Reviewed by Paul J Zickler
Released: 1980 Morty & The Racing Cars Love Blind Genre: Welsh Pop Rock Soul Rating: 2.75 out of 5 Morty and the Racing Cars was a Welsh pop group that had a hit in England in 1977 called They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? The band was originally just called Racing Cars, but Gareth “Morty” Mortimer was the lead singer, and this album was more of a solo venture for him, although it appears most of the band played on it. The songs on this record do not fit neatly into one genre-friendly box, instead bouncing from power pop to reggae to white boy soul to FM rock to AM ballad, and that’s just the first five tracks. Morty also wrote half the songs, which are laden with clichés and familiar musical tropes, but not in a terrible way. He had a rock-friendly, husky, high tenor voice -- reedy enough not to be Freddy Mercury but also heavy enough not to be Jon Anderson. I would totally have tried to be a rock star if I’d been born with Morty’s voice. Pity he didn't quite make it, but I'm sure he had some good times. There are two requisite covers. On the Supreme’s Put Yourself in My Place, Morty sounds a bit like Rod Stewart, albeit with considerably less grit. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go anywhere. On Ann Peebles’ Tear Your Playhouse Down, there’s even less grit and more weird guitar isolated on the far right channel. This was four years before Paul Young hit the top 10 with his version, which smacks the hell out of this version. The album's near-highlight is “You,” which reaches for Queen power balladry via Daryl Hall soul and repetition. I mean, it’s all right, but I wouldn't put it on a playlist The Racing Cars got back together in 2000, released a couple of albums, toured a bit, and then broke up again. Morty died of cancer at 66 in 2015. Rest in Peace, Morty. Thanks Wikipedia. This is an album no one really needs to hear again, which does not mean it’s bad. It just doesn’t offer much to the pantheon of pop perfection that is 1980.
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