Close to the Bone

Close to the Bone is the sixth studio album by the British pop group Thompson Twins, released on 6 April 1987 by Arista Records. Only the duo of Tom Bailey and Alannah Currie remained; this was the first album the group made without Joe Leeway. It was produced by Bailey and Rupert Hine. Ending their run of Top 5 albums in the UK, the album was a commercial failure, peaking at number 90 in the UK and failing to yield any hit singles. It fared a little better in the US, peaking at number 76 on the Billboard Top 200, with the single "Get That Love" reaching number 31 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album has been re-issued as part of the 2012 set Original Album Classics, which featured the studio albums Set (1982), Quick Step & Side Kick (1983), Into the Gap (1984), Here's to Future Days (1985) and Close to the Bone. Background The Thompson Twins took a break from music in 1986. Following Joe Leeway's departure from the band, Bailey and Currie experienced the loss of their unborn child due to a miscarriage (Currie had also lost her mother the same year). Eventually, "to have something positive to do", the pair bought an old house in Ireland, moved in with Bailey's collection of religious objects and Currie's collection of first editions by British poet Edith Sitwell, and forgot about music altogether. When Currie felt like returning to music again, the pair started working on the next Thompson Twins album as a duo.