Surf's Up Dudes...
THE BEACH BOYS
A-Side: Fun, Fun, Fun
B-Side: Why Do Fools Fall In Love?
(Capitol 1964)
Ahh, The Beach Boys, one of those bands that I am really rather fond of, throughout their various shifts in style over the years - so my thoughts on this record are probably not going to be unbiased.
I think that the popular image of The Beach Boys is that of a bit of a party band - perpetually churning out fast, upbeat tunes about surfing, dancing, cars and girls. This image is probably justified for their early hits and what cemented their reputation. As many of us are aware though they've gone through troubled times and a number of styles, and maybe their more interesting work is miles away from those early party days - however that's a thought for another record, at another time.
Fun, Fun, Fun is fun, doubtless you are already aware of the song anyway. The bright, treble-y, guitars, the playful harmonies, and the organ break all give the song a verve and energy that sweeps you along. The cheeky lyric of a young woman who's adept at driving her sports car around and turning heads is enough to make you smile, but as ever with The Beach Boys the hint of teenage rebellion is never played out to violence and destruction. In this case the sensible adult has stepped in and "Daddy took her T-Bird away". For the narrator this is a good thing because now she's got no car to worry about they can have "Fun, Fun, Fun" all by themselves, making their own amusement. (They're probably going to play chess or something.) I do like this song very much but in the whole genre of Surf Music about women who are unexpectedly exceptionally good at driving hot rods* this only manages to come in second to Jan and Dean's Little Old Lady (from Pasadena).
Another familiar song is on the flip-side of this platter. Why Do Fools Fall In Love? has been covered many times since Frankie Lymon took it to the top of the hit parade in the late 50's, and to be honest this is just another version to add to the list. It's nothing special - the harmonies that carry the song are very much the Beach Boys stock-in-trade - the instrumentation is low in the mix, with only the drums making a notable presence. Interestingly they feel a bit ragged and ramshackle - whether this is experimentation or just a bit slapdash I don't know, and with Beach Boys it could equally be either.
*a bit of niche genre, I know.
Next time more summery pop from a generation later...
Looking for something noisy...
THE TELESCOPES
A-Side: Everso
B-Side: Wish Of You
(Creation 1990)
The Telescopes came to my attention through their first album (Taste) and an earlier single (To Kill A Slow Girl Walking) - both showed a band who had a good handle on noise and could produce a visceral wail of a sound, mixed with a good tune, and some interesting lyrics. This didn't last they branched off into a slightly different direction, in fact they may even be accused of jumping on a bandwagon, or following the herd, because their sound went from something that was often nightmarish, to something more dreamy. I would go as far as to lump them in with the scene that the music papers called "shoegazing". I'm not going to go into that whole scene right now, as I have some good examples of that to come into the future.
The change in direction was heralded by this single, Everso, bought in the expectation of one thing but ultimately delivering another. I was disappointed at the time, not so much because of the music itself, but because they were a lot of other bands doing something similar and doing it well, and I thought The Telescopes already had a great sound going for them. What do I think now? Well it's not so great a leap as I thought, nearly quarter of a century ago. It's still noisy, but the noise is less harsh, there are layers of guitar that wash in and out - all with the full range of effects; lots of delay, and reverb, and echo. The vocals are very low down in the mix almost incidental to the whole song. It's livelier than I remember though, and still has some of the aggression that I had thought was gone - and it's coupled with a funky drum beat. I quite like the way the music stops for the singer to drawl our "Everso" briefly, before it all fires up again. The sleeve is quite apt as that is as good a visual representation od the sound of the song as you could ever get.
On the flip side is Wish Of You - is is just me, or does that seem like a somewhat awkward title? It's a bit less "on trend" than the a-side, in that there were no obvious hooks, the rhythm wasn't as straight forward and it was much slower. It starts very quite with some "uhs" being vocalised, then the chiming guitars work their way into the song. The vocals are more prominent than the a-side, but pretty much as indecipherable. It's much more reminiscent of how the Telescopes used to sound.
It's pretty much a transitional record for a group that are moving (albeit everso slightly) from one sound to another. There is much that is enjoyable about this record, but little to make me come back to it regularly.
That was the fifth record in a row from 1990 - next time something not from that year...
A new direction for an old new wave band...
PERE UBU
A-side: I Hear They Smoke The Barbecue
B-Side: Invisible Man
(Fontana 1990)
Firstly apologies for the video which is a recent live version, couldn't find a contemporary video, and also has a long spoken intro which isn't on the record.
Pere Ubu, had something of a mystique to their name back in the day. From what I'd understood from bits and pieces in the music press, they were darlings of the American new wave, releasing challenging and difficult records, and being one of the secret delights of the underground. This made me go out and listen to some of their record for this period, and I found out that they weren't as challenging or as different as I hoped - merely a good, but not outstanding post-punk collective.
The release of I Hear They Smoke The Barbecue was their first record in a considerable time and was much anticipated. I bought it at the time in the hope that I would connect better with Pere Ubu than I had before. I was at the time disappointed, and found it dull and ordinary. One of the delights of doing this blog is being able to revise these opinions after the passage of time, and this is one of those records that is a lot better than I remember it. Listening to it now for what it actually is, rather than what I expected it to be has given me a fresh perspective. It's not a towering piece of complex noise, what it is however a superior example of alternative rock, a style that is often referred to as college rock. I Hear They Smoke The Barbecue has a bright, poppy edge to with vocals delivered in an almost laid back soft rock style. The guitar intro is strong and the tune is toe-tapping. Not entirely sure what it's about - people (aliens?) who want to be other people, maybe? There may be an anti-racism message in there, but it's not obvious. Another plus is that it mentions Yogi Bear in the lyrics.
On the other side Invisible Man still has that college rock style, but the structure of the song is a bit more varied, and more in keeping with the band's reputation. The voice is much more distinctive and growlier, and there's some odd noises in the instrumentation, which piques the interest. The rhythm is driving, and I was just starting to really get into it when it ended.
A record that I wasn't really looking forward to listening to, which turns out to be better than I thought, I make that two in row. It's possible that I have better taste than I thought.
Next time prepare to gaze at your shoes...
An ode to the joys of unemployment...
THE PARACHUTE MEN
A-side: Every Other Thursday
B-Side: Quiet Life
(Fire 1990)
I can't tell you much about The Parachute Men. I know they were one of a number of indie bands of the period that had a female singer (almost always blonde) backed by 3 blokes (probably in well-worn, creaky leather jackets) on guitar, bass and drums.
I remember seeing The Parachute Men live at the Gloucester Guildhall - for a short while there was something called the Banana Club, where, (once a month maybe - can anyone else remember?), they'd have a couple of indie bands on - one or two usually someone with an actual record deal touring the provinces, plus extra support from unsigned local entities. The Parachute Men were either a headline act, or supporting Carter - USM, (of whom more will be spoken at a later date).
The Every Other Thursday of the song title refers to the day of turning up to the job centre to sign on and get your dole money. You might expect that given this subject matter, the the song would be grim and dour, but it's not. It's an upbeat, even jaunty, piece of jangle pop. The lyrics don't dwell on the miserable side of joblessness, or even try to make political comments on the situation, but instead focuses on the relief, and pleasure that getting the fortnightly dole money brings. The vocals are strong, but unlikely many contemporaries don't get all sweet and girly, and there is a wistfulness to the voice, that brings an edgier counterpart to the upbeat feel of the tune.
Turning the record over we find Quiet Life, a song which lives up to its name. It's slower and quieter, with an almost folky acoustic sound. For me two things provide an unexpected texture to this song, and stops it from being just pleasant and lifts it into the very good category. I mentioned the singer's voice for Every Other Thursday, here there's an odd catch to it which brings you in. The second thing that elevates this song is, surprisingly, the drums. The drum patterns are unusual, and more than just keeping time.
Before I listened to this single I was expecting something pleasant but bland and unmemorable, what I got surprised me by being lighter and more textured than I could have hoped for.
Next time alternative new wave stalwarts try for the big time...
Something geeky...
THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS
A-side: Birdhouse In Your Soul
B-Side: Hot Cha
(Elektra 1990)
Ahh, They Might Be Giants, a couple of blokes called John, playing strange instruments, singing songs with unusual subject matters, often very witty, and yet never falling into the trap of being overtly kooky or goofy, which helps them not wear out their welcome. They've been around for years and are still going - apparently they split themselves these days between doing the music they've always done, and recording albums of songs about Maths, Physics and the like for kids.
When I'm thinking of They Might Be Giants I'm always reminded of a bus journey I took from Gloucester to Manchester with my friend Jex, around 1991/92. We were chatting, and the conversation turned, as it often did, to music. Jex asked me to guess who I thought was the band that he was most impressed with at that time. I spent ages making wrong and ill-considered guess, and he started to give me clues, citing things like their instrumentation, their clever lyricism, their propensity to short and to the point songs. Eventually I arrived at They Might Be Giants. At the time I conceded the point and admitted they were an admirable band indeed, even though I thought they weren't up to scratch compared to some of the bands I'd guessed. I get it now though - I completely understand what he was on about, and now I think they are a band worthy of high esteem.
Birdhouse In Your Soul was the breakout hit for They Might Be Giants, it marked the transition from an indie label to a major, and an in-road into the charts. Of course it was ultimately their only big hit - but it did at least put them into the public consciousness. Birdhouse In Your Soul is a bouncy song with an engaging organ sound, jolly blast of horns. Lyrically it is darker than that, I think (please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). It's ostensibly sung from the point of view of a night-light, looking after its charge, but is the night-light the only friend this person has, and who looks after the light when it's alone. Odd - but something to think about. Any song that can (non-gratuitously) include the word filibuster has to have something going for it!
More oddness on the flip side with Hot Cha. I'm not sure what the time signature is on Hot Cha, but it's not 4/4, the horns on this side are staccato and parping, punctuating the jazzy 40's feel of the music. There's a great piano breakdown in the middle. Then after less than two minutes it stops. I think the brevity of the song has led me to dismiss this tune before, and not really to listen to it, but I'll admit that it's grown on me. Short, and certainly sweet.
I'd encourage everyone to let a little They Might Be Giants into their soul.
Next time some indie miserablism...
Loud, shouty and very silly...
LUNACHICKS
A-side: Cookie Monster
B-Side: Complication
(Blast First 1990)
There were many all female grunge bands around in the early 90's. Many were politically motivated pushing feminist agendas, and rallying against sexism, others were proving their point, not with political diatribes, but just by simply rocking out as well as any all bloke band could. Lunachicks probably don't fit too well into the first category, and an argument could well be made for the second one, but on the limited evidence that I have I would say that their main agenda was to have fun.
Cookie Monster from Sesame Street is a character I feel a certain affinity with, a love of particular baked goods being just one shared attribute. It seemed, then, almost inevitable that I would buy this single - which was cemented into certainty by the fact that the above sleeve is actually a wrap-around fold-out poster, which I'm afraid that I'm unable to replicate in it's full glory here. (i.e. it's too big for my scanner, and I'm sure that it's family appropriate!). However to give you an impression I've included back of the sleeve showing the band.
Cookie Monster is a nursery counting song liberally coated in grunge trappings. The vocals are growling, the instruments are fast and noisy. There are actual Cookie Monster impersonations as backing vocals. Part way through is slows right down to a grindcore style, before speeding up again to breakneck speed, coming to a sudden stop. It's not big, it's not clever, but it is very silly, and for that I love it.
To be honest the b-side is more of the same - you didn't expect it to be anything else did you? It's similarly noisy stop/start hardcore, but without the Cookie Monster hook. The title - Complication - is the only lyric that is intelligible. It's got a a good driving sound, and is good for what it is, but I have no desire to listen to it again. Can't really say much more than that.
An enjoyable record overall, that I probably won't listen to very often, but nonetheless I think it's important that records like this do exist, and there is a place for silliness.
Next time something a little geekish...
Laid back and quirky, it's...
PAVEMENT
A-side: Gold Soundz
Kneeling Bus
B-Side: Strings Of Nashville
Exit Theory
(Big Cat 1994)
Pavement are often lumped in with the whole grunge movement of the early to mid 90's, but I'm not sure how grunge they really were. Sure they had loud and occasionally abrasive guitars, but their sound seemed to have it's roots less in punk and early heavy metal than other grunge archetypes. Indeed they owe as much to the laid back sounds of 70's west coast style soft rock. This is definitely a good thing, as it is something that singles them them out from the crowd. Not that standing out from the crowd was any problem for Pavement - the band they get most compared to is The Fall, not necessarily because of sonic similarities but more for the fact the they plow their own furrow on the peripheries of any scene that happens to be about. Just like the Fall, they employ a different styles and sounds to come up with their own unique Pavement-ness, that is instantly recognisable as their own.
Gold Soundz is from a 4-track EP, (haven't had one of them for bit!) The title track is mellow grunge overlaid with chiming indie guitars. The singer has a distinct nasal voice, that once you've accepted it, is not unpleasant. It's upbeat and poppy, whilst remaining perfectly relaxed. There's nothing radical on show here, but it's got enough of a something to leave you with a lasting memory of the tune. The other track on the a-side of this record is Kneeling Bus. Just like Gold Soundz this has a stop/start signature, that is recognisably Pavement. It's a spiky sounding instrumental, that is fuzzy and short - and as such there is little else to say about it.
Strings of Nashville, the first song on the b-side, instantly makes me think of later period Velvet Underground. It's got an easy vibe, that's as much about atmosphere as it is about song. The vocals and almost hidden and practically impenetrable. There is a slightly spooky feel to the sound, enhanced by the impression that the whole thing is ever so slight off-key. More atmosphere is by the instrumentation being sparse, and the addition wave sound effects during the song. Just like on the a-side, the second song here is almost a short afterthought. Exit Theory is a set of disjointed sound, there is a sudden build up to noise, which dissolves into chaos and is over in seconds.
At the end of the day this I quite like this record, not as much as some other Pavement songs, but Gold Soundz works well as a single. The overall effect is something that is oddly feelgood.
Next time some proper noisy grunge...
Should white men play reggae?
BOOMTOWN RATS
A-side: Banana Republic
B-Side: Man At The Top
(Ensign 1980)
I alluded to my opinion that Bob Geldolf is capable of making good records in my review of the Band Aid record. As if to back up this opinion I have a number of Boomtown Rats singles, of which this is the first to come up.
For a while, back in the day, there was a bit of a reverse snobbish attitude to Boomtown Rates - many fans and critics of punk/post-punk would tend to dismiss them out of hand as not being authentic, or not quite up to being as good as other similar bands. I don't know how prevalent this attitude is today, (and, frankly, I don't care), because it's a pretty poor show. I think the problem really stems from the fact that, unlike many more critically acclaimed acts, had commerciality on their side. They knew how to make records that lots of people would buy and listen to and would get played on the radio. I'm not sure what's wrong with that.
I remember clearly first hearing/seeing Banana Republic on Saturday morning Kids TV. It caught my attention then because it felt different and lightly askew from some of the other lighter pop fare that was normally on the menu of such shows. On Banana Republic the Rats flirt with a reggae sounds - many post-punk bands were doing so at the time. Sometimes it worked, other times it was a little more ill-advised. I think that this song falls just about on the right side of that line, in that the reggae is influential rather that pervasive in the sound. (Not that pervasive reggae isn't great when performed by habitual reggae performers). Initially the record lures you in with a slow, soft lovers rock sounds, which suddenly turns dark, when the lyrics start taking about high level institutional corruption among the likes of "police and priests". The music is slightly cheesy but I believe that's there as a deliberate counterpoint to the darkness of the lyrics, mirroring how the dark underbelly of many of the regimes sung about are hiding under a garish tourist-friendly facade. I really liked this song when I first encountered it in 1980, even though I was too young to understand it, I still do like it, but the version in my head is a lot fiercer than what I just heard on the record. So much so that my first reaction on this re-listen was: "Was that it? Surely this used to be better than that". That's the passage of time for you.
Often on b-sides bands get to experiment a bit more and throw new ideas around a bit. Man At The Top feels very much like that's what Boomtown Rats are doing. It's punkier than the a-side, and has a stronger piano intro with a leading bassline. It feels choppy and mixed up - like bits of different ideas have all been put together in one song, and it's all being held together by one bassline. The lyrics feels squashed into the song - there's very little in the way of melody to catch the ear and hook the listener in.
Overall an OK record that I expected much more of.
Next time some grunge nerds...
Rocking with the Goths...
SPEAR OF DESTINY
A-side: Radio Radio
B-Side: Life Goes On
(Epic 1988)
Spear of Destiny had a little flirt with controversy. The name has some Nazi symbolism attached to it. This was enough to ruffle a few feathers, and work as space filling copy for some lazy journalists. Joy Division and New Order had the same problem (although considering they're essentially the same band it suggests that it was done deliberately; all publicity is good publicity!). However even a cursory listen to their lyrics or reading interviews with the band, it's obvious that there are no far-right connections - usually quite the opposite.
Kirk Brandon, who is essentially Spear Of Destiny, was formerly with post-punk rockers Theatre Of Hate. As far as I understand he tours as both bands these days pretty much interchangeably. Spear of Destiny started out gothier but drifted towards rock, just as Theatre of Hate started out punkier, but drifted towards rock.
The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed that this copy is a limited edition - the special thing that makes this limited is the exciting fact this has a gatefold sleeve. However there is nothing of interest on the middle of the gatefold, otherwise I'd have scanned it in to fill up some space!
Radio Radio is a proper rock song - no other way to describe it. It's got crunchy guitars, a shout of "Radio Radio" which punctuates the verses, and a rocking epic chorus. It's all delivered in a tone that's quite aggressive, macho even, but ultimately it's inoffensive. It rocks out, but is largely unmemorable. You can see what they're trying to do - songs with the word Radio in them are like catnip to DJs they can hardly help themselves when coming to play these songs on the radio. Didn't work this time...
On the other side, Life Goes On, starts on in much the same way, with a strong rocking beginning. What adds to the interest here is that the drums are much more to the forefront of the mix. This adds a flavour to the song that I can only describe as tribal, and ends up opening the song up. It feels much more expansive than Radio Radio, also Kirk Brandon's voice is much more expressive, this makes the listener feel much more invested in the experience. In the end it reminds of me of The Cult on a good day.
All in all it's not a bad record, with the b-side probably edging out slightly as the better song, but not a great record that I'd want to rave about, but you'll have to take my word for it as there isn't anything on YouTube to link to. I'm sure you can find it on Spotify or similar if you're desperate.
Next time white blokes playing around with reggae...
A hippy homily for us...
FAMILY DOGG
A-side: Way Of Life
B-Side: Arizona
(Br. Music 1969)
You probably be pleased to find out that I know nothing about The Family Dogg, or indeed Steve Rowland who has his name credited first on this edition of the record. (Just some pointless trivia here - this record is normally credited to just The Family Dogg, but my copy has decided to put Steve Rowland in a place of prominence - don't know why, presumably Steve had had a hit somewhere and this re-release was aimed to cash in on that, who knows?).
I think that the picture on the sleeve tells us everything we need to know about them. A group of four "with-it" looking folks with a dog, and a suavely dressed man who likes he's desperate to get away from the rest of them. (my money's on him being Steve Rowland, it's got to be him or the dog). Interestingly of the two other men in the photo, one has definitely captured the late 60's zeitgeist by looking like Jason King (look it up if you don't know what I'm on about), and the other (the dude with the hat) looks like Captain Sensible, just 10 years too early. Anyway enough of this procrastination, you probably want to know what the record sounds like, unless you've already guessed from the picture!
Way Of Life is a gentle folksy number that you can sway along to easily. It's a bit of a list song - basically saying it takes all types and we should accept one another whoever they are, because that's life and that way we'll all get on. It's essentially a good message, but wrapped up in such twee, naive idealism, that you can't help but look at it slight askance. The song itself manages to re-engage the listener just at the point when you're about to give it up, with a sudden injection of a brassy uptempo bit in the middle, which kicks a bit of life back into the thing, before it then returns to gently sway itself to the end of the song. One further thought before flipping the record over onto the b-side; "Schoolgirls dating, daughters mating" is one of the oddest lyrics that I've ever encountered, I get what they're saying, but that phraseology is distinctly strange, and just a little bit creepy.
In the old days when I made mix tapes for myself, I would make some thematic ones. I'm pretty sure that I made on with place names in it, Arizona was not one of place-named songs that made it to that tape. There's quite a lot going on in this song, but it doesn't all gel together to make a coherent whole. It starts of as West Coast Soft Rock style, and then introduces some interesting psychedelic guitar into the mix. However this fights against the string section - the effect is awkward rather than complementary. The song seems to be going for the epic Jimmy Webb style balladeering, but not quite managing it. The tweeness of the a-side is mirrored by an undercurrent of sentimentality that runs through this song. It's pleasingly time-passing, but not something that would make me wish to pursue anything else by this group, (maybe if the dog split-off and made a solo album the I would go for that.)
Ultimately a bland, if not unpleasant experience, it probably felt relevant and deep for a few months in 1969, but time has left it behind, and it is now little more than an historical curio.
Next time we rock out on the periphery of goth...
Some studio based ambient sounds...
ART OF NOISE
A-side: Art Of Love
B-Side: Heart Of Love
(China 1990)
I first heard the Art Of Noise when they released a version of Peter Gunn with Duane Eddy (more of which in another entry), then of course they did Kiss with Tome Jones. So far so good - my impressions of them were that they were basically a bunch of composers/technicians/engineers producing dancey records with some old stars. I delved a bit more and found out that yes they were as described but without the former mega-stars they seemed much more interested in soundscapes and doing different things with noise and music. This is why I bought this record.
According the label on the record Art of Love is composed of 4 movements. I may be displaying my ignorance here - but I couldn't make out any differentiation between these movements in the record - they flow so seamlessly that it seems to be one big whole. It all starts off with a kicking dances beat with dreamy ambient sounds over the top, with occasional wordless vocals wander in and out of the sound. Inevitably there's a crashing of waves noise that appears as a motif during the record. Art of Love is one of those slightly trippy, blissed out dance records that were so popular in the early 90's. You can imagine clubs full of people doing a knee-bending, shoulder-shrugging, heading-nodding, all stood on the spot kind of a dance to this.
The b-side is called Heart of Love (can you see what they did there?), and is a remix of the a-side. Time was, I'd have gone off on a right old rant about how re-mixes were a load of old nonsense, and a waste of time, and basically a way of the uninspired and uncreative to put out another tune without having to do anything extra themselves, and at the same time making the poor record buying public shell out for the same thing multiple times over. I've grown out of that and have mellowed out of that stance - as I've come to realise that re-interpretation of something is a valid and creative act in itself and can produce things that are exciting and new out of something else entirely. If you think about it classical composers have been writing variations on a theme by someone else for centuries, or taking it out if the world of music you have Warhol's infinite variety of soup cans and Marilyn Munroes. Back to Heart of Love - who better to do a remix than a bunch of studio boffins - they do actually produce something that is a different and new interpretation of Art of Love. Initially it feels like there's more energy on this b-side, there's a repetitive refrain at the start that chugs away throughout the entire record. It seems to take ages before any rhythm kicks in - it's constantly building and building, we get more crashing waves in the background, and just when my patience is wearing thin with the repetition, we get some bongo and wailing action. This is good, but doesn't last long, because it's soon back to the same short refrain again. I had the kettle boiling in the background whilst I was listening to this - and the sounds just blended straight in.
In the end it's a record that tries to be both populist and experimental at the same time and doesn't really achieve either.
Next time some wistful hippies...
Proto- stadium rock from...
THRASHING DOVES
A-side: Lorelei
B-Side: Girl Called Houdini
(A&M 1988)
In the late 80's there were a lot of bands of a similar ilk to Thrashing Doves. Big guitar sounds with pretensions to epicness. However for every U2 or Simple Minds there were many bands who never quite made it to filling out arenas. Bands who were, in general, too poppy and mainstream for the alternative music press to champion, and yet not quite mainstream enough to find daytime radio play. These are the bands who fell through the cracks - some were great, some were awful, and some were plain mediocre. Thrashing Doves were one of these bands.
Lorelei is quite rocky in outlook - but very 80's soft rock. Filled with the obligatory synthesizer stings and yearning, almost wistful vocals. This is a requiem to unrequited love - a bit of a soft rock cliche - but it's done well in this case. There's a nice little guitar solo in the middle which I didn't expect and elevates the song somewhat. I was surprised at how much I like this - although maybe I shouldn't have been because I do have another couple of Thrashing Doves singles - so I must have thought something of them at one point. Other than that it's a bit ordinary, a not distinctive.I could easily listen to this kind of thing without complaining, on the other hand it really wouldn't register much as more than background music. The mysterious woman on the cover is both intriguing and enticing - I wouldn't go as far as to say that's why I bought this record. It may have been a contributing factor though.
A Girl called Houdini is the b-side of this single. It's starts with some feedback over a gentley strummed guitar. I'm nodding along thinking that at any moment this is going to rock out big time. It never quites get there - although it doesn't lose momentum in doing so. It is harder and rockier than Lorelei, and is probably better than the a-side. There's some very nice keyboard work, and the vocals really suit the song, especially in the chorus. I just get the feeling that it never quite delivers what it is promising.
Good enough, then, but could do better.
Next time we've got something that maybe ambient dance...
The ever-lovely leather-clad...
SUZI QUATRO
A-side: Tear Me Apart
B-Side: Same As I So
(RAK 1976)
We all love Suzi Quatro, don't we? The correct answer to that is of course "Yes, we do". Even if you're not that taken by her music she always seems fun, open, and welcoming individual. Her records do that too. You know how some records (TV programs, films and other creative endeavours too) you can tell that the people making them had fun doing so, don't it doesn't include the audience in it - and so it's like going to a party at which you are only allowed to watch and not participate. Suzi Quatro's records are the exact opposite - she has a cheeky grin, and a twinkle in her eye that says, "Come on in and join the fun".
Tear Me Apart certainly has that infectious fun element to it. It's a rocking head-down boogie that drives the beat along at a pace, you don't realise 'til it's over that your tapping you feet, and nodding your head along with it as it sweeps you in the moment. There's a smile and warmth to her voice which, in too many other female singers would be replaced by a harsher rasp. It's exactly what you expect from a Suzi Quatro single, however I was struck by something as I was listening - "you've got to tear me apart, if you want to win my heart" - what!? Surely that's not saying that some for of abuse (physical or emotional) is the best way to win over the narrator. It's certainly not the intention - the verses make it clear that it's about a strong, independent-minded woman, who doesn't fit traditional feminist stereotypes, but the chorus is slightly dodgy. I'm positive Suzi would never have sung it if it did have that interpretation, but my over-thinking of the lyrics has made me feel slightly uncomfortable with a song that I actual really rather liked - stupid brain!
Most of the Suzi Quatro a-sides at this time written by hitmakers Chinn & Chapman, they knew exactly what would get into the charts. The b-sides however were written by Quatro herself in partnership with Len Tuckey (her husband and guitarist). Often, like Same As I Do, these show a different side to Suzi Quatro. This song is much slower with hints of calypso in the melody. It doesn't have the driving bass sound that we associate with her. It's a very mellow gently swaying slow bop. Definitely more complex and musically accomplished than Tear Me Apart - but with less hooks certainly not hit material.
So there a record that I previously thought was fine, that I just may have ruined for myself. Sometimes I'm idiot.
Next time some more later 80's guitar pop...
Something slightly beautiful:
BEN E. KING
A-side: Spanish Harlem
B-Side: First Taste Of Love
(Atlantic 1960)
I'm sure that I've mentioned previously on this blog that I'm not really into soul music. Cue gasps of astonishment and disbelief that anyone couldn't like soul music. Sorry - but that's the way it is. However there are some exceptions, mostly on labels like Atlantic and Stax - maybe it's the cookie-cutter, formulaic soul of Motown that doesn't get to me, but that's a matter to pontificate over when I reach one of my two Motown records. Back to business with Ben E. King - he was with the Drifters for a bit, and then drifted off (that's a little bit of comedy gold for you there), into a solo career. His biggest hit was, as I'm sure you're all aware, Stand By Me - which became an even bigger hit in the 80's when it was re-released as the theme tune to a film (you can guess the title of the film). It was such a smash hit that the record company, in their infinite wisdom decided to release another one of his old hits again, which is where this records comes in.
Spanish Harlem, was that next Ben E. King re-release. Stand By Me is a good catchy tune, that for me has lost any charm it once had due to over familiarly. Spanish Harlem, however, is a record so full of charm, that I can never grow tired of hearing it. Normally a Phil Spector Wall-Of-Sound production gives song an epic feel, a biggness that can a fill a room. On this song the same production techniques are used to make a record that sounds so intimate, you almost feel like you're intruding. King's voice is perfect for this - it is sweet and crystal clear. The whole mood is of romantic wistfulness, that never once slides into the schmaltzy or saccharine.The instrumentation is interesting and unusual, which keeps the sound fresh and new even after all the passing decades. Definitely a case of the right song, by the right singer with the right production. An almost perfect 2 and a half minutes of music.
Obviously the b-side was never going to live up the a-side, but First Taste of Love makes a decent job of it nonetheless. It immediately comes out as different to Spanish Harlem in the upbeat and uptempo mood of the song. It feels much more like a old Drifters number - it's a bit of solid stylish soul, that simply doesn't move me like the a-side. I can't criticize King's voice, and I do really rather like the do-wop backing vocals and the string accompaniment, however First Taste Of Love, cannot rise above being little more than ordinary.
There we go then a record to love and to be loved.
Next time something in leather from the 70's...
