Friday, October 23, 2020

The 1981 Listening Post - Robert Gordon - Are You Gonna Be the One

 Robert Gordon - Are You Gonna Be The One


#41

By Scott Von Doviak

1981 Housekeeping

Robert Gordon

Are You Gonna Be the One

Genre: Rockabilly Revival

Allen’s Rating: 4 out of 5

Scott’s Rating: 2 out of 5


Highlights:

Someday, Someway

Look Who’s Blue

Lover Boy


Do you love a classic rockabilly sound filtered through tinny ‘80s production? No? Me either. Robert Gordon has a voice – it’s a voice you’ve heard before if you’re familiar with Elvis Presley. Gordon pretty much nicked the King’s vocal stylings wholesale. But he’s not the only one, and I can imagine Gordon’s early albums with Link Wray deliver more of an old school rockabilly kick than this slick collection does. You know “Someday, Someway” from Marshall Crenshaw, though Gordon recorded it first and had a regional hit in New York with it. It’s an OK rendition that never really soars, which means it fits right in with the rest of these songs. “Look Who’s Blue” is one of the better Elvis ripoffs, and it’s probably fun to see Gordon do it live. I don’t want to hate on this guy, but a song called “Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die” needs to be a lot nastier and Cramps-like than what we get here. For my taste, anyway. “Lover Boy” is another decent Elvis soundalike, but again, the production just grates. At least it’s a short album – not even half an hour in its original version. The version on Spotify has a bunch of bonus tracks, but life’s too short.


https://open.spotify.com/album/4D2rpGX0XEXB74ZRWbJY12?si=z6kyLb9oSuyWlBjbzgKKeg

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