and an emotional core to the lyrics, the track went top 5 on both sides of the Atlantic. In total, 5 singles were released from the Into The Gap album including “Doctor! Doctor!” and the harmonica lead “You Take Me Up”. “Lay Your Hands on Me” was the first single from the band’s next album, Here’s to Future Days. The track has a similar sound to what made “Hold Me Now “ so successful but adds religious undertones to the lyrics.
“King For a Day” was their last track to reach the top 10 in the US. After that, the band went down to a duo after Joe Leeway left. The album finishes with a few decent adult pop tracks from later albums. The core of Thompson Twins’ Greatest Hits lies with the tracks from Into The Gap and Here’s To Future Days, it was there the band established itself as perkier little brother/sister to the morose sound of Robert Smith. They developed pop smarts but never lost their quirky side which made them a favourite mid 80s pop band.
8.5/10
The Light Appears 