The 1982 Listening Post - Toiling Midgets - Sea of Unrest

 Reviewed by Allen Lulu

Released: 1982 Toiling Midgets Sea Of Unrest Genre: Post-Things Rating: 4.25 out of 5 Highlights: All The Girls Cry This is some heavy sludge music that calls to mind, early on, believe it or not, “You’re So Physical” by Adam and the Ants. Now the thing about early Adam is that they were very post-punk. Influenced at first by art school and the Sex Pistols. So, when I heard the plodding metal and wailing vocals against the deep, almost grungy Vox warbling “Don’tcha lie to me!” My mind went straight to that early Adam song, which I’ve seen him perform live as though it’s a declaration of just how “PUNK” he always was. From there, this thing goes into strange directions incorporating all sorts of instrumentation from acoustic guitars, like buskers from Hell to clashing electric feedback. It’s nothing short of amazing in it’s mind bending, depressing way. And! The “band” (really a collective now, yes?) is still doing stuff. And you can buy this album on vinyl along with a whole shit ton of others on their band camp page and I, for one, am thrilled that exists. These guys are poppy compared to, say Swans, but that’s just because I find them slightly more accessible. But, really, when we are talking about experimental music for Heroin addicts, at this point I’m just picking nits.

The 1981 Listening Post - Zeabra - Makin' Tracks

 Reviewed by Paul J Zickler

Released: 1981 Zeabra Makin' Tracks Genre: AOR Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Highlights: Tell The World Together Your Fool Again Promises (The following review is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely based on the two websites that had any information at all about the band Zeabra.) If you walk into Music Unlimited on Kickapoo Spur Street in Shawnee, Oklahoma, you just might run into three former members of Zeabra, a melodic AOR band whose 1981 album Makin’ Tracks catapulted them to fame. Or at least that was the plan. “Yeah we made that record with high hopes,” says drummer and sales rep Pat Kelly. “Figured it was just a matter of time before we’d hear our songs on the radio.” [1] “We even put them radio sound effects on there, remember? Right before that Together Forever song? Made it sound like our song was comin’ up next, right between Styx and Foreigner,” Chris Kelly, Pat’s big brother, fellow sales rep and keyboard player adds. “Thought that was pretty clever.” “It was,” Jeff Hawkins states quietly. “The song was just called Together, Chris. There’s a kid in the keyboard section needs help with that Roland,” he adds. Chris nods and wanders off. It’s Jeff’s store, after all. [2] Was he expecting a hit? Jeff says he wasn’t sure. He just loved the feeling of being in the studio. “I grew up listening to the Beatles, thinkin’ about McCartney and George Martin at Abbey Road, making those amazing albums. We’d played a lot of gigs by then, had some good songs, a sound we thought could break through. But a hit? Well … maybe.” “I thought that song with the sax mighta done something. People liked that kinda wimpy sax sound, so I was hopin’ that was the one. What was it called?” Pat asks. “Your Fool Again,” Jeff answers. “Puttin’ the sax on there was the producer’s idea though really. We weren’t nuts about it.” “Big Ron!” calls Chris from the keyboard room. [3] “Big Ron, yeah,” Pat laughs. “That guy made us a buncha promises. Not a one of ‘em paid off. Hey, Promises. That was a good tune. You wrote that, right?” Jeff nods. Chris returns to the main room. “That kid wasn’t serious. Just wanted to mess around.” He turns to me. “Promises was a helluva song.” “Mostly cuz of your keyboard solos!” Pat says, leaning back on his stool behind the big Premier drum kit in the corner. “Jeff wrote it and played some nice guitar on it,” Chris adds humbly. Jeff shakes his head. “Nobody noticed.” He walks over to the door, where an older gentleman wearing a sheriff badge is just entering the store. “Hey Mike.” Mike picks up a Fender Precision bass, sits on a stool, and fingers it quietly, looking a bit sheepish. “This here’s Mike Hembree. Thanks for coming in, Mike. We was just discussing Makin’ Tracks,” Jeff says. “Mike played bass on that record.” Mike says nothing, just smiles. I ask if he, too, thought the record would be successful. He shrugs. “Long time ago.” He looks a bit distant, but not unfriendly. There is a pause. “S’pose we oughta mention Mike’s brother, Mark,” says Pat, then looks away, unsure of himself. “I mean, if it’s OK with you, Mike.” “Yeah, it’s fine,” Mike mumbles. He looks directly at me. “Mark believed in the band. Believed in Zeabra. He and Chris co-wrote most of the songs.” “Hell, he wrote ‘em. I just helped him put the chords and notes down on paper,” Chris adds, sipping from a coffee mug emblazoned with the Casio logo. “I mean, he invented all of it. The lyrics, the hooks…” “My, my, my,” Pat sings, playing 4 beats on his knees. “That’s from Tell The World. That coulda been Journey, REO – one of them Power Pop bands even! ‘Cept we made it more rockin’. First time Mark showed me that song, I was blown away. Damn, that shoulda been huge! Even had a cowbell in it.” He laughs. “His harmonies were killer, guitar solos too.” Mike looks down at the floor. “Miss him every day.” “We all do,” says Jeff. The four men look uncomfortable, yet completely in their element. It’s not hard to imagine them 42 years younger, full of hope and dreams. “We still play now and then, you know.” “Not so much anymore,” Chris adds. “Still, no regrets. We gave it a shot.” “Damn good shot,” says Pat. “Can I play that Fender up there? The red Strat?” an anxious young man asks. “Sure, let me grab that for you,” Jeff answers, smiling. “Go ahead and plug it in. Rock out.” The surviving members of Zeabra nod approvingly. *********** 1. All quotes are fake. My apologies to Pat, Chris, Jeff, Mark, and Mike, whose lives I completely fictionalized, other than working at a music store, being a sheriff, and playing in the band Zeabra. 2. Jeff does own the store. Pat and Chris are sales reps. That part is true. 3. “Big Ron” O’Brien, radio DJ and record producer, real name Richard Walls (1951-2008).

The 1981 Listening Post - Twitch - Twitch and Shout

 Reviewed by Paul J Zickler

Released: 1981 Twitch Twitch And Shout Genre: Power Pop Rock Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Highlights: Ring True This Boy’s Got It What Do You Say Something I Can Touch Back in 1962, in a season 6 episode of The Flintstones, Rock Roll had a big hit in Bedrock with The Twitch, a dance craze record best known for the line, “Twitch, twitch.” Sixty years later, kids get their Twitch on via the video streaming chat app, best known as a gaming platform, but also handy for watching old movies while interacting with friends. Somewhere in between, Garwood Wallace, Bryan Pratt and Steve Feldman started a rock and roll band and named it Twitch. They released one long player, titled Twitch and Shout, on Bomb Records out of Toronto. Twitch were a Power Pop Power Trio, which is kind of fun to say. They seemed to be going for that New Wave look, based on the album cover and publicity photos. Musically, they were influenced not only by the usual suspects (Buddy Holly, Raspberries, Big Star, etc.), but also by Rockabilly, Boogie, Pub Rock, and even Stadium Rock (minus the distortion). Most of the songs don’t fit the New Wave blueprint, and the ragged performance energy and predominance of bass in the mix makes me think they really didn’t want to be New Wavers at all. Lead singer’s glasses aside, there’s precious little Elvis Costello influence here, a rarity in 1981, apparently. This is a pretty fun listen, even if none of it is earth shaking or life changing. There are a few missteps (not sure what they were going for with Take It Back – John Denver maybe?), but there are also highlights, all of which hint at a band that was probably very entertaining live. Ring True harnesses a Bo Diddley beat to channel some Stray Cats energy. This Boy’s Got It uses a simple but effective fifties rock guitar riff to propel a high speed romp with some stop and go rhythms. What Do You Say, which probably should have been a single, opens with a ZZ Top style boogie before downshifting into a sweet Power Pop chorus, throwing in a brief Loggins & Messina bridge and finally crashing down with a jamming fadeout. The irresistible Something I Can Touch piles up multiple hooks over a driving beat while telling the old sob story: “Staring at the microphone / I know you’re out there, but I feel alone / Give me a sign / Call out my name…” Clearly Mr. Wallace had some songwriting chops, and the band delivers the goods, especially on these tracks. Sadly, they only Twitched for a very short time, and as far as I can tell, they shall Twitch no more, forever.

The 1981 Listening Post - The Reflections - Slugs and Toads

 Reviewed by Jim Coursey

Released: November 1981 The Reflections Slugs And Toads Genre: Post-Punk / Garage Rock Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Highlights: Tightrope Walker Zigzagging The Interpreter “The Reflections were a post-punk super-group formed by Mark Perry (Alternative TV, The Good Missionaries, The Door And The Window), Dennis Burns (Alternative TV), Karl Blake (The Lemon Kittens) and Nag (The Door And The Window).” - Forced Exposure Can I tell you how much I hate the misuse of the term “super-group?” I have no issue when it’s used appropriately (from CSNY to Traveling Wilburys to boygenius). The problem is it's so often abused such that the term becomes meaningless. Newsflash: THERE IS NEVER GOING TO BE A PROPER SUPERGROUP THAT IS COMPRISED OF MEMBERS OF ALTERNATIVE TV AND THE LEMON KITTENS. Worse yet, despite having heard albums by both of those bands, I have no %$%ing clue who “The Door And The Window” even is. Talk about a name destined for obscurity! The proper way to describe this album is a SIDE-PROJECT. Cancel my subscription! (End of rant.) But it would be patently unfair to judge this album based on the stupidity of a single word in a Forced Exposure blurb. “Slugs and Tools” isn’t half bad. I suppose stacking your band with members from three (barely known) artists is the key to their moderate quality? “Tightrope Walker'' kicks things off with a cheery, twee, garagey duet that reminds me more of the shabby but friendly fare of bands like The Clean or Television Personalities than the more “serious”, angry, angular sound common in the post-punk scene. They get a little more edgy with the next cut “Zigzagging”, veering a bit more towards Minutemen territory, but there remains a sweetness that keeps things in check: “I could blow raspberries… stay in bed with you, and zigzag between opti-pessimism.” It’s not all this lighthearted. The sax comes out on the next couple tracks, showing a free jazz / skronk side reminiscent of Missing Presumed Dead, and later piano ballad “Clamming Up” is positively dreary. But on the plus side they keep things varied. Better yet is the dreamy organ-drenched post-psych fare of “Demon of My Desires” and Roky Erikson’s “The Interpreter”, which sound like they recorded while hungover but to good effect. The vocals on this album wouldn't win them any mainstream success. They're more reminiscent of a sour version of Dick Van Dyke's lovable chimney sweep in Mary Poppins (to my American ear) than a proper singer . But unlike Alternative TVs 1981 album that I also reviewed, Mark Perry’s vocals here fit the songs well and give them a certain charm. While there’s plenty of forgettable stuff here, it’s a good listen on the whole, and I found myself enjoying “Slugs and Toads” beyond the highlights.

The 1981 Listening Post - The Crowd - A World Apart

 Reviewed by Jim Coursey

Released: 1981 The Crowd A World Apart Genre: New Wave Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Highlights: Can’t Talk Right Time On My Own As You Were (Tomorrow) Huntington Beach’s The Crowd was a fixture in the early surf punk scene that coalesced around Orange County’s The Cuckoo’s Nest venue. They made their recording debut on the 1979 “Beach Blvd” comp, posting four punk tracks clearly reminiscent of The Ramones – fast, hard, simple. [1] [2] By the time they got around to a full length their sound had moved on quite a bit though. Opener “Something Said” sets the stage from the outset – the off-kilter midtempo rhythm and chorused bass underscore the new wave tendencies here, which don’t fully let up even as the chorus straightens things out with more of the post-Ramones vibe. “Can’t Talk”, “Right Time” and “On My Own” return to the pace of the Ramones, and the claps on “Right Time” are reminiscent of the earlier rock’n’roll eras that the Ramones tweaked. But the vocals have become more affected and there are just too many chords for the Ramones wannabe vibe to stick. “He” meanwhile reminds me of a more demented version of Adam and the Ants. It’s a good album, but there are downsides. The recording quality isn’t great – better than a lot of their punk peers but worse than a lot of new wave. Meanwhile Jim Decker’s vocals are a bit all over the place too. He’s got a good sound, with an acidic delivery and a thick vibrato that reminds me of a less cloying Jello Biafra. Unfortunately, Decker has a tendency to show emphasis by raising his pitch and shouting, which makes him sound a bit like a drunken karaoke singer belting out a song everyone in the bar already knows. Many songs come unmoored by the vocal – “Desmond and Kathy” and “As You Were” have a lot of potential but lose the plot thanks to the vocals. The Crowd broke up before ever releasing another album, in part due to increasing violence at their shows, only to reform at the end of the decade. [3] If Decker tamed his vocals it would have been interesting to hear them develop further. “A World Apart” showed a musical ambition that wasn’t defined by their scene alone. 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jfhj-ewRB2w 2. https://deathburger.doodlekit.com/blog/entry/4535342/the-crowd-a-world-apart- 3. http://www.oocities.org/sunsetstrip/club/9953/history.htm.tmp

The 1981 Listening Post - Telefones - Rock-Ola

 Reviewed by Paul J Zickler

Released: July 25 1981 Telefones Rock-Ola Genre: New Wave / Ska / Power Pop Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Highlights: Brave New World Sports Automatic Man On August 6, 1982, R.E.M. opened for The Telefones at the Hot Klub in Dallas, Texas. Listening to Brave New World and Sports, the first two tracks on their sophomore LP, I get it. The high energy, 2-tone-ish new wave - edgy vocals, ringing guitars and thumping drums, punctuated with flugelhorn solos - would probably have connected more readily with many fans than the darker, murkier stuff Stipe and company were playing. And then song 3 comes in, kinda dark and murky. Automatic Man is a minor key, new wave protest against… robots? “He can do it better than you or I can He’s fully metallic Automatic Man.” The harmony vocals, scratchy chorus guitar, secret agent bass line, and legato horns keep this one moving along. Murky but catchy! Mon Cherie’s angular power pop sounds a bit like The Romantics, but also references “that old song by Ernie Tubb” and stretches the word “baby” out to five syllables. Stranger in a Strange Land uses a vaguely Middle Eastern tone to tell the tongue-in-cheek tale of a US soldier overseas: “It’s so hard makin’ conversation In a language you don’t understand And it’s real hell tryin’ to find a good rest’raunt You’re a stranger in a strange land.” The theme continues with Arabian Wars: “They’re calling it a holy war But why’s everybody so sore?” Lyrically interesting, but musically less so, other than the XTC-like guitar break that opens and closes the song. Radio Rebels is about soldiers of a different kind. The listener is urged to “twist around your dial ‘til you locate those radio rebels, and dig the sound.” It’s actually refreshing to remember indie radio from the early ‘80’s and how rebellious it seemed. It’s a fairly dull song, really, but the sentiment is great. Farmer’s Daughter incorporates a bit of Some Girls-era Rolling Stones into an infectious ska bop. Oddly, the flugelhorn player is less effective here, too front-and-center and not creative enough to pull it off. The guitars are great, as they are throughout the album, really. With a song titled Circles Under Sunshine, I should have expected some white reggae, but extending the album’s most boring track and calling it Circle Dub feels unfortunate. There’s some mumbled speech that turns out to be backmasking, but I didn’t play the record backwards to find out what it said. The Telefones were three brothers: Chris, Jerry and Steve Dirkx, and one other guy named Mark Griffin. Rock-Ola! was their second of two albums. It has its moments, just as the band did, before disappearing into the mists of time.

The 1981 Listening Post - Sad Café - Olé

 Reviewed by Paul J Zickler

Released: October 1981 Sad Café Olé Genre: MOR Pop Rock Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Highlights: Love’s Enough Follow You Anywhere Misunderstanding Serious Shoes Sad Café played easy listening pop rock, what might have later been considered yacht rock, but only if anyone remembered any of their songs. Lead singer Paul Young later joined Mike + the Mechanics and provided lead vocals for some of their hits (notably not their biggest hit, Silent Running, which featured guaranteed-top-ten-guest-vocalist Paul Carrack). Olé was their second consecutive flop, yielding zero hits, despite the expert production, skillful playing, and technical precision of their sound. Or maybe because of it. Opener Love’s Enough features keyboards reminiscent of Michael McDonald’s Doobie Brothers, a smooth sax intro, and some fairly compelling vocals from Young, who rises to a sweet falsetto on the last chorus. There is no particular reason why this song shouldn’t have found its place between Every Woman In The World and The Best of Times on FM hits radio in late 1981. But it didn’t. And I’ve already forgotten the hook. I suppose that’s what separated Sad Café from bands like Toto or Foreigner. They certainly had the talent and musical chops to play in that league, but somehow their hooks don’t compare to Africa or Hold the Line. You could argue that’s because we’ve heard those songs ten thousand times, unlike Nine, which does have a nifty keyboard riff supporting a rich chorus harmony or Follow You Anywhere, with its bouncy circus organ chorus coupled with emotionally spare piano verses and elegant lead guitar. I could see some of these songs growing on me if I was interested in giving this kind of music more than cursory attention. Maybe it’s the genre itself. How many people are passionate about middle of the road pop rock? I know there are bands that invite that kind of love: Fleetwood Mac is an obvious example, but they’re also fascinating personalities whose personal lives overlap intriguingly with the music itself, putting them in a different category. Does anyone care about Lou Gramm’s love life or what Steve Porcaro says about Steve Lukather? They make music that blends in easily with everyday tasks. People like it, but who really goes out of their way to find anything new? No matter how long it took to layer the many tracks on the Hall and Oates-like 7th track, Misunderstanding, virtually nobody was interested in hearing it. Being a charitable listener, I’m going to say that’s unfortunate because all the basic ingredients are here. Like Love’s Enough, it’s very easy to imagine Misunderstanding, or even the Men At Work-meets-Steely Dan bop, Serious Shoes, sliding in comfortably after Kiss On My List and before While You See A Chance. Maybe in some alternative timeline, these are beloved songs that were later featured in silly teen movies and covered by annoying acapella groups. In this timeline, they’re just pleasant tunes to have on in the background, and God knows we’ve got more than enough of those in the world. Sorry Sad Café. I did manage to write this review while your album was on in the background though, so thanks for that.

The 1981 Listening Post - Picture - Heavy Metal Ears

 Reviewed by Jim Coursey

Released: October 1981 Picture Heavy Metal Ears Genre: Heavy Metal Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Highlights: Heavy Metal Ears Spend The Night With You I'm Just A Simple Man “We're going to change the world, a revolution, every day heavy metal at school, it’ll be a world of destruction, we're gonna lock up the disco fools.” Move over Lipps Inc, move over Chic – there’s a new sheriff in town and he is declaring war on you with a heavy Dutch accent and a clunky lyric sheet. I mean, how much sillier does it get than “Spend the Night With You”? “I'm looking for a girl and I would say to her, would you like to play with me? We're going to drink a bit and if you want to, you can spend the night with me. I want to have it, I think I'll do it now. But after all my thoughts, I think I'd better spend the night with you. Ain't got no money, but after all, it's the best thing I can do. I want to have it, I think I'll do it now.” Words that just tumble off the page with all the grace of a pile of bricks. Didn’t he ever learn not to pepper his writing with filler like “I think?” And those lyrics were from the best tracks on the album. Thankfully the music is brisk, chugging and taut, with an economical approach to fills and guitar solos that keeps the listener’s focus where it needs to be. Maybe it’s not particularly distinct from their NWOBHM contemporaries, but the recording captures the energy well such that it’s hard not to move along with it. Apparently this is Picture’s second album, and they churned out five more before hanging it up in the late 80s. I would assume it is worth a listen for fans of the genre, and won’t be any more repellant to non-fans than other metal of the era. Bonus highlight: If you have a sense of humor about metal (and as a non-fan, I confess I do), the call and response vibrato fest at the 3:00 mark of “Nighttiger” is worth a chuckle.

The 1981 Listening - Orbits - Q: What... Ans: Nothing

 Reviewed by Stephen Romone Lewis

Released: 1981 Orbits Q: What... Ans: Nothing Genre: New Wave/Synth Pop Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Highlights: Rear View Mirror Q: What’s it sound like? Ans: Lots of Devo-esque “Pssoo-PSSoo” laser sounds mixed with that nasal guitar sound The Cars use. The interplay between the band members is fantastic: the bass, guitar and synth lines weave together, instead of rock’s typical strummed chords. They do NOT sound even a little bit disco. Q: How did the band form? Ans: The keyboard player and drummer from the disco band Tavares were kicking around Boston and started writing poppy rock tunes. Q: Did they steal the idea for the title from Devo’s 1978 disc (Q: Are We Not Men A: We Are Devo) Ans: probably, maybe it’s an homage. Q: Is it worth our time to listen to it? Ans: There is great musicianship throughout, but the lyrics can be childish and the songs sound derivative. If you really love Devo or The Cars, you might love this. Q: Is there anything we DEFINITELY need to hear? Ans: Yes! Unless you are offended by the phrase “Big tits they make me giggle” you should listen to “Rear View Mirror”. I bought this album when I was 14 because I loved the song “Rear View Mirror”. It got heavy rotation on WBCN, and college radio. When I got software to transfer LPs to MP3s, “Rear View Mirror” was one of the first songs I copied. “Rear View Mirror” has a hit worthy chorus, a hit worthy guitar solo, a hit worthy bridge, a hit worthy coda and hit worthy verses. It also has one brief, hit-killing lyric: “Big tits they make me giggle.” Hip 80’s AOR stations played it, especially at night, but you couldn’t go national with “Big tits they make me giggle.” loudly proclaimed in the middle of your tune. Casey Kasem was not going to issue a long distance dedication featuring “Big tits they make me giggle” clearly enunciated for all of middle America to have a heart attack over. Q: Did any of the other tunes get any airplay? Ans: “7 Digits Away”, “Sensors” and “It's A Surprise” all did some time on college radio playlists. Q: How did you come up with a rating of 3.5? Ans: I took off 1 point because it’s an EP with only 8 tunes and I took off .5 because some of those 8 tunes don’t stand up to repeat listening.

The 1981 Listening Post - Neal Schon & Jan Hammer

 Reviewed by Rob Slater

Released: November 1981 Neal Schon & Jan Hammer Untold Passion Genre: Decent Keytar Music With Homages To A Lot Of Other Bands Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Mediumlights: I'm Talking To You I'm writing this after listening to it twice while working on wiring electrical outlets. So, all the skips are on the third listen. This album is much better as moderately loud background music. It would drive my partner, Elena, nuts! After about 30 seconds, she'd skip ahead and say something about wanking. Wasting Time - What you would expect, lots of wanking. Neil Schon's voice is better than one would expect. Lyrics/rhymes are on the mundane/obvious side. I'm Talking To You - This one’s a little more accessible, with the wanking a little more backgroundy. Some nice keyboards from Jan. The Ride - The opening is inauspicious. Then a little nice guitar. Then more goofy 80s synth. Then a little nice guitar. Finally, after about 3:00 annoying keyboard breaks, there's a nice one that sounds like Rhodes piano. The bass is nice, sounds like Geddy Lee's Rick. I made it 1:35 out of. 4:41 (instrumental) I'm Down - Nice vocals from Neil. Not sure how to define this, but I don't really appreciate it, other than the skill of the players. Some aspects of Alex [wife's and] Lifeson guitar that sounds like a RUSH song that I wouldn't actually like. Arc - The opening to this Jan Hammer instrumental is good; it sounds like Judas Priest, I made it 1:12 out of 3:58. (3rd time) It's Alright - some more Judas Priest-like guitar. The bass player has limited opportunities to show off. Repetitive and boring. 55 seconds. Hooked On Love - 33 seconds in and it gets decent, but I actually skipped forward and then went back a few seconds to nail this timing. More stupid, obvious rhymes. Skipped about halfway through. On The Beach - Nice opening. I could hear this as a live Journey song. Definitely. The keys are understated, and not too 80s. Still became a little repetitious, but at least we don't have any lyrics to make it worse. About halfway through a little annoying Hammer, not Max's Silver one, however, which might not be a bad idea. Just a little tap. All in all, a decent song. Hammers interludes that are annoying happen rarely enough to not ruin the song. Actually listen to it all the way through, all 5 minutes 27 seconds. Untold Passion - I actually like this Hammer instrumental, though clocking in at 7:02 tells me I probably will want to skip ahead to the bonus track. Nice guitar solo about halfway through. I believe there hasn't been much, if any guitar up to this point in the song. It's at least interesting. There's more guitar as it goes on and that's nice. But it's repetitious. It would be a quite nice song at about 4:44. Planet Empathy - It sounds like Styx, one of Dennis DeYoung's less interesting songs. Putting this on as a bonus track instead of on the original album was probably a good idea. Never mind, if they shortened the beginning, I would definitely keep it on the album. Some nice flamenco sounding guitar, though I think it's electric. And then some rather pleasant wanking. Overall, a decent album to listen to while you’re making pizza, building a house, or working on a story set in the '80s. It’s kinda like a Steven King novel that would be so much better if someone did some editing.

The 1981 Listening Post - Mike Batt - Six Days in berlin

 Reviewed by Paul J Zickler

Released: September 1981 Mike Batt Six Days In Berlin Genre: Imaginary Soundtrack Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Highlights: Part One Those of you who follow my work here (you both know who you are) will already be aware that Mike Batt was the driving force behind The Wombles, a British children’s show of some renown. I previously reviewed Mike’s 1980 release, Waves, which included some mildly interesting, vaguely soundtrackish tunes, as well as more basic post-Beatles pop songs. This is something else altogether. Six Days in Berlin has six tracks, which are titled Part One through Part Six. Part One opens with about 3 1/2 minutes of grand, sweeping instrumental bombast, which very suddenly becomes an ELO-like pop song, complete with vocoder and abrupt tempo shifts, punctuated by dramatic string section washes, polyrhythmic percussion, elaborate 15 second guitar interludes, and a story that begins, “She had built her hacienda / Far above the sweeping plain / Where she weathered the agenda / with the sweet diminuendo / of the rain,” and ends, “The milkman used to say / Tra la la la la / Bring out your dead.” This is one of those nine minute songs you’d swear was about 4:25. It rewards close listening (Is that really an accordion solo? Yes, yes it is), but even if you just put it on in the background, it never lets up. Part Two opens with the sound of walking feet and two voices speaking far off in the distance. The Berlin Opera Orchestra steps forward, presenting a clear piece of program music. Not sure what the program is, but that’s OK. Just before the 4 minute mark, the orchestra becomes the rock combo once again, and Part Three begins. Harmonized guitars dictate a melody, which is then echoed by a string section, which gives way to churning guitar bass and drums, quickly interrupted by strings, then back to rock, etc. There are occasional pauses for spoken lines, sound effects, race cars panning left to right, delicate flute solos, synth washes, Van Halen style guitar arpeggios, vocoder glissandos, drum whacks, and classical horn section blasts. All of this happens in less than six minutes. Sort of like Pink Floyd with a relentless beat but without a discernible message. I won’t bother with a blow-by-blow review of the second half. Suffice to say, there’s a lot going on here, and all of it is skillfully created and put together. At 11:28, Part Six feels like a symphony composed for orchestra and rock band, in that order. It’s the least interesting part of the album to me, but it’s still an intriguing effort. I would stop short of saying this record qualifies as a Listening Post Discovery, mostly because I wouldn’t really call it a Pop/Rock album, anymore than I would the soundtrack to Phantom of the Opera. Oh, by the way, Mike Batt co-wrote the title song from Phantom, which makes him either a very impressive fellow or one of history’s great villains (I lean toward the latter, but that’s just my opinion). It’s hard to believe this wasn’t created specifically as a soundtrack for something, but as far as I can tell, it was only the movie in Mike Batt’s mind. He wrote and arranged all the parts and even conducted the Staatskapelle Berlin. Whatever the story is, it’s mostly a fun ride. If you enjoy soundtracks and don’t mind making the movie up yourself, you might get a kick out of Six Days in Berlin.

The 1981 Listening Post - Mi-Sex - Shanghaied

 Reviewed by Paul J Zickler

Released: October 1981 Mi-Sex Shanghaied Genre: New Wave Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Highlights: Mystery Missing Person Caught In The Act Falling In And Out Shanghaied, the third album by New Zealanders Mi-Sex, came out on the CBS label and sold poorly. It was followed by a fourth and final album that sold even worse, and that was it. The band was made up of former prog musicians who switched to a more synth-based sound after hearing Ultravox’s debut album. I don’t hear much prog, if any, but it’s not hard to detect a superior level of musicianship compared to many of the Johnny-come-lately new wave bands of the day. The production also stands out: Wikipedia says the album was produced by the band themselves, so that’s impressive, I guess. I’m not completely sure how this ended up in the cutout bin. On the best songs (Mystery, Missing Person, Caught in the Act) the playing and singing are consistently first rate, and the songwriting holds up well: chord progressions change multiple times rather than there being one riff that lasts 4 minutes. Inventive synth melodies bubble up and drop out, elegant guitar solos sweep through, strong vocals keep their cool until the passion rises, and a bubbly nonstop beat moves under all of it. Maybe the lyrics verge on insipid (“And did you know / There’s no civilians in China / In China” “She had tears in her wine / Oh, she coulda been mine”), but these guys are more interested in being Midge Ure than Elvis Costello, so clever lyrics aren’t so important. There’s a bit of Duran Duran macho posturing, which may be off putting to some, but it obviously doesn’t compare to the rampant misogyny of metal. It’s geek music played by bros, I guess. It’s easy to imagine putting this album on at a party and letting it play almost all the way through. You get 8 tracks in a row that are uniformly listenable, all with a similar feel. The first departure from the nonstop party beat is the title tune, Shanghaied. It brings the piano, guitar and vocals up, and tells the “sad” tale of a man who’s been “framed” by a woman. Lyrically, it’s hopelessly dated, but the video is kind of cute. The tenth track also departs from the party formula, but much more successfully. Falling In and Out sounds like a college radio new wave hit, and maybe it was – it has 343,000 plays on Spotify. The video makes the band look a little creepy, but they are called “My Sex,” so what are ya gonna do? The last song is a bit more annoying than the party tracks, but it’s got some clever whistling and ends quickly, so that’s fine, I guess. A very competent outing from a competent band that probably had no idea they were on the road to oblivion. According to Whammo (aka “The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock”), this was “arguably the band’s best album,” but by 1981, “the likes of Split Enz, INXS and Men At Work had grabbed the public’s attention, and Mi-Sex barely got a look in.” So there you have it, I guess.

The 1981 Listening Post - Killer (BE) - Ready for Hell

 Reviewed by Jim Coursey

Released: 1981 Killer (BE) Ready for Hell Genre: Heavy Metal Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Highlights: Ready For Hell I Know Summer, 1981. With the New Wave of Belgian Heavy Metal on the ascendancy, Shorty, Spooky and Fat Leo were sweating through the seventeenth take of “Crazy Circus” in Affligem’s Dig-It studio. The Belgian trio were aware that members of Switzerland’s Kaktus had reformed as Killer and were due to release their debut album by year’s end. There had been an escalating war of words between the two acts of the same name, peaking when partisans of the Belgian band jumped their Swiss rivals outside of a Lucerne metal bar, leaving the Swiss band’s guitarist with a fractured rib. The stakes couldn’t be higher, the album had to be a hit. Their current track wasn’t coming together – maybe it wasn’t their best number anyway – and would ultimately be left on the cutting room floor. They would just have to hope that the songs they already had in the can would be enough. Ok, that story is made up; only the names have been preserved to implicate the innocent. I’m not a metal guy, and the Wikipedia bio is pretty drab. But there were two heavy metal bands called Killer, one in Belgium and one in Switzerland, who released their debut albums in 1981. So tell me… how else would it have gone down? I was ‘ready for hell’ when I started listening, but was relieved to hear the Mötörhead-esque title track. I don’t expect these guys were doing anything especially unique, but they pulled it off pretty well. The best here is the chugging, galloping, speedy music just over the metal border from punk, boasting notes of Mötörhead (especially when the vocals are gruffer) and Priest. There’s plenty of energy throughout, and the first five tracks would probably make for a fine listen for fans of the genre. (Much of Side 2 was unmemorable.) As for themes, I have a hard time making a lot of the lyrics out, between the gravelly delivery and unrefined accent. The album cover depicts the typical “sexy women are turned on by being stabbed in the neck” kind of fare, while the track “Killer” exposes that vocalist Shorty’s “baby” is the real killer. Tasteless, but then there’s always someone pushing it further. Spies for the Swiss rivals got a glimpse of the Belgians’ promo cover, and knew they needed to react. In a bid to one-up the Belgians, Switzerland’s Killer was convinced to change their album title from “Get Up, Get Down” to “Ladykiller,” and replace their cover with an “after” version of the Belgian’s art. The Belgians had shied away from showing an actual killing, so the Swiss took it to the “next level,” with the model lying dead on a bed, blood streaming from her open mouth. When both albums finally saw the light of day, the Belgians were initially furious and figured they’d lost the round. But while record stores showed the good sense of censoring the Swiss album cover, the Belgians’ album was plastered across shop windows, making them the talk of the town from Brussels to Bern. Ok, that last story is made up too, but the description of the covers is real. So tell me… how else would it have gone down? (Swiss Killer notes courtesy of Rod Brogan's review.)

The 1981 Listening Post - Jr. Cadillac - In for Life

 Reviewed by Paul J Zickler

Released: August 1 1981 Jr. Cadillac In For Life Genre: Party Rock & Roll Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Highlights: Somethin' Strange Wailer's House Party Cop Your Spot Leavin' Here For more than 50 years, Jr. Cadillac has been the pre-eminent live party band of the Pacific Northwest. Sure, you could argue Too Slim and the Taildraggers deserve a mention for those who live east of the Cascades, but along the I-5 corridor, on any given Friday and/or Saturday night, during any year between say, 1971 and 2019, you could probably find these guys at a dive bar or dingy music venue, rockin’ the place while satisfied patrons drank Olympia and Rainier beer and partied till the cows came home. They’re still doing it today, maybe not every weekend, but every chance they get. This 1981 release is a party album for party people. Not fashionable party people either: this is music for 9 to 5 blue collar folk who want to forget their worries and rock out in the purest sense of the term. This is the band Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley called whenever they came through town. Their bass player at this point was Mr. Buck Ormsby, a founding member of the Fabulous Wailers. If you don’t know who they were, Tall Cool One might be a good place to start. Here we get a cover of Wailer’s House Party, a slinky, sizzling instrumental. The songs are a mix of covers, party anthems, and attempts at actual songwriting. But when you wear your influences on your sleeve, even the originals can be damned enjoyable. Cop Your Spot digs into that famous Bo Diddley beat and does not let up. Somethin’ Strange locks into a mid tempo rockabilly groove, complete with Crickets-style background vocals. Talk Jock Walks steals shamelessly from Chuck Berry, and why not? The very next tune is an extended, sax drenched cover of Chuck’s No Money Down. The closing number, Motown classic Leaving Here, very nearly captures the live vibe that has gotten JC through half a century. Don’t set your expectations high - the guy next to you with the rodeo belt buckle and flannel shirt sure as hell doesn’t have high expectations, so why should you? Just drink your beer and have a good time. That’s what Jr. Cadillac wants. That’s why we’re all here.

The 1981 Listening Post - Joe Ryder - Joe Ryder

 Reviewed by Jim Coursey

Released: 1981 Joy Ryder Joy Ryder Genre: New Wave / No Wave Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Highlights: We Do The Bop Suitcase New Place Wearing New Clothes If you only listen to the first track or two of Joy Ryder’s debut album, you’ll likely walk away with a certain impression of the music. It’s punky, sassy pop rock with a modern new wave sound, topped by strong vocals adorned with the sneers, squeals and hiccups that read “cute, cool, and a little bit naughty.” Put “We Do The Bop” on a mix tape next to “I Know What Boys Like”, “Girls Just Want To Have Fun”, “Hey Mickey”, “Kids in America” and we’re done. Maybe Ryder’s tracks aren’t quite as catchy as the others, but they nail the vibe. But the album quickly flies off the rails, in the best possible way, going spiky, nervy, dissonant, even downright angry. On the cover we have Ryder applying makeup on the street, awash in oversaturated neon colors, and while the album as a whole keeps to bright and striking hues, her teeth come out as it goes on. “Suitcase” starts to take the “bop bop shoo bop” vibe into a more discordant direction, and by track 4’s Devo-ish “New Place”, what seemed like a touch of pop-friendly zaniness at the album’s opening turns full bore dementia. “You Belong”, “Shut Up and Kiss Me” and “Oh, Yeah” are more No Wave than radio-friendly new wave, intermingling downtown jazz and anarchic punk. Only “Wearing New Clothes” returns Ryder to the wannabe pop starlet schtick of the opening, which intentionally or not lays bare the transactional nature of her persona and the male-gaze-dominated entertainment industry that demands it: I’m wearing new clothes I got a new dress I gotta look good I can’t look a mess I want to look pretty You said ought to I want to look good I want to impress you Yes I want to impress you Impress you, impress you, impress you, So I’m wearing new clothes The best bio I’ve found of Joy Ryder is a 2015 obituary [1], which places her in New York City’s counterculture from the late 60s until 1980 when she left for Berlin and presumably recorded this album. (She had enough visibility there [2] that I found at least one German language obituary too.) While her eponymous release isn’t an unmitigated success – it lacks the couple killer tracks to push it over the edge – it does a good job walking the fine line between mainstream appeal and boundary-pushing. ********** 1. https://evgrieve.com/2015/02/rip-joy-ryder.html 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=razXnYpZFYk

The 1981 Listening Post - Heads In The Sky - Heads In The Sky

 Reviewed by Sheffield Chastain

Released: 1981 Heads In The Sky Heads In The Sky Genre: Flog (Floyd Prog) Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Highlights: Survive Three Isle My Land Full disclosure - I am just not that into Prog Rock. Though (as with Metal) there is some Prog I do like. Genesis comes to mind. I appreciate the excellence of Yes. And, of course, Floyd. But there are a marillion other Prog bands out there that I just can’t take. All that said, this journey into proggy progland isn’t half bad. It’s not half good, either. So. Where Heads In The Sky succeeds, with me, is when they cleave to the Floyd terrain. I mean, listen to Survive or Three Isle My Land (the best track, imho) and tell me that’s not Pink Floyd. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, they say, and I kinda dig it. But then you get the Atomic Energy Sweet (in 3 parts) and my eyes can’t roll back into my head far enough. Luckily, that didn't happen as much as it usually does when I listen to Prog. And I really dug the album cover. Alien space heads in the sky! I mean, that is some weird, weird shit. So, as far as Prog Rock albums go, I didn't hate it - which is saying A LOT. I wonder what real Prog aficionados will make of this?

The 1981 Listening Post - Flue - One and a Half

 Reviewed by Paul J Zickler

Released: 1981 Flue One And A Half Genre: Darkwave Post Punk Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Highlights: Fancy Free Feminine One And A Half (Improvisation) One of the discoveries I’ve made as I’ve aged is that I actually enjoy dancing. I don’t think I’m particularly good at it, but I’m comfortable doing it, even in grocery stores or at class reunions. If music makes me feel like moving, I’m going to move. Unfortunately, very little of the music I’ve reviewed for this project falls into that category. In the post-disco, pre-EDM early ‘80’s, not much rock or pop qualified as particularly danceable, our generation’s Homecoming head banging to You Shook Me All Night Long notwithstanding. Fancy Free, the first song on One and a Half, Flue’s 1981 Post Punk album, had me on my feet and swaying. It may not have been written to get kids onto the dance floor, but the rhythms are infectious and pervasive, creating a delicious contrast with the dark vocals, sound effects, and overall themes of the album. Imagine if Ian Curtis had survived but Joy Division had morphed into New Order anyway, taking the darkness to the clubs and adding The Edge on guitar. Or maybe if The Church had a drummer who could play it funky. There’s a clear Bauhaus influence vocally, but it’s a much looser sound than that, at least until for most of the record. We’re not talking world music polyrhythms here – Flue weren’t Talking Heads. Think Euro-pop that’s relentlessly bleak instead of bubbly. It’s a very specific niche these Dutch wavers were trying to fill. I get the feeling that they succeeded only in retrospect. YouTube commenters mention the Cure, Numan’s Tubeway Army, the Chameleons, Fad Gadget, and more. I couldn’t find any info on what happened to Flue, but they didn’t seem to hit it big anywhere. So it goes. Side two drifts out of booty shaking mode and into more straightforward Darkwave, losing some of the momentum but holding onto the inventive playing and doom-laden singing. Feminine throws the full package at you: doubled octave vocals with attitude, reverb from floor to ceiling, scritch-scratchy guitars, wide open synths. It’s a tightly wound highlight, coming in just under 3 minutes. At the other end of the spectrum, the final track, listed as One And a Half (Improvisation), sounds like an in-studio jam, but a pretty impressive one. The band manages to vary tempo, dynamics, guitar, synth, and vocal effects enough to remain interesting for just over 10 minutes. It’s a suitable wrap up to a great effort by a band that had potential, even if not many outside the Netherlands noticed at the time.

The 1981 Listening Post - Faithful Breath - Rock Lions [1]

 Reviewed by Tom Mott

Released: 1981 Faithful Breath Rock Lions [1] Genre: Hard Rock Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Highlights: [2] Hurricane Rock City No Time This starts really strong --- they're ready to rock! This is straight up hard rock, or hard bluesy rock, sorta pointing the way towards Guns'n'Roses but without that extra sprinkling of fairy dust and personalities that pushed Guns'n'Roses over the top. This isn't metal. It's definitely very good hard rock. Not great hard rock, but good. They don't "move the needle forward" ... but that's not what's asked of genre bands is it? I mean, I love garage bands, and 99% of them stay in their lane and just crank out the music they love. Speaking of genres and staying in your lane, I think it's of note that alongside the various styles of synth-pop, post-punk, new wave, and melodic rock that were percolating at the time, both NWOBHM and hip-hop were bubbling up in 1981. A chunk of rockers were moving into metal, and a chunk of funksters were moving into hip-hop. I think only two full rap albums came out in 1981, and they were both second albums: Kurtis Blow's "Deuce," and Sugarhill Gang's "8th Wonder." But by 1988 or '89, Headbangers Ball and Yo MTV Raps seemed to be pretty much all you could find on MTV, alongside 120 Minutes "college rock." Who knew? Sugarhill Gang's 1981 album has at least three really solid 7+ min funk-rap jams on it, including the bonafide dance classic "Apache" (even though my 2023 sensibilities cringe-laugh at "Tonto! Jump on it!" and the war cries). [3] Back to Faithful Breath, it's not bad, it's good, it's very good in places, it doesn't touch greatness, but it chugs along with shouted choruses and definitely has a solid fan base. No Time starts with a fun Trampled Underfoot riff but veers into more standard rock fare for the rest of the song. ********** 1. The BAND name is Faithful Breath. The ALBUM name is Rock Lions. It seems with 1981 heavy metal/hard rock bands, it's hard to know which is the band name and which is the album name. It makes me wish for the hat tricks of simpler times: Black Sabbath's "Black Sabbath" on "Black Sabbath," and Bad Company³ (band, album, song). 2. My highlights are graded on a curve: the best songs on THIS album. 3. Those Apache bongos! Sampled from the 1973's Incredible Bongo Band album, which was a studio band put together for The Thing with Two Heads and featured various session players including Jim Gordon from Derek and the Dominoes. The Incredible Bongo Band's first single was a cover of Bongo Rock, co-written by legendary L.A. disc jockey Art Laboe. What a rabbit hole to go down!

The 1981 Listening Post - Edgar Winter - Standing On a Rock

 Reviewed by Geo Rule

Released: September 1981 Edgar Winter Standing On Rock Genre: Hook-A-Licious Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Highlights: Rock And Roll Revival Everyday Man My wife and I were supposed to see Edgar Winter live for the first time last fall, with Ringo and his All-Starr Band. Damn you, Covid (not original, but heartfelt). 1973 was the year of Edgar Winter. “Frankenstein” (a rare instrumental-only #1). “Free Ride”. Good stuff. Now it’s 1981, and the “Edgar Winter Group” is no more. This is a solo effort. It’s pleasant, but not outstanding. The rocks rock. The ballads ballad, perhaps a little better than you’d expect from Winter. It’s all very good, but not very great. The thing about Winter is, he seems incapable of not creating a “hook” that’s going to get you seat dancing. Or at least a little shoulder shimmy. That is worth the price of admission. "Standing on Rock" is only eight songs, which is pretty light for the era. If you haven’t heard this album before (I hadn’t), and you’re reading this post on TLP, I think you won’t hate it.

The 1981 Listening Post - Crow - On the Run

 Reviewed by Rod Brogan

Released: 1981 Crow On The Run Genre: Blues Rock Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Highlights: User Magic Boy Gone, Gone, Gone Many times, when you listen to a rock act from the '60s or '70s, you just know that these guys played a four hour long covers set several days a week for years before entering the studio. Those guys could play. The bass and drummer are in the pocket, the guitars swing, and the vocals are self assured and full of personality. A Minnesota Rock/Country Hall of Fame boogie band with gloriously fuzzy tube amp tones, Crow's earlier 1960s incarnation had a Top 20 hit with Evil Woman, which Black Sabbath and Ike and Tina Turner covered. This is the short lived 1981/82 version of the band, minus keyboards/organ and with only founding singer David Wagner returning. On The Run is music to sweat and drink to in a cramped smokey bar. Magic Boy is their radio-friendly stomper, kicking off Side 2 with a guitar riff and chorus that sound surgically lifted from a hundred 1970s classic rock singles. Someone sounds like a throwback 1960s R&B track with Motown horns. User is the stand out, a slow and steady confessional about a selfish lover, with blue note riffs and forceful drum fills. Gone, Gone, Gone is a bluesy 9 minute slide guitar wonder which allows Wagner to show off his soulful side, and John Richardson and Jeff Christenson to trade solos before a call and response chorus fade out. If these nice Midwestern boys perhaps had a little more swagger in the lyrics, Crow would be better known today.