B-Movie - The Platinum Collection (CD 2005)

B-Movie were one of a clutch of post punk bands that could have gone onto bigger and better things with a bit of luck and a little more vision by their record label - The Comsat Angels and The Sound are just two perfect examples - but it seems after being picked up by one of the major labels (Sire) their road to glory ultimately ended in a cul de sac. After a sting of impressive singles on the Deram and Some Bizarre labels - most notably Nowhere Girl, Marilyn Dreams and Remembrance Day - Sire gave them a 1980s make over (trying to turn them into another Duran Duran in my view - Men at Work in drag as Julie Burchill once noted after seeing the results of a ludicrous photo shoot), polished up' their sound with brass, synthetic drums and 'big production'. However, in the process, Sire lost what made B-Movie one of the more accessible bands of the post punk scene. This CD is basically their debut album for Sire - Forever Running - as opposed to a greatest hits type compilation and though highly polished(or over the top one could argue) is very much of it's time and does sound a little dated these days. Though the album does contain a number of stand out tracks - most notably Forever Running - the re-recorded versions of their earlier 'classics' - Remembrance Day and Nowhere Girl - are a huge disappointment when compared to the originals. Nottinghamshire based B-Movie sensed they were becoming more and more a manufactured band and not making the major breakthrough Sire had hoped for, the band split up in the mid 80s. Having said all that - and being a bit of a B-Movie completist myself - it's good to see this album finally released on CD - though for those of you wanting to get a real taste for the band in all their glory - try and track down a copy of Nightmares in Wax which collates their earlier singles and b-sides. Similarly the BBC Radio Sessions CD - B-Movie were firm favourites of Richard Skinner and Kid Jensen - is well worth purchasing and gives the listener a glimpse of what their debut lp should have sounded like, containing a number of earlier - and far superior - versions of the 'polished' tracks that appear on this CD.