Just for fun, they recorded an EP called Four Bacharach & David Songs. Their cover of I’ll Never Fall In Love Again went straight to No 2 and set the tone for their third album, Fellow Hoodlums.
It made Dundee-born songwriter Ricky Ross realise they were “a lyrical, melodic kind of band”. Deacon Blue were about songs rather than riffs and this, their 10th studio album, proves they still have an instinctive feel for smart, mellow pop.
Ross sings deep and low on the opening title track, sounding like a Scottish Leonard Cohen, but the song itself is a swaggering 50s-style romp with an achingly addictive chorus.