The latest iteration of Marc Collin’s Nouvelle Vague project, now 20 years old and still going strong, sees him and his musical partners delve deeper into the New Wave sounds of the ’80s, whilst not restricting themselves to bossa nova as the vehicle for interpretation or working only with his regular, mainly Francophone, female singer-collaborators. Their latest single is a case in point. British vocalist Hannah Hu provides vocals and, no doubt, context for a cover of a B-side from a single of Colour Field, a short-lived vehicle for The Specials frontman, the sadly now-late Terry Hall. It may be the first recorded cover of “Sorry.”
Colour Field/Colourfield/The Colourfield (the name was fluid) was the vehicle that Terry Hall used in the mid-’80s to develop musical and emotional palettes that he could not express during the chaos of his time with The Specials, or in the pop world of Fun Boy Three. He wanted to put his expanded knowledge of music, and ability to get the arrangements made, into a new place, where he could also be more frank about his inner turmoil. When Hall inserted the phrase ‘There’s no business like show-business’ into a song he was not celebrating the pluckiness and resilience of show people. He also wanted to acknowledge a broader range of musical influences. During their short-lived career the band covered, with varying levels of success, Charles Aznavour and Sly and the Family Stone, and also managed a memorable version of Noel Harrison’s “Windmills of Your Mind.”
“Sorry” was a typical, melancholic, example of Colour Field’s work. Hall has done something wrong, and wants to make amends, despite the knowledge that his entreaties will likely be ignored. In a failing relationship there is sometimes the feeling that you no longer need to apologize, especially if the apology will not be accepted, but Hall wants to do better.
Hu is very familiar with Hall as she worked on Hall’s (Jerry Dammers-free) revival of The Specials a few years ago. She would have been able to see his moods on and off stage, and may have been on the receiving end of his apologies. She brings all of this knowledge and emotion to her part. Perhaps, even, she has something to apologize to Hall for, and now she will never get to do it in person, only in song. Hu is a talented vocalist, but she sing-speaks it like Hall would, albeit with more sultriness. The location is a French bar at the end of the night, but the singer is English and the band is past the time where bossa nova is called for to fill the dancefloor. The arrangement is spare but contains the odd discordant moment to remind people of the subject matter. It is an emotional tribute to an emotional man.
Thanks for sharing. There’s a small misunderstanding: Colourfield covered She, originally by The Monkees. Aznavour’s She was later covered by Terry Hall in the band Vegas, his short collaboration with Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart.
My apologies. I love the Aznavour cover but did some conflation there. Thank you for the correction.