The life of a jobbing actor is, I would guess, not generally a happy one and therefore would be likely to provide the kind of inspiration to create the kind of music that people will actively try to keep out of their ears. The question, however, was whether Charlie Carter would bring his acting talent to bear on matters musical or simply take the opportunity to wallow in mire of self-directed sensitivity.
The answer is, fortunately, relatively clear cut. Curiously, “Nothing Short of Love” is a generous album in that our Mr Carter hands over three of his most convincing songs over to other singers with “Maybe Baby”, in particular, giving an opportunity to Dami Olukoya to use her seductive vocal talents to score an easy goal. Using his own voice, Charlie Carter manages to hold his own even if the likely conclusion of the casual listener is that he is better suited to musical theatre than leading a song from way out front. That said, and we are talking back in the day, taking such a stylistic approach didn’t do such luminaries as Paul Nicholas much harm in the race to become the housewife’s favourite.
It is perhaps unsurprising given his acting his background that the playful “Soho Rambler” is the stand out track of this album with Mr Carter’s affected accent adding a sense of fun that proves positively infectious and it is fortunate indeed that this good natured vibe pervades the majority of this album with the textbook sensitive singer songwriter song in there – “Every Time We’ve Said Goodbye” – easy to sidestep in the context of the other songs.
Some may consider steering an album down a resolutely middle of the road track is somewhat dated in these days of minimal attention spans yet there is something appealing in how Charlie Carter goes about his musical business. Sometimes it’s cool not to be cool.
The album is available from the usual online places.