Gleaming Spires - Songs of the Spires
#608
1981 Housekeeping
By Craig Fitzgerald
Gleaming Spires
Songs of the Spires
Genre: New Wave Pop
Allen’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Craig’s Rating: 3 out of 5
Highlights:
Going Hey Hey
How to Get Girls Through Hypnotism
Talking in the Dark
(Ed.’s note: Special thanks to Craig for taking this one on even though it’s only available to stream on YouTube. I know that that can be a difficult way to listen to albums, especially if you are traveling and choosing to listen in your car.)
Gleaming Spires is something of an early 1980s supergroup, with Leslie Bohem and David Kendrick (who was Devo’s drummer from 1987 to 1991, and then again from 1996 to 2004), and Jim Goodwin and Bob Haag from Sparks.
I thought I’d never heard of this band. It appears they’re one of the zillions of acts that had a good following in LA, thanks to its record label (Posh Boy) having a good relationship with Rodney Bingenheimer, and getting solid airplay on KROQ.
If you want to listen to Gleaming Spires, your options are pretty limited. None of the band’s records were ever released on CD. “Are You Ready for the Sex Girls?” appears on a ton of compilations. This album was re-released by Futurismo on 180-gram vinyl, but it’s gone now, so your only hope is to find it used somewhere.
Allen had me listen to it on YouTube, but the playlist for the record doesn’t include the band’s most popular track, for some reason.
Turns out that I actually HAD heard of them, from the soundtrack from “The Last American Virgin.”
Gleaming Spires’ “Are You Ready For the Sex Girls?” was the opener on the B-Side of the soundtrack, but unfortunately, it was overwhelmed by “Since You’re Gone” from the Cars and “I Know What Boys Like” from the Waitresses and “I Will Follow” from U2. Then, a couple of years later, it appeared AGAIN, this time in the more popular movie, but less popular soundtrack for “Revenge of the Nerds.” Those two inclusions alone must’ve bought houses for the band members.
“Songs of the Spires” is the Spires’ first record. It’s ten tracks of lo-fi new wave pop that sounds like it was put together mostly on a Casio digital watch. That’s not a criticism at all. These are infectious songs from a very specific time period where mostly everything on the radio was guitar heavy. That trebley, tinny synthesizer must’ve felt like it came from another planet as it poured out of the lone dashboard speaker in a ’73 Firebird in 1981 Los Angeles.
The lyrics in some of these songs are terrific. The best track on the LP is “Going Hey Hey.” You’ll end up humming the intro for the rest of the day, but the song hides some pretty powerful lyrics:
“It was nice to be reminded
That I didn't believe St. Nick
'Cause I recognized the kind hands
Of the stranger giving presents
To belong to a friend.
Leavin', yes, I can't take you, no.
But this time the cross upon my neck
Gives me part of you.
And when we return the spires will be the same, yeah.
But sadly you'll go your way and I'll go mine.”
This isn’t a record that’s going to change your life, by any stretch of the imagination. But if you’re interested in hearing what music nerds were into for six weeks in 1981, you’re going to want to listen to this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sd4RePy9YM&list=PLlvn8uktX5Lud1SZXEpPRqEkx1MtcgesE
No comments:
Post a Comment