The 1982 Listening Post - The 49 Americans - We Know Nonsense

 Reviewed by Tom Mott / LISTENING POST DISCOVERY

Released: 1982 The 49 Americans We Know Nonsense Genre: Faux-Naïf Avant Garde Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Highlights: Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee Edible Liberty In 1985-86, hot on the heels of Terry Gilliam's Brazil, I was flipping through bins at Rhino Records and came across a mysterious 10" EP entitled "The Melody Four? Si Señor!" The Melody Four only had three members. That was my first clue. Quirky, funny liner notes. Someone playing euphonium. DIY album art. And best of all, a cover of "Brazil." What did I end up with? Amateurish singing, lovely bizarre free-jazz saxophones, and simple "lite latin rhythms" like you'd hear from a home organ entertainment system. I loved it. And in the pre-Internet world, it remained a beguiling mystery. Nobody else knew anything about it until I met an Icelandic artist in the mid-90s who exclaimed "NAY WHOA! How do you know The Melody Four? I thought I was the only one!" That 10" was my secret treasure. Still is. Over the years I would learn that the three principals -- Steve Beresford, Lol Coxhill, and Tony Coe -- all came out of the Canterbury Scene and the London Musicians' Collective. (For reference: imagine Fred Frith or Robert Fripp putting out an album of amateurish-yet-loving latin standards.) I've never heard anything else like it. Ever. Even *other* Melody Four albums don't measure up to "The Melody Four? Si Señor!" --------------------- Until now. The 49 Americans "We Know Nonsense." Amateurish singing. Simple songs with unexpected quirks and layers. Fun "Latin lite" rhythms. There's Steve Beresford with his euphonium. There's Lol Coxhill with his mellifluous, wandering saxophone lines. There's also some toy piano, a chorus of happy singers, Viv Albertine (The Slits), Vivien Goldman ("Launderette"), and a host of other names I don't recognize. It's a DIY supergroup! There's bossa nova, samba, doo wop, surf music, a mish-mosh of genres. I adore it. The lead female vocalist (I believe it's Etta Saunders) has an absolutely beguiling voice. (Track 3 "Edible") A couple attempts at describing the sound: 1. Some seasoned avant garde musicians heard Rip Rig + Panic's first album "God," thought "ehh, far too many notes" and said "hold my beer". 2. More Specials crossed with Young Marble Giants and Marine Girls. 3. A happy backyard family sing-along, except your family happens to include Brian Eno, Ornette Coleman, and the Teletubbies. I'm in love. Not just with the music, but the overall stance/politics: Make art! Have fun! Everyone has something to contribute! I just ordered the album. ------------------- P.S. Andrew "Giblet" Brenner, the main force behind this album, went on to be the story editor of Thomas & Friends (i.e. Thomas the Tank Engine) for 10 years. Lol Coxhill and Steve Beresford have both put out tons of recordings over the past 30 years that are worth dipping your toes in.

The 1982 Listening Post - Yazoo (AKA Yaz) - Upstairs at Eric's

 Reviewed by Tom Mott

Released: August 20 1982 Yazoo (AKA Yaz) Upstairs At Eric's Genre: Now This Is What I Call Synthpop Allen’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Tom’s Rating: 4.7 out of 5 Highlights: Don't Go Bad Connection Midnight Only You Situation Bring Your Love Down (Didn't I) JOHN FREEMAN (THE QUIETUS): In 1982, at my rundown grammar school in a grey suburb of Manchester, musical battle lines had been drawn - you either liked Japan or The Human League. You couldn't like both and had to display an allegiance. Soft Cell were a tad too edgy and The Smiths were still a few months away. Then, in the springtime, a single was released that comfortably straddled the great divide. Every last one of us loved 'Only You' by Yazoo. While the electronics were familiar, the stark ballad offered something very different – soul. ALISON MOYET: Vince called me up and said he had a song, would I like to go and demo it for him? He played me 'Only You'. I had a very quick musical memory then and just sang it into his tape recorder. He called me up a week later saying he'd played it to the record company and they thought we should record it. So we recorded it, and when they heard that they said we should make it into a single so tried to find some b-sides. Vince had written 'Don't Go' but that was too good for a b-side so then we wrote 'Situation' together. VINCE CLARKE: We just came together and it was a bit of a mish-mash really. ALISON MOYET: Everything we did at that time just seemed to spark - it just kind of worked. I don't think Vince ever intended to start a band with me, that wasn't what he was looking for. TOM: I hear a strong connection to the past -- skipping back past Kraftwerk, OMD, Gary Numan, Ultravox, and even Giorgio Moroder -- to the early bubbly 70s synth pop sounds of Wendy Carlos (Switched on Bach) and Perry & Kingsley (Popcorn, Baroque Hoedown). Back to what I call the "bleep blorp" school of electronic music. Listen to Don't Go around 1:16 -- that's straight up Hot Butter doing "Popcorn"! VINCE CLARKE: Part of the charm of that album is a naivety. We'd make one sound and we'd think it was great and just stop there and wouldn't make any more sounds. ALISON MOYET: We had this strange studio relationship where he would bring a song to me or I would bring a song to him and he would do what he did without asking me anything and I would do what I did without asking him anything... there was no conversation. VINCE CLARKE: Other than [Only You], my favourite would be 'Midnight', a song that Alison wrote. She had it already and at the time I thought it was a real challenge to orchestrate and write music for. ONLINE REVIEWER: What reviewers often overlook is the strength of Moyet's compositional contributions which sometimes match Clarke's for sheer skill, and frequently outstrips them in the emotional stakes. ALISON MOYET: if you'd have heard 'Don't Go' when Vince first played it to me it was a very straight melody much in the way of 'Just Can't Get Enough'. Those turns in the melody in the final version were things that I brought to it from my own sense of playing R&B. DAVID JEFFRIES: While Speak and Spell is, by far, the more consistent record, Upstairs at Eric's is wholly more satisfying, and is light years ahead in emotion. TOM: Clarke gets heralded as a genius more frequently, but Moyet's songwriting equals his, and it's the juxtaposition of her voice and her vocal delivery with his synth sounds and uncluttered arrangements that make it work. She's brilliant. As is he. There's only one dud on the album -- his experimental voice collage (Track 4). Given this is the product of two 20 year olds who barely knew each other experimenting in the studio, it's entirely forgivable. A FRIEND: CLASSIC!!! JIM COURSEY: Formative, yes. A FRIEND: It would be nice to get stoned and listen to the whole thing in a comfortable, dark room. ONLINE REVIEWER: Among the best three albums ever. ONLINE REVIEWER: A masterpiece. That two 20 year old kids could write and record this in itself is amazing. 1982 PHILADELPHIA ENQUIRER REVIEW: This group is even more pretentious than most. Yuk. 1 star rating.

The 1982 Listening Post - Bobb Trimble - Harvest of Dreams

 Reviewed by Tom Mott / LISTENING POST DISCOVERY

Released: December 16 1982 Bobb Trimble Harvest of Dreams Genre: Obscure Psychedelic Folk! Allen’s Rating: 4 out of 5 Tom’s Rating: 5 out of 5 Highlights: (everything!) Bobb Trimble ... ? Huh. Never heard of him. PUT ON THE FIRST TRACK. DO IT! PLEASE! "Premonitions - The Fantasy" . . . Are you listening to it yet? PUT IT ON! . . . I am completely bonkers hooked. Strummy folk guitar, Harmonica, a synth whistling, high vocals. Reverb, echo, weirdness, mesmerizing beauty. It sounds like ... > Russel Mael as a folk singer > Demo tracks for the Millennium's "Begin" (1968) > A second lost album by Ted Lucas ("Ted Lucas" 1975) > A deep cut from T. Rex when they were still Tyrannasaurus Rex > A Big Star obscurity, if Chris Bell sang falsetto > An early Salvation Army/Three O'Clock demo > Klaatu, if Klaatu was a little fucked up > Thunderclap Newman on acid Track 2 "If Words Were All I Had" is a tad too medieval for my taste, but still lovely. Donovan sucking on helium. Track 3 "The World I Left Behind" is 1:18 of silence. On AllMusic, it's not silence but 2:58 of tape hiss. I'm giving him a pass here. Track 4 "Armour of the Shroud" starts with a tape recorder click, a recorded voice telling us if we want to make a call, please hang up and try again, followed by a busy signal. Guitars, layered spooky voices buried way in the background, maracas (an immediate +1 for me), and what sounds like a kids' xylophone. Dreamy. If we stop here, this album gets a 5. ------------------------------------- INTERLUDE/ASIDE #1: The MKL (Most Knowledgable Listeners) of who I am not, will know that Bobb Trimble released two albums in limited editions of 300 apiece, and had a backing band called The Kidds which included kids aged 11-14 years old--until their parents questioned why their kids were spending all their time making "weird" music with this adult. This is one of those holy grails of obscure psychedelic folk collectors. INTERLUDE/ASIDE #2: The OKL (Other Knowledgable Listeners) will connect the dots between this and later artists. Neutral Milk Hotel, Joanna Newsom -- accordingly to AllMusic. I don't know enough here. Elucidate! INTERLUDE/ASIDE #3: Thanks to modern streaming algorithms, I was very recently introduced to Ted Lucas's 1975 psychedelic folk album, and I love it. This is in that same "psychedelic folk" space that I didn't really know existed, but of course it does. Rule 34 applied to music. Too Dead-ish for some, but Lucas writes deceptively simple, pretty songs (think: Moondog as a folkie) and does some lovely self-harmonizing. Check it out! ------------------------------------- Track 4: Album still gets a 5. Track 5: Wait, wha-?? This is Track 1 repeated, but mixed slightly differently. The whistling synth is gone. It's a little less dense. Nearly identical though, like when the Stones give you the Glyn Johns alternate mix of a song. The song is good enough I'm happy to hear it again. Album still gets a 5. Track 6: Some kids talking. His backing band? Album still gets a 5. ------------------------------------- INTERLUDE/ASIDE #4: The album is beautiful. And unsettling. Drug music! ------------------------------------- Track 7: Still a strong song, but like too many Madness songs in a row, I'm slipping a twee bit ... until that whacked-out super-fuzzed guitar appears out of nowhere. Whoa! WTF! Brilliant! Track 8: The first outlier: A 2-minute blast of rough garage rock by his young bandmates. Overlaid with backwards-tracked instruments and backwards kids' voices. And star chimes. Shaggs-like live singing and thudding away at drums. ------------------------------------- INTERLUDE/ASIDE #5: Track 8 reminds me of my old band Legion of Rock Stars. We wore sound-blocking earphones and sang/played along to songs without being able to hear ourselves at all. Always out of key, and always in sync! ------------------------------------- Track 9: Back to the lovely, languid, sleep psychedelia. Track 10: The second outlier: a more agressive, angular song. At least for the first minute! And then back to psychedelic found sounds, maracas, echo, reverb, layered voices, and whistles. The Wrap-Up: I did not know this album existed. It's fantastic. It's going into heavy rotation over here. Accessible Psychedelic Sunshine Pop-Folk!

The 1982 Listening Post - Middle Class - Homeland

 Reviewed by Allen Lulu / Tom Mott & Jim Coursey

Released: 1982 Middle Class Homeland Allen's Genre: Post Rock Tom's Genre: Gothy Post-Punk Jim's Genre: Post-Punk Allen's Rating: 4 out of 5 Tom's Rating: 4.2 out of 5 Jim’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Allen's Highlights: A Skeleton At The Feast Listen Tom & Jim's Highlights: The Call Listen Mosque (minus the lyrics) ********** (Ed. Note: Tom & Jim reviewed this album after Allen had already reviewed it. Shit happens. All reviews are included) ********** Allen's Review: Sometimes, when it comes to the “Housekeeping” albums (the one for which we have no dates, so I do them at my leisure … and your annoyance) I push one down the list because, man I’m just not in the mood for … say … post-rock. Or any genre that isn’t hitting me that day. So, when I saw this categorized as “punk” I just wasn’t up for it. Instead I went into the booth and plugged in and played some really shitty distorted mess of a guitar to a bunch of … punk songs. Partially because I’m trying to write a song and I’m at the chorus and my brain doesn’t want to work and also, to get me in the mood to listen to punk. Then, I relaxed, chewed the callouses off my fret fingers and fired up Middle Class. What? You call this punk? This is only punk in the sense that a band from California that listened to everything The Cure recorded and then went into the studio would be punk. Maybe they had spikey hair? In any case, if you like that throbbing bass and high string guitars with a wailing goth vocal then this is for you. Taking the best of that sensibility and merging with the skittish New Wave of Romeo Void and you’ve got quite a cocktail for this sound. I get a little weary of the same lyrical pattern but the adrenaline makes up for it. I’m gonna shave off a little because a few of these tunes could just be one long track. But I’ll get over it. ************ Tom & Jim's Review: NOTE: We reviewed separately, then swapped, thinking we'd write rebuttals or counterpoints afterwards. Turned out we didn't need to. TOM: Most first wave LA punk bands evolved towards roots, cowpunk, funk, or a mixture of those (ref: Minutemen, Meat Puppets). The MIDDLE CLASS first went louder and faster -- inventing hardcore with their 1979 1-min single "Out of Vogue" -- and then took a hard turn into goth. JIM: Orange County’s Middle Class may or may not have invented hardcore (this is apparently up for debate), but “Homeland” finds them following in the footsteps of various post-punk bands here. Their frequent use of bass as a lead instrument is reminiscent of either Joy Division (on the more plodding, pounding numbers) or The Minutemen (on the more spasmodically peppy funk). TOM: Tight fast drumming, muscular bass lines, and jangly tight rhythm guitar somehow manages to be Joy Division-adjacent and Minutemen-adjacent at the same time. JIM: Meanwhile another set of songs sounds more like Gang of Four, albeit a tad gothier due to the slower tempos and droning vocals. The band is good, so tightly would they keep things moving even in the more dirge-like numbers. TOM: On first listen, I thought I had unearthed a lost goth classic. On subsequent listens, the monotony of the vocals took some of the shine off. JIM: The vocals are the weak link, fine enough for a track or two but the dreary monotone turns tedious pretty quick. Opener “The Call” is the clear highlight for me, with enough changes through the song to keep things fresh. Like other tracks on the album, the downcast vibe of “The Call” is lightened a tad through tasteful use of acoustic guitar and synth. TOM: Still, it's a strong album, and if you like Joy Division, Gang of Four, Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Bauhaus, or Electric Peace, give it a listen. Produced by Paul B. Cutler (of 45 Grave, Bpeople, The Dream Syndicate). (After reading each other's reviews) TOM: Jim and I picked the same three highlights! The real discovery for me is their 1979 single "Out of Vogue." JIM: Whoa. Aside from the ratings, almost dead on! What Tom said, though I'll stick with my score of something lower than 4.2.

The 1982 Listening Post - S·P·Y·S - S·P·Y·S

 Reviewed by Tom Mott

Released: 1982 S·P·Y·S S·P·Y·S Genre: Synth Rock Rating: 4.1 out of 5 Highlights: Don't Run My Life She Can't Wait Ice Age Don't Say Goodbye First, The Level appeared out of nowhere as the missing anthemic AOR quasi-power-pop band you never knew you needed. Now, in a plot twist nobody could have predicted, Spys appears as their long lost anthemic AOR Wonder twin. It's great! Clean, crisp rock with big drums, soaring vocals, plenty of in-your-face keyboards, and crunchy guitars. This is more "good Journey" than "bad Journey"--and I know you know what I mean. Delicious, soaring Steve Perry stuff with Stygian "The Best of Times" vocal harmonies. Yes, after a while it begins to sound like every song was generated by the Cold-As-Ice-260X-tronic supermusicomputer. But fun fact: The keyboardist and bassist came from Foreigner. Santana begat Journey. Foreigner begat Spys, and the apple did not fall far from that tree. STRONG RECOMMENDATION for fans of Journey Departure.

The 1982 Listening Post - Arthur Brown - Requiem

 Reviewed by Tom Mott

Released: 1982 Arthur Brown Requiem Genre: Psychedelic Techno-Pop Rating: 4.2 out of 5 Highlights: Requiem The Fire Ant And The Cockroaches Wow. Arthur "I AM THE GOD OF HELL FIRE" Brown is mostly known as a one-hit wonder for "Fire" (1968) but that entire first album "The Crazy World of Arthur Brown" is a psycheledic prog classic. Fourteen years later, Brown has a new sound, deeply seeped in late 70s techno-pop synth-pop. This album is a heady mix of Kraftwerk, Hawkwind, Lothar and the Hand People, Blancmange art rock, and some Laurie Anderson art rock. It's never boring, completely fascinating, and sometimes brilliant. No wonder Pete Townshend liked hanging out with him. Requiem might even be better than this 1968 album. If only the whole album were as strong as "The Fire Ant and the Cockroach."

The 1981 Listening Post - Faithful Breath - Rock Lions [1]

 Reviewed by Tom Mott

Released: 1981 Faithful Breath Rock Lions [1] Genre: Hard Rock Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Highlights: [2] Hurricane Rock City No Time This starts really strong --- they're ready to rock! This is straight up hard rock, or hard bluesy rock, sorta pointing the way towards Guns'n'Roses but without that extra sprinkling of fairy dust and personalities that pushed Guns'n'Roses over the top. This isn't metal. It's definitely very good hard rock. Not great hard rock, but good. They don't "move the needle forward" ... but that's not what's asked of genre bands is it? I mean, I love garage bands, and 99% of them stay in their lane and just crank out the music they love. Speaking of genres and staying in your lane, I think it's of note that alongside the various styles of synth-pop, post-punk, new wave, and melodic rock that were percolating at the time, both NWOBHM and hip-hop were bubbling up in 1981. A chunk of rockers were moving into metal, and a chunk of funksters were moving into hip-hop. I think only two full rap albums came out in 1981, and they were both second albums: Kurtis Blow's "Deuce," and Sugarhill Gang's "8th Wonder." But by 1988 or '89, Headbangers Ball and Yo MTV Raps seemed to be pretty much all you could find on MTV, alongside 120 Minutes "college rock." Who knew? Sugarhill Gang's 1981 album has at least three really solid 7+ min funk-rap jams on it, including the bonafide dance classic "Apache" (even though my 2023 sensibilities cringe-laugh at "Tonto! Jump on it!" and the war cries). [3] Back to Faithful Breath, it's not bad, it's good, it's very good in places, it doesn't touch greatness, but it chugs along with shouted choruses and definitely has a solid fan base. No Time starts with a fun Trampled Underfoot riff but veers into more standard rock fare for the rest of the song. ********** 1. The BAND name is Faithful Breath. The ALBUM name is Rock Lions. It seems with 1981 heavy metal/hard rock bands, it's hard to know which is the band name and which is the album name. It makes me wish for the hat tricks of simpler times: Black Sabbath's "Black Sabbath" on "Black Sabbath," and Bad Company³ (band, album, song). 2. My highlights are graded on a curve: the best songs on THIS album. 3. Those Apache bongos! Sampled from the 1973's Incredible Bongo Band album, which was a studio band put together for The Thing with Two Heads and featured various session players including Jim Gordon from Derek and the Dominoes. The Incredible Bongo Band's first single was a cover of Bongo Rock, co-written by legendary L.A. disc jockey Art Laboe. What a rabbit hole to go down!

The 1981 Listening Post - Qwest - Tampico Gold

 Reviewed by Tom Mott

Released: 1981 Qwest Tampico Gold Genre: Canadian Melodic Rock Rating: 3.6 out of 5 Highlights: Heartbreaker Stick 'Em Up (Alternate Version) (Ed. Note: Bonus Track) Crisp, clear Canadian melodic rock that goes down like a cold can of Molson. On the Foreigner scale, these guys are cold as ice. If a lady put on Time is Running Out and invited me into her waterbed, I would not mind at all. Sadly, it seems they had no idea how to position themselves in 1981. Band name: Better suited to a rap or electro-funk band. Back cover photo: Al Di Meola fedoras and Hawaiian shirts. Publicity photo: striped shirts and pegged pants. Blondie without Debbie Harry? Album name: A secret pot reference? A brand of oranges? Cover art: Glorious late 70s airbrush work. Too bad. They should've gotten a shot. They did get a Dexule Edition of this album, so maybe there's a secret fan base out there.

The 1981 Listening Post - Laid Back - Laid Back

 Reviewed by Tom Mott

Released: 1981 Laid Back Laid Back Genre: Zonnige Elektro-Pop Rating: 3.6 out of 5 Highlights: I Wanna Go Back Take Me Home Walk On (2019 Re-issue Bonus Track) IF YOU WANT TO RIDE, DON'T RIDE THE WHITE HORSE. IF YOU WANT TO RIDE, DON'T RIDE THE WHITE HORSE. WHITE HORSE, DON'T RIDE THE WHITE HORSE. WHITE HORSE, DON'T RIDE THE WHITE HORSE. NO, NO, NO. That cornerstone song of Late 20th Western Civilization is not on this album. In fact, it's an outlier in the Laid Back oeuvre. They had that crazy huge hit and said, hey you know that's cool and all but we're still gonna do our chill Euro-beach thing. Vaguely tropical, unmistakably Euro, easy-going synthpop that conjures up visions of Valérie Kaprisky cavorting on the French Riviera circa 1983. I think Serge would've approved while also admitting with a shrug that it's une bouffée de néant. There's an infectious, glistening sheen here, like an all-night party with a bunch of fun-loving Netherlanders in Biarritz. Not as arch as Trio but just as dumb, Laid Back would hold their own on a double-bill with Yello. Highlights: I Wanna Go Back sounds like Badfinger became a synthpop band. Take Me Home is super fun. The Belle Stars meet Right Said Fred, interpolated by EBN-OZN. Walk On has that smoooooooooth Style Council feel. (Ed. Note: 2019 Re-issu Bonus Track) Still ... IF YOU WANT TO RIDE, RIDE THE WHITE PONY. RIDE, RIDE THE WHITE PONY. WHITE PONY. WHITE PONY. How do you compete with that? They've been going strong for forty years, God bless them.

The 1981 Listening Post - Missing Presumed Dead - Revenge

 Reviewed by Tom Mott

Released: 1981 Missing Presumed Dead Revenge Genre: Post Punk Rating: 3.65 out of 5 Highlights: Always Say No Leave Me My Little Sister's Turning Into Duane Eddie My, my, shepherd's pie! It's that jittery, jazzity, funkity, post-punk sound: Skronk sax, bass way up front, busy jazz drumming, electric guitar played like an amplified washboard. Minutemen, fIREHOSE, The Glaxo Babies, Positive Noise, Rip Rig + Panic, Pigbag, Essential Logic ... Skankin' music for 80s art school kids with asymmetrical hair. If that doesn't speak to you, keep calm and carry on. But if that's your scene, Missing Presumed Dead deliver. They're solid musicians, committed to the music, and aren't afraid to mush about a bit in interesting ways. My Little Sister's Turning into Duane Eddie and Pts. 1-17 both waft into psych/prog territory, suggesting some experimentation with LSD. Leave Me would have filled the post-punk mosh pit. I admit the opening 40 seconds had me hoping for an entirely different album, but there's enough here to maintain interest.

The 1982 Listening Post - Laurie Anderson - Big Science

 Reviewed by Tom Mott

Released: April 19 1982 Laurie Anderson Big Science Genre: Working That Collegiate Performing Arts Center Circuit Allen’s Rating: 5 out of 5 Tom’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Highlights: From The Air O Superman (For Massenet) Let X=X/It Tango The short review: 5 stars just for O Superman. Loses tenths here and there for some weak spots. The long review: My mom was a huge Laurie Anderson fan. Enough of a fan that she had her "Laurie Anderson haircut" throughout the 80s and 90s. I'm not sure she actually listened to Anderson's albums. It was more like she was a fan of the "idea" of Laurie Anderson and the space she occupies: interesting performance artist who tweaks the noses of the 'high-brow' folks. I'm not judging! I feel the same way about John Cage or Fred Frith or the local Vietnamese restaurant. I'm happy they exist even if I don't always go there. O Superman got a lot of play in our house because it was a staple on NIGHT FLIGHT and we religiously watched it every weekend. And man oh man, that song is fantastic. What a freak of a song to make it to #2 in the UK! I love it. The minimalist "pulse." The lyrics that seem like they're making sense, but don't quite. The vocoder. The different movements and motifs that fade in and out. This album is at the nexus of performance art and art pop, which is tricky territory to navigate. When art is only "interesting" it's the kiss of death. We demand the sublime. Happily, Laurie Anderson delivers. Mostly. It's like Goats Head Soup: not a great album but a really good one with surprises and flashes of brilliance. She brings the vocoder and hand claps, dehumanizing and humanizing. And like Kraftwerk, Werner Herzog, and Paul Morrissey, she delivers her art with a dose of humor. From the Air: Hypnotically syncopated with a bunch of saxes grinding on repeated motifs. O Superman: Aah aah aah aah aah aah aah aah aah aah aah aah aah aah aah aah Let X=X & It Tango: Handclaps. Sly lyrics. Trumpets out of nowhere. Simple repeated motifs. Reminiscent of Moondog. A deeper review might analyze her lyrics and themes, position her in the realm of performance artists and minimalists, maybe touch upon the 80s New York art scene, or delve into her experiments with technology. I'll end with this lyric: When love is gone, there's always justice And when justice is gone, there's always force And when force is gone, there's always Mom. Hi Mom

The 1981 Listening Post - Canned Heat - Kings of the Boogie (AKA Dog House Blues)

 Reviewed by Tom Mott

Released: 1981 Canned Heat Kings Of The Boogie (AKA Dog House Blues) Genre: Boogie Blues Rating: 3.1 out of 5 Highlights: Doghouse Blues "Boogie music has a pretty sound, It might even turn your head around ..." Bob Hite and Alan Wilson were blues obsessives. Hite had over 15,000 blues 78s in his collection by 1970. As co-lead singers of Canned Heat, Hite was the 300lb rambunctious "we're gonna have a good time" boogie blues singer. Wilson was the introvert from old, weird America, with the frail falsetto, guitar drone tones, and eerie slide playing. He lived the blues of the Sterno-drinking dispossessed. After Wilson died in 1970, Canned Heat effectively became a boogie band. Ain't nothing wrong with that. It just means they weren't going to break new ground. But they still knew their shit, and this 1981 album has three-fifths of the classic Canned Heat lineup. There's Bob "The Bear" Hite, Adolfo "Fito" de la Parra on drums, and Henry "Sunflower" Vestine (another quasi-weirdo) on guitar. This album is goodtime blues, meant to be played loudly at a Hells Angels house party. A double-bill with Commander Cody at the Palomino would be a tonic. Mostly no surprises, except the one big one: the best song "Doghouse Blues" is by M. Mothersbaugh, G. Casale, and B. Casale. Shortly after this album, Bob "The Bear" Hite snorted a vial of heroin handed to him at a gig and immediately collapsed. Two lines of coke failed to revive him, and he died in the wee small hours. "Boogie music has a pretty sound, It might even turn your head around, It might turn your head around, When I heard it on the radio, You know I fell out on the floor, I fell out on the floor" Livin' the blues. Worse ways to go.

The 1981 Listening Post - Roxslyde - Take One

 Reviewed by Tom Bombadil Mott

Released: 1981 Roxslyde Take One Genre: Gorp (or CSNY&Rush) Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Highlights: (The original album lists Side 1 and Side 11. I feel gratitude that Sides 2-10 do not exist.) It came to pass in the reign of Eärwerm-Sódull, fifth king of Hemórr-Hoid, that the dwarves forged a great flaute upon the barren plains of Edmón-Ton. And so, Turdin, Tepid Manwich, and Merry Dingleberry came together and made progressive sounds filled with lutes, synthesized flautulence, and windsong, placing the orcs into a somnambulic trance.

The 1981 Listening Post - Bill Champlin - Runaway

 Reviewed by Tom Mott

Released: December 1981 Bill Champlin Runaway Genre: Adult Contemporary -- With Horns! Rating: 2.6 out of 5 Highlights: (knowing that two tracks are missing) Along with David Foster, Bill Champlin breathed new life into the band Chicago, so it's no surprise this solo album from the start of his 80s Chicago tenure sounds remarkably like an 80s Chicago album. If your idea of fun is listening to a (hypothetical) cover of Natalie Cole's "This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)" by Peter Etecera, this is in the ballpark. That studio guitar work sure sounds like Steve Lukather, but I'm too uninterested to check.

The 1981 Listening Post - Grinder Switch - Have Band Will Travel

 Reviewed by Tom "Tommy Dean" Mott

Released: 1981 Grinder Switch Have Band Will Travel Genre: Southern Rock Rating: 2.75 out of 5 Highlights: One Hour Into Sunday Whooboy, Grinder Switch slipped me a Mickey. [1] That first track opens with a great, gritty riff that got me expecting some Motor City mayhem. But then came some flim-flam, and when I came to, we were truckin' on down the highway 'bout to cross the county line near Macon. It ain't the Allmans, closer to Marshall Tucker, or Clapton's lightweight 70s southern pop, or the Allman Brothers roadie and guitar tech. Which this is. Grinder Switch was put together by Allman Brothers roadie and guitar tech Joe Dan Petty. There's some southern charm here and there, and splashes of Memphis horns, but overall it's a bowl of tepid, cold grits. ********** 1. They slipped me a Mickey Gilley!

The 1981 Listening Post - Viva - What the Hell Is Going On

 Reviewed by Töm Mött

Released: 1981 Viva What The Hell Is Going On Genre: Hard’n’Heavy Rating: 3 out of 5 Highlights: The Bitch German hardrockheavymetal. Thick sound. Loud plodding bass. Gallopping chukka-chukka guitars and screaming leads. Barbara Schenker on keyboards. Older brothers Michael (UFO) and Rudolph (Scorpions) are more famous, but their younger sister holds her own. The synths--buried pretty deep in the mix--slide this in an interesting "atmospheric metal" space. Maybe that's just the last vestiges of 70s hard rock hanging on? The drums on track 4 sound like basketballs on a court. As they shouted "Give it to me all night long" on track 6, I realized I was tired. No, please do not give it to him -- nor to me -- all night long.

The 1981 Listening Post - Steve Miro and the Eyes - Second Sentence

 Reviewed by Tom Mott

Released: 1981 Steve Miro And The Eyes Second Sentence Genre: It's No Diskomo Rating: 3 out of 5 Highlights: Gone Riding I stand by my opinion that "Up and About" and "Choke it Back" from Miro's first album are brilliantly catchy and fun. Sophomore jinx hits this time around. This may as well have been titled "Life Without Parole." Each song starts with a riff and mostly repeats it throughout. That works if you're Keith Richards and the Satisfaction riff comes to you in a dream, but these have a touch of the monotony of The Residents "Commercial Album." Not a good thing in my book, because I've also found that album to be a bit, well, monotonous. I do appreciate Miro's DIY attitude and "fuck it, let's just record a bunch of songs" approach. That doesn't mean I want to listen to them. Also, minus points for having a song called "Mary Mary" that has nothing to do with the Monkees or Run-DMC.

The 1981 Listening Post - Sean Tyla - Redneck in Babylon

 Reviewed by Tom Mott

Released: 1981 Sean Tyla Redneck In Babylon Genre: Bar Band Rating: 3 out of 5 Highlights: Daddy Put The Bomp There are two strands of pub rock. The basically punk sounds of Dr Feelgood, Eddie and the Hot Rods, The Pirates, and The Hammersmith Gorillas. And the mid-tempo bar band sound of Nick Lowe, Ducks Deluxe, early Dire Straights. Tyla was in Ducks Deluxe, so this falls in the second strand. It's all very Beaver Brown, Springsteen-ish, Clover, Tom Petty b-sides, maybe some Atlantic Rhythm Section playing on the jukebox down at Dino's Bar and Grill. The band is tight, and Tyla's got a strong, gravelly "late Roger Daltrey" voice. Lyrics of the "up at the crack of dawn ... watchin' the clock go tick and a tock ... out on the street ... pour another round ..." variety. [1] If you're devastated by the mysterious disappearance of Eddie Wilson. ********** 1. I asked ChatGPT to generate snippets of fake lyrics for a bar band: "We were born to run, chasing dreams in the midnight sun ..." "We've got our guitars and our hearts on fire..." "We're just a bunch of dreamers, but tonight we're kings and queens ..." "She's got legs that go on for days ..." "In the heart of the city, where the neon lights shine bright ..."

The 1981 - EQ - Giving Up the Energy

 Reviewed by Tom Mott

Released: 1981 EQ Giving Up The Energy Genre: Schenectady Vice Rating: 3 out of 5 Highlights: Said You're Not Worth It (bonus track - single included on the expanded issue) I wanted to write a two-word review, but unless something's atrocious--in which case the review writes itself before you even listen ("Hard pass." "Just stop." "Allen wept.")--it's impossible. unexpected guitarsounds DeYoungish scrodeling prog-rock complexity galactica arpeggios bitchin' synthbass violently verbose singing drummer parachute pants energetic AOR arena muscle hard rockin pomp rock It's not my thing, but they give it their all and it will scratch an itch for fans of melodic proggy pomp rock. Penny Knight has strong pipes. Bonus points for their funny, self-deprecating website. And Peter Is A Slut includes the line "Peter is a hobbit / if there's a cradle he will rob it." Deluxe reissue by--who else?--PROGAOR ------------------------------------------------- BONUS! Newspaper review of their 2011 reunion show: "The Penny Knight Band members live in five different cities and reunited via websites, but they played the most unified and impressive set of the night. If Johnny Rabb and his Jailhouse Rockers looked like the guys Baby Boomers’ moms warned their daughters about, Knight’s crew could have been accountants at a rock fantasy camp. With Knight’s powerhouse voice at the center of their proud, loud, retro sound, they projected arena-rock muscle through crisp ensemble playing, electric might and songs built to blast. Everything went big, then sometimes bigger, even the ballad “You Put the Fire Back in My Heart” about love’s return. They hit with prog-rock complexity, but also big soulfulness, an impressive return to action by a band dormant for nearly three decades."

The 1981 Listening Post - Burton Cummings - Sweet Sweet

 Reviewed by Tom Mott

Released: 1981 Burton Cummings Sweet Sweet Genre: Downward Sloping Trajectory Rating: 3 out of 5 Highlights: You Saved My Soul Probably the best Kenny Loggins album Burton ever recorded. Burton Cummings has one of the great voices of classic rock. His voice is strong here, but the material is half adult contemporary and half "Your Momma Can't Dance"-style rockers. You Saved My Soul quietly surprises at first as a sleeper entry in the "Early 1980s Movie Theme Songs" category, but on repeated listens, you realize the verse, the chorus is a throwaway, and the rhymes are all moon in June. But his voice! Like they say, just a spoonful of sugar.