Bad Manners - Gosh...It's Bad Manners
#394
By Timmy Daniels
September 1 1981
Bad Manners
Gosh it’s...Bad Manners
Genre: Goofball rock (Ed.)
Allen’s Rating: 3 out of 5
Tim’s Rating: 1 out of 5
This album hit #18 on the charts, just as a placeholder.
With the trumpet player and saxophone, it’s easy to lump this in as a bad version of Blues Brothers, but I dug deeper. And then I listened to the Blues Brothers instead and was happier.
“Walking in the Sunshine” — My first thought is that I’m listening to a theme song from a 1970s TV NYC show that failed. No idea why that pops into my head. Maybe it’s the aged sound, saxophone, & attempt to be ska by a British Band. Man, once I got “this was probably the theme song for a failed pilot” in my head, that wouldn’t leave. It even has that feeling you get when you hear the long “real” version of the tv show theme and realize: Nope, the shorter version is better. All anyone needs of this song can be wrapped up in 60 seconds. It’s not awful, but I’m not gonna sing it in the shower either. Someone called them a third rate UB40 in the initial reviews and I wouldn’t fight them.
“Dansetta" — This sounds like the music that brings you back into a late night show, then stops as the host starts speaking. Again, that’s about all we need of it. 10 seconds. Maybe I just needed to hear it in a warm and fun environment. Again, it’s not awful, but I don’t see why it would be memorable to anyone unless they heard it during a special time in their life.
"Can Can” — I can’t imagine why someone heard: "Galop infernal" by French composer Jacques Offenbach and thought: This needs to be updated... in Ska. My face made that form it often takes when I’m wondering why someone would own a dog in New York. Please pick up your poop: Bad Manners.
"Weeping and Walking" - Besides this being a summary of how I walked in general, last year… let’s see… This has a James Bond-y feel to it. That song you hear and never think: “ll go buy this on vinyl.” But so far it’s the best song on the album. And you know what, it’s growing on me. Hell, I may use this as a perk me up. The next time I myself am weeping & walking. They screwed the pooch on a song-name miss: Weep Walker. Thank you, I’m here all night.
“Casablanca" - This has a bit of an Argentina Tango feel to it at one point. I’m not sure how I feel about it. There’s a couple keyboard rifts that were borrowed and there were some odd changes. Maybe I need to smoke more weed. I’ll leave this one alone. But it’s not getting a replay.
"Don’t Be Angry (Live)" - Don’t laugh at the brutality of this statement, but my first thought was: "Someone went to see them live?”
I probably just hurt someone’s feelings. I didn’t mean to; honesty can get the best of me. Don’t worry, I love songs you hate. Ever heard Alabama 3’s "You Dont Dans to Techo?" Love it. Listen to it and send me a note; we’re even now.
Okay.. now the good news: It’s got a really fun 1950s feel to it, birth of Rock & Roll, back when people still knew R&R was slang for sex. The saxophone really shines in this one and the keyboard: yeah, tickle those ivories. Maybe they were a just good live band. I didn’t hate it.
"Runaway" Feels like what happened to this song. They started with “something," and it ran away. It’s what would happen if a band with a saxophone and keyboard suddenly tried ska for their first time. It’s a little strange. It almost feels like self-mockery in the way that punk can be at times, which isn’t off-putting to me. I just didn’t enjoy it. Which can be off-putting. I prefer to enjoy songs; I’m weird like that.
"Never Will Change" is another song where I’m wondering if the whole “ska” thing was a tongue-in-cheek move. It doesn’t feel like a serious song, this one feels more like something running through one’s mind in a mental institution. Part of it has a Rocky Horror Picture show feel to it. I do imagine this band would have been better served writing a cult musical instead. "The new one" would be right after intermission. "No respect" would be the villain intro song (think: Steve Martin in Little Shop of Horrors). The ending song would be "Buona Sera," as all of the characters who fought the whole time come out and do a little dance number. Villains and Heroes… Dancing together… Mass Hysteria!
Curtain!
The rest of the songs are just your run-of-the-mill 80s Ska, not sure there’s much more to say about it. I feel like this band needed to go through something brutally real, awfully honest, and then write about it. I like lyrics and songs that capture a moment, that dig deep. Maybe that’s also what I like about doing stand up comedy. It’s a lot more like good lyric writing and capturing the moment in my opinion. Whereas this album is more about me wanting to flush my head in a toilet.
Okay, that was a cheap shot. If this is your number one pick, consider the source: I often listen to the Weird Al version of a song and think: “this is better than the original."
https://open.spotify.com/album/7hj9olHsogggH66RRuLxwc?si=-L24nIybQg-y6BQdvvb3bA
