1996 Mark Morrison: Return Of The Mack

Frustrated musician and songwriter that he was, I sometimes wonder if, had Charles Manson written a killer song before his acolytes went on their killer spree, would it have got the kudos it deserved, or would his later activities taint it like poison? The question is hypothetical of course; Manson's output consists of hopeless doggerel desperately masquerading as something from the tortured and sensitive singer/songwriter school but falls short. Well short in fact. Which in a roundabout way brings me to Mark Morrison. Not that I'm equating Morrison with Manson you understand. Quite the opposite in fact; Morrison's antics in the media and his brushes with the law have bordered on the farcical at times and have reduced him to a comedy figure of sorts, a comic book West coast gangster wannabe surviving on a diet of wits and street cred where the music has played second fiddle.

Putting all that baggage aside for present purposes, what's left to consider here is his sole number one 'Return Of The Mack', and a damn fine song it is too. So fine that I have read of some critics comparing it to 'I Heard It Through The Grapevine' in terms of style, theme and importance. But to my mind that's patent nonsense; 'The Return Of The Mack' is nothing so doubtful or paranoid as Gaye's classic and instead plays more as a male oriented 'I Will Survive'. If there's any Marvin Gay comparisons to be made then it's with the early model and the joy in love soul of 'Stubborn Kind Of Fellow', a song that Morrison refits with the rhythm section of Tom Tom Club's 'Genius Of Love' (I wonder if its opening "What you gonna do when you get out of jail? I'm gonna have some fun" caught the Mack's ear) and updates Gaye's own cocky strut and swagger into what the kids of today know as modern R&B.

There's a fine tradition within blues/ trad R&B of self promoting braggadocio with the players keen to big themselves up in the eyes of all, but it's rare to hear it in a 'my gal's gone' song; Morrison's girl has done him wrong but he's not going to lay down and die in the gutter. And what's more he's back to tell her he's not, over and over again. Throughout the entire song Morrison never shuts up, twisting his voice from plaintive to face rubbing sneer then back again, while his posse behind backs him up with a constant "You lied to me" Greek chorus just in case there's any doubt this girl isn't getting the message.

Classic pop or the acceptable face of modern R&B? Both I think - 'Return of The Mack' is these things and more, but for myself I think I'm drawn to its upbeat confidence in falling out of love as a representation of the 'rise above' attitude I sometimes wish I had. Because if I were in Morrison's shoes I'd be digging out those tortured, sensitive, singer/songwriter albums and crawling under the duvet. Though I guess that's preferable to getting all Manson on them.