Some time around 1983 or '84 my friend Emma Harris told me about an album called Songs to Remember. All the songs on it, she explained, were really memorable — they genuinely were songs to remember. She was studying Modern Languages at Cambridge at the time, and, in the linguistics module, probably learnt all about Jacques Derrida. "I'm in love with Jacques Derrida / Read a page and know what I need to / Take apart by baby's heart" goes the song of the same name. Emma wasn't really a music fan, and she didn't have a copy of the album. Nevertheless, I filed away the recommendation.
Towards the end of the decade, around the time I too was studying linguistics (we did Chomsky, but not Derrida), I got Cupid and Psyche 85 and enjoyed it as far as it went — but not enough to inspire further purchases.
It wasn't until 2002 that I acted on Emma's tip. From the way she'd described it, I expected a soul album — something evocative of Smokey Robinson or Curtis Mayfield. What I got sounded like a preparatory study for Cupid and Psyche 85. I wonder if Em still remembers the songs — I haven't seen her since '86 — because I don't.
MusicBrainz entry for this album
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