Wishful Thinking - Music in Mallorca

The geriatric, very vintage rock of recent vintage in Palma, the creaking bones and voices of a Cocker, a Cohen and a Quo, is to be supplanted this summer by a group of less vintage due to appear at the Palma Arena. The Cranberries. Dolores and the chaps. Reformed and undergoing a world tour, the Irish group will take to the stage in Palma on 31 July. There is a bit of form when it comes to Irish bands in Palma; The Corrs have also played there.

It may not be music "of the moment" but The Cranberries offer something a tad more contemporary than Rossi and Parfitt. And I admit that I have a bit of soft spot for them. Well, Dolores anyway. I presumed it was her name that triggered a dream about a "Dolores". Not that this "Dolly" looked like her. Blond, not Spanish, but with a Spanish name. Dolores Cocita, whatever that's supposed to mean. Water was coming into my imaginary flat from the one above, the one belonging to Dolly. And that was how it all began. In the dream. One of those extraordinarily vivid and detailed dreams. I wrote it down. It's the basis for something. Not sure what. But the story of Dolores will be written at some stage.

I digress. Coming hard on the news of the opening of the Mallorca Rocks venue in Magaluf, Mallorca seems to be dragging itself into a more modern music world. Sort of. We still have to put up with pop stars turned crooners like Tony Hadley, a me-too big-bandist warbler in the wake of Robbie, Rod and Paul Young, and all of them took their lead from the late Robert Palmer.

The point about most pop and rock acts is that they never actually die or completely fade away. Some go on a back-burner for years, others run short of money and so try and make some anew, others fail to make a lasting impression as solo artists (like Take That) and so realise that the sum of their parts was always greater than they as individuals, others look to cash in on the "revival" bandwagon and others just simply get forgotten and all of a sudden re-emerge as though they had never actually gone away.

When the Spans' front man pitched up at last year's Pollensa Music Festival, there was some considerable excitement. Not where I was concerned, but among some. But one could understand it; Spandau Ballet were, after all, once a big name, albeit a big name of smooth, Thatcherite, red-braces rock as opposed to the altogether grittier post-punk, dole-queue, racism-confronting, angry anti-Thatcher, socialist soul and ska of The Jam or The Specials. Which brings me to China Crisis, a phenomenon of 1980s wine-bar pop, who, like other soft acts of the time, those right for the conservatism of early MTV and that of the bromided, cowed, new complacency induced by Thatcherism - Johnny Hates Jazz, Curiosity Killed The Cat, Wang Chung - had a daft and pretentious name and a brief spell in the spotlights of Top of The Pops, a group that had completely faded from mine or probably anyone's radar, when out of the blue of economic crisis, it was announced they'd be playing the golf club in Pollensa; well, Zhan as it is now known. Cue less understandable excitement. But. There's always a but. Two in fact. China Crisis had the distinction of working with Walter Becker of Steely Dan, which should elevate them in anyone's estimation. And the second but. I have a confession. Not only do I still have in my possession a Spandau Ballet album (what was I thinking?), I also have the original vinyl 45 of the best thing the Crisis chaps did - "Wishful Thinking". Any group that can feature an oboe is ok in my book, though their gig in Pollensa seems all a bit, well odd. But maybe not. They could actually prove to be very good. As it's due to take place at the end of July, for those inclined to do so, it could be a dual-venue short break. Pollensa, China Crisis, and then to Palma for Dolores and The Cranberries who, never let it be forgotten, were responsible for one of the loveliest, greatest ever of songs. Here's the youtube - "Linger":





And "Wishful Thinking" is not far behind in the beautiful songs league, even if there's no Dolores:





China Crisis, 29 July, Zhan, Pollensa.
The Cranberries, 31 July, Palma Arena.

Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.