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...
