The 1980 Listening Post - Thin Lizzy - Chinatown

 Thin Lizzy - Chinatown

#471

by Jim Shanman

October 10 1980

Thin Lizzy

Chinatown

Genre: Rock

Allen’s Rating: 4 out of 5

Jim’s Rating 4.5 out of 5

Other than the "Boys are Back in Town", how many of us really know Thin Lizzy? OK, maybe I'm the only one in the dark here. Shows you what happens when you spend too much time on the radio and not enough time exploring genres or digging deeper in the record racks at Moby Disc or Tower. 

This album totally surprised me on many levels: 

1) I had no idea they were Irish 

2) I had no idea that the leader singer, founder and bassist Phil Lynott was black 

3) This was their TENTH album. 

4) Every track opens with a killer riff. The music is solid and lyrics perfect for the time. But here's the best part. There isn't a bad track on the album. Some like "Sweetheart" are plain vanilla, but not bad. 

While others - "We will be Strong", "Didn't I", "Genocide" and my favorite "Sugar Blues" - are solid tracks and should have been hits. I suspect by this time Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Black Sabbath were owning the genre and Springsteen was king. 

Still, this band can kick it, even when they riff on Springsteen w/ "Having a Good Time" or aim for a political statement w/ "Genocide". If nothing else, now you'll know where Molly Hatchett and 38 Special got their inspiration from. Put on some headphone, plug in and enjoy.

https://open.spotify.com/album/1TipM77UGPdOcZSaQyz4cz?si=mgmtEembTPGxYcE9mrd_5g

The 1980 Listening Post - Simple Minds - Empires and Dance

Simple Minds - Empires and Dance

#358

by Jim Shanman

Simple Minds

Empires and Dance 

Genre: No effing clue

Allen’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Jim’s Rating: 2.5 out of 5

10 songs: 2 I could listen to a few times, 3 are over 5 minutes, most are a monotonous dregs. 

The first track, I Travel, took me back to my Capital Records swap meet/New Wave and penny loafers days and was thinking maybe I'm in for a hidden gem treat with a solid groove and vocals. 

The next 2 tracks are forgettable and then This Fear of Gods gives me new hope which the next 6 tracks crushed. Not sure where the band was coming from or aiming at, but you know how when you mix a pallet of colors together you get a brown muck? This is kind of like that but instead of paint it's a mash up up of Spandau Ballet, Adam Ant, Sparks, Devo and Romeo Void, and instead of something magical or mystical or even rhythmic, we get this brown-what-the-hell mess. Jim Kerr sounds as good as usual, but the production is unexceptional and the music is unremarkable, bordering on boring.

https://open.spotify.com/album/2zIkPkN2rO6Ph1nD07f10N?si=QTJQ22A6R5eRbcbf_XcAbw