The Wild Wild West - Escape Club (1988) 7/114/23

Here's a bit of trivia for you: Today's Great Song of 1988 is the only song by a British group to reach #1 in the US, and Canada, without charting AT ALL in the UK.

There are a couple of reasons for this.

#1: "Wild Wild West" by Escape Club has an "North American-centric" title. Granted that's kind of lame, but it's only a minor reason anyway.

#2: The BBC banned the song. This was MAJOR deal.

It wasn't because of risque language. Although there were a few "wink-wink" nods to sex, it was pretty tame compared to other '80s songs. There were also some gunshots, which was logical, considering the title.

The real reason was because the video showed arms and legs that weren't attached to a body keeping beat with the music.

This was a clever visual effect, and not in anyway depicted as something gross, shocking, or vulgar. Yet the BBC maintained that it was upsetting to to many people, especially children--hence the ban.

According to singer Trevor Steel, the song itself was "a reflection of the times: living in the '80s with all the yuppies getting rich quick and living under the fear of the Cold War and AIDS."

That's a bit more scary than unattached arms and legs keeping the beat. But that's jut my opinion.

Note: The rap portion of the song was originally recorded solely for the album version, but the group liked it so much, their label (Atlantic) agreed to release the whole song as the single.

"The Wild Wild West" by The Escape Club: Regardless of the BBC ban, it's a Great Song of 1988! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vE5ewvxdfo

Tomorrow: Get your stethoscope ready.