As you all know, Cassette Store Day was last weekend. There
was one release that I was looking for that was only released in the UK/EU.
This weekend Norman
Records put up its left over stock from CSD on line. I got the email at 2
A.M. (but didn’t read it until 4:30 A.M.) and proceeded to go through their list
for the one thing I wanted. They did have a copy. I should see it by the end of
next week if not the following seeing as I live in the US and Norman Records is in the UK.
There will be a limited edition tour 7” single split put out
for the Surfer Blood/We Are Scientists tour. I will be going to this concert
and am excited to get my hands on a copy.
For those of you that create music, Reason 8 has been
released. It is a bit cheaper for the full version but the same price for the
upgrade.
The current has put out a box set for the Live Current 10.
The set comes with the vinyl, CD, poster and a box to house all 10 CDs in the
set. There is no room for the founding member’s album. I don’t think they quite
thought that one through fully.
Here we go...
This is the only full length album released from Scandal. It
was released in late summer of 1984. When I was a kid my father bought into
cable early. Even before MTV was a channel we had a small satellite dish on top
of our house to get just HBO. I remember being able to watch Fragle Rock when
it was a new show on HBO. Later, when cable television was new we got that and
all the channels that came with it. In 1984 when the first single for this
album was released the video aired on MTV constantly. I really liked the song
and the dystopian future it portrayed in the video. It stuck with me since I first
saw the video. I like movies that have this same style too, i.e. Mad Max and
the video for the song from The Police called synchronicity II (Released just a
year prior to this album).
There were three singles put out from this album. The first
was the only one to make any chart success though. That first single was the
title track for the album, The Warrior. The song was considered rock music.
With the new wave in full effect at this time and my young mind I always
considered it science fiction especially with the themes in the video. Even
listening to the song now, it takes me back to the young age of nine and my
love of music in the top 40s and anything to do with sci-fi back then. This was
a song at the top of my list then. I was never a singer as much as I liked all
of the different things they did in the music. If I had the ability I would
have just taken clips of parts and looped them. If I had the technology that I
have today back then I could have been an electronic artist.
The second single from the album is called Hands Tied. This
is a slow song that seems to go nowhere. It is slow and the chorus doesn’t do
anything. I can’t usually tell the chorus is happening until I hear the title
of the song being sung. The song just had no traction.
The last single released is called Beat of A Heart. The song
is good but I always imagine a saxophone being played at key parts of the song.
I think the song could also use a sax solo in the bridge too. It just seems a
little watered down to me. It could really use an awesome guitar solo or
something when the song slows down in the middle. It has a catchy enough chorus
for a slow song it just needs a little kick in the pants.
I had been looking for this album for quite a while now. I recently
found a copy at a local record shop. Yes, the band is named after the Vulcan
elder from the Star Trek series. The album was released under two different
names. Some versions are self titled and some are titled Bridge of Spies
on the bottom of the cover. The album was released in early fall of 1987. I
have a big affinity for music from 87 and have been collecting certain albums
from that year. This is one of them. Over half of the album was released as
singles. I feel bad that I only know one song from the album, the first single
called Heart And Soul.
That first single, Heart And Soul, climbed the charts to
number 4 simply because of the inclusion of the song in an advertisement for
Pepe Jeans. A lot of music fans call that selling out. I say, “Good for them!”
I totally would do the same thing if I were in their shoes. It is hard for a
band to make it with out a little help. There is something about the synth and
percussion in this song that really works well. On top of that the
multi-tracked vocals are absolutely amazing. Vocally, this track is not
spectacular but musically this song is amazing.
The second single is called China In Your Hand. The song is
a slower song that features plucked string section with piano and sampled
drums. It is good and moves very well musically but doesn’t do much other than
try to be creative.
The title track, Bridge of Spies, was released
next. This track is also a slower song that just doesn’t go anywhere for me. It
is a song that has a great start and then you wait for it to get better, for it
to kick in and make you feel good. It doesn’t and it is a disappointment
because of it. I will say that there is a good climax at the end but the song
just doesn’t have that kick after the intro.
The next single is called Valentine. It starts off with a
cool muted picked guitar and a nice echo on the starting vocals. Unfortunately,
it is another slow song that doesn’t go anywhere. It doesn’t seem to go
anywhere other than that initial cool opening guitar riff that plays through
the whole song. This is another disappointment in music for me. It still has a
good climax at the end of the song but that doesn’t make the song better.
The next song is called Sex Talk. Actually, the official
single is a live version of this song. I can’t say how much the studio version
differs from the live version since I don’t have the live version but I will
talk about the studio version found on the album. This is a fun rock track.
This is what I wanted to hear from these other singles. The music is nearly as
loud as the vocals so the clarity of what is exactly being said is completely
lost in the music with the exception of the title of the track in the chorus. I
am curious about what is being said since the title of the song is Sex Talk but
I actually enjoy the music over my curiosity so I haven’t looked it up yet and
may never do so. This song is so refreshing compared to the rest of the album,
with the exception of Heart And Soul. These two songs are the bright points on
this album.
The last single from the album is called I Will Be With You.
It is another slow song that I could do with out. It is actually better than
the rest of the slow songs on the album but only marginally. I think that the
song uses some interesting sounds and that is how it keeps my interest.
All in all this is an album that the masses doesn't need. But,
Everyone should hear the first single, Heart And Soul, if not owning it.
The album was released in early October of 1984. The album
crossed so many genre boundaries that is seemed unclassifiable. The album makes
used of sounds from funk, soul, electronic, hip-hop and even rock. I can’t say
that this makes the album a great album though. There were still a lot of
misses. This is her first solo album after Rufus dissolved. It shows great
promise and there are some strong points on the album too.
There were five singles released from the album. The first
is the cover of the Prince track called I Feel For You. This is the reason that
I got the album. The original version from Prince is super funky but seems to
be missing something. This cover from Chaka Khan fills in what is missing and
becomes something amazing. The addition of the electronic drums and the opening
rap from Grandmaster Melle Mel makes the song. The addition of Stevie Wonder on
the harmonica solos pushes the track even further. I actually thought that the
harmonica was electronic because the sounds are so on the money, that is until
I read up on the song. The synth bass and chimey keys are perfect for this
version of the song too. The song has that super groove that makes me want to
get up and dance. It is just that good!
This Is My Night was the second single released from the
album. This track is as heavily influenced by the electronic music of the era
but a smidge slower in beats than I Feel For You. This song also gave Chaka
Khan the focus in the song. The mix put the vocals on top for the listener as
opposed to the first single which focused more on the music than her vocals. It
is still a good dance track though; the song didn’t detract from the dance
floor. It even had a great distorted guitar sound and a bridge that focused on
turntableism and electronic sounds.
The third single is called Eye To Eye. This song floats back
to some classic R&B sounds but holds onto the synth sounds and sampled drum
sounds. It is even slower to fit into the current ideas of R&B at the time.
There are some cool sounds going on in the bass and guitar parts that also fit
into the box of R&B too. This is overall a great song even if you don’t
like the groovy jams of R&B. It is easy to see why this was released as a
single.
The next single is called Through The Fire. This song is the
slow song, the ballad single from the album. It is totally cliché for the time.
The only exception is that the chorus has a great hook that pulls me in if I
make it that far into the song.
The last single, Stronger Than Before, has a quick beat on
the intro that completely fades away when the vocals start. It is good, better
than the previous single, but has the same problem as Through The Fire. The
verse parts don’t hold me long enough but the chorus is pretty dang good.
This is another album that most people don’t need to own but
every one should hear or own a copy of the title track, I Feel For You.
This is the fourth album from The Romantics released in early
fall of 1983. It is the groups’ most commercially successful album. Most of the
songs had an indirect sexual over tone. It kind of made me a bit uncomfortable
listening to the album all the way through. I can’t say that I am a big fan of
the group but there were a couple of singles that I really like from them and
one of them appears on this album.
The first single from the album, Talking In Your Sleep, is
the reason that I got this album. It was a big hit and the video was played on
MTV quite often. I don’t remember the video. It must have not been something
that affected me as a child. I do remember thinking that they were actually The
Cars. It took me a long time to figure out that this was a song from The
Romantics because of that incorrect memory. It is also not that often that a
good rock song uses that Rickenbacker jangle sound. This is one of my favorite
songs from 1984 even though it was released in 1983.
The other single taken from this album is called One In A Million. The song reminds me of that old Mellencamp feel. The bass has a riff
and the guitar plays a muted riff over the bass. It is good but I’m not really
feeling it. I am not sure if it is just that that style is over used or if it
is something else.
I don’t feel that this is a good album at all. With the
exception of the first single I would skip this album entirely.
That is it for now...
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