Some songs are icons of the year they came out – such as Oasis’ “Wonderwall” in 1995 and Missy Elliott’s “Get Ur Freak On” in 2001. But few songs transcend the era in which they were made and actually define the period with a timelessness that never fails to send goosebumps shooting down the spine.
For example, think of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” in 1967 and “Smells Like Teen Spirit” in 1991. But in between the two came an unlikely hit from an unexpected guest. When “The Promise” hit FM radio in 1988, the song immediately shot into heavy rotation all over the United States and other countries.
The kids couldn’t get enough of this band, When in Rome, which had seemingly come out of Nowheresville, U.K., with a song so intoxicating its members were superstars the world over within months of releasing the eponymous record on Virgin. I remember waiting in a meandering line at Musicland at the mall, not the only kid clutching the 7-inch single in my arms. (The cassette-singles were sold out, the clerk informed me.) When I reached the counter, like clockwork, the song started in on the overhead speakers.
I caught the video to the song while at a friend’s house, and while the 3 minute, 30 second clip is now comically dated – bad dress shirts, terrible haircuts and even worse cropped leather jackets – it owned us at the time. We watched for hours on end, willing MTV to play it again.
And it did.
And then … the band disappeared. It never released another record. It never toured all that extensively. And of all places it could show up, nearly 20 years after unleashing the mammoth single on the worldwide populace, the group will play the CityLights Pavilion on Saturday with Devo and the Psychedelic Furs.
There’s something bizarrely transcendent of this pre-Coldplay piano pop. That rudimentary drum machine loop. The lurking synths. The confluence of their voices, the mysterious baritone singing the lead and the crystalline tenor bringing up the chorus. And the mostly ridiculous lyrics that could only apply to the life of a naïve teenager.
“If you need a friend/Don’t look to a stranger/You know in the end/I’ll always be there.”
Basic, yes. But a potent message to quote in your girl’s yearbook when you’re 12 years old. But the words got better, more relatable for more mature individuals: “I’m sorry but I’m just thinking of the right words to say/I know they don’t sound the way I planned them to be.” Children and adults know that awkwardness, especially when it’s associated with relationships and promises.
When in Rome plays Saturday at the CityLights Pavilion with Devo and Psychedelic Furs. Tickets, $36.50-$59, are available via ticketmaster.com or 303-830-8497.
Pop music critic Ricardo Baca can be reached at 303-954-1394 or rbaca@denverpost.com.
