Sentiment, satire and song. A very British group Twentieth Century Blues
The Songs Of Noel Coward

Although Noel Coward personifies decadent, inter-war Englishness - wit, dressing gowns, camp cigarette holders his songs captured the emergence of modern life in dextrous style. The success of Twentieth Century Blues (a fund-raiser for the Red Hot AIDS Charitable Trust) lies in executive producer Neil Tennant's shrewd selection of artists to interpret Coward's sentiment and satire.

All British, they have evidently been told not to Stray too far (London Pride by Damon Albarn with Michael Nyman was "too electronic", although it may appear on a single). The star turns are the two biggest surprises: The Divine Comedy's mocking I've Been To A Marvellous Party, which switches between plum y monologue and pounding techno; Vic Reeve's reinvention of Mrs Worthington as a cold, spoken rebuke over David Arnold's weird strings and bursts of guitar from the great lost Roddy Frame. Not far behind is Shola Ama's wonderful some day I'll find you - beautiful sung over beats and lovely strings by Craig Armstrong (former Massive Attack Orchestra).

In a similar vein is Texas's Parisian Pierrot (a wry take on European nightlife) with Sharleen Spiteri in splendid form, and Pet Shop Boys with Sail Away (written for Coward's lover Graham Payn), a slow dance version of a bittersweet but optimistic song about a fading relationship.

Closer to the originals are Paul McCartney, perfectly at home crooning A Room With A View over a Palm Court atmosphere; and Bryan Ferry, who plays it straight with a heartfelt rendition of I'll See You Again, evoking rather than imitating the period. Also keeping it simple is Sting with a pleasingly disciplined I'll Follow My Secret Heart over a harp accompaniment.

Affected accents are happily rare, although Marianne Faithful - in her older and wiser persona - spoils an otherwise superb interpretation of Mad About The Boy by coming over all core blimey. Another offender is Robbie Williams - who features Eno and Tennant on a half-baked dance track - whose overdone accents overshadow Coward's mean-spirited side on There Are Bad Times just Around The Corner, his bitchy response to the post-war Labour government. Even so, only Suede's Poor Little Rich Girl is weak, Coward's cruelty and subtlety lost amid a misguided swirl of unsympathetic echoey electronic beats and wails from Bristol dance trio Raissa.

Which just leaves Space, who make Mad Dogs And Englishmen sound like one of their own offbeat scenarios by giving the clever words prominence amid their jaunty, jazzy spin, and Elton john, hardly recognisable in a driving big-band arrangement of the title track, complete with Neil Tennant's melancholy saxophone and strings.

This interview was published in Q Magazenne 1997 issue by Ian Cranna.