Sneak of the Week: The Keys-“I Don’t Wanna Cry”

Editor’s Note: We’re excited to introduce a new feature, “Sneak of the Week.” Here’s where we dig up a song from the past you’ve never heard or maybe heard, but nearly forgotten.  Check this one out!

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They ran with McCartney and Joe Jackson. They’re beloved by The Lemon Twigs. But their power-pop perfection remains below the radar.

Let’s jump back to 1981. Power pop was pretty much having its last gasp in the mainstream. The splash that The Knack made at the end of the ‘70s may have been brief, but it was big enough that major labels would still spend the next couple of years chasing its ghost. But with the synth revolution on the rise and the UK’s New Pop/New Romantic movement bringing us the closest thing we’d yet had to a second British Invasion, the window was closing quickly for folks with chiming electric guitars, finely honed harmonies, and Beatle-y hooks.

But the big labels were still willing to run a few power-poppers up the ol’ flagpole, especially if they could make them more marketable by passing them off as New Wave. In the case of British band The Keys, this was accomplished mostly by the presence of the skinny-tied sovereign himself, Joe Jackson, as the producer; frontman Drew Barfield’s carefully sculpted haircut, and an eye-popping, primary-color cover design.

Arriving on A&M Records, also the home of Jackson’s early outings, The Keys Album left most of the band’s power-pop peers deep in the distance and coughing up dust. Everything is on point: compositionally, each tune is a finely honed jewel, whether it’s a roof-raising rocker or a heart-stabbing ballad.

Vocally, the band’s close harmonies are expert enough to evoke images of the aforementioned Fab Four. (There’s only one degree of separation between The Keys and The Beatleverse: Drummer Geoff Britton had been in Wings long enough to appear on their Venus and Mars album). The guitars of Steve Tatler and Ben Grove churn out a constant succession of perfectly chiseled riffs guaranteed to get stuck somewhere between your head, heart, and gut.

It’s impossible to know what kept The Keys from connecting on either side of the Atlantic. A&M released no less than four singles from the album, each a spectacular tune. Maybe part of the blame for The Keys Album’s low profile can be laid on the label waiting until the third 45 to unleash what feels like the LP’s tour de force, “I Don’t Wanna Cry.” It’s also somewhat buried in the track order, so maybe somehow nobody realized what they had on their hands with this tune.

Its quintessential mix of perky pop melody and soul-wrenching sadness is either the most fun you’ll ever have sobbing or the saddest slab of joyous sounds you’ll ever jump around to. From the first frothy burst of six-string jubilation that opens the song to the final moment, where the band’s last breath of three-part harmony hangs on just a moment longer than the closing chord, for a brief flash of heavenly a cappella, every second of “I Don’t Wanna Cry” delivers.

It’s the kind of thing crate-diggers can spend their lives searching for. But it’s never been legitimately reissued. You won’t find it on streaming services. And you’ve got to dig deep into your pocket even for a bootleg copy. Fortunately, at least YouTube has got you covered.

The band broke up before they could get another album out, though an indie label finally unveiled a limited-edition vinyl collection of unreleased Keys cuts in 2021. Unfortunately, it quickly became as much of a collector’s item as the A&M LP. But The Lemon Twigs’ live cover of “I Don’t Wanna Cry” offers hope for the legacy lasting into the future.

-Jim Allen

Fair use image of The Keys