Who Did It Better? Love Resurrection

Who Did It Better?

Love Resurrection

Love Resurrection was written by singer/songwriter Alison Moyet with producers Jolley & Swain in 1984  for Moyet's debut studio album Alf on Columbia Records. It would be the first time Moyet, who'd become quite celebrated in her native England as part of the synth duo Yazoo (Yaz, stateside), with whom she'd enjoyed a number of extremely successful singles and a pair of well-received albums, would be striking out on her own.

Released as the album's first single in June of 1984, it reached #10 on the UK Singles Chart.  It was then released in the US during the summer of 1985, as a follow up to her successful Top 40 song Invisible, reaching #82 on the Billboard Hot 100 that August.

During an interview in 1984, Moyet said "Love Resurrection was "written over the phone! I'd had an argument with a friend and gone to bed like I usually do when I'm depressed. I wrote the lyric straight off and read it over to Steve (Jolley, of Jolley & Swain). He called me back with a melody line and we went on from there."

While the single didn't do all that well in the US, it did prick up the ears in certain corners. In 1985, Christian singer Kim Boyce was in the process of putting together her debut album on Myrrh Records.  A former beauty queen who represented Florida in the 1984 Miss America contest, she would go on to score big as a gospel singer with hits like Good Enough (#2 in 1991), Weapon of Good (#14 in 1991), and When Love Calls Your Name (#12 in 1992). Her self-named debut album would peel off three Top Ten CCM CHR hits, while her version of Love Resurrection would peak at #12 on that same chart. 

In 1996, the dance duo D'LUX released a hi-NRG version of the song which proved quite popular in the clubs. Their only release, it would peak at #58 in the UK. 

And that's the whole story.

Now? On to the competition!

The Song: Love Resurrection

The Competitors: Moyet vs. Boyce vs. D'LUX

Love Resurrection -  Alison Moyet

Love Resurrection -  Kim Boyce

Love Resurrection - D'LUX

Alison Moyet

That's a very industrial/factory sounding intro. Meaty. Dense mix. 

Moyet hits the ground running. Her attack is hammered home with each note and a bit of a snarl. I adore her voice. She's one-of-a-kind; it has such a powerful resonance to it. And yet, it's delivered in this aura of breathiness; almost like a gasp. 

The failure here arrives at the chorus - it doesn't soar. It needs to soar. It needs to rise above the rather murky, dire circumstances laid out in the opening verse. We need hope. Sadly, the producer fails to understand that and what we are given instead is exactly what we've been given since the intro - a sort of industrial fog. Contrasted with Moyet's earthy, airiness? It's an interesting mix, but not one that's going to propel this into the Top 40, stateside. 

I think the fault lies in the vocal arrangement on the chorus. It's a dense mix. There is no room to breath, no air, other than what is being supplied by Moyet. And those male vocals running beneath the mix? They kill this, welding it to the ground like concrete and iron ore. 

Even the slight instrumental bridge before the second verse fails to bring any light to this 'dark, dark day.' It's a great riff, but it's held in check, weighed down in the mix. They could have picked any other horn-synth to supply that lift and put it on top of the mix and it would have helped alleviate things a bit. Or is this what the times required? Was an impending sense of doom pop-worthy? 

I know that, at this same time, Annie Lennox as part of The Eurythmics was covering the same sort of musical landscape - but Lennox's vocals had a means of breaking free of the mix, offering up a multitude of colors. Here, in Moyet's world? It's all greys and browns. 

Her vibrato almost gets the best of her in the opening salvo of verse two. It's as if she's bleating. And here's the thing folks - I think Moyet is an amazing vocalist - one of the best. I saw her live in 2014(?) and she blew me and the crowd away. Her instrument is stellar - the production work on this song? Not so much. 

The rest of verse two actually pulls me in. That's Moyet's doing. This is not her best work, but she's still a compelling presence. 

This is a musclebound reading. 

And, overall, the whole thing grows on me more and more as the song progresses.

Still. 

I do so love to soar. 

Kim Boyce

Oh, icy synths, bringing images of Tokyo to mind. It was part of the times. Donna Summer's Cat Without Claws is built on the same theory. As were the early hits of Corey Hart and a slew of other acts during this time period. 

The intro certainly does go on a bit... too long.

Well, Boyce is no Donna Summer. Let's recalibrate. The lack of color in her voice is a bit off-putting. Her youth? Fully on display. 

The arrangement is built well, but, like our singer's voice, is a tad too thin. 

And things don't get better once we reach the chorus. Now, she strikes me as a bit shrill. And the backing vocals? DOA. That Boyce brings as much cheerleader energy to this as she does is commendable, if something of  a waste. 

Ooo, no... blatty sax. Blech. Well, at least, melodically, it doesn't go where expected.

My word! That 'OH!' going into verse two! That's... loud. 

Eek, second time through you really start to hear how Mickey Mouse this arrangement is. It's not thin, it's anorexic. 

Where is the bottom in all this? There isn't any? Is that because Xtians fear bass? Because it might involve hips in motion, thrusting and 'what-not'? 

At the 2:24 mark, I am done with this. 

Well, that is one fine electronically sustained note... and so... piercing. Like Jesus on the cross.

More blatty sax.

I know of 'one direction' I'd like to show Miss Boyce. The door. As in... here it is, my dear.

Was her motivation to frighten small mammals? I don't understand the need for the amount of volume and stridency of tone on 'no, no, no'. Does she believe by shouting at us we will become more malleable? Succumb to her 'charms'? Surrender? Give up?

Oh, dear... 'pain' is right. 

Now I'm the one looking for the door. 

D'LUX

Whenever I hear vocals electronically manipulated this much, I automatically question the strength of the singer. It's ethereal, but the manufactured sort, not the heavenly kind. 

That little snaky synth. 

Oh. My. Word. Does that beat take me back. Who sings next? Is it Cotton-Eyed Joe? 

I must confess, I rather loved this machine-made assembly-line dance music. It is of its era. And it was as inescapable as it was pervasive. It lacked bottom. It lacked soul. It lacked color (although there were exceptions). But it was what they played in the clubs... so, get on your feet, my loves. 

Sadly, the mix is really, really messy. There's no space between the singer and the annoying claptrap spurting its way beneath. There is movement and direction, but it's a rather stale and lifeless affair. You know, it's the blow job you accept after a long night at the baths just because you've had a lovely time in the previous three hours and want to go home.

And if you think this is going to be the one to make this puppy take off and soar? 

Well, I hate to disappoint, but... no.

This sounds cheap. And trust me, I know cheap; I see it in the mirror every morning, kids.

The counter synth on the verse appeared in exactly the same fashion on so many German 12 inchers, it strikes me as rather worn out and sad - like Lola after the Copa became a disco. Faded feathers in her hair, and that same old underwear.

But if I'd never heard a dance tune in my life, I think I could get over how flat the singer is and get into this. 

Instrumental break at the 2:30. Yes... yes there is. That sort of qualifies.

Well, I think with the right lighting... maybe it could work. After a cocktail or two,

Or... if I met a German with a 12 incher!

The Verdict

Huh. With a whole slew of reservations, the winner is clearly Alison Moyet. 

She has the pipes, if not the right production team. 

Boyce is... hammering Jesus to that cross, I guess? I have no idea what possesses her to do the things she does. Nina Hagen has a more appropriate sense of dynamics than Miss Boyce.

And D'LUX - well, it's an attempt. At... something. We could dance to?

I would love to hear someone take this one on and make that chorus uplifting. I know I'm the one that brought it up in the first place, but now I can't get the idea of Annie Lennox doing a cover of this... why didn't she do it on the Medusa album?

Anyway... Alison, talented as she is, remains the best we have so far. 

So, Alison it is!

--- ---

And that's enough of me.

Okay, your turn. Leave your choice and thoughts in the comments section. I love to hear a differing opinion. 

That's all for now.

Until next time...

Thanks for reading... and listening!

Love Resurrection -  Alison Moyet

Love Resurrection -  Kim Boyce

Love Resurrection - D'LUX