The 1980 Listening Post - Private Lightning - Private Lightning

 

Private Lightning - Private Lightning

1981 Housekeeping

Private Lightning

Private Lightning

Genre: 80s rock

3.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Heartbeat

Bright City

 I liked what they did on “Bright City”, for me that’s a bit of Indie Pop Rock that would even work in 2005 from The Format. 

This album really grew on me once I keyed in to the fact that it would have made some serious end of year lists if it was released in 2005. 

It took me a bit, though. I kept thinking I was listening to a Eurovision demo and then I’d find myself enjoying track after track. Not enough to want to hear them again but not enough to flog the record. 

And Patty Van Ness is a killer violinist. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/private-lightning/418226434

The 1980 Listening Post - Roy Loney & the Phantom Movers - Phantom Tracks

 Roy Loney & the Phantom Movers - Phantom Tracks

1981 Housekeeping

Roy Loney and the Phantom Movers

Phantom Tracks

Genre: New Wave…rock….

1.75 out of 5

Shitty song crazily sung and uninterestingly performed. At some point I wonder if he had been listening to X and then I thought, maybe I should just listen to X. 

Thank goodness it’s really short.

https://music.apple.com/us/album/phantom-tracks-expanded-edition/404323872

The 1980 Listening Post - Pee Wee & the Specials - Pee Wee & the Specials

 Pee Wee & the Specials - Pee Wee & the Specials

1980 Housekeeping

Pee Wee & the Specials

Pee Wee & the Specials

Genre: Nostalgia

1.5 out of 5

Here we go again.

This time from the Netherlands come an album of 50s doo top standards that add nothing to the conversation but, I guess, back then it was hard to get your hands on the originals? It’s like a “best of the 50s!” For a generation that just doesn’t care about that stuff. 

Are there originals? I don’t know. Maybe. My lexicon of 50s Doo-Wop is limited. 

Oh. And these “Specials” aren’t those Specials. So…there’s no reason to jump into this. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/best-of/891883742

The 1980 Listening Post - Flamin' Oh's - Flamin' Oh's (aka The Green Album)

Flamin' Oh's - Flamin' Oh's (aka The Green Album) 

1980 Housekeeping

Flamin’ Oh’s

Oh!

Genre: Power Pop Rock

3.25 out of 5

Highlights:

I’m a Medical Mess (with Only Six Weeks Left)

I’m the Gun

Ugh, where do we find these things?

I mean, they aren’t bad. They’re just another is a long list of bands that no one’s ever heard of, sold a couple albums, got back together 30 years later, still play out for fun, I assume and are just generally well liked in their pond.

This is what you get if you are a Rolling Stones fanatic and then put a band together in the Power Pop era.

Meh. 

I enjoyed the goofy “I’m a Medical Mess” and the last track, “I’m the Gun”, which has infectious energy and reminds me of a band I used to play with, B9.

Catch ‘em live on June 18th in Burnsville! https://www.thereliefsessions.com/flamin-ohs.html

https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-first-two-albums-bonus-track/14818554

The 1980 Listening Post - The Todd Hobin Band - The Passion and the Pain

 The Todd Hobin Band - The Passion and the Pain

1980 Housekeeping

The Todd Hobin Band

The Passion and the Pain

Genre: Rock

2.5 out of 5

Highlights:

The Passion and the Pain

In that vortex that includes Springsteen-esque rockers, like Gruschecky and Cafferty and, yes, even Mellencamp, there’s Todd Hobin. Currently he’s a professor at Le Moyne College and, lemme tell ya, those students are all pretty lucky to be taught by a rocker like this guy.

Hobin’s vibrato is better than the style in which he traffics but, for damned sure, he could open for any band in that sweet spot of parkway rock. 

A fantastic dissertation on the law of diminishing returns. Starts off with promise, devolves into a morass of meh.

https://music.apple.com/us/album/passion-and-the-pain/1090441017

The 1980 Listening Post - Mark Gillespie - Only Human

 Mark Gillespie - Only Human

1980 Housekeeping

Mark Gillespie

Only Human

Genre: Rock

4.25 out of 5

Highlightws:

Shake It

Small Mercy

Black Angel

Bad Scene

Another in a long line of musicians who took their cues from David Bowie and, sort of, Robert Palmer with a lot of Lou Reed mixed in (see; “Suicide Sister”).

This is filled with talented musicians jamming to the spines of pretty ok songs that trace their lineage to the Velvets. Would work in a small venue on a Friday night. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/only-human-remastered/1219127084

The 1980 Listening Post - Ozz - No Prisoners

 Ozz - No Prisoners

1980 Housekeeping

Ozz

No Prisoners

Genre: Rawk

3.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Sail On

Ain’t No Money

This seems to be a showcase band for a guitarist and a vocalist. The album cover is so awful that I had little hope for it. But, hell, these guys boogie rock with the better of them. 

They didn’t reinvent anything here but they love a sound and they paid great homage to it. 

Despite the cover I thought this album was a fine addition to that genre. 

Andy Johns produced this so you know why it sounds as good as it does. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/no-prisoners/331360922

The 1980 Listening Post - Straight Eight - No Noise From Here

Straight Eight - No Noise From Here 

1980 Housekeeping

Straight Eight

No Noise From Here

Genre: Garage Rock

2.75 out of 5

The first of the three Straight Eight albums from Pete Townshend’s label is little rocker with not that much going for it save ok guitar licks and garage jamming.

Imagine KISS (poorly) covering Rolling Stones songs but getting them all wrong and turning them into something…else.

https://music.apple.com/us/album/no-noise-from-here-shuffle-n-cut-straight-to-the-heart/1047616871

The 1980 Listening Post - Benny Mardones - Never Run Never Hide

 Benny Mardones - Never Run Never Hide

1980 Housekeeping

Benny Mardones

Never Run Never Hide

Genre: Rock

4 out of 5

Highlights:

She’s So French

Mighta Been Love

Into the Night

“She just 16 years old. Leave her alone, they said.”

How have we not cancelled this song yet? I mean, it’s catchy as hell but it’s statutory rape that doesn’t even hide it. 

Oy. It’s as sus as they come, man.

Here’s the thing, though. The rest of the record is pretty damend good melodic rock and that shocked the hell out of me. It’s that exact melodic rock that straddles the late 70s and the early 80s. Perfect for movie soundtracks and also for driving your Volkswagen Cabriolet with the top down, sporting your white rimmed shades. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/never-run-never-hide/1443542858

The 1980 Listening Post - Cherie & Marie Currie - Messin' with the Boys

 Cherie & Marie Currie - Messin' with the Boys

1980 Housekeeping

Cherie & Marie Currie

Messin’ with the Boys

Genre: Rock

3.5 out of 5

I gotta say, I really like their cover of “Since You Been Gone” but I think that’s because it’s an unkillable song. 

This feels like the album that would be made by the fronting singer of a manufactured band. And both sisters were recruited at some point to lead The Runaways. 

Cherie Currie is a woodworker nowadays, with a chainsaw her artistic tool of choice. 

Okay, then.

The Curries pick some good tunes, like “Overnight Sensation” by Eric Carmen but that’s not going to get them the sales they need. 

That said, I would add “Elaine”, “This Time” & “Wishing Well”

This album sounds like Heart. 

I even let the bonus tracks play. It was worth it. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/messin-with-the-boys/1441556002