The 1980 Listening Post - Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel (Melt)

Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel (Melt)

#216

by Eli Sitt

May 23 1980

Peter Gabriel 

Peter Gabriel (Melt)

Allen’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Eli’s Rating: 4 out of 5

Genre: I don’t think you can ascribe one to Peter (-Allen)

Allen’s Highlights:

Games Without Frontiers

Biko

by Eli Sitt

He sounds very angry, he’s more yelling more than he is singing, groovy beat, very pioneering 80’s sound, written in 1978. Sounds like a Bowie song, not sure who ripped who off. And Through The Wire – Discovery, not sure if I ever heard this song more than once or twice before. A nearly perfect Eli type song. Just needs more cowbell. Games Without Frontiers – Top 10-15 tunes from that era. Ear candy for me. That opening verse that I could never figure out exactly what he is signing, I love it. I sing it to myself all the time. The outro is ridiculous. I could listen to that on repeat for hours. Lead A Normal Life – Sweet opening 90 second instrumental Biko – I cannot think of another song that taught me about a political situation half a world away. It raised the Apartheid Regime / crime to the world. An amazing feat of communication using music and art. I always look at the music and artists from the 60’s who had ideals and ideas to change the world. Punk Rock, seemed to have the same thrust. After that, the 80’s went heavy commercial, I suppose due to MTV. There is so much happening in this song, it’s mind boggling. The story telling, the different voices, the deep heart felt lamentations, and the chorus “Biko, because Biko” is simply epochal for me. It is a tune that I sing to myself, maybe daily. The African signing on the outro is an amazing shift that predates Paul Simon and I assume opened the door for the Afro Beat artists of the 80’s and on. I would listen to this on a desert island. I would learn to love every song. The less familiar songs would become the soundtrack to my solitude experience. I would not have bought it when it came out. I would not listen to it now. The great songs I know too well, and the forgettable ones, not worth my time. He leans heavily on the theatrical songs that do not speak to me. I was never a Genesis fan, but I know that was their forte for a while. Even those songs have great 80’s sounds that would pepper every popular album of the decade.

https://open.spotify.com/album/0LF0vWmmKRVPXoikpNkO5W?si=8pDcN9NGRKeH6WaTO5AUDA

The 1980 Listening Post - The Elevators - Frontline

The Elevators - Frontline

#217

1980 Housekeeping

The Elevators

Frontline

Genre: Power Pop-New Wave 

3.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Girlfriend’s Girlfriend

Friends

Here we have another in a long series of skinny tie new wave/power pop bands. This one made available by a blogger named Spavid over at Willfully Obscure. I had no idea he made it available again after I requested. Honestly, I didn’t know people were still blogging. Heaven knows I basically gave that up once Facebook took up that space, which is a shame because it was so liberating. Like having your own little magazine. At one point I was trying to operate 3-5 blogs at the same time. That was dumb. I recently went back and looked at the early pages of one. It was a bunch of pics and videos of my kids that I had forgotten. That was cool.

My son managed to somehow look me up on the webz and find the blog I wrote about him being in the NICU when he was born. THAT was a conversation. He’s 9. Inquisitive little bastard. 

This album is absolutely not terrible. It’s littered with forgettable angular New Wave programmers. The kind of stuff you would hear wayyyyy left of the dial at 1 AM on a Tuesday. Unhateable. But not really all that adorable. It hews closer to Greg Kihn/Tommy Tutone than the really delicious PP bands of the era. Considering they are from just outside Boston it’s no surprise how much like The Cars “Tropical Fish” & “Lies” sound, the latter you could tell me it was a Cars song and I would have no reason to not believe you. 

Some of the tracks can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+elevators+frontlne

The 1980 Listening Post - Shoes for Industry - Talk Like a Whelk

Shoes for Industry - Talk Like a Whelk

1980 Housekeeping

Shoes for Industry

Talk Like a Whelk

3.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Violent Stabbing with a Knife

There are only 7 notes. How do people keep finding ways of writing new music? How many albums have we listened to? 2500? Over 20,000 songs? And yet musicians sue each other if one happens to organize those 7 notes in a pattern that resembles a previous assortment. Crazy.

Here are 9 more pieces of music that remind me of cut rate early Chumbawumba. Why not? This came out of a theater in Bristol. It’s music by collective during the time of strife in England. 

I found it mostly forgettable. But there were 7 notes. All strung together in different ways. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/talk-like-a-whelk-remastered/276208981

The 1980 Listening Post - Grace Jones - Warm Leatherette

Grace Jones - Warm Leatherette


#213

by Craig Fitzgerald

May 9 1980

Grace Jones 

Warm Leatherette 

Genre: New Wave? Reggae? 

Allen’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Craig’s Rating: 2.5 out of 5 

Craig’s Highlights:  

Warm Leatherette 

Bullshit Breakdown 

by Craig Fitzgerald

There is no way I would’ve ever heard this record in the whitebread, classic rock, dipshit hick town of Wilmington, Massachusetts where I grew up. If I had, I would’ve been given a wedgie beaten up by a fan of Foreigner. Therefore, my exposure to Grace Jones was limited. This record is a completely new experience for me. And given what I knew about her -- the video for “Demolition Man” which was in pretty regular rotation on MTV -- this is a pretty conventional album. It’s the kind of new wavey-dancy-reggaeish pop that sounds like about 97 percent of the other records I barely listened to at that time. As I found out, the reason for that was that it was one of the earlier Compass Point All Stars records. For a while there, a lot of records sounded like this because all the same people played on all of them, in the same studio. These guys were like the Swampers at Muscle Shoals for middle-aged recording artists in the ‘80s. Synth and guitar forward, super clean, generally non-offensive. It’s no surprise to me that Robert Palmer recorded two albums with the same people. MIck Jagger’s generally terrible first solo record was recorded here, along with every single musician known to man at that time. The other thing that was kind of a surprise was the fact that most of the songs on it are covers, and real bvious covers. Roxy Music’s “Love is the Drug” is on here. So is Tom Petty’s “Breakdown.” Both of these covers polish the rough edges right off of those songs. Unfortunately, the rough edges are what I like about them. That’s not to say they’re “bad.” The performers are great, but they sound like something you’d hear in any classy bar with a piano. The title track is probably my favorite song on the album. I tried to figure out what it was all about, and it turns out it was inspired by the novel -- which became the movie -- Crash, about people who got boners seeing car crashes. The song is better than the movie. It’s definitely the most “new wave” sound of anything on the album. “Bullshit” is a good song that had absolutely no hope of getting any airplay in 1980. It would’ve been great if somebody like Tina Turner belted it out. This is a record that definitely feels like Grace Jones is trying to figure out exactly what the hell she’s doing. She probably had that mapped out a lot better in her next record.

https://open.spotify.com/album/4rjhHrJA0OIVKNwXHKKKix?si=c3JCt1SyS3i315odeX8vdw

The 1980 Listening Post - Nightwing - Something in the Air

Nightwing - Something in the Air

#214

1980 Housekeeping

Nightwing

Something in the air

Genre: Metasstical

2 out of 5

Requisite 80s cover: a really confoundingly bizarre cover of The Supremes’ “You Keep Me Hanging On”. Done as a late 60s psychedelic head trip there should have been someone to say…guys…no. 

Paging Spinal Tap. 

Take everything you hate about 80s metal, a vocalist who aspire to be Did, pounding drums, ear splitting guitars and…an organ? An organ?? This isn’t Deep Purple. It’s like Purple Witch. Kenny Newton is no Jon Lord. 

Wait! There’s a FLUTE in “Edge of a Knife”!?!?!? 

Attention Jethro Tull fans. Did you know about this?!?! In 1980 this might be the best Tull has sounded. Cuz, it’s not Tull. See what I did there?

I’m glad it’s over. I’m also glad I never have to hear it again. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVHsIw0UFu8

The 1980 Listening Post - Moon Martin - Street Fever

Moon Martin - Street Fever

#212

1980 Housekeeping

Moon Martin

Street Fever

Genre: BoredRock

3.25 out of 5

Highlights:

Stranded

Honestly, this album seems like a collection of songs written by someone who is just a little laid back to really rock out the way he should want to. All the edges are sanded off. But it also acts like a harbinger of a stadium rock sound that’s around the corner. In fact, the best way I can describe it is if you merged late 70s AOR rock with Martin Briley but too the hooks away and were just left with unmemorable tunes. Shame, cuz this is the guy who wrote “Bad Case of Loving You” for Robert Palmer. I wish he had kept some of that energy for himself.

https://music.apple.com/us/album/street-fever/1441597896

The 1980 Listening Post - Hazel O'Connor - Sons and Lovers

Hazel O'Connor - Sons and Lovers

#211

1980 Housekeeping

Hazel O’Connor

Sons and Lovers

Genre: New Wave

3.5 out of 5

Highlights:

D-Days

Who Will Care?

Requisite 80s Cover: “Danny Boy”. Sure. Why not? In this bizarro hodgepodge, this is a perfect addition.

We didn’t review Hazel’s debate because it’s a soundtrack but, listening to this, maybe we should have. I have no frame of reference for an artist who put out two records in 1980, one of which was produced by Tony Visconti. This one isn’t that. Instead it has Andy Qunta on keyboards (I sold him an air conditioner and he married an acquaintance of mine!!) and Gary Tibbs of Adam and the Ants, played bass. And it’s produced by Nigel Gray of The Police, Siouxie and Godley and Creme among many others. And he was a medical doctor!

Come on!

This a weirdly rewarding album that I would happily play alongside Romeo Void. It’s disjointed as hell and suffers from too much devotion to theater but I think that’s what I like about it. 

Hazel has been acting and recording for 4 decades. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/sons-and-lovers-expanded-edition/1353936597

The 1980 Listening Post - Nurse with Wound -Merzbild Schwet

Nurse with Wound -Merzbild Schwet


#210

By Tom Mott

Merzbild Schwet 

Nurse with Wound 

Genre: Melting into a night of debauchery 

Allen’s Rating: 2 out of 5

Tom’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Tom’s Highlights:

Track 1

Wow. Music isn't zero sum. The sky is blue. Birds fly in it. Both are true. This is industrial noise and tape loops and WTF. I wouldn't listen to it instead of ELO or the Rolling Stones. But WOW!!!!!!!!!! For getting really fucked up and [XXX INSERT YOUR KINK XXX]? Absolutely. Two tracks. Track 1 had me spellbound. Track 2 sounds more like studio noodling.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7IFqNmNF3k

The 1980 Listening Post - Rubber City Rebels - Rubber City Rebels

Rubber City Rebels - Rubber City Rebels

#209

1980 Housekeeping

Rubber City Rebels

Rubber City Rebels

Genre: Garage

3.25 out of 5

Highlight:

Child Eaters

Requisite 80s covers:

“Somebody’s Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight”. While the biggest surprise to me was that this is an early Fleetwood Mac song, let’s face it, The Rezillos did the definitive version and no one needs to do it again. At least, not 2 years later. And not to open your record. Come on, guys. 

And then you follow it up with The Nerves’ “Paper Dolls” and do nothing more than make it sound just like the original? Ugh.

“No Feelings”, a neat little rave up of the Sex Pistols classic. Probably the best track on a mediocre record. And draws the line between the Sex Pistols and Green Day nicely. 

Hoo boy, you open your record with not one, but two covers and then close it with another, everything in between better be great. I don’t mind having albums filled with other people’s songs. I mind it when you write your own but think it’s stronger to open it with someone else’s stuff. It’s a red flag to me.

Especially when the first one was already covered so perfectly by one of the best New Wave bands of the era. 

I blame the producer. Doug Fieger knows better. He knows better because the Rebels actually know what they are doing. But he also knows that there’s no catchy tune to open the album with. While the middle of the album is perfectly fine Power Pop, nothing explodes and makes you long to pick up an invisible instrument and play along. So, he’s right. But he’s also wrong because they should have been forced to come up with a better opening track of their own making. Maybe “Lonely Fool” could have opened this record. At least they would have put their stamp on it. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-hollywood-years-1979-1984/1037587122

The 1980 Listening Post - The Freshies - Rough n' Ready

The Freshies - Rough n' Ready

#208

1980 Housekeeping LISTENING POST DISCOVERY

The Freshies

Rough ’N’ Ready

Genre: Power Pop

4.5 out of 5

Highlights:
Yellow Spot

Oh Girl

House Beautiful

We’re Like You

I am loathe to admit that I know so little about Frank Sidebottom. I never saw the movie, Frank. I never listened to any of his music. But this is one of the reasons that I still want to get a turntable. So I can get my hands on this spinner. 

This is one solid Power Pop gem after another. (duh, 1980) What it immediately brings to mind is a Power Pop supergroup from the mid-00s called Tinted Windows, an Adam Schlesinger group that featured Bun E. Carlos, Taylor Hansen and James Iha and was one of the more fun records to come out that year. There is no doubt in my mind that Adam heard all these records growing up, especially The Freshies. This album is excellent, so of course…it doesn’t stream. 

The tracks we are missing are also the tracks that are missing from the Best of album so if you want, hit that up cuz, wowza is that good. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-very-best-of-the-freshies/202924646

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPJGwFfpDV0&list=PLlvn8uktX5LthIDWghTDlrnWgVmrZkumu  (Missing x tracks - Yeah-No-I Know, Yesterday/Tomorrow, Photograph, and New Edition)