The 1980 Listening Post - The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Make a Little Magic

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Make a Little Magic 

1980 Housekeeping

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Make a Little Magic

Genre: Softish Rock

3.5 out of 5

Highlights:

Make a Little Magic

Anxious Heart

The Dirt Band will always have a little warm spot in my heart for turning me on to the Dennis Linde tune “Hello, I am Your Heart”. To be fair, I was just introduced to that song a few weeks ago but it has forever become a part of my backyard guitar strumming repertoire. 

That track isn’t here. But, hey, that opener…wasn’t that all over the place in 1980? Or am I thinking of Jackson Browne? It sounds like Jackson Browne, yes?

Here’s a little Jackson Browne story:

I was a stupid teenager. Girls liked me but I was too oblivious to that and self-loathing that I couldn’t believe that was possible. There was a girl I was hanging out with in Bar Harbor around this time. I don’t remember her name. It’s on the tip of my tongue. It starts with a D. She was gorgeous. And for some reason she wanted to hang out with me. (I got it!!! Deirdre!!!)

There was one day that the song “She’s Got to Be Somebody’s Baby” was playing on a loudspeaker and she looked at me and said something about that song being a lie because the girls that everyone assume are with someone often are not. And then she touched my arm.

And I had no idea what she was talking about so I launched into so stupid dissertation about the song and why it might be true, because I think I had some form of oppositional defiance disorder coupled with a self-sabotaging streak (still do!).

Anyway. I learned weeks later she was interested in me but that moment passed because…well…stupid.

Her adopted sister, Ellen, I do remember because she would tell me that she was in constant competition with her sister. And, it took a while (on her part because…well…stupid) but, we did end up together for a very short minute.

But that was fun.

I preferred her older sister. 

I don’t know what happened to either of them. But I hate that Jackson Browne song. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/make-a-little-magic/714978368

The 1980 Listening Post - Nantucket - Long Way to the Top

Nantucket - Long Way to the Top 

1980 Housekeeping LISTENING POST DISCOVERY (YMMV EDITION)

Nantucket

Long Way to the Top

Genre: Rock (Sometimes Southern)

4.25 out of 5

Highlights:

Living with You

Time Bomb

Rugburn

Too Much Wrong in the Past (for a Future)

Tell Me

Requisite 80s cover: “Its a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock and Roll)”. Bon Scott had just died earlier that year. What a tribute to cover a monster AC/DC hit, do it well and then name your album after that song. I take it more as a tribute than an attempt for attention. 

First off, lemme say, I love it when bands name themselves for places. 

Chicago

Boston

Toronto

& Nantucket. 

Nantucket???

Have you ever been to Nantucket??

I have. We were driving home from a visit to my father’s sister in Queens and my parents announced, “Hey. We’re going to Nantucket for the weekend!”. And that’s how I ended up in Nantucket. 

The only thing I recall is that the movie FM was playing at the local movie theater and I wanted to see it cuz, well, rock music and Martin Mull. Need I say more?

My parents said we weren’t wasting a trip to Nantucket to go watch a movie we could see anywhere. They said the same thing when I said I wanted to see Close Encounters in Israel. 

I did not appreciate travel. I still do not.

This opens with a cover of AC/DC’s “Long Way to the Top” but Imma allow it since this band said this record was a tribute to Bon Scott and that got the band an opening slot on a tour. It’s not bad. 

Personally, I prefer their originals. They suffered from weak production but that’s a reflection on 1980, not the band. Despite the dumb-ass name.

Yes, I even like “50 More”, which is more prog than southern rock or metal and, dammit, I’m digging that sax!

This is a much better record than I would have thought, all things considered. The songs are tight and the playing is top notch. Tommy Redd’s voice is awful but, hey, lots of rock voices are awful. Right, Colin Meloy?

The album gets a bit cheesy toward the end, but I loved it.

https://music.apple.com/us/album/long-way-to-the-top/435629941

The 1980 Listening Post - Night - Long Distance

Night - Long Distance 

1980 Housekeeping

Night

Long Distance

Genre: Melodic Rock

2.25 out of 5

Highlights:

Miss You (Like I Do)

Ah, that 80s sound. You know it. It’s that 70s rock you’d hear from a band that played the bar down the shore but it’s got a little more kick and a hefty amount of better production. 

The vocals are shared between singers, one male, one female. It’s what Quarterflash was about. And that’s this band. However, I would hazard it has less saxophone and is just that much better for it. 

But it doesn’t have a massive single.  “Love Is On the Airwaves” made a little noise but it was no “Hot Summer Nights”. That was on their previous record but, no, we are not going back, guys. I know. It’s heartbreaking. 

Just as heartbreaking to know that this was Night’s last album.

I bet, had they stuck it out, they might have found a hit for the MTV generation. But they didn’t make it that far.

https://music.apple.com/us/album/long-distance/1466675588

The 1980 Listening Post - Jacobs Kelly - Jacobs Kelly

 Jacobs Kelly -  Jacobs Kelly

1980 Housekeeping

Jacobs Kelly

Jacobs Kelly

Genre: Budget Metal

2 out of 5

This album is from a band made up of 

Ron Coleman

Bill Douglas

Bob Franks

Don Hail

I mean, can you get any more Dad Rock than those names?

And it feels like a rock album by a bunch of dads. Who played backyard barbecues and Elementary School Family Fun Nights.

https://music.apple.com/us/album/jacobs-kelly/78197822

The 1980 Listening Post - Tony Sciuto - Island Nights

 Tony Sciuto - Island Nights

1980 Housekeeping

Tony Sciuto

Island Nights

Genre: Shoot me

2.5 out of 5

We’re pushing it, guys.

This is borderline disco. This is Peter Lemongello Mood Ring stuff.

It’s “Feelings” in 1980. Remember that song? It was so pervasive it made you want to kill yourself. 

If you have kids that listen to, I dunno, Olivia Rodrigo, make them listen to this and they will wonder why the fuck our generation should ever be given the keys to the musical automobile.

Oh, man.

I don’t know if “You Got a License to (Drive Me Crazy)” is a worse song or pick up line. 

It really doesn’t pick up until midway with “Trapeze”. And then it just goes back to oozes Drakkar Noir.

https://music.apple.com/us/album/island-nights/369175018

The 1980 Listening Post - The Pepper Porter Band - Invasion

 The Pepper Porter Band - Invasion

1980 Housekeeping

The Pepper Porter Band

Invasion

Genre: Hard Rock

4 out of 5

Highlights:

Take a Ride

Invasion

I love it when albums stream on Apple Music or Spotify but you can hear the vinyl pops and hisses because someone from the band (most likely) uploaded it. 

That’s this record. 

I also love it when Metal records prove that they really are nothing more than late 70s garage rock or psychedelic outfits with added riffage and lead licks a plenty.

That’s this record as well.

And I REALLY love it when songs fade out instead of hard ending like they do in the 21st century. 

That happens here, too.

The lead guitar on “Dreams” is fantastic and I really love the sludge-y title track. And most of the record until it takes a left turn and becomes some late 70s jam rock thing. But, you know what? This album is much better than I would have expected. 

Wither Pepper Porter?

The 1980 Listening Post - Lucinda Williams - Happy Woman Blues

 Lucinda Williams - Happy Woman Blues

1980 Housekeeping

Lucinda Williams

Happy Woman Blues

Genre: Country

4.25 out of 5

Highlights:

Happy Woman Blues

One Night Stand

Howlin’ at Midnight

Sharp Cutting Wings (Song to a Poet)

Yeah, this might be a bit afield of the mission statement but it’s Lucinda Williams and she’s been a force in the music world for a while. Also, recently, I went back and listened to the first three big Dolly Parton records and Lucinda feels like a mature heir to that broken ceiling. 

Lastly, I was listening to a LOT of White Stripes of late and that brought me back to Loretta Lynn’s Van Lear Rose and, l well, that’s just a great record. 

So, why not? It’s not like theres’t 500 more records we could do if we added this category (Lord help us).

This is an excellent record of good songs that are not made for your 1980 radio. It’s country fair jamboree stuff. 

I think Lucinda played South by Southwest the same year my band did and, if I’m not mistaken, the backup singer was thrilled to get the chance to see her, even though she was off the concert bill. 

I have to double check. Might have been someone else.

https://music.apple.com/us/album/happy-woman-blues/84090091

The 1980 Listening Post - T. Roth and Another Pretty Face - Face Facts

 T. Roth and Another Pretty Face - Dace Facts

1980 Housekeeping

T. Roth and Another Pretty Face

Face Facts

Genre: Glam Theater

2.5 out of 5

Highlights:

Wild Child

Opening with turning radio dials and not landing on a station is an old trope. Other bands have done it. I’ve never heard one go on as long as the opener here. And it held a ton of promise. 

Unfortunately, the bouncy glam rock “Late Night Radio” isn’t really that great. It feels like it fell off a 1974 Elton John record. Which would be great, but, it’s the track that didn’t make the cut and he would update and re-record in the 80s. That sort of sound. Later, on “People in Love”, the Billy Joel really pushes through and I’m reminded that I saw Billy Joel and Elton John in concert 21 years ago. And Billy was better than Elton. 

This thing is a challenge. It plays like an Off-Broadway play your friends took you to on a Thursday in the basement of church on the lower east side that starred one of the actors from the Planet of the Apes TV show. The one that didn’t become a Broadway star.

Just the worst. Although the glam metal of “Wild Child” is kind of worth the spin.

The 1980 Listening Post - D.B. Cooper - Buy American

 D.B. Cooper - Buy American

1980 Housekeeping LISTENING POST DISCOVERY

D.B. Cooper

Buy American

Genre: Joe Jackson

4.25 out of 5

Highlights:

Had Enough

No Way Out

Caroline

Did Joe sue Cooper for stealing his sound? Can he? In retrospect? Regardless of if Cooper made any money off this album or if just to get some hands on that sweet, jumpin’ from the plane stolen cash (I know it wasn’t this guy but…)

There is, like, no information about Cooper on the webz. The rhythm guitarist, Ric Streeter, showed up on some forum that you can dig for but, I have no idea who they were or where they went after their next album. 

“Right Here, Right Now” is the weirdest hybridization of Joe Jackson’s “Got the Time” and The Rolling Stones. And it works!

I could pretty much highlight just about ever track from this Power Pop gem from the Year of the Power Pop Album Before the Knacklash.

It’s solid. 

And I really wanna know what the heck happened to DB Cooper? How did this guy disappear like the guy he named himself for?

https://music.apple.com/us/album/buy-american/787364923

The 1980 Listening Post - Bill Chinnock - Dime Store Heroes

 Bill Chinnock - Dime Store Heroes

1980 Housekeeping

Bill Chinnock

Dime Store Heroes

Genre: Rock

2.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Queen of the Lower East Side

Ironbound

Would there be a Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band without Bill Chinnock?

According to his Wiki entry he played in bands with Danny Federici and Vini Lopez and then, after getting really sick, he left that project and moved to Maine. Federici and Lopez would eventually start Steel Mill with Bruce and Bill came back and started a band that included Gary Tallent and David Sancious. But Bill got sick with Hepatitis. Tallent and Sancious would join with the Steel Mill guys to form other bands and, eventually, record Greetings from Asbury Park with Bruce. 

Chinnock would find some success and win an Emmy for a song he wrote for Search for Tomorrow. But, one has to wonder. If illness hadn’t shaken Bill’s life and had he not been such a nomad in need of new locales and calm, would the BS&ESB have ever come to fruition. 

And I wonder what kind of album Chinnock would have created had he been able to hold those guys together. Listening to “Queen of the Lower East Side”, I’m fairly certain he would have found the rock and the roll and maybe we would all be chanting “BILL!” At concerts.

I kind of want to hear Bruce perform “Baptized on 47th St.”

Probably not, thought.

This record should have been made in 1974. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/dime-store-heroes/373727736

The 1980 Listening Post - Elektrics - Current Events

 Elektrics - Current Events

1980 Housekeeping

The Elektrics

Current Events

Genre: Power Pop/Rock

4.5 out of 5

Highlights:

Some Lovin’ Tonight

We Are Americans

Time After Time

Indifferent

Tonight

Sometimes you just get a record that is filled with good songs. And there’s no two ways about that. 

The album isn’t a concept record, it’s not destined to alter the way we think about a genre, it’s just solid. 

The Producers come to mind. 

The Late Show. 

Welcome Interstate Managers by Fountains of Wayne.

There’s a host of great records that are collections like this.

This is one of those records.

I don’t know much about The Elektrics. I know that I adored their follow-up.

The glam pop of the opening track gives way to sax driven pub rock and the energy of tracks like “Indifferent” and pummeling “Tonight”. I could do without the Devo-esque “Plastic Sound”.

These guys get dumped into the whole Knacklash of 1980 but, actually, I think they are better songwriters than anyone really knew and, dammit, where did they all go?

Well, Marco Delmar is a hotshot record producer. In know that much

https://music.apple.com/us/album/current-events/1307186771

The 1980 Listening Post - Trillion - Clear Approach

 Trillion - Clear Approach

1980 Housekeeping

Trillion

Clear Approach

Genre: Let’s Be Kansas!

1.5 out of 5

Highlights:

Promises

Someone at CBS thought there was money to be made by mining the Kansas sound and this is what they came up with.

I don’t know who was clamoring for this kind of soft prog folk rock. I don’t know if the band even liked it. Because it’s boring as all get out.

https://music.apple.com/us/album/clear-approach/638951882

The 1980 Listening Post - Randy Hansen - Randy Hansen

 

1980 Housekeeping LISTENING POST DISCOVERY

Randy Hansen

Randy Hansen

Genre: Guitar Hero

4.25 out of 5

Highlights:

Champagne and Cocaine

I Wanna Take You Higher

Millionaire

How have I never heard of this guy? I mean, surely there should have been a track or two on Guitar Hero or Rock Band. 

Randy’s known as the preeminent Hendrix impersonator. And, boy can he fucking play.

The songs aren’t great but, fuck me, the bass on “I Wanna Take Your Higher” is worth the price of admission. Extra 1/2 point for bringing that shit. 

I feel like I did the first time I heard Stevie Ray Vaughn. It’s about the playing. And Hansen is fantastic. I know I’m in the minority but I thought this was stellar. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQg8cJETI7Y

The 1980 Listening Post - Jimmy Hotz - Beyond the Crystal Sea

Jimmy Hotz - Beyond the Crystal Sea 

1980 Housekeeping

Jimmy Hotz

Beyond the Crystal Sea

Genre: Fantasy Rock

1 out of 5

Lowlights:

The Vision Ship

If you wanna feel really inadequate go read Jimmy’s wikipedia entry.

Novelist. Inventor. Musician. 

Jeez.

However, if you were looking for backing music to your shitty, low budget commercial for you gaming store that specializes in Magic: The Gathering tournaments, this is the album for you. 

It’s pretty awful. 

Like Flaming Lips without anything that makes them interesting or catchy or artistic or...well, fucking anything. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/beyond-the-crystal-sea/261126741