#216
by Eli Sitt
May 23 1980
Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel (Melt)
Allen’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Eli’s Rating: 4 out of 5
Genre: I don’t think you can ascribe one to Peter (-Allen)
Allen’s Highlights:
Games Without Frontiers
Biko
by Eli Sitt
He sounds very angry, he’s more yelling more than he is singing, groovy beat, very pioneering 80’s sound, written in 1978. Sounds like a Bowie song, not sure who ripped who off. And Through The Wire – Discovery, not sure if I ever heard this song more than once or twice before. A nearly perfect Eli type song. Just needs more cowbell. Games Without Frontiers – Top 10-15 tunes from that era. Ear candy for me. That opening verse that I could never figure out exactly what he is signing, I love it. I sing it to myself all the time. The outro is ridiculous. I could listen to that on repeat for hours. Lead A Normal Life – Sweet opening 90 second instrumental Biko – I cannot think of another song that taught me about a political situation half a world away. It raised the Apartheid Regime / crime to the world. An amazing feat of communication using music and art. I always look at the music and artists from the 60’s who had ideals and ideas to change the world. Punk Rock, seemed to have the same thrust. After that, the 80’s went heavy commercial, I suppose due to MTV. There is so much happening in this song, it’s mind boggling. The story telling, the different voices, the deep heart felt lamentations, and the chorus “Biko, because Biko” is simply epochal for me. It is a tune that I sing to myself, maybe daily. The African signing on the outro is an amazing shift that predates Paul Simon and I assume opened the door for the Afro Beat artists of the 80’s and on. I would listen to this on a desert island. I would learn to love every song. The less familiar songs would become the soundtrack to my solitude experience. I would not have bought it when it came out. I would not listen to it now. The great songs I know too well, and the forgettable ones, not worth my time. He leans heavily on the theatrical songs that do not speak to me. I was never a Genesis fan, but I know that was their forte for a while. Even those songs have great 80’s sounds that would pepper every popular album of the decade.
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