Long Term Forecast 1983 to the present

It's a personal freedom in this country that we take for granted.

I am talking about driving around in the car, windows down and playing music very loud.

We all do it.

Unfortunately, this does expose us to a great range of genres and styles and some are just not enjoyable at all. In the last couple of decades a familiar sound has been a strong thumpy bass and tinny electronic accompaniment that passes for garage, rap and urban music emanating, typically from a small 2 door hatchback with bolt on accessories and gimmicky goodies.

Of course you may catch a few strains of Pavarotti or classical dependant upon your location as much as the popular sub cultural stuff. If I am alongside a mobile sound system I just like to listen and try to catch the gist of the lyrics. In my local area there are bursts of bhangra and Euro-Pop at all hours.

Although I feel that I have a wide taste in music many of the mobile audio offerings are heard for the first time although in that thumpy category you could easily be forgiven in saying that, yes, they all sound very much the same. They are evidently written to a rather rigid set of rules or rather are produced by those of a similar and rather basic talent.

I was walking through a supermarket car park a couple of days ago when through an open drivers door window came forth a barrage of music. The song being played was strangely familiar. It was a cover version of an original vinyl single that I had bought in 1983.

I had bought it on impulse all of those years ago after, I think, that John Peel played it on his late night show. It was a stand out song at the time because of its a cappella style, minimal backing track and the haunting vocals of a single female.

The song was "It's a fine day" performed by the artist Jane (Jane Lancaster) using the words of the then Manchester based poet and musician Edward Barton and originally an independent label release.

Barton claimed to have spent about £5 on studio time followed by an initial wasteful pressing of the single before having to package and sell the 7" himself for £2.


It was a bit of luck that the owner of Cherry Red Records heard it on the John Peel show, as I had, whilst waiting for his broken down car to be attended to by a recovery vehicle. An enquiring phone call led to Cherry Red putting their resources into its full marketing and distribution.

Jane and Barton single

The version coming out of the parked car this week was a bit more punchy and rhythmic, no doubt a good record to dance to.

The original was for all of its uniqueness and cleverness was quite slow and boring. Someone had subsequently given it a supercharged makeover and there was again a very familiar and rather formulaic style to it.

This was down to the production values of the prolific team from the 1980's and 1990's pop music scene of Stock, Aitken, Waterman and in particular Pete Waterman. Their trademark traits had propelled the likes of Divine, Hazel Dean, Dead or Alive, Mel and Kim, Roland Rat, Bananarama and Kylie and Jason into public consciousness and success to varying degrees (no bad feelings Roland).

The 1992 release by Opus 3 was a global hit with the pinnacle of its achievements being top spot in Billboard USA's Hot Dance Club Chart.

Opus 3 version

There have been many other covers and samples of the song including Orbital (1993) and Miss Jane (1998)

Preceding both of these was its use in an advertisement for the Japanese marketing campaign for Kleenex Tissues.   Japanese Advert.  A bit weird.

You can't keep good music down and Barton's great lyrics and musical skills saw Kylie Minogue sample "It's a fine day" in her 2002 "Confide in Me" release.

The record really shows its quality in that it has endured and is still being listened to today even in a supermarket car park in 2019.