The Ups and Downs by Stephen 'Tin Tin' Duffy

The Ups and Downs, the April 1985 debut album from Stephen "Tin Tin" Duffy on 10 Records, is bright, glossy new wave from the man who'd once been Duran Duran's founding singer and bassist. Stephen Street produced it, and the centerpiece is "Kiss Me", a solo remake of a song Duffy had first cut with his earlier band Tin Tin, all bouncy synths and a hook that won't let go. It went to number 4 in Britain, "The Icing on the Cake" followed it to number 14, and the album itself reached number 35.

Duffy has never been sentimental about it. Plugging an expanded CD reissue in 2008, he confessed he'd never liked the record, saving his fond memories for mixing with Street and making "The Icing on the Cake" and waving off the rest as a shambles. These days he's known too for The Lilac Time, the band he leads with his elder brother Nick.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.