The 1981 Listening Post - Kevin Coyne - Pointing the Finger

 Kevin Coyne - Pointing the Finger

#312

1981 Housekeeping

Kevin Coyne

Pointing the Finger

Genre: The worst parts of the 60s

3 out of 5

So much of this sounds like jam session leftovers from Joe Cocker or Zeppelin. 

The trouble is the trouble with relics. The problem of legacy. Which in itself is the problem with popular music. It’s not built for longevity. On rare occasion can a band hold on to a loyal cadre of listeners who will help them keep their business engine running (looking at you, Queen). But, really, more often than not, as we have seen, the musical topography changes and shifts and those who don’t have legions of fans or aren’t part of the “new” are left to wander.

That’s sort of what’s happening here with Kevin. 

Thing is…30 years later, some songs from this album would fit perfectly into a setlist by The Builders and the Butchers, especially “Sleeping, Walking”. 

That isn’t to say they are particularly good tunes and , in fact, most of them are rendered pretty ugly by Mr. Coyne. 

I’m just saying that, if you’re in the exact right mood…

Nah. It’s best left in the bins. 

I’ll say this: “Old Lady” sounds JUST like “The Jeep Song” by The Dresden Dolls. But I think that’s a coincidence. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/pointing-finger-politicz-cherry-red-albums-1981-1982/159984269.  (The album is  part of this collection)

The 1980 Listening Post - Kevin Coyne - Bursting Bubbles

 Kevin Coyne - Bursting Bubbles 

1980 Housekeeping LISTENING POST DISCOVERY

Kevin Coyne

Bursting Bubbles

Genre: Rock

4.25 out of 5

Highlights:

Children’s Crusade

Learn to Swim-Learn to Drown

Dark Dance Hall

The Old Fashioned Love Song

When these records showed up at the end, just barely making it in time for the initial posting (without having to go back in time to pick up stragglers) I have to admit, I thought it was Kevin Ayers. 

I hate Kevin Ayers. Well, hate is a strong word. He just has never given me a reason to think, “I can’t wait to get to THAT record!”

But Kevin Coyne is not Kevin Ayers. 

He put out 2 records in 1980 and one of them was a double, so basically, 3. And I’ve never heard of the guy.

He’s obviously got issues. And his choice of therapy is to make gobs of music. This one sounds nothing like Sanity Stomp. It has more in common with Dylan. It’s Dylan meets Syl Barrett. While future channeling Neutral Milk Hotel. 

It’s more experimental than I expected considering the straight aheadedness of Sanity. “Mad Boy No. 2” is as bizarre as anything the more experimental groups of the era were doing, but it’s also accessible and a bit of a bloodletting.
And what can be said about “The Old Fashioned Love Song”? It’s a traditional 1-4-5 mid-tempo rocker that has as much passion as a Little Richard wail coupled with desperation and insanity.

Striking. 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77mVQDVRNnQ&list=PLlvn8uktX5LtIpBpsFILY6M7yv6kfkOvf  (Missing 2 tracks - No Melody and A Little Piece of Heaven)

The 1980 Listening Post - Kevin Coyne - Sanity Stomp

 Kevin Coyne - Sanity Stomp

#486

Kevin Coyne 

Sanity Stomp

Genre: Rock

4 out of 5 

Highlights:

Fat Man

How Strange

We are only privy to the first disc of this double set by Coyne but it’s a pretty good example of what I expect the rest of it would be: A solid collection of songs by a guy who is extremely competent, a pretty good ditty writer and also someone who is going, by his own definition, insane. 

Here’s Coyne:

“I was quite ill when I made that record, as a matter of fact; I was quite mad, basically. That's why it's called Sanity Stomp. I had a nervous breakdown and, ironically, I don't want to say ironically...amazingly...I was able to carry on making records. That's a record I made when I was clinically ninety-five per cent nuts, and the themes are rather odd, but somehow it comes out as sounding all right. I'm amazed.”

He’s not wrong. The songs are, at times, blazing joints backed by members of The Ruts. To me the suggest that, live,  in a pub, on a Saturday night, well, we could do worse than the mayhem of “How Strange”.  And when he sings “Somewhere in my mind I’m feeling fine” and you know he isn’t, it’s all the more desperate and resonant. I have to believe that Warren Zevon was a Kevin Coyne fan.

I’ve read that the second album is much more bizarre and challenging and I can buy that. I’m not hunting it down cuz, to be honest, I’m sort of ready to say goodbye to 1980. But I’m glad Mr. Coyne made a stop in my life. 

It’ll only be here for a short time: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1HXfZOCDEIi3VuEvH3OqpmtQ0LOsppHes?fbclid=IwAR22BwSES_OPAbmMBC9TrImHULmuatnqGJZuqC-ipsSwox69xt-QUcJenrU