Rainy Davis – Sweetheart [1986; Supertronics]

image

Pulled from Rainy Davis’ album of the same name, the base mix of this song opens up its single with a blend of pop vocals and structuring, electro synths and drum machines, and ‘80s NYC hip-hop beats and bass stabs.  Night-themed lyrics and dark-toned bridges gives things an unexpectedly gothy vibe, though it’s one dressed up in bright tones and plastic flash. 

The dub version, which leads the B-side, keeps the backing beats pretty much identical, but the vocals get a treatment that sounds like they were loaded into a sample trigger keyboard and given staccato taps and key-rolls.  It’s followed by a sub-minute bonus beats track, then a ~3-minute a cappella cut, neither of which leaves much of an impression beyond the sweetness of Davis’ vocals.  A little more life to it than the standard late-’80s electropop, but that sense of character gets undermined by the repetitiveness of the lyrics.