Marc Almond – Melancholy Rose

The next disc is Marc Almond’s single of “Melancholy Rose.” The flip side (at 33, rather than 45) contains three songs: “Gyp the Blood,” “A World Full of People,” and “Black Lullaby.” All of these are in the same darkly romantic vein that Marc had been opening for some time.

“Melancholy Rose” was melodic and upbeat, along the lines of the same year’s “Ruby Red.” Clearly a single, maybe an attempt to be a little bit more mainstream. A good song, nowhere near my favorite of Marc’s.

“Gyp the Blood” could be described as a Weillian chanty, and features a hurdy-gurdy, so it’s great. “A World Full of People” sounds like his old Marc and the Mambas material (old being four years previous?), with the chorus: “Why can’t I be on my own, just me and the world alone.” “Black Lullabye” is sweet and dark. Who else could fit both “cherubim” and “absinthe” into the first verse?  

The album “Mother Fist and Her Five Daughters” came out in 1987, and it featured both “Ruby Red” and “Melancholy Rose.” This album, like “Stories of Johnny,” I bought on CD rather than on vinyl; I’m pretty sure I bought the singles before the album came out. The rest of the album did about nothing for me.