Throwback Thursday TOTD – BROS – ‘MADLY IN LOVE’
Matt Goss has joined the cast of “Strictly Come Dancing”. This has made me go back in time again through my record collection….
Those of you who know me will know that I listen to anything everything and nothing. My music tastes can go from Eminem to Cole Porter and everything in between, I’ll give everything a chance if I love it I will love it with my whole heart to the point of listening to it over and over again.
This particular song falls into that category. It was 1987, Bros were on the verge of mega stardom – they released “When Will I Be Famous?” and that made them overnight teenage heroes, adored by girls the world over.
I hated their music initially. It just didn’t make sense to me, I was into the Pet Shop Boys, whatever was coming out of the Stock Aitken Waterman stable and anything that was pop.
My sister and her mates tried to get me into them with no success, and it wasn’t until I watched a BBC live concert of them performing at Wembley that the penny dropped that these lads could be alright, it was the energy with which Luke played the drums that made me sit up and notice they opened with “When Will I Be Famous?” and Matt’s vocals were raw and soulful…
I thought to myself – “Okay maybe I am wrong…”
Third song “Cat Among The Pidgeons” I knew I was pretty sure I was wrong.
Fourth song? I was beginning to question my life choices up until this point.
Why?
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“Madly In Love” was why.
Scott Davidson played this amazing chord and Matt comes and stands at the front of the stage and sings…
“I sat at home and watched the world
Go by on a screen,
Never questioned never doubted
That I could dream,
I was a loner,
The phone would never ring
At least not for me,
And now I look back now
And I can see when we first met…
You changed my life..
I’ve no regrets…”
The camera pulls out and there’s a count off.
What happened next blew my tiny little mind.
I was hearing a new funky version of “Too Much”.
Let’s rewind a little – “Too Much” was the new single from their second album “The Time”, it was a big deal as they’d just lost their bass player Craig Logan in an acrimonious split and this was a big departure in their sound, this heralded a new beginning for them.
But this wasn’t “Too Much”.
This was “Madly In Love”.
Based around the chorus of “Too Much”, this was a whole new vibe, more funky, more slap bass, horn blast, Luke’s drums really KILLING it, and Matt’s vocals just beautifully performed, right after the intro there’s Matt’s adlibs, and an instrumental break into the first verse.
“So many times I’ve been saying,
Why didn’t I make a move,
I can see it in your eyes,
It’s no surprise you’re left just
to soothe…”
There’s a reason why I’m quoting the lyrics bear with me. This song is speaking my truth but more on that later.
There’s a dirty great key change that took us to…
“This time there’s a brand new feeling
That I’ve never ever felt before,
Girl you’re just a walking magnet
And this time it’s me that you’ve drawn..”
Into the chorus.
“Now you know that I’m madly in love,
Does it show that I’m madly in love,
All that I wanna do,
Is be madly in love with you.”
Whoa.
There were all kinds of stops and starts and that was it… I was invested.
Let’s fast forward.
Later that same year I met a girl – absolute stunner, same age, loved music, and we were both Bros fans. The problem is I couldn’t tell her because… well. I had stage fright. I just couldn’t tell her.
This song pretty much said it all, I just froze when it came to telling her, and I never did in the end – I won’t embarrass her by naming her because we are still in touch after all this time so I won’t name her….
This song is part of a three part medley, “I’ll Count The Hours” which was taken from the bridge of “Madly In Love”, as well as “Too Much” which was created around the chorus. Altogether, it was just a fantastic combination to me and changed my mind about these guys….
Things happened and they split up, but to me this song still stands up to being one of my favourites of all time, and will always hold great memories for me.
Listen to ‘Madly In Love’ Here Now
Words by Del Osei-Owusu
THE SONGBIRD 