The 1981 Listening Post - Original Mirrors - Heart-Twango & Raw-Beat

Original Mirrors - Heart-Twango & Raw-Beat  

#636

1981 Housekeeping

Original Mirors

Heart-Twango & Raw-Beat 

Genre: New Wave

4.25 out of 5

Highlights:

Dancing with the Rebels

When You’re Young

Don’t Cry Baby

Remembering what a revelation and discovery their debut was I have to admit that I was super excited when this appeared on the list. Bummed that it’s only available as a YouTube stream, as so often happens with the more interesting stuff we get to listen to, especially in the hangover that was 1981.

I wonder if Holly Johnson and the rest of Frankie or the Durans point to Original Mirrors as an influence because I swear “Dancing with the Rebels” and “Please Don’t Wear Red” are the nexus point between What Adam and Marco were doing and what they would eventually find success with.

Were Original Mirrors trend setters or just followers of the wave? I suppose an argument could be made for either. Certainly these guys would go on to varied but exciting endeavors and help shape music as we would know it in the 80s. 

Broudie with his production and co-writer Steve Allen would become Senior A&R Director at WEA's Eternal label. 

Missed?: Yeah. I definitely missed out on these guys. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnpxNNy2-P8&list=PLlvn8uktX5LtlStwBoBd54Vk-YLPdXM7v

The 1980 Listening Post - Original Mirrors - Original Mirrors

Original Mirrors - Original Mirrors

#199

1980 Housekeeping LISTENING POST DISCOVERY

Original Mirrors

Original Mirrors

Genre: New Wave

4.5 out of 5

Highlights: 

The Boys The Boys

Flying

Chains of Love

Could This Be Heaven?

Boys Cry

Requisite 80s Cover: “Reflections” by The Supremes. I have no doubt Fun Boy Three and Thompson Twins owned this single. They made great music out of this style. Original Mirrors do not. 

Believe it or not, this sounds a lot like Frankie Goes to Hollywood. 

In fact, it’s a harbinger of the sound that about to pop. Original Mirrors were there before A Flock of Seagulls. 

This is another case of an album that’s actually pretty exciting in it’s own way, has it’s own vision and derails itself with a mediocre cover. I get it. You gotta cut through and “Tainted Love” will prove the model was smart for Soft Cell (who didn’t back it with an original so lost out in millions from B-Side sales) and Bananrama had “Venus”. 

I wish OM didn’t front load the album with it, though. Since it took a while for it to recover. And then, dammit, it really grew on me. 

Btw, this is Ian Broudie’s band. He will go on to produce albums for Echo and the Bunnymen and The Zutons and The Subways. So, there’s a reason this sounds so damn good. We’re gonna drown in this sound in a couple years but, for now, it stands alone among a sea of music that sounds nothing like it. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/original-mirrors/632022225