The 1981 Listening Post - Rip, Rig and Panic - God

Rip, Rig and Panic - God 

#392

September 3 1981

Rip, Rig and Panic

God

Genre: Post-Rock

4.25 out of 5

Highlights:

Through Nomad Eyeballs

Those Eskimo Women Speak Frankly

I am not very knowledgeable on all things Neneh Cherry. But when her name popped up in relation to this record my ears perked up. This is the first time I’ve knowingly tuned in to her. And what a strange intro. 

Now, this isn’t a Cherry record. It’s some kind of post-rock collective but, what a bunch of songs. 

Honestly, this is not well labelled so there’s no real way for me to determine what’s what but what I heard I liked. It’s very free form Jazz meets post rock. There’s one tune, which I think is “Change Your Life” that sounds to me like Penguin Cafe Orchestra if they were a British post-rock endeavor. This is the record I was hoping The Pop Group would put out as their follow up. Tribal Rhythms and yelping vox and schizoid drumming…I don’t know that I missed it or ever need to hear it again but I’m glad I did hear it. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7zkM6VvfUs

The 1981 Listening Post - Survivor - Premonition

Survivor - Premonition

#391

By John Harrington Bland

August 1981

Survivor

Premonition

Genre: Rock

Allen’s Rating: 2.5 out of 5

John’s Rating: (Jesus Christ, I don’t know how to rate this one. 

My 14-year-old self: 1 

My 53-year-old self: 3.5) 

 Highlights: 

Chevy Nights

Summer Nights

Ah, Chicago rock’n’roll. Styx. Cheap Trick (okay, Rockford). The eponymous Chicago. And… Survivor. 

To me, Survivor means one song and one song only -- 1982’s “Eye of the Tiger”, which spent 6 weeks at No. 1 in the summer of my 14th year. Also known as the theme song to “Rocky 3” (the one with Mr. T, not the one with Dolph Lundgren). Also also known as the “Montage Song” used whenever a down-and-out hero needs that overnight third-act transformation (parodied brilliantly in “Wet Hot American Summer”). 

Outside of that, I don’t know dick about them. (Funnily enough, while researching this, I discovered that they had some massive hits in the mid-80s -- “I Can’t Hold Back”, “The Search Is Over” -- that I clearly remember hearing during my high school days and nights. But I swear to God I thought those songs were done by other bands. Which is kinda the problem I have with Survivor.)

“Premonition” predates all of those hits. It was their second studio album, after 1980’s “Survivor”.  

“Chevy Nights” -- I dig this one. Nice opener. I can imagine listening to this down at the beach. Summertime song. 

“Summer Nights” -- Another summertime song, but I’ve heard this before. I thought it was Journey. 

“Poor Man’s Son” -- ‘I’m a poor man’s son/ working all night long…’ Springsteen lite with a hint of Queen. This is the song that prompted Sylvester Stallone to hire them to write the theme for his next movie (see above).  

“Runaway Lights” -- This song screams 1981. The thrumming bass they will use to greater effect on ‘Eye of the Tiger’ is a big part of this one.  

“Take You on a Saturday” -- Starts off like Kiss. Ends like Journey.

“Light of a Thousand Smiles” -- Songs with “Nights”. Songs with “Lights”. I’m beginning to see a pattern… or a songwriting limitation. This one sounds like Billy Joel with louder guitars. 

“Love is on My Side” -- Starts off like Kiss. Ends like Journey.  

“Heart’s a Lonely Hunter” -- Sounds like Styx. Keyboards and harmonies. Lead singer Dave Bickler sure can hit those high notes a la Steve Perry. (Well, sort of; he apparently got vocal nodules after “Eye of the Tiger” and was fired.)

It’s got a good beat, Dick. I can dance to it. That’s about all I can say about it. Will it get heavy rotation in my playlists? No, but a couple of the songs might pop up from time to time. It’s not bad at all; it’s just that other bands have done this stuff much, much better. 

https://open.spotify.com/album/53hOr1HyJYXXMpPYRWdDnN?si=KVct8JEnQfOgUtvxia_reg

 

The 1981 Listening Post - Ronnie Wood - 1234

 Ronnie Wood - 1234

September 2 1981

Ronnie Wood

1234

Genre: Rock

2.5 out of 5

Hoo boy. I’m only on the title track and…this is what Dylan sounds like when he is jamming drunk in the studio and nobody is running the boards.

Indulgent, dull and uninteresting, this record is what you get if you have a hankering for Stones’ studio detritus. I wonder if Jagger would have made “Priceless” better (It’s not terrible) or if he would have just said, “No, darling, we are not doing that one.”

https://music.apple.com/us/album/1234/321076078

The 1981 Listening Post - Marianne Faithfull - Dangerous Acquaintances

Marianne Faithfull - Dangerous Acquaintances 

#389

September 1 1981

Marianne Faithfull

Dangerous Acquaintances 

Genre: Aimless Pop

2.25 out of 5

So, Marianne Faithfull is a disco queen now? Sure sounds like it from that first track. Like she heard Blondie make a bazillion with a four-on-the-floor tune and decided that was the avenue for her.

TBH, I really have no relationship with Marianne outside of “Surabaya Johnny” from the Kurt Weill album where her raspy, almost Germanic, style worked wonders. Here, it flops. Alternately, the songs sound like Stones leftovers and Lou Reed castoffs. I don’t know who this is supposed to appeal to but I feel bad for the people who parted with $9.99 in 1981 ($30 in 2021 dollars!!!) for it. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaRMxpMF4so&list=PLlvn8uktX5LueDwV1lxBhMNZ1xDwJmHXe

The 1981 Listening Post - The Replacements - Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash

 The Replacements - Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash

#388

By Jim Coursey

August 25 1981

The Replacements

Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash

Genre: Too Wasted to be Hardcore

Allen’s Rating: 4 out of 5

Jim’s Rating: 4 out of 5

Highlights:

Takin’ a Ride

Careless

Johnny’s Gonna Die

I’m in Trouble

“Irresponsibility's my closest friend

Forget my duty I couldn't give a shit

Tell my about the city ordinance

Tell me that we're insubordinate

Plan tomorrow, money to borrow

I couldn't care less, care less”

(from “Careless”)

“Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash” is an apt title for the Replacements’ debut platter of fierce, fast-paced rock. Here the boys boldly flip the bird at all manner of white male first-world oppressions, from the household chores of its title, to speed limits and city ordinances. In some ways it feels very Reagan era -- young punks angry about something but not exactly sure what. And yet it also feels pretty Gen X / slacker in its thematic disdain for giving a fuck.

This is well before Paul Westerberg opened himself up as a songwriter; there is no real introspection, and this album barely extends itself beyond rocking hard and having a good time, all the while pretending not to care about any of it. So on the one hand, the tempo and drive of the music feels hardcore, but unlike many actual hardcore acts of the time, there’s not much agenda beyond the cigarettes, booze and drugs.

All that said, it’s pretty great for what it is. “Taking a Ride” kicks things off at a healthy pace, wearing the Mats’ reckless attitude on its sleeve throughout one of Westerberg’s catchier songs. From there it careens through a couple solid and breakneck songs like “Careless” and “Customer”, before maybe running a bit low on ideas if still high on tempo.

You can get some hints of the band’s promise along the way. While some riffs feel like punk rock cliche, there are some genuinely catchy numbers. Plenty of stuff here feels simply like 60s and 70s rock played at extreme volume and speed. Westerberg does even make one attempt at a slower, more contemplative number with “Johnny’s Gonna Die.” A song about a man destined to overdose, it maybe represents the one time they pull back and question their lifestyle choices, before getting back to the boozing and city living. But it also sounds a lot like a sketch of “Sixteen Blue” from “Let it Be”, a far deeper realization of teenage existential angst than anything on this record.

Overall “Sorry Ma” feels like what it reputedly is: a quick set of songs dashed off for a first album rather than a carefully crafted artistic statement to the world. But hey, there’s a few real gems along the way, and the whole album is a good time. And to be honest, the basic recording here sounds a lot warmer than the brash “Stink” that follows. It’s easy to knock it for its amateurishness, but you could argue it’s their best album they made before their fourth and greatest album “Let it Be.” Then again, maybe I’m just biased from listening to this one during my own shiftless and idle teenage years.

https://open.spotify.com/album/4zOmK82ivj2Eu7j4oP9Y3l?si=xbGf_6FrTxS8oJSpV-M-hw

The 1981 Listening Post - Saga - Worlds Apart

 Saga - Worlds Apart

#387

September 1981

Saga

Worlds Apart

Genre: SynthProgArena

2.5 out of 5

Highlights:

On The Loose

Amnesia

I always thought “On the Loose” was Loverboy but that’s “Turn Me Loose” and now hearing the aforementioned again for the first time in ages I think those two should be played back to back forever. You get turned loose and you are on the loose. That’s an epic story right there.

This is considered to be Saga’s masterwork and, all, who am I to argue with a marillion fans? And it does have Chapters 5 and 8 of the Einstein saga (Get it? See what I did there?) but I have always been left confused by that story.

Will some Saga fan explain this Einstein thing to me and why all the Chapters were released out of order? Is it coherent when put together?

These guys come across as very earnest and intense. They’ve got something to tell you and it’s urgent that you hear them and when you do you are left…with really nothing. I really want to be let in on the urgency but I’m afraid they don’t know how to or are unable to reel me in to that larger story.

But, man, it’s all so EPIC!

https://music.apple.com/us/album/worlds-apart/1457350358

The 1981 Listening Post - Ian Hunter - Short Back 'n Sides

 Ian Hunter - Short Back 'n Sides

#386

By Robert Sliger

August 1981

Ian Hunter

Short Back ’N Sides

Genre: Pop rock

Allen’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Robert’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Highlights: 

Central Park N’ West

Gun Control

Lisa Likes Rock N’ Roll

Leave Me Alone…(shit, just about the whole record, really)

TRACK LISTING

Central Park N' West

Lisa Likes Rock N' Roll

I Need Your Love

Old Records Never Die

Noises

Rain

Gun Control

Theatre Of The Absurd

Leave Me Alone

Keep On Burnin'

I am a big fan of Ian Hunter’s preceding album You’re Never Alone With a Schizophrenic, along with his work with Mott the Hoople. So I was surprised I had never listened to his follow-up Short Back N’ Sides, as it got zero radio play when it came out. Discovering it as a newbie in The Listening Post group was a tremendous surprise. Short Back N’ Sides is one highly entertaining and dexterously written LP, with Hunter’s unequaled gift for both cynicism and sincerity in full bloom.

Hunter’s cache in British rock circles is in evidence with the excellent mix of session players and Rock Gods playing on Short Back N’ Sides. Guitar “Micks” Jones (The Clash) and Ronson (David Bowie, Mott the Hoople), drummers Topper Headon (The Clash) and Eric Parker, Keyboardists George Meyer (Meat Loaf) and Tommy Mandel, and bassist Tommy Morrongiello add tremendous support. The playing is polished and tight but loose enough to keep the record from becoming stiff and corporate.

The production team was also full of heavy-hitters: Recorded by David Tickle (Tangerine Dream), Mike Scott (Tony Bennett, Peter Frampton, Men Without Hats), and legendary engineer Bill Price (Mott the Hoople, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Who—the list goes on). Bob “trash can” Clearmountain handled the mixing duties. It’s too bad with this pedigree that the record’s mastered sound is pretty bad (at least on the 2000 remaster I heard), with lots of tape flanging and compressor pumping.

Hunter adroitly presents a wide range of emotional and thematic themes, fluctuating between cynicism (the foot-stomping rallying cry “Gun Control”) and earnestness (“Rain”), sometimes even within the same song (the faux-disco mocking and mawkish “Leave Me Alone”). A central pursuit of his writing includes ruminating on being alone, the benefits of isolation and connection, as well as the detriments. “Central Park N’ West” is a great opener. Catchy as a virus at a Trump rally, snarky and affectionate in nearly equal measure, this one’s like the rocking stepchild of Leonard Cohen’s “Chelsea Hotel.”

I enjoy those sarcastic bits more, but the earnest tunes are also beautifully constructed. Take the final stanza of the album closer, “Keep on Burning”: 

“Lost lovers in a moonlit night

Broken lovers in a starless night

I lay my heart down at your feet

’Cause all I want is for you

To keep on burning”

If this sounds a little heady, relax, because the music—in all its early-80’s, gaudy-gloss presentation—is a fun, catchy menage of post-punk, synth-wave, British reggae, and commercial rock. And the hooks keep coming. From rousing sing-alongs “Lisa Likes Rock N Roll” and the sadly-prescient “Gun Control” to the nostalgic “Old Records Never Die,” with its creative (or unintentional?) variation of Mozart’s The Magic Flute “Pa Pa Pa” riff, there are enough earworms here to go fishing with for the weekend.

Hunter’s voice is incredibly energized on Short Back N’ Sides, his high tenor clearly cutting through the sometimes cluttered arrangements with a full-throated delivery that often seems on the verge of spinning out of control. Whether sneering or full-throated emotional, he gives every note just the right weight and push as it’s moment requires. He also sounds like he’s having a ball.

Short Back N’ Sides is the sound of an artist in full command of his considerable gifts swinging for the fences. If he was going to break through to widespread commercial success, this jubilant party disc was the record that should have done it. Sadly for Hunter, who would continue to struggle to expand his devoted fanbase for the remainder of his career. Which is especially unfortunate considering how much he succeeded artistically here. This is a very enjoyable collection of cleverly-written pop/rock tunes, performed with gusto by that all-star lineup. This superlative addition to Ian Hunter’s prodigious catalog of work should be a classic. Very Highly Recommended.

https://open.spotify.com/album/0yA8hpeu47XQUwGuiAyyhA?si=OvxI9h_0Qne8tzxvjReWOQ

The 1981 Listening Post - Bucks Fizz - Bucks Fizz

 Bucks Fizz - Bucks Fizz

#385

By Andrew Anthony

July 26 1981

Bucks Fizz

Bucks Fizz

Genre: ABBA Wannabes 

Allen’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Andrew’s Rating: 2 out of 5

Highlights: 

Making Your Mind Up (I say this begrudgingly, as it was the big hit of this album, but does a bowl of vanilla pudding truly have any highlights?)

Every few years, artists emerge that are true gamechangers, bands that offer something to an unsuspecting public that creates a cultural movement or defines a generation, that leaves an unforgettable mark on history. The Beatles come to mind.  Little Richard.  Elvis.  Nirvana.  Van Halen.  David Bowie.  Guns n Roses.  Michael Jackson.  Prince.  ABBA.  

And, invariably, as these bands become popular, what happens?  Record companies want to capitalize on that success, so they start signing any band that even somewhat resembles the avant garde.  For every Beatles, there are a hundred Herman’s Hermits.  For every Van Halen, a hundred Dokkens.  For every Nirvana, a hundred Bushes.  Bands that are just missing that inexplicable something that makes the original band truly historic.  Pale imitations.  Xerox copies of Xerox copies. 

And that’s precisely what Bucks Fizz is. A Xerox copy of a Xerox copy of ABBA.  The record company that signed them nailed the ABBA “formula”: 2 good looking guys and 2 good looking girls, catchy but shallow lyrics, decent vocals and instrumentals. But something is missing.  The songs ARE catchy but completely forgettable.  There’s a reason you all know the lyrics to Dancing Queen, Waterloo, and Mamma Mia. There’s a reason ABBA is one of the all-time biggest selling artists, artists that were rich and successful enough to turn down a BILLION dollar tour a few years ago.  Bucks Fizz just ain’t got it.  Apparently, they were fairly successful in Europe for a couple of years, having won the Eurovision Song Contest in early 1981. They were NOT successful enough to cross the pond.  In fact, this review assignment was the very first time I’d ever even heard of them.

If you haven’t heard of Bucks Fizz, let alone any of their music, don’t worry.  You’re not missing much.  Pretty soulless, by-the-numbers stuff.  There probably IS a dentist’s office somewhere in Europe playing a Bucks Fizz song on the Muzak overhead.  That song might be helping the patient relax enough to feel less anxious about getting their teeth fixed, but I can guarantee they won’t remember the song by the time they leave the office.

https://open.spotify.com/album/5HqRd9aYv1b0x8A6q2ljFb?si=0tcFjkd5Sd-ha80g3GlWzg

The 1981 Listening Post - The Allman Brothers - Brothers of the Road

 The Allman Brothers - Brothers of the Road

#384

By Brian Kushnir

August 1981

The Allman Brothers Band

Brothers of the Road

Genre: Rock Gone South

Allen’s Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Brian's Rating: 2 out of 5

Highlights: 

Leavin’

10 hot takes on The Allman Brothers Band's “Brothers of the Road”

These are not the Allman Brothers you’re looking for.

Starts with promise, but give it 10 seconds and you’ll be disappointed. 

The Brothers of the Road straight to nowhere.

Is this the Allman Brothers or Doobie Brothers?  

Steve Martin may have been listening to this when he got the idea for his book, “Pure Drivel.”

Profusely dull, lachrymose, misguided, empty, and wrong.

It's obvious this was released before the advent of Viagra because it is positively flaccid. 

There is a moment where the band clicks into a groove on Leavin’, but that’s an eccentric aberration.  

The patented Dickey Betts guitar solo(™) is reduced here to a bleating, repetitive cry for help.  

Sometimes I feel like I’ve been tied to the Listening Post. 

https://open.spotify.com/album/6c7Tr0ltE8TX2x3loUeFgW?si=3O0mssITStCawuNCRcS73g

The 1981 Listening Post - The Gun Club - Fire of Love

 The Gun Club - Fire of Love

#383

By Craig Fitzgerald

August 31 1981

Gun Club

Fire of Love

Genre: LA Punk

Allen’s Rating: 3 out of 5

Craig's Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Highlights:

Sex Beat

Preaching the Blues

She's Like Heroin To Me

Ghost on the Highway 

Back when I first got into rockabilly, I picked up a compilation from the Hootenanny car show/music festival in the late 1990s. For the next five years or so, that single compilation had an exponential effect on the music that I was listening to. I bought records from almost every band on it, and then figured out who was in those bands, and what other projects they were involved in, and who the musicians were that they were inspired by and it was like this never-ending family tree that just led to more and more great music at every turn. 

It's similar to how I discovered the Gun Club. 

 In the mid-2000s, I was doing a lot of reading up on the LA music scene of the late 1970s, and I'd watched stuff like X: The Unheard Music and Penelope Spheris's The Decline of Western Civilization, so I started to obsess a bit about the bands that came out of that time and place. I listened to everything I could from bands like the Blasters, X, the Go-Gos. And in the summer of 1985, I played the Repo Man soundtrack until the tape wore out. 

But the Gun Club was a band I wasn't too familiar with until probably 10 years ago. It might have been even later, after I'd read John Doe's excellent book, and maybe they were mentioned there. 

Regardless WHEN I first heard it, the first time I played it, it hit me like a ton of bricks. 

That opening track, holy shit. 

Sex Beat is exactly how rock and roll is supposed to sound. Anybody with even rudimentary guitar, bass, drumming or vocal skills could put a decent cover of that song together in a couple of hours. 

That's how this entire record is. These are exceedingly simple songs, played by people who barely knew how to play instruments. 

You always hear that kind of thing when famous musicians talk about their early days, but it's mostly bullshit. Pete Townshend was a hell of a banjo player long before the Who ever came along. 

But it's 100% true on this record, and you can hear it. 

Yeah, it's "punk," I guess, but it's more than that. Like The Blasters -- who got lumped into the punk scene, too -- this is American roots music. There are Robert Johnson covers just like on your favorite Led Zeppelin albums, but they hadn't been studying how blues music worked from the age of 10. This was played by people who had figured out the 1-4-5 chord progression like three weeks before. 

This is one- and two-chord Delta blues through a filthy, late-1970s LA filter. 

Jeffrey Lee Pierce said they made this record for $2,500 in 48 hours and man, it has that sense of immediacy to it. He hated this record after it came out, but judging by the rest of what this band, and then he as a solo artist put out, this is rightly the thing he should be remembered for.  From here on out, the Gun Club was an ever fluctuating collection of musicians that never could really get their shit together. I'm sure some of those gigs were great, and some were terrible, but this record is a knockout from start to finish. My only complaint is that there are a couple of 5:00-plus tracks here that could've been cut down to add other songs, but even those I can't complain about too much. For the Love of Ivy is killer, and it's about twice as long as most of the songs I love to listen to. 

If you listen to one thing on this record, make it Sex Beat. You'll find yourself singing it for the rest of your life.

https://open.spotify.com/album/3OrGW7wRB8dIZ8EYrAkkWW?si=iR6ya_CJSnW40eBxHOM5IA