The 1981 Listening Post - Quarterflash - Quarterflash

 Quarterflash -  Quarterflash

#573

October 10 1981

By Tami Fitzkoff

Quarterflash

Quarterflash

Allen’s Rating: 3 out of 5

Tami’s Rating: 0.25 out of 5

Genre: Flash in the pan

Highlight:

Harden My Heart

“Harden My Heart.” One song. A good cheesy 80’s song. It gave good sax. The female lead singer played that saxophone. Impressive. But that’s it. The rest of the album requires a barf bag. With a song on the album called “Cruisin’ With The Deuce” need I even say more? I read that Quarterflash was listed as one of the artists whose  material was lost in the Universal fire of 2008. This is a blessing to our ears. I guess you could say my heart is hardened. Ba dum bum.

https://open.spotify.com/album/4kW6CPrK2OPc0OrEcwOFQN?si=mTcNmmmLTJKVhibUQkpnbA

The 1981 Listening Post - Lindsay Buckingham - Law and Order

Lindsay Buckingham - Law and Order 

#562

By Tami Fitzkoff

October 3 1981

Lindsay Buckingham

Law and Order

Genre: Quirky and Cool

Allen’s Rating: 3 out of 5

Tami’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Highlights:

Trouble

A Satisfied Mind

September Song

I’ll Tell You Now

Love From Here, Love From There

Lindsay’s first solo album is great. It may not be for everyone but I dig it. Lindsay at times sounds like Freddie Mercury meets rockabilly with a touch of Dr. Demento and an airy mix of music. It’s whimsical, fun, breezy and cool. It seems to me like Lindsay really enjoyed himself making this record. And I guess it just rubbed off on me. The music just sounds good. I don’t know why he named it “Law and Order,” it’s more like Wild, Wacky and Wonderful but I guess that would be a lame title.

The one song that charted on this album, “Trouble,” (and the only song I knew going into this review) is actually one of my favorite 80’s songs. The chorus has been lodged in my head since I was a kid. The lyrics act as a voiceover whenever I’ve been in uncomfortable situations… “I think I’m in trouble (truh-wah-ble).” It’s a cool smooth song, which oddly starts out with him comically singing “two, a-three, a-four, two, a-three, a-four.” I was surprised that he did three covers on this album. They are rock and roll/country ballads about love and loss “It Was I,” “September Song,” and “A Satisfied Mind.” I had never heard any of them before and Lindsay gives a country Wall Of Sound vibe to each of them and I liked them all. Even the bizarre songs like “Bwana” and “That’s How We Do It In LA” that I find hard to describe, which some people (like my wife) found super annoying, I found to be amusing. And then there were his other  originals, “Mary Lee Jones,”I’ll Tell You Now,” and “Love From Here, Love From There” where I just felt like I could be hanging by a pool enjoying the Buckingham breeze. It’s only 36 minutes and worth a listen.

https://open.spotify.com/album/38UhlwlFmxKBRVCUdaY21m?si=UL1U3675QvyvW6eQ7ngrrg

The 1981 Listening Post - Peter Cetera - Peter Cetera

 Peter Cetera - Peter Cetera

#491

By Tami Fitzkoff

September 23 1981

Peter Cetera

Peter Cetera

Genre: Que Cetera Cetera

Allen’s Rating: 2 out of 5

Tami’s Rating: 1.5 out of 5

The whole time I was listening to Peter Cetera’s first solo album I kept thinking of Tom Petty’s song “Into The Great Wide Open” and the lyrics, “their A&R man said, ‘I don’t hear a single.’” There is no indication on this album that Cetera would go on to have a successful solo career. This is exactly the kind of album that would make one say, “what the hell was he thinking leaving Chicago?” It’s definitely more rock-oriented than what we’d come to know of him in his adult contemporary style later years. But it’s not good rock. It’s just a completely forgettable record. Not one song stands out as a highlight. The only positive thing I could say is that the second half of the album is better than the first. “I am a reviewer who will fight for your (listening) honor.” And I urge you to skip this one.

https://open.spotify.com/album/0TqVm0d4o198KAxN8MUKKS?si=klFG-g9iRQ-xZbuMpr5bnQ

The 1981 Listening Post - Frank Zappa - You Are What You Is

 Frank Zappa - You Are What You Is

#458

September 23 1981

By Tami Fitzkoff

Frank Zappa

You Is What You Is

Genre: Musical Chinese Water Torture

Allen’s Rating: 4 out of 5

Tami’ Rating: 1 out of 5

Highlights: 

Doreen  

The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing (Note: I only chose this because I like the lyrics)

Remember the kid who killed himself and they blamed it on Ozzy Osborne’s music? This album makes me wanna pour gasoline on myself and light a match. OMG. Insanity. It’s the longest and worst Dr. Demento show ever. Take Weird Al, The Village People, Santana, Steve Vai *, high-pitched noises, 80’s keyboards, Muppet-like voices, crazy guitar solos, repetitive lyrics and put it in a blender and you get “You Is What You Is.” Pure EAR PAIN! Musical nonsense.   

Look, I can appreciate that the musicians on this record are talented. They move from jazz, reggae, heavy metal and classical all within one song. The band is tight. The guitar shredding is out of control. But the lyrics and the horrible voices and all the noise? Oy to the vey. This is not my bag. I’d rather put a bag over my head than listen to it again.  

* FYI I wrote this review and then looked up the album on Wikipedia and Steve Vai actually plays on this album. So I just high-fived myself!

https://open.spotify.com/album/2pY7S6zvkALbtQU7qSwc2d?si=cNLd_dizT5m8nSCuJr0Xqg

The 1981 Listening Post - Juice Newton - Juice

 Juice Newton - Juice

#89

By Tami Fitzkoff

February1981

Juice Newton

Juice

Genre:  Great Dentist Office Music

Allen’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Tami’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Angel of The Morning

Queen Of Hearts

Headed For A Heartache

Texas Heartache

The Sweetest Thing

Sure, I’ll have a few cups of Juice. Her vocals are like warm honey and butter cut with a rasp. She’s a little bit country. She’s a little bit pop/rock. She plays both sides of the fence (musically) and it’s no wonder this album was a huge crossover hit. There’s not much not to like on this album. I mean, “Queen of Hearts” is just a great and catchy song.  Then you have two fantastic power ballads and #1 hits that anchor the entire album, “Angel of the Morning” (which I’ve learned is actually a cover of Merrilee Rush song from 1968) and “The Sweetest Thing (I’ve Ever Known).”  And the in between is very satisfying.

Juice only co-wrote one song on the album,“River Of Love.” It’s an all acoustic song with some harmonies and it’s actually pretty good. And she sells every other song on the record as if they were her own. Her cover of the Bernie Taupin/Elton John song, “Country Comfort” is really nice. Her unnecessary cover of “All I Have To Do Is Dream” is palatable. “Headin’ For a Heartache” and “Texas Heartache” are both good songs. There’s just something sweet and likable about Juice. For what it’s worth, it’s just a really good country pop album.  

https://open.spotify.com/album/13TOuCZy3QU2Tt1llKPUqc?si=gR_4ci2iR8SHZ1CkFonokQ

The 1981 Listening Post - Rick Springfield - Working Class Dog

 Rick Springfield - Working Class Dog

#83

By Tami Fitzkoff

March 1981

Rick Springfield

Working Class Dog

Genre: Rock Springfield 

Allen’s Rating: 5 out of 5

Tami’s Rating: 5 out of 5

Highlights:

Love Is Alright Tonight

Jessie’s Girl

Carry Me Away

I’ve Done Everything For You

(Allen’s additional Highlights:

Hole in My Heart

The Light of Love

Everybody’s Girl

Daddy’s Pearl)

Rick Springfield stole my heart the moment I heard the song “Love Is Alright Tonite.” I was only eight years old but I fell hard for the music and for the handsome dude who was singing and playing. Rick had this beautiful vulnerability that I couldn’t put into words at that age. His self-deprecating, insecure and earnest lyrics combined with his gorgeous looks, punchy-rock music and his electric guitar licks… ah… a girl can still swoon 39 years later. 

When Allen so kindly gave me this record to review, I was all ready to just give it 5 stars for nostalgia’s sake. But you know what? After listening to the whole thing about three times, I’m convinced it actually deserves 5 stars. The first six songs would make it 5 stars easily for being perfect 80’s power pop/rock. His lyrics are heartfelt and sincere. Three of the last four songs are kinda forgettable and add some serious cheese to the mix, but as a whole Working Class Dog is an 80’s power pop gem.  

LOVE IS ALRIGHT TONITE

Fantastic song. The quick guitar licks capture your attention immediately, the driving beat and the lyrics are great. Although, admittedly, it’s a bit weird to hear the following words now…  “Don’t worry daddy I’ll have her home a respectable hour. Go to sleep daddy you won’t think about tonight”….”gonna love her daddy she’ll be feeling it tonight.” Slightly creepy! But the song is just kick-ass. 

JESSIE’S GIRL

C’mon. Is there a person alive who doesn’t like this song? A classic. This is one song that when it comes up on my music shuffle I will never skip it. It’s just the quintessential perfect 80’s rock song. And isn’t it interesting the man singing can get anyone to sleep with him?  BUT, of course, he wants the one person he can’t have. I just wanna hug him and say, “Rick, I’m available even though I’m married to a woman.”

HOLE IN MY HEART

A kind of power rock ballad that sounds Cheap Trick-y. I like it.

CARRY ME AWAY

Love love love. Just a great, catchy song. He’s afraid of love. He wants something real.  Carry him away. “You’ve got the power you’ve got the love to take me to heaven or lead me to heartbreak.”

I’VE DONE EVERYTHING FOR YOU

Another gem. When you hear the opening riff of this song, followed by the fast drums it makes you want to put your pedal to the metal. You can’t drive 55 when listening to it because Sammy Hagar penned the lyrics to this ditty. It’s the only song on the whole album that Rick didn’t write, but it feels like he did— which is why it works so well. So many good lyrics in this song and one of my faves, “I’m going out on the town tonight and get as wild as I can be. I’m gonna find out what it’s really like to be loose, high and free.”

THE LIGHT OF LOVE

This sounds like the background music of every 80’s movie. It’s catchy and pumping.

He also hints at his next album’s biggest hit with this lyric, “Baby Are you lonely? Don’t Talk To Strangers.”

EVERYBODY’S GIRL

The reggae/power pop song. Hated it the first time I heard it but it’s grown on me. 

DADDY’S PEARL

The music sounds like The Cars with the drums and the guitar licks and Cheap Trick’s vocals. Its undeniably catchy.

RED HOT AND BLUE LOVE

Rick gets breath-y in his vocals and tries to make a serious blues song. He probably wanted to showcase his guitar skills. It’s not bad, but it’s skippable. 

INSIDE SILVIA

Rick gets even more breath-y in this ambient love song about (ahem) being inside his lover. The music reminds me of the opening of STYX Mr. Roboto with the keyboard and ethereal music. After quite a few listens the song is growing on me. Pun intended?

https://open.spotify.com/album/4KKFWTePKtgb6mOwFDqxYa?si=F1gMYLx9SImXp5L_cHQznA

The 1980 Listening Post - Kate Bush - Never For Ever

 Kate Bush - Never for Ever

#365

by Tami Fitzkoff

September 7 1980

Kate Bush

Never For Ever

Genre: Kate Bush

Allen’s Rating: 4 out of 5

Tami’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Highlights:

Babooshka

All We Ever Look For

Violin

Breathing

Listening to this album, I couldn’t help but think of Homer Simpson’s quote when he was watching Twin Peaks, “Brilliant! Heh heh. I have absolutely no idea what’s going on.”

 Kate Bush is an anomaly. She’s a little bit broadway, jazz, opera, world music, ancient music, punk and pop. Her voice is both operatic and child-like. Her lyrics vacillate from completely bizarre “My pussy queen knows all my secrets,” to beautiful, “All they ever want for you. Are the things they didn't do. All they ever wanted, a little clue. All they ever wanted, the truth. All they ever wanted, a little bit of you. All they ever wanted. But they never did get.”

Every single song on Never For Ever is a completely different genre. As a whole, this is unlike anything I’ve ever heard and for that I really just enjoyed this album. I would actually love to hear the whole thing without lyrics too because the music is so good. I’m an admitted pop music fan. I love good hooks and good lyrics.

 I was only 7 years old when this album came out and it was not played on WCAU Hot Hits 98FM in Philadelphia. Suffice it to say, Kate Bush was WAY off my radar. In fact, if it were not for the 1988 movie “She’s Having A Baby” and her song “This Woman’s Work” playing at a pivotal moment in the film, I would not have known who she was until college. My friend put one of her songs “Cloudbusting” on a cassette mix for me and I loved it. Oddly enough, though, I never thought to examine Kate Bush further as an artist. And even though there’s only one tune on this record that I would describe as “catchy,” her originality makes it hard for me not to like her. I can see where people could possibly find her annoying. I don’t know. All I can say is that I was intrigued and pleasantly surprised by it all. I have listened to the album a few times now to make sure I am not crazy. I keep asking myself, do I really like this? And yes I do.

**BABOOSHKA The song is kinda catchy and has lyrics similar to Rupert Holmes “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)” but with the twisted twist of the wife trying to seduce her husband incognito and him falling for “her character” because she reminded him of his wife before “the tears.”

 DELIUS Bossa Nova meets Opera meets I don’t know. The music itself is nice, but the lyrics and background vocals are just weird.

 **ALL WE EVER LOOK FOR My favorite song for the lyrics. The Chinese-style music (I don’t know the instruments) with the whistles and foot steps sound effects are odd and interesting. 

BLOW AWAY Orchestral, jazzy, this is a song that made me want to listen to the album without any lyrics. 

EGYPT Lyrics: “My pussy queen knows all my secrets”

THE WEDDING LIST What sounds like a quintessential 70’s 80’s pop rock song, without the chorus, about a murder suicide

**VIOLIN A punk song about the violin

AN INFANT KISS A bizarre lullaby

NIGHT SCENTED STOCK A short beautiful acapella chorale piece 

ARMY DREAMERS A peaceful interesting song

**BREATHING Beautiful but heavy song.

https://open.spotify.com/album/4MYtX4Kta7FL4NVUE0FYws?si=QymyGC2PSripmID9ehKk6w

The 1980 Listening Post - Eric Carmen - Tonight You're Mine

Eric Carmen - Tonight You're Mine

#2

Reviewed by Tami Fitzkoff

January 1 1980

Eric Carmen

Tonight You’re Mine

Allen’s Rating: 2 out of 5

Tami’s Rating: 0.5 out of 5

Genre: Music for Incels

By Tami Fitzkoff

First let me say, I tried to look past the cover art for this record which looks like “Me Too” evidence.  Then I listened to the music. Carmen’s lyrics are equivalent to ear waterboarding.  Actual lyrics in his songs, “Mama says baby loves shortenin' bread But baby loves bein' with me instead” or this doozy “Took her out and told her I loved her Then she put my hand in her pants.”  There’s so much more awfulness, but I just cannot go down that road again.  Look, Eric Carmen is a good musician.  That’s the only positive thing I can say about him.  His album is a mishmash of other peoples musical styles, which he plays and “steals” from very well, like Chucky Berry, The Who (particularly their Eminence Front song) and Billy Joel. 

If there’s one tune on the album that’s bearable, I guess it would be “It Hurts Too Much”— which should have been the title of the album.  If I didn’t know it, I would have thought I was listening to Meatloaf singing a song that pays homage to Billy Joel’s “Say Goodbye To Hollywood”, which was Billy Joel’s homage to Spector’s wall of sound.  Am I trying to show-off my musical knowledge?  You bet your ass. Seriously though, the song is slightly catchy, but Carmen literally lifts the beat, the piano AND the saxophone directly from Billy Joel’s song.  I believe this was before sampling.  Honestly, I am an admitted fan of some cheesy music, but this goes down as one of the worst albums ever.  It could be a soundtrack for Incels.

https://open.spotify.com/album/0iz5EuAi5uGviUHzbUOTBp?si=4a-YAe9XRUCW9N4oGh7eYw