Nominated by: K Simms esq.
Music club: Wander to Wozza's
Playlist addition: Are You Old Enough?
Ah - Dragon. The Aussies tried to claim them for themselves, but they started out as Ponsonby boys and morphed into a drug addled hit machine after moving to Aussie. There was a high price to pay though wasn't there - a high casualty rate: three dead thanks to drugs (heroin and t'baccy).
Luckily Dragon had some trump cards: Paul Hewson's songs (then Alan Mansfield's); Marc Hunter's voice (what a singer!!); Todd Hunter's stickability.
Annoyingly, I have always found them wildly inconsistent as a band. They also succumbed to some of those eighties production techniques along the way. Their albums (apart from Bondi Road) are very patchy in quality, and this greatest hits collection is a glaring example.
Within these ten songs (why only 10?), are two amazing world beating singles - Are You Old Enough?; April Sun In Cuba; two really good songs This Time; Still In Love With You Get; and one almost good song - That Jive; and then five others of varying quality. These days these five would be called 'deep cuts'.
This is supposed to be a Greatest Hits compilation for goodness sake!
Why isn't Education on there? Why wasn't Rain included? Dreams Of Ordinary Men's omission is another glaring one. Instead, the sloppy compiler haphazardly throws on Wait Until Tomorrow, Shooting Stars, and The Dreaded Moroczy Bird. Okay. But Greatest Hits?
Hence the three stars because to get higher than that with a Greatest Hits (and don't get me started with the Vol. 1 malarky) the collection needs to tell a story, be cohesive and do what it says on the tin.
Dragon have been particularly ill served by compilations - a real shame because the right songs would make for a killer set.
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