Joan Armatrading: Secret Secrets (1985)
Song for song, this is one of her best albums from the 80s.
Kronomyth 11.0: The confessions of a Secret admirer.
Poor me, pity for me, I didn’t appreciate this album for years. It sounded overproduced like The Key, and the endless game of musical chairs (new producer, new band) was beginning to become a distraction. Then there was the fact that little on Secret Secrets got under my skin, so much as on my nerves with its edgy, off-kilter production. The singles Temptation and Thinking Man are the obvious winners, and a pair of collaborations with labelmate Joe Jackson, Talking To The Wall and Love By You, are gems. The rest of it struck me as standoffishly noisy. That is until I recognized that, under all of the production lipstick, Persona Grata, Secret Secrets and One Night were really lovely songs. You won’t hear Joan Armatrading’s piano or guitar on them, but what you will hear is some of her strongest songwriting over a storied career. Secret Secrets is a very sophisticated album. Mike Howlett’s heavy production hand won’t be everyone’s cup of tea; in fact, it’s not soothing at all. Scratch the glossy surface, however, and it’s the same raw emotion and revitalizing energy that fuel her best work underneath. As I said, it took me years to get to this place. Initially, the modern production touches, saxophone solos and Pino Palladino’s fretless bass were annoyances. If you have the same reaction, go back to “Persona Grata” and “Temptation” and listen to the way those songs shift gears so effortlessly. There’s an ominous tone to both songs in their beginnings, but they prove to be walls that quickly crumble, revealing the artist of the beautiful beneath. Now, to go back and give The Key another turn…
Original LP Version
A1. Persona Grata (4:44)
A2. Temptation (4:03)
A3. Moves (4:12)
A4. Talking To The Wall (4:31)
A5. Love By You (3:13)
B1. Thinking Man (4:05)
B2. Friends Not Lovers (4:00)
B3. One Night (4:59)
B4. Secret Secrets (3:28)
B5. Strange (4:07)
All songs written and arranged by Joan Armatrading.
The Players
Joan Armatrading (vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica, string and horn arrangements), Mel Gaynor (drums, timpani, congas), Adrian Lee (synthesizer), Pino Paladino (Palladino) (bass), Nick Plytas (keyboards, synthesizer), David Rhodes (guitar) with Dave Bitelli (saxophone, horn scores), Raul D’Oliveira (flugelhorn lead on A4), Joe Jackson (keyboards on A4, piano on A5), Steve Sidwell (trumpet, flugelhorn), Paul Spong (trumpet, flugelhorn), Rick Taylor (trombone), Fiachra Trench (string orchestrations). Produced by Mike Howlett; engineered by Bryan (Chuck) New.
The Pictures
Photography by Robert Mapplethorpe. Design by Moira Bogue. Art direction by Michael Ross.
The Plastic
Released on elpee, cassette and compact disc on February 4, 1985 in the UK, Israel and the Netherlands (A&M, AMA/AMC 5040), the US and Canada (A&M, SP/CS/CD-5040), Australia (A&M, RML/RMC 53144) and Yugoslavia (RTB, 2222922) with lyric innersleeve. Reached #14 on the UK charts and #73 on the US charts.
The first time that I became aware of Joan was when she did a stunning rendition of “Love and Affection” on SNL. I had never heard anyone like her before (When I first heard “Fast Car”, it was immediately apparent that Tracy Chapman had heard her, too). Her singles got airplay on our local “progressive” station, so I became familiar with a few songs. My roommate had her third album, but I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it.
Then I won a free vinyl copy of this one (back in the day when radio stations would do that sort of thing!). I totally agree with your assessment. The production is too overdone (Howeltt would next impose his style on The Alarm’s “Strength”, but it doesn’t detract as much). At least there are no drum machines or sequencers.
The songs cut through, anyway. “Temptation” got a little bit of airplay, but I think it’s one of the weaker tracks. I don’t like the horns. “One Night” is gorgeous and should have been a single. The upbeat tracks are full of hooks. As usual, the lyrics are great. “Love By You” is very poignant in its naked initimacy. “Strange” comes close.
While the production hasn’t aged well, the album is solid from front to back.
I saw Joan for the first time the following year. The show took place in a open air ampitheater in front of a crowd of about 7,000. I was pleased that she drew such a big crowd. “Persona Grata” opened the show, and “Friends and Lovers” also appeared. The opening act, of all people, was Graham Nash. He was promoting his hideous “Innocent Eyes” album. His and consisted of a guitarist and a weird looking bald guy handling synths, keyboard bass and programmed drums. Songs like “I Used to Be a King” and “Teach Your Children” contrasted sharply with 80’s pieces like “Innocent Eyes”. My girlfriend at the time like him better than Joam. Small wonder that we broke up.