The Phoenix Gazette
July 6, 1992
Commercial-Creative Conflict Hits Cult Band
Robyn Hitchcock Still Out Of Mainstream
by Dean Rhodes
Being a cult artist on a major record label has become more precarious as
corporate takeovers consolidate companies and chart -- not art -- considerations dictate who stays and who goes.
Robyn Hitchcock, the quirky English guitarist-singer-lyricist, is caught
between his vision and A&M Records' desire to make a profit on his releases.
And the commercial flop of 1991's Perspex Island -- which A&M thought would break Hitchcock into the mainstream -- accentuated the commercial-creative conflict, according to bassist Andy Metcalfe (a longtime member of Hitchcock's band, The Egyptians).
"I think A&M thought it was time to break Robyn Hitchcock to a wider audience," Metcalfe says by phone from New Orleans.
A&M, now a division of Polygram, brought in Paul Fox as producer. R.E.M.
members Peter Buck and Michael Stipe made guest appearances. But it was all
for naught.
"In doing that, something got left off somehow," Metcalfe says. "I think one of the things that is good about what we do is that we do what we do. We don't do what other people do. We're, sort of, important (if that's the right word) in terms of the amount of press and radio we get for the amount of albums we sell. It's completely disproportionate.
"So, to have made an album in which we were, -- to a certain extent -- molded, and for that not to have broken us through, is a bit irritating. It makes you think, 'Sod it.' We could've just done what we were going to do and it wouldn't have made any difference anyway.
"Robyn described it once as a loss of hope. You get vibed up by the record company, and when it turns out not to be the one it's a big letdown. Before that, I don't think we ever thought there would be a 'one'."
Metcalfe says Hitchcock gave A&M the option of letting him go. The label decided to keep him for at least one more album.
"We're assuming that they're still friendly at the moment," Metcalfe jokes.
Hitchcock's career began in 1978 with The Soft Boys, a Punk-era band that celebrated the melodies of '60s Rock bands. In 1981, he started a solo career that, according Ira Robbins in The Trouser Press Record Guide, is one of the "greatest undiscovered treasures of modern Pop music."
After four solo records that featured surreal songs -- "The Man With The
Lightbulb Head", "My Wife And My Dead Wife" -- coupled with well-crafted melodies, Hitchcock signed with A&M in 1987; releasing Globe of Frogs,
Queen Elvis, and Perspex Island.
Perspex Island (many critics assayed) indicated Hitchcock moving away
from a quirky, imaginative lyrical style toward more accessible, literal
compositions.
But, Metcalfe says, that judgment was a misconception.
"It's always been the case that Robyn has written a lot of songs for any one album -- an awful lot of which haven't made it past the rehearsals," Metcalfe says. "And then another bunch that haven't made it through the recording stage. I think what happened on the last record was that the ones that remained were the ones that were considered by the producer to be the least lyrically quirky.
"If 35 songs were written and 12 of them are on the album, 15 of them might have been what you would call the 'old Robyn'. I don't think there was a huge change -- although it might have been perceived like that."
Perspex Island occasionally harkens back to old Hitchcock. "Earthly
Paradise", a song about the decaying planet, includes a verse about pigs snuffling around a deserted house.
"I think his lyrics are really ingenious," Metcalfe says. "If the world was a fair place, we'd be rich."
Hitchcock And The Egyptians -- which includes drummer Morris Windsor -- appear Tuesday at After The Gold Rush in Tempe with an acoustic set. The next album also will be an acoustic effort.
Metcalfe says an acoustic approach resurrects many old songs the trio had tired of performing.
"By not slotting into our traditional roles, we have to think quite hard what it is we're actually doing," Metcalfe says. "I think that's one of the reasons we find it exciting to do it. On a selfish level, it's more interesting."
And whether the acoustic album will be the "one" remains a concern for A&M's accountants, not Hitchcock And The Egyptians.
"I would rather be a cult band than a band that's constantly trying to be a huge success and failing," Metcalfe says. "I think it's that sense of failure that makes people give up."
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