Their second album, 1984’s What Noise? reflected the experimental vibe of Naked, and was not received well commercially. It did spawn two singles, “The Other Side of Heaven” and “Radio On,” but neither found success, and the band (with coaxing from label Magnet) developed a more polished, conventional sound for their third album. They shortened their name to KTP and began having hits on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. The most successful was "Certain Things Are Likely," which spent three weeks at #1 in 1987. That song also became their second Hot 100 entry when it peaked at #97 later that year. From the same album "One Step" was the biggest selling single in Italy that year. When they were given an award on an Italian television show they mistook it for an ashtray.
During the late 1980s their music became even more club friendly and by the end of the decade they had recorded several albums'worth of music that broke new ground in up and coming dance genres. While their pursuit of the avant garde through experiments with form, sound, and equipment, pushed their music into many new areas, the neo-pagan rave scene of 90s Britain also gave their lyrics a mystical flavour, with such sessions as the Ascendant Masters, Jon Hall's Techno-Shamnic Ritual, and the Dalai Lama tracks, using synthesizers and filters along with frequently furious rhthyms to hypnotise the listener.
In the mid 2010s, KTP released a couple albums on Bandcamp. They also performed at W Fest in 2021 and announced that they were working on a new LP slated for a January 2023 release to coincide with the 40th anniversary of Naked.
Big Man Restless
Kissing The Pink Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Who pushes for humour, he's so relentless
He's back to back, with no restraint,
He's so relentless, like forty indians.
Then there's the group that doesn't move,
To the sound, to the humour.
No-one knows whose friend he is,
He's always there,
No-one knows whose friend he is,
He's always there,
He's the big man restless, like forty indians.
I'm in the third group,
we push for humour,
We're so relentless, like forty indians.
Chorus
The legal quarter of tight-lipped men
Pushed for order
And repeat again
Anyway, the lot regarding the funny man
The big man restless
Are so relentless
They scratched about
And like forty indians
The lot turn on the funny man,
The big man restless
And what can he say
If the sun's all gone and we're wafer thin
And we could scratch around in our so frail skin
You could say
You could say
No flags in here, no cause to wave,
Just the slow, slow scratch in the final cave
You could say
You could say
The song Big Man Restless by Kissing The Pink talks about the big man who is restless and constantly pushes for humor. He is unrestrained and seemingly unstoppable, like forty Indians. The big man is always there, but nobody knows whose friend he is. The second group in the song refers to people who don't move or respond to the sound or humor. However, the third group, which the singer belongs to, is relentless like forty Indians in pushing for humor.
The chorus talks about the legal quarter of tight-lipped men who push for order and often repeat themselves. The big man restless and the lot regarding the funny man are also described as being relentless, like forty Indians scratching about. Eventually, the lot turns on the funny man and the big man restless, leaving them with nothing much to say. The song ends with the repeated line of "you could say" and talks about a slow scratch in the final cave, without any flags or causes to raise.
Overall, the song seems to be a criticism of people who relentlessly push for humor and attention, without any clear purpose. The big man restless is the embodiment of this, and no one knows where he belongs or what his goals are.
Line by Line Meaning
There's a big man restless,
There is an individual who is agitated and cannot stay still
Who pushes for humour, he's so relentless
This person is constantly attempting to make others laugh and has no boundaries in their pursuit
He's back to back, with no restraint,
He is constantly moving and behaving in a way that is unrestrained and uncontrollable
He's so relentless, like forty indians.
This person's behavior is reminiscent of the relentlessness of a group of indigenous people
Then there's the group that doesn't move,
Another group of people who are the complete opposite of the restless person
To the sound, to the humour.
They don't respond to the efforts of the restless person to be humorous
No-one knows whose friend he is,
This person's social connections are unknown
He's always there,
However, this individual is always present
He's the big man restless, like forty indians.
This person's agitated behavior is similar to the relentless nature of a group of indigenous people
No-one knows whose friend he is,
His connections with other people are still unknown
He's always there,
Despite this, he is always present
He's the big man restless, like forty indians.
He continues to behave restlessly like a group of indigenous people without regard for others
I'm in the third group,
The singer is in a third group
we push for humour,
This third group is also attempting to be humorous
We're so relentless, like forty indians.
The third group's humor is also relentless like the indigenous group
The legal quarter of tight-lipped men
Another group of people is introduced into the song
Pushed for order
This group of people is attempting to maintain control and enforce order
And repeat again
This group repeats its efforts to enforce order
Anyway, the lot regarding the funny man
In any case, all the groups are focused on the humorous person's behavior
The big man restless
They are all talking about the restless man
Are so relentless
The groups describe the restless man's behavior as relentless
They scratched about
The groups are searching for a solution
And like forty indians
Their approach is similar to that of the indigenous group's relentlessness
The lot turn on the funny man,
The groups begin to turn on the humorous individual
The big man restless
They target the restless person and blame him for the situation
And what can he say
The restless person is now speechless
If the sun's all gone and we're wafer thin
The situation is becoming dire
And we could scratch around in our so frail skin
People are searching desperately for a solution
You could say
In the end, what can anyone really say?
No flags in here, no cause to wave,
There is no agenda or goal that anyone is working towards
Just the slow, slow scratch in the final cave
People are resorting to desperate measures to find a way out
You could say
In the end, all that can be done is to accept the situation
Writer(s): Nicholas Whitecross, Peter George Stewart, Josephine Wells, Stephen Cusack, Jon Kingsley Hall, Peter Barnett Copyright: David Platz Music
Contributed by Layla A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@delta0921
This song is like a time machine for me taking me back to my college days back in the 80's. Great times for music.
@joeybongo7267
AB...
@Paulie80
Amen
@muluofficialuk3138
Hi Here's a 2023 remix https://youtu.be/WtmA6wQhDHM
@bigguys45s29
Just an absolutely brilliant New Wave group. Love their “Naked” album.
@muluofficialuk3138
Hi Here's a 2023 remix https://youtu.be/WtmA6wQhDHM
@josephedwards7480
For me this song has never lost any of it's magic.
@OphelieFontaine
Never!!!!
@muluofficialuk3138
Hi Here's a 2023 remix https://youtu.be/WtmA6wQhDHM
@erickpacheco1623
I had to visit this in my brothers memory,.He had me ahead of my time as far as music..It's because of my brother Jesse I was able to mingle with the older crowd in the 80s..This group along with Yazoo (up stairs at erics) amazing album covers as well as sound+music...I first heard both groups on pioneer turntables and DCM time window home speakers..until this day nothing compares ,not even bose as far as power and clarity....fantastic times I'm proud to have been apart of...THANK YOU BRO and The 80s