The 1985 Listening Post - The Monochrome Set - The Lost Weekend

The Monochrome Set - The Lost Weekend

#282/916 LISTENING POST DISCOVERY

July 1985

The Monochrome Set

The Lost Weekend

Genre: Post-Mod 

4.5 out of 5

Highlights:

Jacob’s Ladder

Wallflower

Boom Boom

I never ever ever listened to The Monochrome Set. And I really don’t know why. One of the original members was Andy Warren, an original Ant from Adam and the Ants, he was the bassist on Dirk Wears White Sox. How did I not travel with him to his other band? 

Dang. I missed out. 

From the opening Gospel tinged “Jacob’s Ladder”, to the Paisley 70s “Sugarplum” (And later, “Wallflower”) all the way through to “Don’t Touch” and the Post-Mod “The Twitch”, this collection could easily fall into cliche or pap and yet it never does. it pops and crackles. (And there’s nothing in here to suggest that Warren was involved with the people who gave us bubblegum of the Ants or Bow Wow Wow)

The Monochrome Set could easily fall into the traps of BES or Mod but this album saves itself each time and I really don’t know why. It’s like an earnest Madness. But, stripping away the obvious lunacy doesn’t remove any of the charm. And, for my money the only thing missing from “Boom Boom” is Jools Holland’s controlled piano mayhem. (He had nothing to do with this band but they would have benefitted from him)

https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-lost-weekend-expanded-edition/1153771442

The 1985 Listening Post - Holland - Little Monsters

Holland - Little Monsters

#281/915 LISTENING POST DISCOVERY

July 1985

Holland

Little Monsters

Genre: Rock

4.75 out of 5 (I might go up to a 5 if there aren’t a lot of 5s throughout the year. It’s delicious IMO)

Highlights:

Love In On Time

High Life

Middle of a Dream

Wake Up the Neighborhood

Keep It To Yourself

Who the fuck is Holland? Jeez, this sounds like American Whitesnake.

I’ll be right back, Imma read the wiki entry.

This is the ONLY album by this Chicago band.

I don’t get it. It’s like Kick Axe but actually even more electric. 

There was a band in the early naughties called Diamond Nights. They put out a record called Popsicle. It was terrific. They had a minor hit with “The Girl’s Attractive” and, I thought, sounded at times like they were inspired by Judas Priest in all the best ways.

This is even better than that album. 

The production is so clean I would swear they were a Canadian band. 

Side One is one massive attack after another, culminating in “Wake Up the Neighborhood” which is as good or better than anything Motley Crue put out at the time. 

Let’s see what Side Two is all about. 

Oh. It’s all great 80s era power rock. Echo drums aside, “Gotta Run” is splendid but you know what’s better? The nearly gated drumming is great on both “Basics of the Bullet”, which could easily have been a GnR tune (Tommy Holland sounds nothing like Axl but, seriously, can’t you hear Axl screeching that one?) and the album closer, “I Want It”, which should have been an MTV Anthem staple. It’s got Def Leppard all over it, except the guitar slinging is tons better, and I love me some Leppard. 

How did these guys slide into obscurity so hard? 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/little-monsters/281140298

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The 1985 Listening Post - D.O.A. - Let's Wreck the Party

D.O.A. - Let's Wreck the Party

#280/914

July 1985

D.O.A. 

Let’s Wreck the Party

Genre: Punk….?

2.25 out of 5

I’ve run out of adjectives and simile. This is another band that’s lost the narrative. Relegated to the bargain bin of history. If they were relevant at one point they’ve realized they aren’t anymore and are trying to do…something. Covering “Singing in the Rain” is…an idea. One that Me First and the Gimme Gimmes will do so much better. One that Dead Kennedys paved with “Rawhide”. Here it just sits there. Like a big, gaping question mark. 

Talk about a band that has no idea what it is anymore…is it punk? Is it glam? Is it thrash metal? Is it snot?

It’s all and more!

And they aren’t exceptional at any of it. 

:(

https://music.apple.com/us/album/lets-wreck-the-party/362416899

The 1985 Listening Post - The Scientists - You Get What You Deserve!

The Scientists - You Get What You Deserve!

#279/913

July 1985

The Scientists

You Get What You Deserve!

Genre: Psycho-Rock

3.5 out of 5

Highlights:

Hell Bound

Ok. Let’s talk about Down Under. 

It seems like every time I hear a band from that area, be it Australia or New Zealand, I find myself talking about a cutting edge sound or an innovator of some kind. 

Who ever heard of The Scientists? Did you know there was a psychobilly band that kicked The Fuzztones’ ass? Like with heft? Taking up the space that The Cramps were unable to maintain. This is music for your horror show. Or the soundtrack to your beat up Kawasaki 🖖 trek across the desert. 

My 8 year old walked in during “Go baby Go”, one of the weaker tracks and said, “I LIKE this music!”.

So, that’s worth half a point right there.

Loses steam toward the end but until then it’s a sweet ride.

https://music.apple.com/us/album/you-get-what-you-deserve/1082254250

The 1985 Listening Post - Toyah - Minx

Toyah - Minx

#278/912

July 1985

Toyah

Minx

Genre: SynthPop

3.25 out of 5

Highlights:

Sympathy

World in Action

Remember when we all discovered (or rediscovered) Cristina in 1984? 

This is like that except that it’s not good. 

But here’s what this reminds me of: that we are saying goodbye to an entire sound; New Wave, synth driven pop influenced, I think, by Peter Gabriel as much as anything else and moving on to the Taylor Dane era of “synthPop”, which will morph into dance music. Which is what it really already is. 

Toyah isn’t Taylor Dane. Nor does she aspire to be that kind of pop star. I don’t know what kind of artist she wants to be but, based on this, she’s just as confused. 

She’s left her band behind and gone solo and the result is a mixed bag, ranging from new wave to dance to Weillian chanteuse, which I wholly endorse. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/minx/1168535085

The 1985 Listening Post - Jeff Beck - Flash

Jeff Beck - Flash

#277/911

July 1985

Jeff Beck

Flash

Genre: R(&B)ock

2 out of 5

Umm…what?

The R&B/Funk infiltration of Rock, which we saw with Duran Duran and Blue Eyed Soul and then on through Queen and The Rolling Stones and David Bowie and so many others, is all over this one. Only instead of being influenced by Chic and Nile Rodgers, or enlisting him as a producer, Beck has put out what seems to be a collaboration. 

I’m not sure what makes this a “Jeff Beck” record. Jimmy Hall sings lead on all but two tracks (“Get Workin’” and “Night After Night”) and is listed as a songwriter on zero tracks. 

Is he…Santana? 

If you ever wanted to hear what a master like Beck sounds like on a Jan Hammer track? He’s got you covered (“Escape”). There’s a Curtis Mayfield cover. 

And a bunch of Rodgers tunes. 

It’s a hodgepodge. (Except for “Night After Night” which is an abomination) 

Not sure why Beck is even featured here. The songs don’t need him and, while he’s excellent, it’s superfluous. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/flash/185824881

The 1985 Listening Post - Russ Ballard - The Fire Still Burns

Russ Ballard - The Fire Still Burns

#276/910

July 1985

Russ Ballard

The Fire Still Burns

Genre: Rock

2.25 out of 5

Summertime.  Kids are out of school, hanging at the mall, anxious to burn their babysitting money on some rock and roll and, what’s this? A new Russ Ballard record!?! Son of a bitch! I GOTTA HAVE THAT!

Flash: Not even members of Ballard’s family would say the above. 

My son has been on a Sesame Street kick. I don’t know what it is that’s making this happen, maybe he’s holding on to something as he gets ready to move on to the next grade. Maybe it’s soothing. Or maybe it’s just good stuff and makes him laugh. 

No matter. I’ve got this Ballard record going in the background and Zack INSISTS on showing me a scene where Ernie is getting tips on how to play the Saxophone in a song called “Put Down the Ducky”. 

The 30 seconds of watching a muppet band try to explain to Ernie that he should not squeeze his rubber ducky whilst attempting to play the saxophone is better than anything on Side One of this record. But “Searching” isn’t terrible. 

That’s the problem. Nothing here is unlistenable “terrible” but it’s also not really all that interesting. It’s not like we’ve unearthed a lost Bobb Trimble record and it’s weird and awesome. It just…exists. 

But, if you feel like it, go to “Your Time is Gonna Come”. Not because is great or anything. Just that it’s a perfect example of appropriating the gated drumming technique that was accidentally created by Phil collins and Hugh Padgham 4 years earlier. This is the technique Phil used on Adam Ant’s Strip. And on a host of other tracks he was called upon to produce after he invented it for his solo smash. 

It is employed here only because it’s a “sound of the time”. 

Already past it’s prime. Much like Ballard. 

Also, fuck you, Russ for biting Loverboy’s “Turn Me Loose” on the following track, “Dream On” (also with gated drumming).

https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-fire-still-burns/418494471

The 1985 Listening Post - Michael McDonald - No Lookin' Back

Michael McDonald - No Lookin' Back

#275/909

July 30 1985

Michael McDonald

No Lookin’ Back

Genre: Rock

1.75 out of 5

I can’t hear McDonald without thinking about that brilliant SCTV sketch. Getting that out of my head is nigh on impossible. Melding him with Kenny Loggins is…they really should name this album, “Hey white people, we know you have some money, can you give us some of it in exchange for this piece of plastic with sounds on it? You won’t even notice that you’re missing it. Trust us.”

That’s not really fair. Loggins is only responsible for the title track. 

All the rest of it? 

Totes fair. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/no-lookin-back/41704961

The 1985 Listening Post - Nick Mason and Rick Fenn - Profiles

Nick Mason and Rick Fenn - Profiles

#274/908

July 29 1985

Nick Mason and Rick Fenn

Profiles

2.5 out of 5

Highlights:

Malta

2 songs in and I already find this more pleasing than any of Roger Waters solo stuff. I know it’s MOR and it’s SUPPOSED to be pleasing but that doesn’t mean it isn’t. And I balked at reviewing it, since all but two tracks are instrumental. 

I’m pretty glad I was reprimanded. That opening track is bouncy and then not and then glides to other styles but never bores. 

It’s gentle, key driven prog rock and it’s perfectly fine. The title track is a top down drive into the countryside. 

But, boy…Side Two opens with an atrociously awful track, “Israel”. Musically crappy, lyrically terrible, arranged…fuck it. I’m tired of talking about this song. 

Ugh…as we keep going through this thing I find myself coming back to Brand X. It’s a Phil Collins side project (what the fuck was this guy NOT doing in the 80s??). Unorthodox Behavior starts off great with "Nuclear Burn" but then it just owns up to what it is: Jazz Fusion noodle bore. 

And that’s what’s happening here. 

Only late, with “Zip Code” do we get any sense of life but it’s a mirage. They try real hard with “Black Ice” but these guys aren’t really all that fiery. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/profiles-remastered/542454994

The 1985 Listening Post - John Waite - Mask of Smiles

John Waite - Mask of Smiles

#273/907

July 26 1985

John Waite

Mask of Smiles

Genre: Rock

2.75 out of 5

Highlights:

No Brakes

It’s not that this is bad, it’s that it’s boring. On the last outing Waite sounded like he was trying to get into that John Parr, MOR rocker lane, and he pretty much achieved it. 

Here he’s doing the same thing but there’s no life in it. He ends up sounding like a less interesting Don Henley. 

I have one Henley. I don’t need a lesser one. 

And, besides, Phil Collins is already dominating this lane and he and his pals are about to roll over everyone else. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/mask-of-smiles/716428268

The 1985 Listening Post - Circle Jerks - Wonderful

Circle Jerks - Wonderful

#272/906

July 21 1985

The Circle Jerks

Wonderful

Genre: Punk

1.75 out of 5

Man is this lazy. The playing, song construction, ideas, snoozeville. 

I mean, it feels like even thy know it’s over for this style. 

American Heavy Metal Weekend comes closest to being fun but Nerf Herder will occupy this space MUCH better in 20 years. 

After Golden Shower of Hits, which was wonderful, Wonderful is…not. 

2 decades later my band would play on the same bill with a group from Santa Clarita named B9. They were fun. And they sound pretty much exactly like The Circle Jerks on “The Crowd”. 

I wonder whatever happened to those guys…

https://music.apple.com/us/album/wonderful/1005310935

The 1985 Listening Post - Eddie Murphy - How Could It Be

Eddie Murphy - How Could It Be

#271/905

July

Eddie Murphy

How Could It Be

3.5 out of 5

Highlights:

I Wish (I Could Tell You When)

Party All the Time

Kill me. 

Ok. “Do I”, a Stevie Wonder track is actually not terrible. A good way to lead off a dance pop record. 

But Murphy’s voice is generic. Devoid of personality. And in his hands it sort of sounds like weak Harold Faltermeyer. 

And the first track credited to him is a perfectly fine piece of MOR r&b. 

I maintain that this doesn’t belong on this list but we are doing it because it’s Murphy. 

The hit is a hit in spite of Murphy not because of him. But if you didn’t know it was Murphy you might not be angry about it. But if it wasn’t Murphy it wouldn’t exist. And none of that is bad. Or good. 

Like this record. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/how-could-it-be/349975929

The 1985 Listening Post - Cheap Trick - Standing On the Edge

Cheap Trick - Standing On the Edge

#270/904

July 19 1985

Cheap Trick

Standing on the Edge

Genre: Rock/Power Pop

3.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Little Sister

Tonight It’s You

How About You 

Reading up on this it turns out that the producer, Jack Douglas, who produced their debut, had to bow out of mixing and mastering and that was all she wrote. This turned into a flat, echoey, nearly anonymous product of the 80s. 

Damn fucking shame. 

“Tonight It’s You” is one of my favorite singles of theirs, ever. 

Song machine (and Sesame Street songwriter/keyboardist Mark Radice  is listed as a co-writer on everything and therefore I blame him for stripping them of anything that sound like Cheap Trick. 

I’ll tell you what’s weird to me: how much Robin sounds like Freddie Mercury in the title track. Like mid 80s Fred. That song could’ve been a b side on The Works. 

While it sounds like “generic rock band” the songs are better than many. It’s just a really ugly record. Oh well. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/standing-on-the-edge/525879851

The 1985 Listening Post - Sacrilege - Behind the Realms of Madness

Sacrilege - Behind the Realms of Madness

#269/903

July 19 1985

Sacrilege

Behind the Realms of Madness

Genre: Speed Metal

2.25 out of 5

The novelty here is that this speed metal band is fronted by a woman, something that really wasn’t done in 85. The sad aspect is that she is the worst part of this. She can sing, yes. She can probably stand toe to toe with the best of them. But whatever she’s required to warble is awful. Most of the time she just ends up sounding like Peaches doing a speed metal version of “Rockshow” with no nuance or humor. 

And the damned lead guitar is looking for moments to noodle little accents all over the place and, after a while, he’s just distracting. 

I wanted to like this. I’m just bored and annoyed. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/behind-the-realms-of-madness/1031723760

The 1985 Listening Post - Christian Death - Ashes

Christian Death - Ashes

#268/902

July 18 1985

Christian Death

Ashes

Genre: Goth

4.25 out of 5

Highlights:

When I Was Bed

Face

More musically adept and more interesting than the previous offering. These guys were definitely on to something…music to drive you to kill yourself apparently since the lead singer did just that 10 years later. It’s hypnotic and tribal and cathartic, which is what I imagine Rozz was going for. I don’t know that I would return to it but I can see people going to see him in concerts, falling in love with him and not being surprised that he wound up hanging himself.

The Weill-ian “Lament” was an unexpected surprise. And “Of the Wound” is highly terrifying at times. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/ashes/1212950967

The 1985 Listening Post - Dinosaur Jr. - Dinosaur

Dinosaur Jr. - Dinosaur

#267/901

July 16 1985

Dinosaur Jr. 

Dinosaur

Genre: Alternative

4.25 out of 5

Highlights:

Forget the Swan

The Leper

Repulsion

Was I asleep? Did I know that the 90s really started in 85? Camper Van I’d heard of. But…J Mascis was putting out albums at this time? I feel so ignorant. 

I listen to the first track and I hear J’s voice and it merges with the music and I can’t quite figure out what I’m hearing or why I like it so I start looking up reviews and Allmusic gets it right: Neil Young meets Sonic Youth. Yep. That’s what a lot of this sounds like. 

It’s weird to say the least but it shows oodles of promise. And I’d rather hear this than Pop-O-Pies any day. 

I don’t know if I like this in 1985. I love it today. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/dinosaur/1073992706

The 1985 Listening Post - The Verlaines - Halleujah All the Way Home

The Verlaines - Halleujah All the Way Home

LISTENING POST DISCOVERY

#266/900

July 15 1985

The Verlaines

Hallelujah All the Way Home

Genre: Alternative

4.5 out of 5

Highlights: 

It Was Raining

All Laid On

The Lady and the Lizard

Lying in State

We’ve had a few musicians who seem more like they should be professors than rock stars. Ed Kuepper, for instance. Peter Blegvad. Others.

Graeme Downs of The Verlaines is an actual academic. He’s a teacher at the University of Otago, where he is head of the Department of Music. And everything here just sounds so fucking smart. 

And it anticipates sounds that would come many years later from bands like Neutral Milk Hotel and Irving. This is 00s Indie made manifest 20 years before. It’s post-punk and the bridge between those two worlds. Challenging and exciting. 

I’m shocked at how much like “Lying in State” Titus Andronicus’ The Monitor sounds. Staggering. 

This album could be released today and it would sound contemporary. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/hallelujah-all-the-way-home/750290445

The 1985 Listening Post - Headpins - Head Over Heels

Headpins - Head Over Heels

#265/899

July 12 1985

Headpins

Head Over Heels

Genre: Rock

3.25 out of 5

Highlights:

Stayin’ All Night

Don’t Matter What You Say

Gimme gimme gimme some of that…Canadian Rock!

What IS it about the sound of Rock from the Great White North? It just cuts through so hard. If you like Chilliwack (I don’t care about them), then you’ll like this since it’s basically a Chillwack member(s) side project. 

Nothing offensive here, just big ass Rawk with a more-than-competent lead singer with grit and attitude. 

It all gets pretty tired but the end of Side One. A couple tracks go a long way. Darby Mills can shriek with the best of any 80s hair metal rocker but the tracks just aren’t fully there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2QTWiPkPZE

The 1985 Listening Post - Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers - Rockin' and Romance

Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers - Rockin' and Romance

#264/898

July 7 1985

Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers

Rockin’ and Romance

Genre: Rock

5 out of 5

Highlights:

The Beach

My Jeans

The UFO Man

Vincent Van Gogh

Walter Johnson

The Fenway

Chewing Gum Wrapper

Now Is Better Than Before

This is fucking great. 

It’s like I was asleep for the longest time and I woke up and I finally get it. 

Flansburgh and Linnell have this record, right?

This is just fun. Even the track that sounds like a demo “Walter Johnson” gets a pass because who the fuck writes a song about Walter Johnson!?!? Like Mojo Nixon’s “Wendell Scott” it’s an ode to a great sports hero who doesn’t get songs written about him. And I love the fuck out of it. 

But where They Might Be Giants sound almost emotionally detached in their approach there’s a homey warmth to Jonathan’s adulation for something like “The Fenway”. It’s not often that I am brought to tears by a song about a building, but that one got me. 

The 1985 Listening Post - Abattoir - Vicious Attack

Abattoir - Vicious Attack

#263/897

July 7 1985

Abattoir

Vicious Attack

Genre: Thrash Metal

4.5 out of 5 (sorrynotsorry)

Highlights:

Screams from the Grave

Vicious Attack (Maniac)

Ace of Spades

This album is short. I don’t know if it qualifies but, you know what? I’m really digging the alacrity and the shred metal attack. It’s like a freight train. 

Their cover of “Ace of Spades” is such a welcome punk-speed metal entry that I’m surprised I’ve never heard it. It’s almost carbon but it is done so lovingly that I love it. 

This album is relentless and doesn’t waste any time. There’s no filler. I don’t know why it doesn’t get higher marks out there. It is precisely what it portends to be. And these guys do it very well. IMO.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z_vri-C_mE

The 1985 Listening Post - Ray Davies - Return to Waterloo

Ray Davies - Return to Waterloo

#262/896

July 1 1985

Ray Davies

Return to Waterloo

Genre: Rock

3.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Return to Waterloo

Not Far Away

Expectations 

Voices in the Dark

I am not a Kinks expert. I know that there are some who believe they are superior to The Beatles or the Rolling Stones and I can’t comment on that except to say that what I have heard I have often loved. And also from what I hear Cheap Trick might owe more to Ray Davies than Paul McCartney. I’ve often felt that Nielsen was sardonic more than earnest and Davies strikes me as such as well.

The Davies brothers feud means that some of these songs are from the last Kinks record (which I enjoyed) but with Dave’s guitar removed. Families….

It’s hard to highlight stuff like “Sold Me Out” since it’s a repeat from a previous album. 

It’s a good collection of tunes by a guy who knows how to write em. 

And, honestly, had I not heard a third of this record before I would give this a much higher rating. 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB4v3mpX4qk&list=PLW2UMZwTI4agqO4xno_EFB9sinucFhONQ&index=1

The 1985 Listening Post - Hallows Eve - Tales of Terror

Hallows Eve - Tales of Terror

#261/895

July 10 1985

Hallow’s Eve

Tales of Terror

Genre: Thrash Metal

1.5 out of 5

The wiki entry for this is in Italian. Why? I don’t know. This is a Georgia metal band. 

When we played SXSW we saw a show, I’ve mentioned it before, by a scatalogical band called Shat. 

This is what Shat would sound like if they actually could play instruments. But, even though they couldn’t, they were better and more interesting than Hallow’s Eve.

So, yes. My review is that Shat is better than this shat. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/tales-of-terror/56821299

The 1985 Listening Post - Heart - Heart

Heart - Heart

#260/894

July 6 1985

Heart

Heart

Genre: Rock

1.5 out of 5 

Highlights:

If Looks Could Kill

What About Love

So I wrote a whole review and that’s below. But Beth just walked in the room during “Nothin’ at All” and said, “What is this shit you’re listening to?”

“Heart!”

“Yeah. This is shit.”

My wife, ladies and gentlemen. She knows. She gets it. So…knocking a full point off for that.

So, the Wilson sisters went out and bought a bunch of songs, doling out the lion’s share of the writing to others for the first time and came up with their strongest record.

I have never really cared for any of their albums on the whole. They have moments here and there but I really feel like they cruised on a few big hits of the 70s and then should’ve been a festival act. 

This thing is so front loaded with radio friendly monsters that it’s hard to deny it it’s muscle. I could hear any number of bands doing some of these tunes (Journey could’ve had “What About Love” and ridden that to the stratosphere and pick up a rock, throw it at a pop star and let them have “These Dreams”. Boom.).

It takes a while but when we get to the Wilson Sisters penned track “Nobody Home”, you can really smell the difference between them and perfeshunal songwriters. Ann and Nancy do not stand well in comparison.

What I don’t understand is why didn’t they go country? They sound like they really wanna. That community would probably have embraced the Wilsons more than the rock world and, truly, all they had to do was add a dobro to their songs and strip away some of the synths and electric guitars. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/heart/1441162196

The 1985 Listening Post - Wishbone Ash - Raw to the Bone

Wishbone Ash - Raw to the Bone

#259/893

July 5 1985

Wishbone Ash

Raw to the Bone

Genre: Hard Rock

2.75 out of 5

This is the 13th album by Wishbone Ash and my first. It’s weird that they never came up during this retrospective but, I’m pretty sure in that alternate universe I have taken a sabbatical from moving forward and gone back to listen to everything I’ve missed (It’s over 275 records at this point). 

This is as middling as mid-80s stadium rock gets. It’s serviceable but also forgettable. Take Rainbow or UFO or Triumph or Scorpions or Billy Squier or ________ and listen to that instead. 

In a way this reminds me of Queen’s mid-80s offerings. “Love is Blue” sounds like something Brian May would write and the band would put if Paul Rodgers was fronting them at the time. It’s got just the right amount of lack of inspiration + competence. 

Boy is this dull.

https://music.apple.com/us/album/raw-to-the-bone/1341837099

The 1985 Listening Post - Propaganda - A Secret Wish

Propaganda - A Secret Wish

#258/892

July 1 1985

Propaganda

A Secret Wish

Genre: SynthPop

3.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Dream Within a Dream

Duel

Okay, snap take: Art of Noise meets Nina Hagen. 

I like most of it, though. It tries really hard to be relevant...in 1982. 

I can’t tell if they just really love Siouxie and the Banshees or if they were just accidentally sounded like a S&tB cover band. 

Ultimately, I’m sure these people could move on to careers as engineers and composers but for album unit moving rock stars…no. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/a-secret-wish/1367986823

The 1985 Listening Post - Clan of Xymox - Clan of Xymox

Clan of Xymox - Clan of Xymox

#257/891

July 1 1985

Clan of Xymox

Clan of Xymox

Genre: Electro Prog

2.25 out of 5

Do you like Planet P?

Then go pull that album out and not this one because this one is like Planet P without anything that makes PP good. 

But it also sounds a little like Joy Division. And The Cure. And, also, like Philip Glass’ Koyaanisqatsi. or Tangerine Dream. It’s like romantic music written by people who’ve never experienced emotion. 

And, while it sounds like all of that, it’s also so completely unmemorable that I have forgotten every single track on here. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/clan-of-xymox/251637455

The 1985 Listening Post - Damon Edge - Alliance

Damon Edge - Alliance

#256/890

July 1 1985

Damon Edge

Alliance

Genre: electro

4.25 out of 5

Highlights:

Coming at La Mer to a World Left Behind

This is, basically, a Chrome album. It’s like Kraftwerk only more human. 

Pick a rhythm, play for 5 minutes, add music bed + vocals. 

But it’s ominous and driving and dank. It’s the soundtrack of a post-apocalypse 16mm film. It’s NY lower east side. 

I dig it. I wish Gary Numan has headed in this direction. And I also wish Edge got the credit he deserves. It’s obvious Marilyn Manson and Trent Reznor owned this record and others by Edge and Chrome. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/alliance/818968134

The 1985 Listening Post - X - Ain't Love Grand

X - Ain't Love Grand

#255/889

July 1 1985

X

Ain’t Love Grand

Genre: Rock

4.25 out of 5

Highlights:

Burning House of Love

My Goodness

What’s Wrong With Me

Wrong wrong wrong. 

Dammit. 

Look, I get it. At some point you wanna stop eating Ramen and you wanna cash some mailbox money. Especially after a half decade of being heralded as the best thing in rock. Or punk. Or both. 

And maybe, just maybe, hiring metal producer (Stryper, Motley Crue, etc) Michael Wagener would do that trick. It was 1985, after all. 

Instead, all the rawness that made them what they were (Billy Zoom SPECIFICALLY requested a drummer with a parade snare, man) is shoved to the side in favor of deep echo and a stadium sound. 

Tons of these tracks would fit on More Fun or Wild Gift or even Black Sun. But instead, Wagener turns them into a stadium…neo-country rock band. That’s the best I can come up with. Because dammit, “Burning House of Love”, “My Goodness” “What’s Wrong With Me?”…these are great X tracks. 

“Around My Heart” could’ve been a smash for Stevie Nicks or Emmylou Harris or someone. 

Dammit. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/aint-love-grand/690391804

The 1985 Listening Post - Marilyn - Despite Straight Lines

Marilyn - Despite Straight Lines

#254/888

June 21 1985

Marilyn

Despite Straight Lines

Genre: SynthPop/R&B

4 out of 5

As we dive deeper into 1985 we get to this lost record. It’s a bit Culture Club, a little George Michael, a dash of just about every “New Wave” synth pop band of the 80s. 

And therein lies the dilemma of this project:

I originally started it as a personal journey into the Rock music of my youth that, for a variety of reasons, was unavailable to me. I wanted to see if I had missed anything. I did. For sure. But mostly it was Post-Rock that eluded me and was quite brilliant. 

I learned a lot on this journey. 

I included a needful of pop artists because they were ubiquitous at the time (like Bonnie Tyler and Madonna and a few others) but I really wanted to hone in on what I perceived as “rock”. And I’ve written about how rock came from rock and roll and was appropriated from black music of the time and the blues and therefore all R&B is actually Rock but that’s a different argument. 

1985 is showing more than any other year that the genres of rock were splitting. And emerging. The monolith that came from the ashes of The Beatles and Zeppelin and Arenas and Stadiums was being forced to deal with other styles. 

Marilyn shows us that, while we called Culture Club & Spandau Ballet “New Wave” it really was just R&B/Blue Eyed Soul in drag. The drag part gave it the Rock and Roll edge. That was the scary part, the part that made parents concerned. 

Because is this “rock”? No. And while Hall & Oates trafficked in the same BES idiom I would still include them. But I would also caveat the shit out their work. And i really can’t explain it. 

But, what I can say is that, as we move into the latter part of the 80s, I will be shunning more and more of this “pop” the more it veers from the original mission statement. 

IOW, this and Scritti Politti are helping me to define not only The Listening Post’s mission but also understand what was happening to music at the time. 

All that said, this is a fine entry into a genre that I would never call Rock, SynthPop or New Wave.

It’s straight up White Boy R&B.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h-4dmSbVBg&list=PLBJ7ztNazTVAUgiV0aDZACLgRtOgfEeoT 

The 1985 Listening Post - The Prisoners - The Last Fourfathers

The Prisoners - The Last Fourfathers

#253/904

1985 Housekeeping

The Prisoners

The Last Fourfathers

Genre: Psychedelic Garage

4.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Thinking of You (Broken Pieces)

FOP

This is an incredible album inasmuch as it sounds EXACTLY like the music it wants to sound like: Late 60s, Strawberry Alarm Clock Psychedelic, Hammond Organ Garage Rock.

They do it so well I swear it was made IN 1968 instead of 1985. And I love having it on. It’s sort of spectacular, even if it is fully emulating the past.

I think The Prisoners are a tad late to the party. I mean, The Jam had called it quits by this time and the scene had moved on, hadn’t it? But, wow do they get it right.

https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-last-fourfathers/590116219

The 1985 Listening Post - Rich Kids on LSD - RKL

Rich Kids on LSD - RKL

#251/902

1985 Housekeeping

Rich Kids on LSD

RKL

Genre: Punk

3.75 out of 5

Yeah, they’re snotty, whatever. For some reason the DIY, super tinny Southern California Skater Punk sound makes me happy. (Maybe it’s cuz they influenced NOFX and I really sometimes not all the time but mostly like NOFX) 

I wish I could ride a skateboard. I wish I had better balance (I recently rode a OneWheel…there’s video…I own said video…it’s not pretty) and I wish I could flip off the sides of an empty pool. 

I imagine that when my son finally gets his skateboard (he wants one, big time) I’ll put some RKL on my AirPods and watch him.

Oh, who’m I kidding? I’m not gonna watch him. I’m grey enough. 

This is another one where ya gotta make up your own playlist out of the tracks to hear the original songlist. At 26 minutes it’s 16 minutes too long. A little of this stuff goes a long ass way. Which is why DKs, In God We Trust Inc was perfect. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-best-of-rkl/112201430

The 1985 Listening Post - Pop-O-Pies - Joe's Third Record

Pop-O-Pies - Joe's Third Record

#250/901

1985 Housekeeping

Pop-O-Pies

Joe’s Third Record

Genre: Punk? Nah, more like assholes. 

1.5 out of 5

Highlights:

World of Morons

Most of this is awful. Music made by people who hate music, hate instruments, hate listeners, probably hate themselves. 

But I found “World of Morons” to be kind of funny. 

This is really the punk poetry descendent of Black Flag and Black Flag can keep them.

There is overlap between this “band” and Faith No More. And that could be why Faith No More leaves such a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe I, somehow, through osmosis, learned of this travesty (that makes Shockabilly sound like aesthetes) and decided to hate them vicariously. 

Fun Fact: This “band” got its start playing entire sets that consisted of just them covering (badly) The Grateful Dead’s Truckin’. 

Whatever. If you choose to listen to this, we are only covering their 1985 release, which is Tracks 7-14. Proceed with caution. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/pop-o-anthology-1984-1993/312522347

The 1985 Listening Post - Descendents - I Don't Want to Grow Up

Descendents - I Don't Want to Grow Up

#249/900

1985 Housekeeping

Descendents

I Don’t Want To Grow Up

Genre: Alternative Punk

4.25 out of 5

Highlights:

Can’t Go Back

Christmas Vacation

Good Good Things

Why weren’t Descendents on the Saturday Morning Cartoon cd? They sound like they grew up on Underdog and Banana Splurs and Go Go Gopher. 

Less snotty but no less immature than Suicidal Tendencies. But definitely more melodic at times. This is the sound of 1994, Wax, Weezer even Green Day, they all had Descendents records. 

Overall I like it a bit more than Milo Goes to College but that could just be me settling in to a comfortable sound. 

And “Good Good Things” has Foo Fighters all over it. There’s no way Dave Grohl doesn’t have this album on repeat in his life. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/i-dont-want-to-grow-up/117333239

The 1985 Listening Post - Savage - Hyperactive

Savage - Hyperactive

#248/899

1985 Housekeeping

Savage

Hyperactive

Genre: Metal

2.5 out of 5

Highlights:

Gonna Tear Your Heart Out

Stevie’s Vengeance

Every song starts off with promise and then suffers under the weight of it’s own mediocrity. And that mediocrity is lead singer Chris Gent. He sounds like he’s been forced into service. And every note is making him throw up but, if he doesn’t sing it, they are going to kill his family. (I will say that, when he’s inspired, as on the high notes on “High On Your Heels” he gets there. I sure couldn’t. I tried. And my break has gotten even lower. Good for him. But it’s not enough to save this. 

And all that shredtastic noodling is sub-par Sabbath. At best.

Although those two highlighted tracks made me happy. 

https://www.allmusic.com/album/hyperactive-mw0000055741

The 1985 Listening Post - Loudness - Thunder in the East

Loudness - Thunder in the East

#246/897

June 9 1985

Loudness

Thunder in the East

Genre: Metal

3.5 out of 5

Highlights:

No Way Out

Never Change Your Mind

Who knew that if you took Japan’s preeminent screaming metal band and had them sing in english that they would become…Scorpions?

But with less song structure and a whole lot more wild, super fast lead guitar noodling. 

This, I think, was an attempt at cashing in on the metal scene and an opening Japanese market. What they could have used were…um…what’re they called…songs. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/thunder-in-the-east/340105849

The 1985 Listening Post - U.K. Subs - Huntington

U.K. Subs - Huntington

#245/896

1985 Housekeeping

U.K. Subs

Huntington

Genre: Punk

2.5 out of 5

Highlights:

Miss Teenage USA

There are a lot of holes in this project prior to 1985. I was really only relying on Wikipedia for the list. Now that others have gotten involved (specifically Sheffield and his tireless effort to get to EVERYTHING) our list is closer to complete. What that means is that any thought I had that there was a glut of music in the 00s made possible by the ease of access to anyone with a computer was incorrect. With over 500 records released in the Rock genre in 1985 alone I’m left to wonder just how anyone ever thought they could ever make a living as a rock star. It seems to me that successful albums have to pay for all the garbage that doesn’t make it and what doesn’t make it is a tonnage. 

So, in that regard, I missed the earlier U.K. Subs albums and am left with this as my first exposure. It sounds like The Dicks lost their sense of humor but kept all the muddy sound. This punk style sounds more and more dated with every release. 

Nothing sticks around very long, so that’s good but it’s not very rewarding. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/huntington-beach/1281516496

The 1985 Listening Post - Randy California - Restless

Randy California - Restless

#244/895

June 1985

Randy California

Restless

Genre: Rock

2.75 out of 5

Highlights: 

Restless Nights

I have no real experience with Spirit. When I was in High School I used to listen to Fairleigh-Dickinson University’s radio station. I used to listen to The Kid after school on weekdays. I would call in. A lot. He invited me to come to the station and play records and then weirdly reneged when i showed up at the appointed time. 

It was a disappointment. To say the least. 

But, before that I was listening once and I heard an album with a bunch of samples from various media sources and it never ever freaking ended! I finally called in to find out what I was hearing. 

Turns out it was Spirit. The Kid had a test the next day and needed to study so he just put one hole album on and let it play for 20 minutes while he studied. 

Then he’d flip it over. 

That was my exposure to Randy California’s band. 

Later I became a fan of Randy’s solely based on the fact that he was suing Led Zeppelin for stealing his melody and appropriating it for “Stairway to Heaven”. 

But I still never listened to any of his music. 

Until now. 

It’s weird just how pedestrian 80s rock this sounds. He’s accomplished, I’ll give him that. And what we have here (all but 7 tracks) is perfectly acceptable album rock of the time. It’s enough to interest me in some of the rest of his catalog but, also, to note that he might’ve been a helluva an addition to, say, Deep Purple or Whitesnake or any of the other bands of that ilk. But it’s not great. That’s not the word I’d use for it. 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBJ7ztNazTVCOeZXSn1Fa4WF6wngyUrbu 

The 1985 Listening Post - Axewitch - Hooked On High Heels

Axewitch - Hooked on High Heels

#243/894

1985 Housekeeping

Axewitch

Hooked On High Heels

Genre: Screaming Dumbass Metal

1.75 out of 5

I just can’t.

I can’t tell one song from another. 

This witch band stopped recording after this and, I’m so glad. I’ve never been happier about a band’s demise. If they could take all the other “Witch/Wytch” bands with them, that would be terrif.

https://music.apple.com/us/album/hooked-on-high-heels/1022700169