I bought Dusk a bit by accident in 1993. I just bumped into it during a shopping spree, without even knowing the The had a new CD, and put it on my cart without too much thought. The CD had been released earlier that year, and I remembered the The as a sort of band that always had been close to my heart and had great songs. After only a couple of hearings, Dusk became one of my favorite CDs ever - one of those that found room in the shelfs of 15 flats in 3 different countries. It is flagged with a VV, initials for the Portuguese Vai e Volta. Meaning, it is outbound and inbound. When I borrow it, I demand to have it back... Needless is to say that it has always found its way back home.
The the was founded in 1979 by Matt Johnson, who has been the only constant member of the band. Matt Johnson takes his time to create his master pieces. In 30 years, the The released 6 albums: Soul Mining (1983), Infected (1986, Mind Bomb (1989), Dusk (1993), Hanky Panky (1995) and their last one NakedSelf (2000). But, all of them were worthwhile the waiting. A seventh album was announced as forthcoming in May 2007 (The End Of The Day). As yet, it is still unreleased.
Choosing just one song from Dusk is not an easy task. It is one of this albums that is more than the sum of its songs. I was not able to find any video produced for my favorite song in Dusk: Bluer than Midnight . But, I can offer Dogs of Lust and an anedoct about the shooting of this video. Matt Johnson, being the perfectionist that he is, was not totally happy with the results of the shooting. There was not enough tension, he argued. At his request, the studio temperature was set to a most unbritish 38oC and the video shot again. Matt Johnson was right - you can almost feel the heat and lust when you watch the video:
And, a bonus song: Uncertain Smile, played live during the 1993 Reading Festival. This song was released in 1983, as a single of the Soul Mining record. It seems it was just yesterday....
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