LP reviewed in NME, 9th January, 1982
Tenpole Tudor | Let The Four Winds Blow | (Stiff) 1981 | I REGARD the Tenpoles to be no more nor less than rockaboogie Bachelors in tin costumes. They clearly appeal to the kind of pantomime taste (a majority with no interest in, or little experience of, the true thrills to be found in popular song), relying on a stunningly slow, spiteless sense of nonsense and a deep belief in painless escape through gormlessness.
They are the Chicory Tip of the Eighties. What a problem maintaining concentration through two sides of normality and necrophilia.
No participant in an impromptu survey I made with three kids (aged nine, 12 and 14) was familiar with ‘Let The Four Winds Blow’ except for a few hearings of the single, yet it is clear to them that Eddie and his anti-heroes are, and always will be, the equivalent of that sorry creature, the class buffoon; harmless, slightly amusing, and a necessary butt for derisory humour.
This image should not be shattered by the mundane new material which Ye Tudorpoles are forcing upon us here. They stand, shoddy knights before a ruined castle.
Tenpole Tudor | Let The Four Winds Blow | (Stiff) 1981
They involve a token travelogue element with songs about Bombay and Siam, with suitable musicianly reference points for the less association-minded consumer.
They are deliriously unaware or unashamed of the indifference they inspire, in spite of their chart success. My sample reacted sharply to snide remarks about the mascara-d delights of Adam’s daring work but were happy to agree that Eddie’s fervour amounts to little more than Village Idiocy. And that’s how they enjoy him.
It’s a small comfort to me that today’s youth can feel a blend of mild fondness and passive disdain for a beat-troupe who have artlessly provided Mankind with a small step backwards. (Dave Hill)
TENPOLE TUDOR: ‘Let The Four Winds Blow’ (Stiff SEEZ 42) **
LESS of a group, more a movement. Tenpole Tudor’s heads are locked in medieval lore and, like Adam And The Ants, they encourage camp followers to see their heroes as larger than life, as knights in Tenpole’s case. Bold, tearless and swashbuckling.
It’s a metaphor which suits. For me, Tenpole represent fun and good cheer but this next bit is going to be, well, painful.
This album sounds like it was made just because it had to be. I know that’s always the case anyway, what with contractual obligations and all that, but it’s a sorry state of affairs when it shows.
Love the pictures, Tenpole’s good old manic no-sleep-till-Watford Gap stare, but the tunes don’t carry the weight they should or the impact.
As a contender for an instant hit on Juke Box Jury, this doesn’t make the grade. It’s an ominous sign for a Tudorpole record. as they have built a reputation very quickly for immediate appeal.
Tenpole are a hard -working live band and tremendous fun, sure, but I don’t think ‘Four Winds’ does them justice. Virtually the only moment when the Tudors show their old form, the form of which I know they’re capable, is on the current single ‘Throwing My Baby Out With Bathwater’.
I hope they aren’t going to prove their critics right by running out of steam so soon. (Record Mirror, 28/11/81)
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