The Singles Collection Plus

• Artist: Kenny
• Rating:
• Release Date: September 26, 2000
• Type: Compilation (best of)
• Genre: Rock

Review

For a band whose hitmaking career ran to no more than 12 minutes worth of music, this is an awful lot of Kenny. Four tracks -- "The Bump," "Fancy Pants," "Baby I Love You OK," and "Julie Ann" -- round up all that history recalls as classic Kenny; respectively, they reached number three, number four, number 12, and number ten on the British chart during 1974-75, after which the band lapsed into an almost deafening commercial silence. But if Collection has one mission in mind, it is to prove that it wasn't strictly a fate they deserved. The band's Sound of Super K album, included in its entirety, indicates a pop sensibility which was at least on a par with the contemporary Mud and Rubettes, and, while that isn't necessarily a recommendation, it shouldn't have been a death sentence either. The problem, of course, was timing. By the time Kenny made their breakthrough, both the pop and glam veins which they were mining had hit on very hard times, indeed, while songwriters Bill Martin and Phil Coulter were still reeling from their dismissal from the Bay City Rollers camp. It would be another year before the pair truly regained their equilibrium, by which time they had already transferred their affections to another band entirely, the young Midge Ure's Slik. Indeed, Kenny's status as a kind of noble no-man's-land between those two giants is only reinforced by the two best cuts on this entire collection: "The Bump," which had already seen service on a Rollers B-side; and "Forever and Ever," which would become Slik's debut hit. For the remainder, The Kenny Collection Plus slips blithely between punchy glam pop and dreamy teen ballads, a few high-tempo dancefloor crashers and a surprisingly mature rendition of "(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher." Nothing, however, is more memorable than it needs to be, and, ultimately, nothing is anything more than perfunctory. A greatest hits EP would probably have served Kenny far better. ~ Dave Thompson, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
The Bump	Martin Terry, Phil Coulter	Kenny	(2:35)
Forget The Janes The Jeans and The Might Have Beens		Kenny	(3:14)
Fancy Pants		Kenny	(3:25)
I'm a Winner		Kenny	(3:14)
Baby, I Love You O.K!		Kenny	(3:49)
Sound of Super K		Kenny	(3:15)
Julie Anne	Bill Martin, Phil Coulter	Kenny	(2:59)
Dancin' Feet		Kenny	(3:01)
Nice to Have You Home		Kenny	(3:43)
Happiness Melissa		Kenny	(2:41)
Forever and Ever		Kenny	(3:30)
Hey Mr. Dream Seller		Kenny	(3:16)
Glad Glad Glad		Kenny	(4:01)
Hot Lips		Kenny	(2:56)
Bangin' My Head Against a Brick Wall		Kenny	(3:25)
Red Headed Lady		Kenny	(2:36)
Alone Together		Kenny	(3:18)
(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher		Kenny	(4:32)

Credits

Mark Brennan (Liner Notes), Mark Brennan (Compilation)