Stephen Tin Tin Duffy - The Ups And Downs (1985)
"I found the success of the US remix of Kiss Me inspired genuine teenage pandemonium on the streets
of Bloxwich and Sutton Coldfield. Girls pretended to faint. I was called out to provincial high
street discotheques all over the country. Somewhere in the Black Country I shared a dressing room
with the wet t shirt competition that was on after me." Disappointed with sounding like himself
and not the Beatles, Stephen set about trying to create hits with the likes of Booker T. Jones
but ended up having his output tinkered with by The Art of Noise. Perversely this turned a number
155 failure into a number three hit, admittedly it took 3 years.
The biographies and press releases became "Dreams! Adoration's! Illuminations! The whole boatload of
sensitive bullshit." (Stephen wrote then) "Working title for the collection is "This debutantes New Image."
The lyrical content deals with love, class, education and popular culture. Duffy has commenced the
recording his second album Cocksure." Third person...?
Whilst all this intellectual nonsense was being paraded, the marketing machine of TEN records
set to work on milking this hit for all it was worth, for this was the 80s and Frankie Goes To
Hollywood had taken the lead and the piss with Two Tribes 6 months earlier. How many versions of
Kiss Me can we have... "How many do you want?" was the reply.
Many people would say that Icing on the Cake was in fact Stephen's 80s Tour de Force, I would
agree as far as singles go, but listen to the b-sides... go on listen to them.
TEN wanted another Kiss Me, Wednesday Jones (Dixie) was what they got. "Cocksure" became "Because We Love You"
via "Come Blow Your Mind", thankfully good taste prevailed but the ability to hit the charts did not.
Essential Listen: Open up your mind to the 8 minute extended version of In This Twilight,
you will be handsomely rewarded for it with trademark oohs and aaahs! Although I would struggle to pick
a poor b-side this is definitely the cream of 1985's vintage.
Essential Buy: On planet Lucky I would go after the pink sleeved version of Icing on the Cake (TIN3-13),
a true rarity and worth £ 50 of anyone's money. In earthbound reality I would chase down a copy of
the double gatefold Icing (TING3-12) with excellent versions of Hold It and Quiver yours for about a fiver.
Chris
~ Click on the cover images for more details ~
| Artist/Composer | Title | Release Year | Format | Cat. Number | Label | Country | Length | Tracks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Stephen Tin Tin Duffy | The Ups And Downs - A Very Beautiful Collection | 1985 | LP | DIX 5 (Int. 206 982-620) | Virgin 10 Records | United Kingdom | 39:28 | 10 |
|
Stephen Tin Tin Duffy | The Ups And Downs - A Very Beautiful Collection | 1985 | LP | 25VC1031 | Toshiba EMI | Japan | 39:28 | 10 |
|
Stephen Tin Tin Duffy | The Ups And Downs - A Very Beautiful Collection | 1985 | Cassette | CDIX 5 (Int. 406 982-652) | Virgin 10 Records | United Kingdom | 39:28 | 10 |
|
Stephen Tin Tin Duffy | The Ups And Downs - A Very Beautiful Collection | 1985 | CD | DIX CD5 | Virgin 10 Records | United Kingdom | 39:31 | 10 |
|
Stephen Tin Tin Duffy | The Ups And Downs - A Very Beautiful Collection | 1985 | CD | VSCD-554 | Vivid Sound | Japan | 39:31 | 10 |
|
Stephen Duffy | The Ups and Downs | 2008 | CD | CDPOP11 | CHERRY POP | United Kingdom | 73:16 | 17 |
|
Stephen Tin Tin Duffy | She Makes Me Quiver | 1984 | 7 inch | TEN 28 | Virgin 10 Records | United Kingdom | 06:25 | 2 |
|
Stephen Tin Tin Duffy | She Makes Me Quiver | 1984 | 12 inch | TEN 28-12 | Virgin 10 Records | United Kingdom | 11:47 | 3 |
|
Stephen Tin Tin Duffy | She Makes Me Quiver | 1984 | 12 inch | TDJ 2-12 | Virgin 10 Records | United Kingdom | 11:07 | 3 |
|
Stephen Tin Tin Duffy | Kiss Me | 1985 | 7 inch | TIN 2 (Int. 107 251-100) | Virgin 10 Records | United Kingdom | 09:11 | 2 |
|
Stephen Tin Tin Duffy | Kiss Me | 1985 | 7 inch | TIN 2 | Virgin 10 Records | United Kingdom | 09:11 | 2 |
|
Stephen Tin Tin Duffy | Kiss Me | 1985 | 7 inch | TINP 2 | Virgin 10 Records | United Kingdom | 09:11 | 2 |
|
Stephen Tin Tin Duffy | Kiss Me | 1985 | 12 inch | TIN 2-12 | Virgin 10 Records | United Kingdom | 13:51 | 2 |
|
Stephen Tin Tin Duffy | Kiss Me | 1985 | 12 inch | 601 713-213 | Virgin 10 Records | Germany | 13:51 | 2 |
|
Stephen Tin Tin Duffy | Kiss Me | 1985 | 12 inch | TIN 2-12 | Virgin 10 Records | United Kingdom | 13:51 | 2 |
|
Stephen Tin Tin Duffy | Kiss Me | 1985 | 12 inch | 92 97500 | Sire | Canada | 13:51 | 2 |
|
Stephen Tin Tin Duffy | Kiss Me | 1986 | 12 inch | CAROL 1451 | Caroline | USA | 13:00 | 2 |
|
Stephen Tin Tin Duffy | Kiss Me Two Times | 1985 | 7 inch (double) | TING 2 | Virgin 10 Records | United Kingdom | 16:06 | 4 |
|
Stephen Tin Tin Duffy | Kiss Me Two Times | 1985 | 12 inch (double) | TING 212 | Virgin 10 Records | United Kingdom | 24:43 | 4 |
|
Stephen Tin Tin Duffy | Icing On The Cake | 1985 | 7 inch | TIN 3 (Int. 107 409-100) | Virgin 10 Records | United Kingdom | 06:45 | 2 |
|
Stephen Tin Tin Duffy | Icing On The Cake | 1985 | 7 inch | TIN 3 | Virgin 10 Records | United Kingdom | 06:45 | 2 |
|
Stephen Tin Tin Duffy | Icing On The Cake | 1985 | 12 inch | TIN 3-12 | Virgin 10 Records | United Kingdom | 14:25 | 3 |
|
Stephen Tin Tin Duffy | Icing On The Cake | 1985 | 12 inch | 601782-213 | Virgin 10 Records | Germany | 14:25 | 3 |
|
Stephen Tin Tin Duffy | Icing On The Cake | 1985 | 12 inch | TIN 3-12 | Virgin 10 Records | United Kingdom | 14:25 | 3 |
|
Stephen Tin Tin Duffy | Icing On The Cake | 1985 | 12 inch | TIN 3-13 | Virgin 10 Records | United Kingdom | 13:53 | 3 |
|
Stephen Tin Tin Duffy | Icing On The Cake | 1985 | 7 inch (double) | TING 3 | Virgin 10 Records | United Kingdom | 13:38 | 4 |
|
Stephen Tin Tin Duffy | Icing On The Cake | 1985 | 12 inch (double) | TING 3-12 | Virgin 10 Records | United Kingdom | 27:36 | 5 |
|
Stephen Tin Tin Duffy | Kiss Me / Icing On The Cake | 1989 | 12 inch | OG4121 | Old Gold Records | United Kingdom | 09:06 | 2 |