The 1980 Listening Post - M - The Official Secrets Act

 M - The Official Secrets Act

1980 Housekeeping

M

The Official Secrets Act

Genre: Synth-Pop

3.25 out of 5

Highlights:

Transmission (The World is at Your Fingertips)

You couldn’t get away from “Pop Musik” in 1980. That lingering hit from Robin Scott’s previous record was a huge New Wave surprise and, while it’s really Disco/Electronic stuff, the song and the visuals of the video pricked up the ears of kids like me but, just like “Shoop Shoop Diddy Wop Comma Comma Wang Dang” didn’t send me out in search of Montevideo’s catalog, same can be said for M. And M was an actual recording artist phenom here in the MTV world. 

So, I never heard New York*London*Paris*Munich. And, subsequently, while I loved the sense of paranoia surrounding the title of the record, I never sought it out, either.

When it isn’t experimental, it’s actually just sort of boring. Robin is trying hard to be political and relevant but he ain’t getting there. The freneticism and paranoia of “Relax” aren’t enough to carry that song, let alone the album, which more often sounds like a Disco Improvisation outing. 

I wish I liked it a lot more.

https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-official-secrets-act/1208864665