Modern Rock Tracks No. 1s - Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians and "So You Think You're In Love"
Robyn Hitchcock scores an improbable #1 hit with a jangle-pop confection about love, determining if you're in it and what to do about it. And Jiffy Pop. And mouth close-ups.
Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians - “So You Think You’re In Love”
Weeks atop the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart: 5 weeks (Sept. 21 to Oct. 19, 1991)
Previous Modern Rock #1 hit: Big Audio Dynamite II - “Rush”
Next Modern Rock #1 hit: Red Hot Chili Peppers - “Give It Away”
Billboard Hot 100 chart toppers during this time:
Color Me Badd - “I Adore Mi Amor” (9/21/91 and 9/28/91)
Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch featuring Loleatta Holloway - “Good Vibrations” (10/5/91)
Mariah Carey - “Emotions” (10/12/91 and 10/19/91)
Robyn Hitchcock is one of those artists who has amassed an amazing collection of albums and hits, spanning decades, who never quite cracked the mainstream consciousness of American music lovers. To be sure, he’s gained a sizable following worldwide and continues to make music to this day, but his mark on modern music is less about his U.S. popularity and more about his influence.
Therefore, lacking the time and energy at this juncture to really take a deep dive into Hitchcock’s output in the 1970s or his seminal work in 1980 with the Soft Boys — “Underwater Moonlight” — let’s just leave it at this: Hitchcock has put together a musical resume that stands toe to toe with many influential greats. And if newly crowned “Best Band of the 1990s” R.E.M. says they were influenced by Robyn Hitchcock, and if that influence helped push R.E.M.’s sound into the mainstream, then that’s all the convincing I need to put him among the musical greats.
Funny that R.E.M. comes to mind when discussing Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians, because I can absolutely see where that influence comes from, even outside of the fact that Peter Buck once did a few side gigs with the band in the late ‘80s. Way back in 1989 when XTC topped the MRT charts with their superlative “Mayor of Simpleton,” Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians nearly scored their first #1 hit as well with “Madonna and the Wasps,” which peaked at #2 behind XTC. It doesn’t take too much time sitting with that track to see the comparisons with R.E.M. The jangly guitar lead is a dead giveaway, but the vaguely poetic lyrics presage some of R.E.M.’s more introspective works in the mid ‘90s.
And then, almost as if on cue mere weeks after “Shiny Happy People” peaked at #3 on the MRT chart during Siouxsie and the Banshees’ second run in the top spot, Robyn Hitchcock produces a similarly treacly hit that sunk into the psyche of alt-rock radio producers so deeply that it managed to ride the top of the charts for an improbably long five weeks: “So You Think You’re In Love.”
The song is fine, as jangle-pop love homages go. It’s a nicely condensed two-and-a-half minutes of nonstop fun, provided you define “fun” as a surface-level breakdown of the complexity of love. Because Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians aren’t here to really solve that complexity, but rather choose to point out the obvious and leave it to you to figure out the rest.
It took a lot of mental energy to really parse out the deep subject matter tucked away in the lyrics, so I hope you’ll appreciate how far I had to drill into this track to get to the meat of the discussion:
Are you in love? Probably.
Should you do something about it? Probably.
Will you do something about it? Probably not.
Why not? Because love.
Ah well. Let’s eat some popcorn.
And again, I’m not here to pooh-pooh the track. If you like sparkly jangle-pop bubblegum confections in your music, this song is absolutely going to fit into your “Saccharin Sweet Songs” playlist, nestled somewhere between “Sugar, Sugar” by The Archies and “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” by The Darkness. Sometimes we need a breather from songs about heartbreak and existential angst, and that’s when you reach out for tracks like these.
Truth is, I don’t hate the song at all. I’ve listened to it a few times in preparing this writeup and it actually is a pretty decent feel-good song. Despite its simplistic message, it does ultimately evoke a need to be more proactive in pursuing your love interests, and you could make a case that it goes beyond the love between people. If you have a deep interest in virtually anything, oftentimes you’re the only one holding yourself back, and once you make that realization, you should try to get out of your own way and pursue your love, whatever that may be.
The music video matches the silliness of the song, and for some reason the video’s director has a ridiculous affection for Robyn Hitchcock’s mouth, which is featured prominently in closeups far too many times. Though maybe this was the music video that inspired Merril Bainbridge’s 1994 hit? Something to think about.
Bottom line: “So You Think You’re In Love” is a fine song, fun to listen to if you’re in the mood for some sugary alt-rock/pop that’s adjacent musically and spiritually to R.E.M. As for Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians, this would be the high-water mark for their chart success in the U.S. The next two singles off the album “Perspex Island,” “Oceanside” and “Ultra Unbelievable Love” would both chart in the 20s on the MRT chart later in 1991 into 1992. His last album with the Egyptians, 1993’s “Respect,” would only see one single reach the MRT chart: “Driving Aloud (Radio Storm),” which peaked at #19 in the spring of 1993.
Following his break from the Egyptians, Hitchcock went on to a very prolific career, releasing 13 albums either as a solo artist or as part of other collections of band members (he joined up with Buck from R.E.M., Scott McCaughey of Young Fresh Fellows, and Bill Rieflin of Ministry to become Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3 in the mid 2000s, bringing that R.E.M. connection full circle). I’m curious to know if there are any of his post-Egyptians albums that would be worth a listen, and I may start with the Venus 3 collection given the players in that group.
As we get closer to that point in the Modern Rock Tracks Chart timeline where quirky British rock is surpassed by grunge and post-grunge American acts, I find that I’m going to miss writing about bands like Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians. The eclecticism of the early days of the MRT charts are fascinating, and it’s interesting to see how quickly bands like this get washed away from the U.S. musical zeitgeist in favor of the coming tidal wave of mainstream alternative rock.
One of the first ripples of that wave arrives next week. I don’t want to give it away, but they’re coming in red hot.
Rating: 7/10
Chart Check: A look at other notable MRT chart songs from this time period
When a band tops the chart for multiple weeks, I usually don’t have to go too deep into the bowels of the chart to find songs for this section. And this week especially has some big-time heavy hitters, all bringing some of their biggest hits. Billy Bragg brings some sexuality to the mix, The Smithereens return with their “Girl Like You” swagger, David Bowie’s group resurfaces, The Cult keeps ‘80s hair metal alive, and Mick Jones digs deep into The Clash’s catalog for BAD’s final top-five hit. None of these songs peaked lower than #4.
“Top Of The Pops” by The Smithereens: It’s been awhile since The Smithereens made some waves on the MRT charts, following their #3 hit “A Girl Like You” during Ian McCulloch’s run at the top. The band got one notch closer to the “Top Of The Pops” with this single, which peaked at #2 behind Robyn Hitchcock. It’s stylistically similar to “A Girl Like You,” but didn’t have quite the same staying power as their earlier hit.
“Sexuality” by Billy Bragg: Speaking of treacly jangle-pop songs about love, let me introduce you to Billy Bragg’s “Sexuality,” a song about the positivity of sexual expression. Bragg’s unique vocal performance and sometimes silly lyrics seem to fit well in a time where both “Shiny Happy People” and “So You Think You’re In Love” are commanding the charts. This one peaked at #2 behind Robyn Hitchcock, but easily could have been at the top for the same reason as the aforementioned songs.
“One Shot” by Tin Machine: Some random British bloke named David Bowie decided to put together a band in the late ‘80s called Tin Machine, and that band succeeded in notching a #3 hit with “One Shot.” It’s a pretty decent rock track, actually, underscoring Mr. Bowie’s amazing ability to be awesome in every musical genre. Fun fact: Tin Machine guitarist Reeves Gabrels has been a member of The Cure since 2012. Small world.
“The Globe” by Big Audio Dynamite II: Mick Jones digs deeper into the well of his past glories and heavily samples The Clash’s “Should I Stay Or Should I Go” for Big Audio Dynamite II’s final top-five MRT hit, “The Globe,” which peaked at #3 on the chart. It’s fine, except for the perpetually intermittent screech that punctuates every 5 seconds of the song. Could have done without that.
“Wild Hearted Son” by The Cult: The Cult are no strangers to this part of Chart Chat, previously owning a #2 hit with “Fire Woman” in 1989 when The Cure’s “Fascination Street” had a stranglehold on the top spot. They take their ‘80s glam-rock schtick back to the top five with another solid entry, “Wild Hearted Son,” which topped out at #4 behind Robyn Hitchcock. This band is legit, you guys. If you like that style of rock, you could do a lot worse than The Cult.