The 1981 Listening Post - Get Wet - Get Wet

 Reviewed by Jim Coursey

Released: August 21 1981 Get Wet Get Wet Genre: Glammy New Wave Showtunes Rating: 2 of 5 (Nominal) Highlights: Just So Lonely Morton Street Get Wet are a duo featuring Zecca Esquibel and Sherri Beachfront. Little information exists about the band, but Zecca Esquibel had cut his teeth playing guitar for glam diva Cherry Vanilla during a phase when her band had left and Esquibel, Sting and Stewart Copeland were filling in. He left at some point, presumably for this band. Add Phil Ramone as producer and all these bigger names suggest that Get Wet’s sole album should probably be better than it is. Sadly, “Get Wet” feels like a late seventies hangover, theatrical, disco-laced tunes filled with nods to Grease-style retro 50s/60s fare, including a cover of Connie Francis’ “Where the Boys Are”. Get Wet’s sole hit, “Just So Lonely”, reminds me a bit of the Jackson 5, Beachfront’s vocals included, but is a far cry from “ABC” or “I Want You Back.” I prefer the somewhat melodramatic but catchy “Morton Street,” and her vocal style is more comfortable here as well. But Beachfront’s voice can be grating when she goes big and shouty, notably on the opener “Lucky You” and penultimate track “Turn On The Lights.” Listening to the chorus of the latter song I couldn’t help but wonder whether there was a Charles Foster Kane out there bankrolling his lover’s ill-fated singing career. (Check it out, it’s miserable.) The succession of romantic numbers ending with a bummer of a closer “Single” (a post-break up song) leaves me feeling like they’re going for a narrative arc here to boot. Indeed, the whole album is very theatrical, and reminds me of how different music was in the seventies, blurring the lines between stage and radio (think Elton John, Xanadu, the Wiz, and countless artists with guest spots on the Muppets). Different times. While this album is professional, it is flattered by such comparisons, and feels even more dated now than it may have in 1981.