Fun Boy Three: Waiting (Chrysalis Records/1983)

The Fun Boy Three was an offshoot project of ex-members of The Specials; Terry Hall, Lynval Golding and Neville Staple. After The Specials' single for “Ghost Town” peaked at number one on the UK charts, Golding, Hall and Staple left the band to form The Fun Boy Three.

The band had near-instant success in the U.K. with their first few singles which all reached the Top 20 and their self-titled debut album which reached the Top 10. The album had a spare sound with tribal drumming and chanting, Terry Hall's deadpan vocals and background vocal support from Bananarama. The band also returned the favor by contributing to Bananarama's “Really Saying Something” single.

The Fun Boy Three's follow-up and would-be final album, Waiting , was produced by Talking Head David Byrne. It featured full-arrangements in a significantly more classical-pop vein. It features David Byrne on guitar and ex-Specials trumpet player Dick Cuthell as well. Byrne's production really does suit the songs well. And the results are a cohesive, satisfying listen.

There are a few tangos (“The Tunnel Of Love” and “The Things We Do”) a few socio-political songs (“The More I See The Less I Believe” and “The Pressure Of Life”), a few darkly comical autobiographical songs (“Well Fancy That” and “We're Having All The Fun”), music hall via reggae (“The Farmyard Connection”) and the bands' arrangement of “Our Lips Are Sealed”, which was co-written by Hall with Jane Wiedlin. It's a poignantly darker version of The Go-Go's classic bubblegummy rendition.

All in all an awesome record. Definitely a sleeper of an album. Highly recommended.

Here's the video review:

Talking Heads: More Songs About Buildings And Food (Sire Records/1978)

More Songs About Buildings And Food is Talking Heads second album. It was the first in a trilogy of albums to be co-produced (with the band) by ex-Roxy Music synth layer and ambient music pioneer Brian Eno. Eno seemed to bring out the best aspects of the band and their interaction with one another. Eno also played synths, keyboards, additional guitars, percussion and backing vocals to the album.

The album more also contains more danceable elements to the songs and rhythm section of Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz have become a tight unit. Jerry Harrison's role in the band is even more developed as this point as well. David Byrne's songs are quirky in the same way they were on Talking Heads '77, however there is a more seemingly organic nature to the material. All of the parts played are extremely purposeful yet wonderfully understated.

The cover art is comprised of 529 close-up Polaroids of the band which was done by the late artist Jimmy De Sana. And now resides in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. The album reached #29 in the US eventually going Gold and peaked at #21 in the UK charts.

“Stay Hungry”, “Warning Sign”, “Thank You For Sending Me An Angel” and especially “The Big Country” are among the bands simplest yet somehow greatest songs, in my humble opinion. The band also achieved their biggest chart hit to date with a Top 40 cover of the Al Green song “Take Me To The River”. The band had previously had a minor hit with “Psycho Killer” which only reached #92 on Billboard's Single Charts. However “Take Me To The River” landed them spots on American Bandstand and Saturday Night Live which formally introduced them to America at large.

This is one of my all-time favorite albums and I can't recommend it highly enough.  

Here is the video review:

Tom Tom Club: Close To The Bone (Sire Records/1983)

The rhythm section of Talking Heads, the husband and wife duo of drummer Chris Frantz & bassist Tina Weymouth, formed Tom Tom Club in 1980 while Talking Heads were on hiatus after the tour for Remain In Light. They had remarkable success with their single “Genius Of Love”, from their self-titled debut album. The 1981 single has been on of the most sampled records of the 1980's with artists from Mariah Carey to Public Enemy to 2Pac. It was an overall bigger success than any Talking Heads chart single had been (“Take Me To The River” peaked at #26 on Billboard's Hot 100 while “Genius Of Love” charted at #31, however it reached #1 on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Charts and #24 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart). Also reaching #1 on Billboard's Hot Dance Charts was “Wordy Rappinghood” which was a top 10 hit in the UK.

Their 1983 follow-up album Close To The Bone was less successful commercially. It charted at #73 as opposed to their debut's #23 chart placing. The two singles from the album (“Pleasure Of Love” & “The Man With The 4-Way Hips”) charted briefly on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Charts at #23 &#4, respectively. The album is a bit more organically cohesive than the debut and bears repeated listens simply for the fact that its' two singles haven’t been played to death on alternative radio for the last thirty-years. It still has the breathy, ethereal vocals from Lani, Laura & Tina Weymouth, but it has more synthesized drums in addition to Chris Frantz's standard kit and more twee synth sounds (which still retains the Caribbean-feel of the overall aesthetic). As for samples taken for Close To The Bone, The Treacherous Three sampled “Pleasure Of Love” on their “Turning You On” single by recording the sample as opposed to taking it from the Tom Tom Club recording.

It was initially released on both vinyl and cassette and wasn't released in a digital format until the Deluxe Edition release of the debut and Close To The Bone in 2009.

I personally think it's a fine release, ripe for rediscovery.  

Here's The Video Review: