I've just been listening to Hank Martin's new album, "Without a Word". For context, I've always liked The Shadows, but haven't especially sought out Hank's solo work.
My attention was drawn by his cover of the Doctor Who theme. Kudos for that - it's a great attention-grabbing gimmick which has surely boosted sales. He does a pretty good job too - easily better than two of the official versions.
The rest of the album...well, I'm just not sure I see the point.
For the uninitiated, Hank's MO is guitar instrumental cover versions of established hits. Once, the appeal was very much rooted in Easy Listening but these days presumably it's more like that Kim Wilde covers album: a sort of ghoulish curiosity.
But Kim did covers of Suede and The Cure and Buzzcocks. It's hard to imagine anyone getting terribly excited about finding out what Hank Marvin's version of "Moon River" will be like. In 2017, do we need an instrumental of "Michelle" or "Are You Lonesome Tonight"? And can it ever be appropriate for him to appropriate "America" from West Side Story?
Who wouldn't love to hear Hank do his take on songs from the last two decades? Hank does "Five Colours in her Hair". Hank does "Rude". Hank does "I Kissed a Girl". I nearly got excited when I saw "Cry Me a River" on the track listing but no, of course it's not the Justin Timberlake song.
The most inspired moment here is a mashup between the Peter Gunn theme and Baby Elephant Walk, but really you're best off sticking to his Ron Grainer tribute. You can see him playing it on YouTube and he looks like he's having a great time. I can't detect similar enthusiasm in his "Alfie" video.
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