The 1981 Listening Post - The Reels - Quasimodo's Dream

 

The Reels - Quasimodo's Dream

#204

May 1981

The Reels

Quasimodo’s Dream

Genre: New Wave

2.25 out of 5

Lowlights:

Dubba Go Go

I missed the first album by The Reels, so this one is a bit of a surprise. There’s a lot of 80s trappings happening here. Faux reggae beats on the title track and standard new waviness throughout. There’s also a section that’s all about the media. 

Before we get into that let’s talk about the rampant mediocrity that bedecks this record and also, at the same time, seems to anticipate, say, Thompson Twins and the like. 

It’s Australian so you know that they were either on the cutting edge of creation or they were kids who got their hands on imports and took them for inspiration. 

In either case, it results in a mostly ugly version of Split Enz mixed with a bunch of other New Wave sounds of the age. 

There’s a track on here called “Rupert Murdoch”. It’s buried in the suite called “Media Themes”. It’s an instrumental piece that could have been composed by a 9 year old with a Casio. And is just a variation on the previous song’s theme. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/quasimodos-dream/444428303

The 1981 Listening Post - The Searchers - Love's Melodies

 The Searchers - Love's Melodies

#464

December 4 1980 LISTENING POST DISCOVERY

The Searchers

Love’s Melodies

Genre: Power Pop

4.5 out of 5

Highlights:

Silver

A Little Bit of Heaven

Love’s Melody

Everything But a Heartbeat

Another Night

Requisite 80s cover: Hard to call them “requisite” since the album is replete with music written by others. 

A sweetly earnest and tambouriffic version of “Almost Saturday Night” by Fogerty. Excellent. 

“September Gurls” by Alex Chilton. Talk about a band knowing their wheelhouse.

Wait…THE Searchers? They were still around in 1980??

I mean, I guess that shouldn’t be so surprising. After all, anyone recording at this writing that was also around in 2003 has been around the same amount of time.

Boy, the tyranny of time is a thing, huh? 

Because I was so attuned to the music of the day in 1994 bands like Weezer and Green Day don’t feel old to me today, even if their music isn’t something I turn to immediately anymore. But, 1994 was over a quarter century as of this writing and in 1980 that equivalent would predate “Rock Around the Clock”. But we didn’t think “Rock and Roll” would have longevity back in the 80s. I remember reading Rolling Stone articles about how crazy it would be that Mick Jagger would still be playing concerts…IN HIS LATE THIRTIES!!!” Without an oxygen tank!

So, should I be surprised that an early Liverpool group that climbed out alongside The Fab Four  would still be slogging in 1980? 

If it was Quicksilver Messenger Service then…yes. 

But this isn’t that. This is high quality, delicious harmonies, lush production Power Pop at it’s best. Especially the Phil Spector-esque Andy McMaster song “Love’s Melody”. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/loves-melodies/1369444679

The 1981 Listening Post - Anvil - Hard 'N' Heavy

 Anvil - Hard 'n' Heavy

#202

By Jon Rosenberg

May 25 1981

Anvil

Hard ‘N’ Heavy

Genre: Canadian Metal, eh?

Allen’s rating: 4 out of 5

Jon’s Rating: 1.75 out of 5

Highlights:  

Oh Jane

Paint It Black

I had never even heard of Canadian metal band Anvil until I saw the documentary about them called “Anvil! The Story of Anvil” a decade or so ago.  It’s a great rock-doc that has been compared to a real-life “This is Spinal Tap,” a comparison made all the more amusing by the fact that Anvil’s drummer is named Robb Reiner!  

Anyway, full disclosure: I’m not much into metal.  But I did request this album to review out of curiosity.  So, if you’re a big metal-head, feel free to add a couple of points to my rating.

Hard ‘N’ Heavy was Anvil’s debut album.  Apparently, it had been previously released under the band’s original name, Lips – which is also the nickname of singer/guitarist Steve “Lips” Kudlow.  Maybe someone thought Lips sounded too much like Kiss?  So they named themselves after the most heavy metal thing they could think of: a big, heavy piece of metal.

This isn’t a great album, but it’s not terrible either.  It just struck me as rather pedestrian, really.  No memorable riffs to speak of at all.  It is pretty damn ballsy to title a song on your debut “AC/DC,” and it’s one of the better songs here.  Though all it did is make me want to listen to an actual AC/DC album.   The “Paint It Black” cover isn’t bad, but hardly worth the price of admission.  Honestly, the only song that stuck with me at all is “Oh Jane,” which has an almost grungy, Neil Young groove to it, with the added attraction of some tasteful cowbell.  Everything else I had completely forgotten five minutes after the album ended.

But who cares what I think?  Anvil released their 18th studio album in February of 2020!

https://open.spotify.com/album/4NCuKI3wmtygdlouv7PPNv?si=8B4TbhZVRwqSNRzbHO2Whw

The 1981 Listening Post - The Jags - No Tie Like a Present

 The Jags - No Tie Like a Present

#201

May 1981 LISTENING POST DISCOVERY

The Jags

No Tie Like a Present

Genre: Power Pop

4.5 out of 5

Highlights:

I Never Was a Beach Boy

The Train and the Plane

Silver Birds

The Sound of G-O-O-D-B-Y-E

Fearing a Tornado

Requisite 80s Cover: Cat Stevens’ “Here Come My Baby”. What The Jags do here is create a perfect Jags-fan Power Pop, Skinny Tie version of this song. It’s excellent enough that it sounds like they wrote it. So, I can forgive them opening the record with it. Not by much, though.

Ok, readers. You tell me, cuz I’ve lost all perspective.

Is this really great Jam/Vapors Power Pop, the first really good one of 1981 or do I just love it because I love this style and 1981 has been a wasteland? 

I really can’t tell anymore.

“The Train and the Plane” is a pseudo Costello joint that pummels into the epic western instrumental “Silver Birds”, which is majestic and powerful as all hell.

You know how every New Wave band had some kind of Faux-Reggae track on their 1980 offerings? So do The Jags here with “Small Change” but it’s filled with energy and snot and puts to shame just about all of those other tracks.

Evening Standards was one of my favorite discoveries of 1980 and “Back of My Hand” has become a favorite track, to the point where if compelled me to pick up my old Takamine and get it tuned and learned to play it. (I’m not half bad on it!)

I didn’t think I would enjoy a follow up to that record nearly as much as I do No Tie.

Poor Jags. What they should have been.

We are missing one track so it’s impossible to give this 5 stars. But I’m tempted.

Why are these albums not available to stream? Or even on CD??? I really want to own these.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FICCk1QME24&list=PLlvn8uktX5Ls6vqLmBXU8knKWXDwqnBxM (Missing 1 track - Mind Reader)

The 1981 Listening Post - Classic Nouveaux - Night People

 Classic Nouveaux - Night People

#200

May 1981

Classic Nouveaux

Night People

Genre: shallow dance rock that’s utterly pretentious but not unattractive*

3.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Run Away

What is it about this record…? I like a lot of it but I am also turned off by a lot of it. 

Like that first, cinematic instrumental works but then it pours in to a Dead or Alive style dance rock “Guilty”, which, let’s be honest, predates DoA so that’s a good thing but, it’s in the same vein and the synthesis of Disco/Goth is still looking for that hook, which Pete Burns and the band was able to latch onto for huge success. The pure ugliness meets clubland of “Run Away” is at once off putting and nearly charming. Weird. 

In many ways Night People anticipates a sound that is about to go huge and it nearly reaches that level. It’s almost a harbinger of what’s to come except that, in many ways, Gary Numan already did that. But this takes it a step further into the macabre. 

Hard to hate. Not that easy to love. 

I do love that someone put “623 (Night People)” to a video. Which works perfectly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VFVKuBh6is&list=PLlvn8uktX5Lvbf_0WKZC9eetcOLHxZxc8&index=6

*Stolen from the Trouser Press review. Because, I felt the exact same way but couldn’t put my finger on what I did and didn’t like about it at first. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9_sUK8oYJo&list=PLlvn8uktX5Lvbf_0WKZC9eetcOLHxZxc8

The 1981 Listening Post - Squeeze - East Side Story

 Squeeze - East Side Story

#200

By Edward DeSantis

Squeeze

East Side Story

Genre: Squeeze

Allen’s Rating: 5 out of 5

Edward’s Rating: 3.99 out of 5

Highlights:

Tempted 

Is that Love?

Allen’s Highlights add:

In Quintessence

Someone Else’s Heart

Singles, 45’s and Under is as close to the perfect pop album as you can get. This is where I admit that I had worn the tape out three times before I realized it was a “Best Of” compilation. Once aware, the idea that there were more gems to be uncovered from this duo of Chris Difford and Glenn Tillbrook, the saviors of British pop that were compared to Lennon and McCartney, brought great joy to my young heart and ultimately sadness and dismay.

While their harmonies and song craft brought them the comparison to Lennon and McCartney, the comparison for this band is more apt to be to Jagger and Richards. Not unlike the Rolling Stones, Squeeze has a particular style and sound that they are exceptional at, catchy, ear worm, pop. The same way Keith and Mick can claim to be stewards of the blues. Just like the Stones though, the band isn’t known for full sets of amazing tunes on one disc the way that the Beatles are. There are amazing examples of writing and performing on each record, but by the same token each record has soft spots and weak links.

East Side Story is no exception. It pains me to write that, even more so when you consider this album was produced by none other than Elvis Costello. That fact is what keeps me from giving it a full 4.00. I expected so much more from these three kings of popular music. The standouts here are the ones that made it to the Singles compilation “Tempted” and “Is that Love?”. Both examples of pop at it’s catchiest, wormiest best. “Tempted” was sung by the new keyboard player Paul Carrack who had replaced the irreplaceable Jools Holland for this record. The lead track “In Quintessence” is a runner-up to the two previously mentioned gems, but the word “Quintessence” itself for me stands in the way of the song getting in my ear hole. The majority of the record feels soft and constrained to my willing ears. I can hear Elvis’ influence on the tracks “Mumbo Jumbo” and “Vanity Fair” but it sounds more like conflict than collaboration to me, as if an argument was won and a song was dutifully produced. The country inspired “Labelled With Love” feels like a dare. Elvis, Glenn and Chris obviously love the storytelling aspect of American country music but I miss the dust and grit necessary to pull this kind of stunt off. Remarkably that track was the last time Squeeze hit the top ten in the UK. The album is a fun listen as all Squeeze albums are, but if you’re looking to be blown away after each song fades into the next as I am when I listen to Singles, 45’s and Under you have to wade through some average tunes to get blown.

https://open.spotify.com/album/4178w40uOpDld2RnR1ifCy?si=f1BcCBVaR36pIJj_Fhmibwq

The 1981 Listening Post - Inner City Unit - The Maximum Effect

 Inner City Unit - The Maximum Effect

#199

May 1981 LISTENING POST DISCOVERY

Inner City Unit

The Maximum Effect

Genre: Post-Punk

4.25 out of 5

Highlights:

The Bones of Elvis

Beer Baccy Bingo & Benidorn

Night Life

Skinheads in Leningrad

Anticipating the pounding, driving anti-war post-rock of Big Audio Dynamite by a few years, the opener, “Bones of Elvis” is a scathing, scabrous indictment of war and it also bears repeat listens. It’s catchy in a way that The Clash kept trying with differing results. It’s a win for the Space Rockers.

They aren’t reinventing the wheel here. Just writing and playing solid rock songs with inspirations from reggae to post-rock and there isn’t a bad track on it. Nothing comes close to that first one but the retro 50s redux of “Remember (Walking in the Sand)” is a weird treat that mixes theater rock and reggae with elements of…is it “FBI”? Some other 60s tv show. It’s familiar but I can’t recall exactly. 

But then it pours into a madcap Oi track “Skinheads in Leningrad” which is nifty.

Since this is from the Hawkwind guys I have to say, I am quite surprised. I had avoided this record for most of the last few weeks because of that but, in light of the strength of the weirdness therein, I’m inclined to list it as a “Discovery”. 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKJuiKPLhIw&list=PLlvn8uktX5Lvc4B71NKRsv06N3Z2KW82N

The 1981 Listening Post - 20/20 - Look Out!

 20/20 - Look Out!

#197

May 1981

20/20

Look Out!

Genre: Power Pop

3.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Nuclear Boy

Out of My Head

Life in the U.S.A. 

The number of words that have been spilled about a guitar driven rock sound that gets pounded into submission and disappears for the next, new thing. I mean, remember, Grunge killed hair metal? 

But Power Pop just killed itself. Because, after the success of The Knack, every single axe slinger who could put together a V-C-V-C-B-IV-C song slapped on a skinny tie and found a killer bassist and tight drummer and went to town.

By 1981 it appears that was over. But there are some stragglers and for them, I am grateful. 

This is one of those records.

Thing is, you jangle this shit up a bit and add some paisley pop or southern twang and you end up with REM and the like. Look, I know that I am biased. I love this kind of music. It’s pure joy to me. When it’s done well I just wanna bask in it. I’m not gonna apologize for that.

In the case of this 20/20 record, I don’t need to. It’s a perfectly fine example of a form that is burning itself out. 

Could “Out of My Head” sound more like a Beatles track if it was written by Todd Rundgren? Nope. It could have fallen off Deface the Music. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/look-out-expanded-edition/848170057

The 1981 Listening Post - Teena Marie - It Must Be Magic

 Teena Marie - It Must Be Magic

#196

By Brian San Marco

May 14 1981

Teena Marie

It Must Be Magic

Genre: Post-disco Eighties pop

Allen’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5 

Brian’s Rating: 2 out of 5 stars – Overcomplicated, like this review.

Highlights: ummm….

It Must be Magic

This is very interesting to me.  I remember Teen Maria from the mid-eighties pop hit “Lovergirl”.  It was a good polished Top 40 offering.  I was a kid, it’s what I knew.

Little did I know, Teena Marie had been on the scene for a while and 1981 once again proves to be a transitional period in music.  This album demonstrates that to a fault. 

Lost somewhere between disco and funk-pop, “It Must Be Magic” finds itself in an awkward situation and isn’t quite sure what it wants to be and where it wants to go. This seems clear to me not only in the overall record, but within each song as well.  From the simply trite, disconnected lyrics, to the really good, but disconnected band, to the poor vocal decisions of Teena herself.

To be clear, it’s not all bad.  The title track grooves and makes you want to move.  The band is top notch -- but then she sings.  Don’t get me wrong, she can SING, no doubt.  But the vocals on the recording seem disconnected from the rest of the band – hot in the mix as the lingo goes.  And here is the transition: funk pop music started to change with the introduction of keyboards and lifting the vocals above the mix, and here, intermeshed with a full funk band with the smokin’ bass and horns.  It just doesn’t mix well, in my view.  She would find her sound later in her career.

Track 2 “Revolution” is similar to the first, just not as good a song.

From there, record nose dives.  Complex where it doesn’t need to be, and empty where it needs a little more.  The trite “love” lyrics continue on and I don’t get Teena’s decision on vocal inflection and tone.  It’s weird.  It gets weirder and more with more ballads with funk, and live tracks?!  Add, preaching to audiences and self-aggrandizing.  Ugh!  Who’s responsible for this?

Teena Marie! Songwriter, arranger, producer.  She is responsible.  At least she hired a great band.

https://open.spotify.com/album/0ROB2BCrsG8kODFK5mxSf8?si=paVq-QN2S1uG0mwhOZaiFw

The 1981 Listening Post - Third Floor Strangers - Last Chance

 Third Floor Strangers - Last Chance

#195

May 1981

Third Floor Strangers

Last Chance

Genre: Pasley Power Pop

3.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Angelina

Umm…”Don’t Blame It On Me”…that’s Dire Straits, right? I mean, you all hear “Sultans of Swing” all over that baseline, right? It’s not just me. That’s not interpolation, that’s a strait up rip. 

Shame, too. It has all the markings of a College Radio hit. 

This is Shoes and 20/20 and Romantics and, if we had the full album I might be able to “Discover” it. But, alas, we do not. 

If I had a turntable, this album would be something I’d be searching for to help christen it. 

I want to rate it higher, but with just half the album…I just can’t. If we had all the tracks, I bet this thing scores among the higher records of the year. 

By the end of these tracks I realize who I am longing to listen to: Old 97s. I think I’ll fire up “Designs on You” as soon as this ends…

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4LbLxe1dqI&list=PLlvn8uktX5LsBjKHmo_rObFwq59bspHiY (Missing 4 tracks - The Last Chance, The Long Letter, Liar and Model)