Adam Ant: Wonderful (Capitol Records/1995)

It had been five long years since Adam Ant released an album when Wonderful appeared in March of 1995. However, this was not through any fault of his own.

In 1991 he'd recorded Persuasion, his would-be second album for MCA Records with longtime collaborator Marco Pirroni on guitar and the former Chic rhythm section of Bernard Edwards on bass (and doing double-duty as producer) and Tony Thompson on drums. Persuasion was to be the follow-up to the fairly-successful Manners & Physique album (which contained the Top-20 hit "Room At The Top"). Apparently MCA - who'd been a floundering label in the early 1990's - was entirely restaffed from top to bottom. The people who were in Adam's corner were long gone and the label implemented an absurd policy of "release only albums that are guaranteed to go platinum". Persuasion - which is a much better album than Manners & Physique in every way and would've sat nicely alongside other alternative dance of the day like Jesus Jones' Doubt and The Soup Dragons' Hotwired albums - was put indefinitely in the vaults of MCA. To this day MCA refuses to release it, licence any material from it, or even discuss it (!). 

After being released from his contract with MCA Ant signed with EMI in the UK and Capitol in the US. In the interim however, Adam suffered multiple stalkers (one of which held Adam at gunpoint after breaking into his home), being placed in a mental institution in late 1994 which led to the breakup with his girlfriend actress Heather Graham and ultimately exacerbating his bipolar disorder.

Recorded at Abbey Road in the Spring of 1994 with a band of Ex-Polecat/Morrissey sideman Boz Boorer and Pirroni on guitars, Bruce Witkin on bass and drum duties shared by Dave Ruffy of The Ruts and John Reynolds (whom Pirroni had worked with previously on the Sinéad O'Connor albums he'd played on). Produced by David Tickle (Split Enz, Divinyls), the album has a mellower feel than what Ant is generally known for and is similar in feel to fellow New Wave comeback albums like Duran Duran's Wedding Album and then-new artists like The Cramberries' Everybody's Doing It So Why Can't We?.

The album is littered with low-key glam stompers like "Vampires", "1969 Again" and the rollicking single "Gotta Be A Sin" (the chorus of which contains the chords to T. Rex's "Jeepster", backwards). Swaggering tracks like "Very Long Ride" and "Beautiful Dream" (both co-written by Kings-era Ant bassist Kevin Mooney). Ballads like "Yin & Yang", "Won't Take That Talk" and the album's soaring title-track - the album's lone Top-40 hit. "Wonderful" was Adam with his heart on his sleeve, something he'd never done in the past. And it actually was poignant and effective enough to be a real hit. 

Although, this may be damning it with faint praise, the album is loaded with subtle, adult, minor pop songs that have been largely overlooked and/or simply forgotten about. Sonically, the album is reminiscent of Morrissey's Vauxhall And I and is like nothing else in the Antman's catalog. 

Recommended. 

Thomas Dolby: Aliens Ate My Buick (EMI Manhattan/1988)

I first discovered Thomas Dolby in the Spring of 1989 on a program called Classic MTV. It was a thirty-minute show that showed 5-6 music videos and was hosted by returning-VJ Martha Quinn. I discovered a lot of artists via this show. The video was "She Blinded Me With Science" and Thomas Dolby made a big impression twelve-year old me. The song had an insanely catchy, quirky hook and Dolby generally sounded like the younger brother of Gary Numan and Andy Partridge. The low melodic synth line that precedes the "Science!" sounded vaguely sinister and the understated funky, chorused guitar was (and still is) a favorite pet guitar sound of mine. Quintessential new wave with a decidedly quirky bent. I was sold on Mr. Dolby.

I went out and bought the 7" single and Golden Age Of Wireless cassette at Record World later that week. MTV had done its job. There was another cassette tape in the Thomas Dolby section too; Aliens Ate My Buick. The cover was an homage to classic, campy B-Movie posters (although, I didn't know this at the time). It just looked sort of dopey and silly and twelve-year old me was not interested. I eventually picked up the album many years later. In the interim I'd fallen in love with both The Golden Age Of Wireless and its underappreciated follow-up The Flat Earth.

I had no knowledge of what had led-up to this album. Dolby scored a few films, moved to Los Angeles and married an actress. The album - produced by Bill Bottrell (Madonna, Sheryl Crow and Michael Jackson) - definitely sounds like an L.A.-album from the later 1980's (I don't think I've ever heard that description be used in a complimentary way) which, it in fact is. It spawned three singles; the Caucasian-funk of "Airhead", which has cliche-ridden observations of dumb Hollywood blondes and sounds like it could've been the theme to Earth Girls Are Easy. "Hot Sauce" which was written by George Clinton of all people and employs a definite Prince-influence. The song sounds like it might've worked if it was handled by another artist. The thin production - and mastering of the day - sort of deflates the whole thing. and "My Brain Is Like A Sieve" which isn't a bad song, but the arrangement sounds vaguely wrong and is, again, sabotaged by a weird mix and/or ill-suited production.

The remainder of the album is all-over the place. "The Keys To Her Ferrari" has a self-consciously wacky big-band arrangement with unpleasant keyboard sounds. "Pulp Culture" sounds like Beck about ten years before his excursions on Midnight Vultures. In general, Dolby comes off lyrically like the smartest kid in the class being humored by the teachers, as he attempts to be humorous; it just comes off as embarrassing. But here, Dolby sounds like he's impossible to embarrass. Ouch.

The final two songs on the album proper are both excellent and makes me wish Dolby had recorded more straight-forward tracks like these instead of attempting to sell an overripe, wacky-persona with misguided funk exercises. Co-written with sometime-collaborator Matthew Seligman of The Soft Boys, "The Ability To Swing" has a low-key jazzy shuffle. And despite Dolby's curiously affected vocals, the lyrics are direct and effective. Random aside; the chorused bassline also reminds me of that scene in The Breakfast Club where the detentioned teens are all bored and falling asleep.

The last track on the album is the positively excellent "Budapest By Blimp". At over eight-minutes long, what could be an overlong exercise in atmospherics, turns out to be a sublime soundscape with wonderful musical and lyrical imagery. It singularly displays what makes Thomas Dolby such a special artist; unexpected depth and surprising poignancy wrapped in quirky packaging with casually intelligent lyrics. Some wonderfully understated vocals from Dolby and ethereal female backing vocals on this track as well. Absolutely beautiful

The final song on the compact disc and cassette editions of the album is "May The Cube Be With You", which was originally released in in 1985 under the moniker Dolby's Cube. It's a flat, rote P-Funk-styled singalong featuring George Clinton himself and Lene Lovich (the latter of whom Dolby wrote "New Toy" for, about his desire for a new synthesizer). It ends things in a rather unspectacular fashion.

Aside from the two tracks mentioned toward the end of the album, an unfortunate collection of material by an artist whose work is generally excellent.

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:

Paul Weller: The Paramount, Huntington, NY (10/1/2017)

Paul Weller had been an early favorite of mine who, over the course of time I simply forgot about. The ex-frontman for The Jam and The Style Council was one of the best songwriters from the class of  '77. Defiantly British, in the same vein as The Kinks before them and Blur after them, The Jam were melodically somewhere between The Buzzcocks and The Clash. There was a classicism to their material in the same vein as XTC or Squeeze. Yet, unlike those bands, they were hugely influenced by classic American R&B. So much so that Weller disbanded The Jam in late 1982 and formed blue-eyed soul-tinged outfit, The Style Council in early 1983. Weller has been exploring blue-eyed soul mixed with influences of folk and psychedelia since the early 1990's when he started his solo career.

That's basically where I stopped following his career. Big mistake. He's apparently released some amazing solo records (1993's Wild Wood, 2008's 22 Dreams, 2015's Saturn's Pattern to name but a few). After hearing these records, I realize how dull other people's solo records invariably always seem to be - something that Weller has seemingly been able to effortlessly avoid. I'm also struck by how different his vocal persona is as opposed to his near-cockney talk-singing in The Jam and Style Council. He's a full-throated singer in the same vein as Steve Winwood in Traffic. In fact, he kind of sounds identical to Winwood in his phrasing and his singing.

I'd never seen Weller before so I was overjoyed to see him on the first night of his American tour. The room was full of older folks (I'm somewhat used to being a young-in at a lot of these shows) who were all drinking on a Sunday night, Monday-morning-be-damned.Weller came armed with a full-sized band (about six or seven musicians backing him) and alternated between guitar and keyboards.
The only person in his band that I knew prior was Steve Cradock of Ocean Colour Scene. Weller has obviously aged a smidge, but he's still in perfect voice and is in great shape. And he's no less vital than he's ever been.

The songs; I have to admit not being familiar with ANY of his solo material before the show. Of the fantastic twenty-nine song set, the band performed two Style Council songs ("My Ever Changing Moods" and "Shout To The Top!" - both of which were perhaps the most well-received of the night) and Jam songs ("Start!" and "Monday") which were nice to hear, the former with a slightly reserved arrangement. Performed from the new album, A Kind Of Revolution, was the newest single, "Woo Sé Mama" and "She Moves With The Fayre". I presumed these songs to be covers of classic R&B songs from long ago, only to discover they're only months old and Weller originals.

The band performed six of the nine songs that comprise the Saturns Pattern album. I've come to conclusion that this may be Weller's greatest solo album. This is only because I've only heard a few so far, and they may be all tied for being as awesome as the one I heard last. He performed two songs ("The Weaver" and the title-track) from his most-acclaimed solo album, Wild Wood. 

So, aside from seeing the legendary Jam-frontman. I got to see a soulful elder-statesman who introduced me to his solo catalog. A solo catalog that not only does not suck, but I can wholeheartedly appreciate and actively enjoy it on its own terms and not make me long for The Jam or The Style Council. Also, his band is very well-rehearsed, and Weller is still a great performer.

A great show.

Special thanks to Doug Mashkow from CD Island and Bob Wilson of WLIR-FM.

Adam Ant: The Beacon Theater, New York, NY 9/13/2017 Anthems: The Singles Tour 2017

Since 2013, Adam Ant has made something of a comeback. He released his first album since 1995's Wonderful - the very fine Adam Ant Is the Blueblack Hussar in Marrying the Gunner's Daughter album, toured the UK in celebration of the reissue of Dirk Wears White Sox, embarked on a world tour to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Ants' basically perfect Kings Of The Wild Frontier album, and now he's on his Anthems: The Singles Tour.

His Anthems tour is basically the vast majority of his singles and a good portion of his best B-Sides. I'd seen Adam on tour earlier this year, so I knew what to expect in terms of his live band (he's got a cracking band that actually sound like a real band and not just backing musicians - Will Crewdson is an excellent lead guitarist and the two drummers are perfect - especially Jola). Adam himself has a lot more energy than one would expect from someone who's been through the Punk wars of 1977. He didn't disappoint on this night either.

The twenty-five song set was basically an Ant-fans dream set. The band opened with a fiery rendition of "Beat My Guest" and the show never really let up. Early singles "Young Parisians" (and its B-Side "Lady"), "Zerox" and "Car Trouble" all earned enthusiastic responses. Adam ran through plenty of obscure B-Sides such as "Greta X", "Christian D'Or" and "B-Side Baby". It was certainly nice to hear Adam perform hits that he doesn't do very often (excepting this tour) like "Apollo 9", "Can't Set Rules About Love" and "Puss N Boots". The ebbs and flows of the set felt fairly natural/organic with the energy level boosting up several notches on "Friend Or Foe" (which sounded amazing live, and truly benefited from having two drummers) and on "Kings Of The Wild Frontier" - which seemed to get the entire audience up and moving in a speaking in tongues sort of way.

Of course, Adam and his band performed the staples "Stand And Deliver", "Vive Le Rock", "Antmusic" and "Goody Two Shoes" all to the expected fervent response.

The only singles Adam didn't tackle were "Ant Rap" (for obvious reasons...Marco, Merrick, Terry Lee and Gary Tibbs were not on tour with "Yours Truly"), "Deutscher Girls", "Rough Stuff" and the US Top 40 single "Wonderful". None of which were missed too greatly.

I was basically a spoiled Antfan on this night - as I'd had my VIP package (which included a T-Shirt, a bandanna, buttons/badges, a tote bag and a numbered, limited edition autographed poster). Not to mention my eighth-row seat and sterling companionship.

Opening for Adam were the Glam Skanks. They're a quartet from LA who come off like a television producers dream of an a homogenized version of The Runaways. Their material didn't really resonate with me at all (it felt very affected and faux to put it lightly...very LA, very plastic). Their sound in terms of the house engineer and the room itself was fine though. About 3/4 through Adam's set, it was slightly overloaded and louder, which was basically unnecessary. The Beacon is a great sounding theater and really needs no help in terms of artificial loud sounds via the sound engineer. But I digress.

A great night.

Shriekback: Oil And Gold (Island Records/1985)

Shriekback's third album finds ex-XTC keyboardist Barry Andrews, ex-Gang Of Four bassist Dave Allen and ex-Out On Blue Six guitarist Carl Marsh's collectively greatest vinyl moment. Oil And Gold is the perfect transition from quirky outsider minimalist funk band to alternative commercial band. The album is perhaps their most diverse offering. It contains their most well-known hit in “Nemesis”, which is something of a mid 80's classic. “Fish Below The Ice” is also a fairly-successful single.

“Faded Flowers”, “Only Thing That Shines”, The Big Hush” and “Coelcanth” form something of a quiet calm suite. “Malaria” (which came this close to being issued as a single) and “Everything That Rises Must Converge” are both winning songs.

This was the last album to feature Marsh as lead vocalist, before the role was taken by creative leader Andrews. His whispering vocals are effective within the context of the bands inner logic.

This is a very good album and something of a forgotten mini-classic.

Here's the video review:

The English Beat: The Hall At MP, Brooklyn, NY (3/3/2017)

The English Beat were, along with The Specials, Madness and others, part of the U.K. 2 Tone ska revival in the late 1970's. The had a slew of hits in the U.K. and a few in the U.S., namely "Mirror In The Bathroom", "Save It For Later" and "I Confess". They broke up in 1983 (spin-off groups included General Public and Fine Young Cannibals) and have recently reformed. The English Beat has always been something of a third-string favorite band of mine, yet I've always immensely enjoyed their small catalog of three albums. I've certainly never thought to see them live, until now.

The new band features Dave Wakeling and six new able-bodied members. The band confidently took the stage dressed in matching black Fred Perry polo shirts (reportedly shoulder checking various audience members on the way) and were sprightly, tight and well-rehearsed. The certainly exceeded my expectations as far as reproducing their danceably spare sound. They're touring ostensibly to celebrate the band's forthcoming Here We Go Love album, which is due this Summer. It will be the bands first studio album in thirty-four years. The band sampled two new tracks from the album ("The Love You Give Last Forever" and "Said We Would Never Die").

The band reminded the audience just how many classic tracks they had: "Twist & Crawl", "Doors Of Your Heart", "Too Nice To Talk To", "I Confess", "Hands Off She's Mine", "Save It For Later", their cover of "Tears Of A Clown" and "Mirror In The Bathroom". Wakeling and company even pulled out "Tenderness" (his later band, General Public's biggest hit). It was a great show by fine band.

Special thanks to Laurel.

Adam Ant: Charline McCombs Empire Theatre San Antonio, TX (2/15/2017)

New Wave icon Adam Ant has been touring on the U.S. performing his classic Kings Of The Wild Frontier album. The tour hit San Antonio, and Ant came ready to (Stand &) deliver the goods. Armed with two drummers (just as The Ants had), a bassist and a guitarist, the band was well-rehearsed and you'd be forgiven for thinking this was a brand new band and not an exercise in nostalgia. Although his fans know that he's covered so many bases and very well, it seemed like maybe Ant (nee Stuart Goddard) had something to prove. He's always been an energetic, charismatic performer, and at age sixty-two, he still is.

He performed the U.K. version of Kings Of The Wild Frontier album from beginning to end (which included the U.K. Top-Five hit singles; "Antmusic", "Dog Eat Dog" and the title-track). He tackled plenty of early material ("Zerox", "Cartrouble" & "Never Trust A Man (With Egg On His Face)"), mega-hits ("Goody Two Shoes", "Stand & Deliver", "Prince Charming"), a few shoulda-been mega-hits ("Vive Le Rock", "Desperate But Not Serious"), approximately six early Ants B-Sides and a cover of T.Rex's "Get It On".

All-in-all it was an amazing performance. His backing band were loud and present and were fine de facto replacements for the Kings-era Ants. The man is still as capable as he ever was and it seems like he has more fire under his belly than the average 80's new waver. Mellow is not a word one would use to describe his current edginess.

A perfect show.

XTC: English Settlement: Deluxe Edition Box Set (Ape House/2016)

XTC were one of the most important, influential and experimental bands to come out of the UK Punk/New Wave movement. For the last few years they've been releasing definitive, deluxe versions of their albums (both on Blu Ray and on Vinyl). Last Summer yielded vinyl releases of both English Settlement and Skylarking. English Settlement is easily on of the bands' best albums; "Senses Working Overtime", "Ball & Chain" and "No Thugs In Our House" were the singles. Noteworthy album tracks include: "Jason And The Argonauts", "Melt The Guns" and "English Roundabout". The band has an easy confidence to their playing and sound at the top of their game.

As far as definitive vinyl box sets go, it doesn't get much better than this.
Double album on 200 gram vinyl, a CD flat master of the album, a sixteen-page booklet with very detailed liner notes written by all four members of the band, and lyrics for all songs. The audio source is the original half-inch masters.

Very highly recommended to fans of XTC and to anyone not familiar with the band; do yourself a favor and check out this album, Black Sea and/or Drums And Wires.

Here's the video review:


Special Thanks to: Dave Rerecich of TeeVee Games.

Adam And The Ants: Kings Of The Wild Frontier (CBS/Sony/2016)

Kings Of The Wild Frontier was the album that started “Antmania” in the United Kingdom. It also contained “Dog Eat Dog” (UK #4), “Kings Of The Wild Frontier” (UK #2) and “”Antmusic”” (UK #2). The album itself reached #1 in the UK, #44 in the US and earned the band a BRIT award for Best Album and a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist.

It featured the Burundi dual drumming of Chris Hughes (aka Merrick) and Terry Lee Mail. The glam meets art rock guitar of Marco Pirroni. There's shades of Ennio Morricone all over the album and images of American Indian meets American Cowboy of the old West. All delivered in a knowingly cam, post-art school way. By all accounts it is a classic album.

Sony has just reissued the album on vinyl. It's absolutely 100% faithful to the original UK release. It even includes the Adam And The Ants Catalogue, which is basically an awesomely cool magazine all about the ants and features a ton of photos and paraphernalia of the time.

Highly recommended for all New Wave lovers. And loves of post-punk and garage too.

Special Thanks To Tee-Vee Game's Dave Rerecich.

And now, here's the video review:

Tubeway Army: Replicas (Atco/1979)

Replicas is the Tubeway Army's second and final album. It successfully marries the monophonic and polyphonic synthesizers and guitars of Gary Numan to the bass of Paul Gardiner and drums of Jess Lidyard. Given the nature of Numan's later work, the album isn't as icy cold as one would assume. 

It is a classic New Wave release and contains the UK #1 hit “Are 'Friends' Electric? As well as the non-charting single “Down In The Park” (which was memorably performed in the classic film Urgh! A Music War!). As well as such fine tracks as “Me! I Disconnect From You”, the instrumental “I Nearly Married A Human” and the title track. This is a great, early synth album and is highly recommended for fans of all things synthesizer and EDM. 

Here's The Video Review:

The Cure: Seventeen Seconds (Fiction Records/1980)

The Cure's sophomore release, Seventeen Seconds was released in April of 1980. It is the first album to mark a distinct path away from the faster of edgy pop of their debut, Three Imaginary Boys or Boys Don't Cry as it was released in the US. The minimal, precise pop the band plays on Seventeen Seconds had been present on Three Imaginary Boys in the songs “Another Day”, “Accuracy” and the classic “Three Imaginary Boys”.

The album is amazingly successful in creating a definite mood and is psychedelic in a downbeat way. The drums of Laurence Tolhurst and keyboards of Matthieu Hartly are very minimal and precise. Robert Smith's guitar lines are bright and nicely chorused while Simon Gallup's bass lines generally provide the melody lines. “In Your House” is a psychedelic, new wave classic. “Play For Today” although a promo video clip was made for the song and it's appearance on the Staring At The Sea Compact Disc led many to believe it was a single, it was not. Although it does sound like a long-lost classic single.

“A Forest” in fact was a classic new wave single - it was a UK Top 40 hit and reached number 47 on Billboard's Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart. It's repetitive four-note bass-line, echoing vocals, backwards snare and chorused guitar all combined with a memorable Smith vocal performance make for a very memorable track. “Secrets”, “M” and the title track are effectively moody, lightly gloomy atmosphere pieces. “At Night” is a nocturnal mini-masterpiece. While “Three”, “A Reflection” and “The Final Sound” are basically instrumental exercises.

This is my favorite album by The Cure and I can't say enough good things about it.

Recommended. Highly.   

Here's the video review:

A Very Special Thanks To: Stephen Worth. 

The Cure: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY (6/20/16)

The Cure are celebrating their 40th anniversary this year (they formed in 1976, and started recording in 1978). To celebrate their career the band are on tour to (unofficially, at least) celebrate this. And from the offset of the tour, things were reportedly looking good for long-time/hardcore Cure fans. The band had been performing obscure songs they hadn't since the 1980's. And the band played a three-night residency at New York's famous Madison Square Garden. Despite being a longtime Cure fan, I hadn't yet seen the band perform live. So I was especially looking forward to this show.

The Cure line-up in 2016 is, of course, Robert Smith on vocals, guitar and occasional six-string bass, longtime David Bowie-band member Reeves Gabrels on lead guitar, longtime Cure member Simon Gallup on bass, Roger O'Donnell on Keyboards - who made a welcome return to the fold after a long absence - and Jason Cooper, who has been with The Cure since the mid 90's. The band has a wonderful uniformity of sound and sounded fantastic together. It was also fairly obvious that this was a fun show for them. Gallup and O'Donnell's playfully interactions were revealing of that. Smith still sounded in good voice and still looks as he has always (slightly chubby, black clothes, frizzy hair, some lipstick).

The band opened with the mid-tempo "Out Of This World" from Bloodflowers followed by the wonderful "Pictures Of You" and the fine "Closedown" both from Disintegration. I was overjoyed when the band launched into "High" - a personal favorite from the Summer of 1992's Wish - "A Night Like This", "Push" (which had nearly everyone up dancing) and "In Between Days" (the band's first Billboard Top 100 hit) all of which came from The Head On The Door album. The performed most of their US hits ("Just Like Heaven", "Love Song", "Lullaby") notable absences were "Friday I'm In Love" and "Fascination Street", both of which were performed at the previous MSG shows.

The band performed some classics that they don't always perform - all of which were favorites of mine;  the lilting "The Caterpillar", the bonafide psychedelic classic "A Forest",  the new wave synth dance pop classics "The Walk" and "Let's Go To Bed", the late 80's club classics "Hot! Hot! Hot!" and "Why Can't I Be You" (both of which had the entire place up and dancing frantically), "Play For Today" and "At Night" from their Seventeen Seconds album, the rarity "Bananafishbones" and "Shake Dog Shake" from The Top, "Close To Me" and "Kyoto Song" also from The Head On The Door. The band played for over three hours performing 31 songs with four (!) encores.

Opening band The Twilight Sad were a fitting opening band and were a pleasant surprise.

Overall, The Cure were amazing and exceeded all expectations that I had going in to the show. If you're a Cure fan and are hesitant about seeing them. Don't be. I highly recommend seeing them if/when you have the chance.  

Photos by Bill Wikstrom.

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:

Elvis Costello & The Attractions: Get Happy!! (Columbia/1980)

Get Happy!! is the fourth album by Elvis Costello, third with the Attractions. Unlike his other albums with The Attractions, it has a distinctly R&B feel. It is also, in my humble opinion, Elvis' most cohesive creative statement with The Attractions. Produced by Nick Lowe, who had produced all of Costello's albums to date, does a wonderful job with achieving the perfect balance of getting a suitable R&B production on many of the tracks, while getting the best out of the band and what makes them great.

The album contains twenty-tracks, which is unusual for a non-double album release. Fearing audiophile fears of “groove-cramming”, producer Nick Lowe wrote a disclaimer instructing listeners to fear not as there is no loss of quality as the record nears the end of each side. The album also contains some of his best tracks; “New Amsterdam”, “High Fidelity” and “Love For Tender”. Other standouts include “Secondary Modern”, Riot Act” and the Sam & Dave cover of “I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down”. Truth be told all of these songs display Costello's seemingly easy talent of bending phrases to phrases to perfectly fit the rhyme schemes for his always insightful lyrics.

The sleeve has nice retro cover art by the late, legendary artist Barney Bubbles with some editions having ready-made ringwear on the sleeve. It peaked at #2 on the UK charts and #11 in the US, also reaching #11 on Rolling Stone Magazine's 100 Greatest Album Of The 1980's list in 1989.

I personally cannot recommend this album high enough.   

Video Review, anyone?:

I.R.S. Greatest Hits Vols 2 & 3 (IRS Records/1981)

I.R.S. Records was one of the most influential American record labels of the New Wave era. International Record Syndicate was the brainchild of Miles Copeland III (older bother of Police drummer Stewart). Copeland founded the British record labels Illegal Records and Faulty Products in 1977 and 1978, respectively. He had previously established a relationship with A&M Records and in 1979 along with Jay Boberg and Carlos Grasso, made a deal with them to distribute IRS Records.

I.R.S. was responsible for exposing the general public at large with the likes of The Go-Go's, The Cramps, R.E.M., The Fleshtones, Wall Of Voodoo, The Buzzcocks, Oingo Boingo, The Fall and countless other alternative music acts of the late 1970's and 1980's.

Released in 1981, I.R.S. Greatest Hits Volume 2 & 3 is a double-album sampler of then-current recordings, released on the label. It personally introduced me to several bands when I first heard it. Namely The Cramps, The Fleshtones, The Buzzcocks, The Damned and The Stranglers. The album features two songs by Stewart Copeland's pseudonym while he was in The Police, rare single tracks from both Squeeze and The Police. It features notable entries from somewhat obscure acts like Humans, Fashion, Skafish, Payoloa$ and Patrick D. Martin. It also features curiosities from ex-Velvet Underground cellist John Cale, ex-Damned guitarist Brian James, ex-Squeeze keyboardist/BBC personality Jools Holland, and BBC6 personality Tom Robinson. It contains great songs by The Buzzcocks, The Damned, The Fall, The Stranglers, The Cramps and The Fleshtones.

The album is inconsistently excellent and overall is a pretty good representation of the music that I.R.S. Records. It was a pretty important album in shaping my own musical tastes growing up. There can't be too many better albums of it's kind. It's a great alternative music sampler of the early 1980's.  

Highly Recommended!

Here's the video review (including an awesome K-Tel-esque commercial) :

The Suburbs: Credit In Heaven (Twin/Tone Records/1981)

The Suburbs were one of the greatest bands to come from Minneapolis in the 1980's. Originally a jumped-up, noisy new wave quintet, and later evolving into a more moody, danceable outfit. The band's first record in 1978, was also the first ever released on the Twin/Tone label (later home to Soul Asylum and The Replacements) and would serve as the band's label until 1983. In that time they released two albums, two EP's and three singles.

The second of those albums was Credit In Heaven. An ambitious double-album platter, with a nice and varied track selection and clear production via Paul Stark (who would later produce The Replacements' Hootenanny album). The album's lone single “Music For Boys” reached number 66 on Billboard's Dance Music/Club Play singles chart. And it became something of a new wave club staple.

While there is a singularly originality to The Suburbs and their material; a few points of references are Roxy Music, Talking Heads and David Bowie. Beej Chaney's vocals point to Iggy Pop, while Chan Polling's voice recalls Bryan Ferry. “Cigarette In Backwards” sounds like a boozy Roxy Music. “Drinking With An Angel” sounds like Iggy Pop fronting Talking Heads. “Idiot Voodoo” and “Dish It Up” sound like absolute new wave dance classics, while “Tape Your Wife To The Ceiling” and “Spring Came” sound like they should be alternative radio classics. Being that it is a double-album there are a few lesser tracks (namely “Macho Drunk”, “Postcard” and “Girlache”). But even those tracks don't detract from the overall cohesiveness and general effectiveness of the album.

The band's playing is tight and the arrangements accentuate the excellently understated rhythm section of bassist Michael Halliday and drummer Hugo Klaers. Lead guitarist the late Bruce C. Allen is shown to be an original player and effective foil to Chaney's spare, quirky parts. And Polling is an a master at knowing what to piano parts to play and what not to play. There is a shared sense of understatement which is common to all.

A highly recommended album.  

Here's the video review:

Special thanks to: Doug Mashkow of New Music Scene and CD Island.

I.R.S. Greatest Hits Volume 1 (IRS Records/1981)

I.R.S. Greatest Hits Volume One was a sampler of material by artists on I.R.S Records. It was available via an offer that came with copies of I.R.S. Greatest Hits Volume 2 & 3. It is quite possible that this album was the Doing Time On Vinyl compilation album that was scheduled, but never released. It was released in a plain white sleeve with a orange sticker indicating the name of album and the slogan “A sampler of tunes you want to hear over and over again”. The copyright date is 1980, but considering it was only released via an offer from an album that came out in 1981, me thinks this didn't actually see the light of day until 1981 as well.

It features great singles from Klark Kent and The Buzzcocks, two tracks from both Oingo Boingo and The Stranglers and a rare single by Berlin with Virginia Macolino on vocals, before Terri Nunn joined the band. It also features Henry Badowski's first appearance on a US LP, Chelsea's fine cover of The Seeds' “No Escape” and Payola$ excellent “China Boys” single.

It's a nice little alternative new/wave compilation album. I've only seen this album two times, tops in the record shops. So, it's a semi-rare release. Recommended.

Here's the video review:

ABP: Something To Believe In (Link Records/1985)

Aberdeen, Scotland's APB was a fairly obscure band until their second single “Shoot You Down” began getting significant airplay on Long Island, NY's WLIR-FM. Their story is the kind of thing that generally speaking, just doesn't happen anymore. The bands' brand of danceable Gang Of Four- inflected funk was hugely popular in dance clubs in the early 1980's, so it's not that big of a shock that they'd appeal to an audience. Only according to the band, it was completely shocked when a major station in the US started playing the bands song, unprompted by anyone, simply because they liked it.

College radio had been generally more open to this sort of thing. Yet major stations with Alternative formats which embraced New Wave were becoming more and more influential. In short, this basically gave APB a career and their largest following was in the New York tri-state area.

The band issued eight singles from 1981 to 1985. They're all compiled on this 1985 compilation album on Link Records Something To Believe In. The tracks are “Shoot You Down” (and its' B-Side “Talk To Me”), “Palace Filled With Love”, “Rainy Day”, “One Day”, “What Kind Of Girl”, “Danceability”, “Summer Love”, “Something To Believe In” and its' B-Side “So Many Broken Hearts”. In my opinion, half of the album is great and holds up well. The other half, less-so.

The album was reissued on Young American Recordings as a double disk set in 2005 with many other unreleased tracks. Recommended if you see it in a used bin for $5 or under.   

Here's the video review:

Special thanks to: WLIR-FM. 

Gang Of Four: Songs Of The Free (Warner Brothers/1982)

Leeds' Gang Of Four released 1982's Songs Of The Free, their third album, on the heels of the excellent Another Day/Another Dollar EP. It is their first release with Sara Lee on bass, who took over after Dave Allen left the band to for Shriekback with Barry Andrews of XTC. She's a excellent replacement and is adept to playing nearly as deeply-funky as Allen did.

The album is successful in marrying the band's slashing post-punk to the funky new wave that was all-prevalent at the time. It was produced by Mike Howlett of Gong (who also produced OMD, Tears For Fears and A Flock Of Seagulls). Songs Of The Free is really only weak when one holds it up against Entertainment!, Yellow and Solid Gold. All of which are on the perfect side. Songs Of The Free is jam packed with moody, nocturnal grooves and somnambulist funk. Songs like “History Of The World”, “Life! It's A Shame” and “I Will Be A Good Boy” are my idea of perfect background music that I'd love to hear in a bar or pub. “Muscle For Brains” has a great funky guitar line. “Call Me Up”, “We Live As We Dream, Alone” and “I Love A Man In A Uniform” are easily the most effective songs on the album.

“I Love A Man In A Uniform” was a new-wave dance hit peaking at #27 on Billboard's Club Play Singles chart and became a staple of Alternative radio. The album itself is usually held up as Gang Of Fours last initial creative hurrah. Although it produced a handful of decent tracks, 1983's Hard was indeed a fairly soft affair. I've always considered Songs Of The Free part of a logical conclusion to the trilogy of Entertainment! and Solid Gold.

Recommended. Indeed.