Union - Toni Childs

The pattern was oh so familiar. I knew the score. Watching ITV's 'The Chart Show' was an expensive preoccupation. Just a slight glimpse of a song that I liked would usually end up with me spending money. In particular I was a sucker for a well produced, black and white, slick video, of which there were plenty in the late 80s. If that video then featured a handsome woman belting out a blues-tinged pop song like her life depended upon it then I was already at the counter in Woolies handing over the dosh.

And so it was with 'Union' by Toni Childs. The song that did the monetary damage was 'Don't Walk Away'. It's not subtle - it's sung at full volume - but what a voice! It was accompanied by an artful black & white video featuring, in no particular order; an electric fan, burnt toast, goldfish, a suitcase and of course Ms Childs. I know this because I've just watched it, as mesmerised as I was when I first saw it in 1988.

At first I only bought the CD single - it was one of those that was released as a 3" disc so came with a plastic adapter - I never really trusted those as I was convinced they were going to explode in the player. But it was not long before I'd bought the album on cassette and it became my latest obsession. One that no-one else I knew shared. But that was OK. I was secure in my obsession.

Looking back at the late 1980s period, it was a confusing time for me... musically that is. I was slowly making the transition from AOR / MOR music towards guitar driven indie bands. I'd already had for some time bands like The Smiths and New Order in my playlist but these were in the minority. Just a year later, however, I would be in the full grip of 'Madchester' and albums such as 'Union' were consigned to the shelf indefinitely. They were no longer 'cool'. Probably never were.

I'd still not met anyone who had even heard of the album let alone actually heard it well into 1993. Then I moved into a shared house in Leeds and to my surprise my new housemate had a copy. I picked it off his shelf amazed to see another copy. It was like meeting a long lost friend. We were going to get on just fine!

Listening to the album again, having recently bought it on CD due to a lack of a cassette player, I was expecting to be disappointed - as is often the case when revisiting once cherished albums. But I wasn't. Yes it's definitely MOR / AOR but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Music is a broad church and certainly wide enough to include a well written, played and produced album such as this. Oh, and what a voice!