Hothouse Flowers - People

Album Title - People
Artist - Hothouse Flowers
Year Released - 1988
Format Owned - CD
Band Lineup - Liam Ó Maonlaí (Vocals, Bodhran, Hammond Organ, Harmonica, Marimbas, Piano, Vibraphone), Fiachna O'Braonain (Background Vocals, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Sitar), Peter O'Toole (Background Vocals, Bass, Electric Guitar, Bouzouki, Mandolin), Leo Barnes (Background Vocals, Saxophone), Jerry Fehily (Drums, Percussion)

Track Listing

1. I'm Sorry

2. Don't Go

3. Forgiven

4. It'll Be Easier In The Morning

5. Hallelujah Jordan

6. If You Go

7. The Older We Get

8. Yes I Was

9. Love Don't Work This Way

10. Ballad of Katie

11. Feet On The Ground

12. Lonely Lane

13. Saved

Irish soul music is a strange thing. It's everywhere, and while you can hear the Motown influences you would never mix it up with a Motown record as even the cover bands have a definite Irish sound, and the music is a bit more rock n roll and not quite as polished. Realistically nowhere outside of North America embraced soul music the way it was embraced in Ireland, from Van Morrison to The Commitments, by way of Hothouse Flowers, Sinead O'Connor and even U2 at times the soul sound has been around in Irish music for a long time and shows no sign of dying out with the new breed of Irish singer-songwriters still having a strong soul influence. In the genre of Irish soul though there are two albums that stand head and shoulders above the rest. One is of course Astral Weeks by Van Morrison, the other is People by Hothouse Flowers.

The first time most people outside of Ireland knew anything about Hothouse Flowers was during the Eurovision Song Contest in 1988. While they weren't contestants their song "Don't Go" was used over the video that was broadcast between the performances and the voting, and as with Riverdance a few years later it projected them into the limelight across Europe. The album went to #1 in the Irish Charts and reached #2 in the UK, while Don't Go reached #1 in the Irish Singles Chart and #11 in the UK Singles Chart.

The album starts with a bang, with "I'm Sorry" being an apology for playing the field, set to a great uplifting soul tune, with a great gospel feel and is most definitely the sort of track you'd want to listen to if you needed a quick pick-me-up. "Don't Go" was the hit, with the catchy chorus saxophone hook and great piano line, and it still sounds good today. One of the all-time great summer tracks. "Forgiven" is a straight Irish soul track in the purest sense. O'Maonlai's vocals are pure Motown, but the music is all mandolins and guitars. "It'll Be Easier In The Morning" is another great sounding soul track about getting over a breakup, with an uplifting tune and message. "Hallelujah Jordan" is possibly one of the best live songs I've ever seen. A song about a guy looking for redemption in a bottle, and only finding more problems and loving the bottle more than he loved the girl he was trying to forget. "If You Go" starts with a very 1980s sax intro, but it still a great song, and the sax solo is more than acceptable. "The Older We Get" is about appreciating the people around you, and around the world, as you get older and wiser. Again a soul sound, but also very definitely Irish. "Yes I Was" is one of those songs about feeling unappreciated in a relationship and listing all the things that you've done and not seen reciprocated. "Love Don't Work This Way" is pure Memphis soul, while "Ballad of Katie" slows the pace considerably and gives you a chance to catch your breath. "Feet on the Ground" closed out the vinyl and cassette versions of the album and sounds suspiciously like "Bullet the Blue Sky", but that's not really a bad thing. The CD has two more tracks, "Lonely Lane" and "Saved", the first of which is a solid track which wouldn't feel out of place on a Van Morrison album, though the album could have done without the second, as although it's not a bad track as such it doesn't really add anything overall either.

I've seen the Hothouse Flowers twice, once in the late 90s in the Limelight and again a few years ago in the Spring and Airbrake. Both times it was the songs from People that stood out, and while the tracks from Born, Songs From The Rain and their other albums were good, they just weren't on the same level as this stuff, which remains easily one of my favourite albums of all time.

Rating 9/10