ABSTRACT
The enormous success of Frankie Goes to Hollywood as a complete popular musical package - music, image, 'attitude' - the year before, brought Zang Tuum Tumb (ZTT) credibility from a public keen for something which had the reputation of being a little more demanding than the typical chart singles of the time. In 1985 Trevor Horn and the ZTT publicity/marketing machine began working on a recording project with the Jamaican/American disco singer, Grace Jones. Unlike previous ZTT bands and artists, Grace Jones was already well established as a pop singer with a highly distinctive image. Grace Jones's background as a fashion model was both an enabling and a restricting influence on her subsequent career in pop music. The complexity and subtlety of the use of space in Slave to the Rhythm is extremely impressive throughout the album, defining each timbre's role and musical importance in context.
