The 1980 Listening Post - Laurie and the Sighs - Laurie And The Sighs

 Reviewed by Rod Brogan

Released: May 1980 Laurie And The Sighs Laurie And The Sighs Genre: Rock-ish Rating: 1.5 out of 5 Highlights: Never Go Back Can the woman who replaced Betty Buckley in Cats sing a Pretenders album? SHOULD the woman who replaced Betty Buckley sing a Pretenders album? Broadway vet, and now Broadway legend, (the Laurie Beechman Theater at the West Bank Cafe is named in her memory) Beechman signed with Atlantic in 1980, and released this rock LP. But is it rock? Beechman singing at full throttle throughout makes it sound more like a cabaret performance with an electric guitarist accompaniment. A Chrissie Hynde barroom singer approach would be more appropriate for this material. Beechman was the real deal vocally, and she shows her chops here. The problem is, she may show them off too much. Barishnikov, when discussing choreography, used to say "Don't open all your Christmas presents at once. " Meaning, save some good stuff for last. Here, Beechman is Broadway belting from the first verse. Love Hostage is the worst offender. It gives her, and the songs, nowhere to go dynamically, and makes the album sound like karaoke. Party Lights, a cover of the 1962 Claudine Clark hit, has no backing vocals, or even double tracked vocals, it's just Beechman alone throughout. Would a group chorus have killed them?! The songs themselves are nothing special, but are played with an endearing 1980 pop energy. The sound, most crucially the drums, is thin and tinny, so there's no rock punch. At times, the whole thing sounds like a glorified demo. Beechman was in the original Annie, and A Star To Be was written specifically for her voice when the producers heard what she could do. And a star to be she was, performing in the original Broadway cast of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and playing Fantine in Les Mis on Broadway. But she was not a star to be thanks to Atlantic Records. The album was a failure, and Laurie and the Sighs were no more. I'm going to lay this one at the feet of first time producer Roger Probert, who should have stepped into the vocal booth and told Laurie to sing it to Row B, not to Row Z.