The 1984 Listening Post - One the Juggler - Nearly a Sin

One the Juggler - Nearly a Sin

#200!!!

1984 Housekeeping

One the Juggler

Nearly a Sin

4.25 out of 5

Highlights:

Enjoy Yourself

Passion Killer

Sister Soul

Damage is Done

let’s celebrate getting to 200(!!) albums in 1984 with one that you would have to dig up yourself as it’s not available anywhere. Although I have managed to get all the tracks onto my hard drive and I am currently streaming them to my Echo. 

I don’t recall how One the Juggler came into our lives. It might have been a discounted record at Sounds in the East Village. And I don’t even think I listened to the rest of the record more than once, if that. But that opening track, “Enjoy Yourself” stuck with me. Or maybe it was the name of the band. The song was a 1 1/2 minute trifle. And yet, as soon as it plays I can remember every note. 

From there it’s Alarm-y jangle rock. I hear Bowie, but I also hear The Clash. And some Love & Rockets. And a bit of The Kinks. And Lennon.

As the first side comes careering back into focus and memory I must say, OtJ could’ve been one of the unsung unremembered groups of the era. Not glam enough, not indie enough, not anything enough and all of it. 

I always felt bad for One the Juggler. This record is better than I remembered.