Well Kept Secret

Given the sublime run of albums he produced in the 1970s, listeners could be forgiven for overlooking John Martyn’s 80s output. But while many of his folk-leaning contemporaries foundered in the era of gated snares and shoulder pads, there’s plenty of quarry to be had. 1982’s Well Kept Secret was his second album for Warner Brothers and found Martyn positively thriving among a contemporary setting of synthesisers, fretless bass and big booming drums. Hiss On The Tape bares the influence of Talking Heads, while the twinkling dinner party smoothie Never Let Me Go (featuring Ronnie Scott on saxophone) is a ballad Sade would have be chuffed with. During recording Martyn impaled himself on a fence post and punctured a lung and claims he was so out of it on painkillers that he can’t remember recording most of the album, but Well Kept Secret is anything but forgettable.

Now it’s down to Martyn’s inner circle. Sandy Roberton, also his manager, produces here and Martyn’s live band does most of the tracking. We’ve got some delicious Syndrums and slap bass and Eighties tonal spritz, with Martyn sounding like Michael McDonald and the tempos picking up in a way they never had before. He’s chasing some kind of Knight Rider/Michael Jackson vibe and, against all reason, it works?