40 Year Itch

Farewell!

2021-08-04T00:30:00.001-07:00

That's all folks! I can't fight Google and I can't spend hours working on blog posts, once seen by thousands, that are now seen only by a few dozen at best. I refuse to pay Google to enhance online searches on my behalf and my punishment is to not appear in any search results at all. My life is far too busy to continue. I may post once in a while if there's something on which I just have to comment. Farewell!

Phil Collins makes his solo debut in America on the Tomorrow Show

2021-08-03T00:00:00.001-07:00

Phil Collins : You Know What I Mean

On August 3, 1981 Genesis frontman Phil Collins made his first solo appearance in the United States on NBC's Tomorrow Show starring Tom Snyder. He performed "In The Air Tonight" and "You Know What I Mean". He explained how the album Face Value came as a result of a "personal tidal wave". Collins would score seven #1 hit singles and two #1 albums in the United States during the 1980's.

MTV Debuts :You'll Never Look At Music The Same Way Again

2021-08-01T00:00:00.001-07:00

The Buggles : Video Killed The Radio Star

On August 1, 1981, MTV, Music Television, makes its cable debut with VJ Mark Goodman promising “starting right now you will never look at music the same way again”. Most of the bigger bands were filming low budget “in concert” music videos already, but very quickly the visuals would become more and more important. And bands who thought it was a pain in the ass to make a video wouldn't last.

What did MTV want from musicians? Something way out there, like the Buggles video for "Video Killed The Radio Star". The British were way ahead on promoting music with video and MTV's popularity would lead to a new wave British invasion in the early 80's.

The plan was to do for television what FM did for radio. In fact the VJ's spent the first day hyping the fact that their broadcasts were in stereo. Not sure how many people really cared about the sound though.

These were Billboard's Top 10 hits the day MTV made its debut on August 1, 1981. 8 American acts (some country) and 2 Australians.

In August of 1982 The Human League has just lost the #1 position, a hit that was in heavy rotation at MTV.

In August of 1983, MTV is peaking. There are four acts from the UK and all four of dynamic music videos. actually by now all of these acts have dynamic music videos. And Billboard Magazine devotes page after page of congratulations

July 1981: Girls Just Want To Rock

2021-07-27T16:28:00.004-07:00

Stevie Nicks : Edge of Seventeen

On July 27, 1981, Stevie Nicks, who wrote Fleetwood Mac’s only #1 hit, releases Bella Donna, her debut album which would four million copies on its way to #1 thanks to heavy radio airplay for the US#3 “ Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around”, the US#6 “Leather And Lace” and the US#11 “Edge of Seventeen”. Pristine Jimmy Iovine production and musicianship throughout. That said, I didn't understand a word of “Edge of Seventeen” until I read a lyric sheet. Apparently it has something to do with John Lennon.

Debbie Harry : Backfired

Debbie Harry and Chris Stein team up with Chic’s Nile Rodgers and Bernie Edwards on Koo Koo. Despite the musical talent, the songs here are overshadowed by the album cover photographed by Brian Aris and then painted over by H. R. Giger of “Alien” fame to create an image both memorable and so severe, posters were banned from the London Underground stations. “Backfired” is the best tune here but Harry is not a soul singer or rapper and her delivery only works as a counterpoint to the funky Chic sound.

Siouxsie and the Banshees : Arabian Knights

Siouxsie and the Banshees release the UK#32hit “Arabian Knights ”, perhaps the only song that contains the word “orifices” played on the BBC. The B side is a cover of Ben E. King’s 1975 smash “Supernatural Thing”.

Female Bonding celebrated on The Go-Go's debut Beauty and the Beat

2021-07-08T00:00:00.147-07:00

Go Go's : This Town

On July 8, 1981 The Go Go's released their debut album, Beauty and the Beat, on IRS Records. It would take nine months and MTV, but the album topped the US charts for six weeks beginning in March of 1982."We Got The Beat", a #2 hit, introduced American audiences to the five musicians who came across as best friends.

"This Town" is the mission statement. /"We all know the chosen toys/ Of catty girls and pretty boys". As Rob Sheffield writes in the Spin Alternative Guide:

In Go-Go's songs, the pretty boys just kept their mouths shut and preened, while the catty girls took center stage to make up that face, jump in the race, and get dressed up to get messed up, whether flashing their underwear in public fountains or prowling by night. The Go-Go.'s eventually developed a knack for songs about men ("Turn To You", "Yes Or No"), but their grand theme was always femme bonding : we rules the streets tonight, this town is our town, our lips are sealed.

The best Go-Go's songs begin with tomboy Gina Schock laying down the beat.

While American critics swooned, the English were less taken with the album .Robert Eggar from the NME summed up the album writing that

"The Go-Go's play sixties pop for the eighties with a seventies philosophy. This record is three years of struggling with instruments, of sleeping on floors in strange cities, of flirting too close with an easy terminal escape from reality. It sounds like a joyous, bubbling celebration by five cute girls, with no thoughts inside their darling little heads save for tonight's beach party."

But there's also some disillusionment with the seedy side of Hollywood night life, summed up on "Tonite," "Lust to Love," and "This Town", which includes lyrics that provide a counterpoint to that joyous MTV video: We're all dreamers, we're all whores/ Discarded stars/ Like worn out cars ".

Beauty and The Beat finished #10 in the Village Voice Pazz and Jop critics poll. It topped Greil Marcus's list:

GREIL MARCUS:

Go-Go's: Beauty and the Beat (I.R.S.) 20;

David Lindley: El-Rayo-X (Asylum) 20;

Red Crayola with Art & Language: Kangaroo? (Rough Trade) 15;

Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Reactor (Reprise) 10;

The Mekons (Red Rhino import) 10;

Joy Division: Still (Factory import) 5;

Rickie Lee Jones: Pirates (Warner Bros.) 5;

The "King" Kong Compilation (Mango) 5;

Au Pairs: Playing with a Different Sex (Human) 5;

Raincoats: Odyshape (Rough Trade) 5.

R.E.M's "Radio Free Europe" leads a bounty of new singles in July of 1981

2021-07-06T00:00:00.196-07:00

R.E.M. : "Radio Free Europe"

On July 8, 1981 R.E.M. released their debut single "Radio Free Europe" b/w "Sitting Still" on the Hib-Tone label. With an energy that matched the excitement of punk rock and indecipherable lyrics, the single marks a brave new world for alternative rock, opening one side of the gate as Mission of Burma holds the other. Man, I wish I heard this single in the Summer of '81 but I was on my own course, buying one classic album a week as recommended by Dave Marsh's Rolling Stone Record Guide. But never fear : R.E.M's debut album and I would arrive at my college radio station the same week.

The Ramones : We Want the Airwaves

In July of 1981 The Ramones released "We Want The Airwaves", a new single produced by Graham Gouldman of 10cc fame. The Pleasant Dreams single sounds more like hard rock than punk rock to these ears. Music journalist "Chuck Eddy" described the song as " a sort of Black Sabbath punk rock". The song failed to chart.

Other great songs complaining about the airwaves : "American Beat 84" by The Fleshtones and " I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts" by X.

Squeeze : Tempted

On July 10, 1981 Squeeze released "Tempted" as the second single from East Side Story. It's strange that it took this this long because "Tempted" was the one song FM Rock Radio was playing at the time. The single was not a massive hit by any means, peaking at UK#41 and US#49, but it has become the most famous of the band's songs . It also contains Difford's favorite lyrics, as he tells What's New, " It’s so visual and again floats me back to that time when youth was a cloud I drifted around on from day to day."

The Go-Betweens : Your Turn, My Turn

In July of 1981 The Go-Betweens release their fourth single, "Your Turn, My Turn", with plans to make it the album opener for their debut. Recorded in Sydney at Trafalgar Studios. In Grant & I, Robert Forster writes "Singles were of supreme importance, like a report card of a band. Groups were conscious that everything they wanted to show the word, including how far they'd progressed since their previous record, had to be compacted into a single's release."

The video for the angular ballad is shot in Grant's flat.

Kraftwerk : Computer Love

On July 7, 1981 Kraftwerk released the eventual UK#1 hit "Computer Love", a song that predicts the loneliness of sitting in front of a home computer looking for love. Coldplay fans will recognize the melody which Chris Martin borrowed with permission for "Talk" on the album X&Y.

The Undertones : Julie Ocean

In July of 1981 The Undertones released the dreamy "Julie Ocean", a UK#41 hit. It's a re-recorded version of the Positive Touch song, which adds a tremelo guitar and nearly doubles the length of the tune. A winner!!

Stevie Nicks with Tom Petty : Stop Draggin' My Heart Around

Recorded with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for the Hard Promises album, the US#3 hit instead showed up on Stevie Nicks's debut album Bella Donna. Heartbreaker Mike Campbell explained how that happened to Songfacts:

"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" was a song that I had written the music and Tom had written the words. The Heartbreakers had recorded a version of it with Jimmy Iovine, and Jimmy being the entrepreneur that he was, he was working with Stevie, and I guess he asked Tom if she could try it, and it just developed from there. We cut the track as a Heartbreakers record and when she decided to do it we used that track and she came in and sang over it. It became a duet. It's basically all the Heartbreakers on that record .

July 1981 : That's When I Reach For My New ELO Album

2021-07-04T10:48:00.002-07:00

Mission of Burma : That's When I Reach For My Revolver

On July 4, 1981 Mission of Burma released their debut EP Signals, Calls and Marches on the Ace of Hearts label. Best known for “That’s When I Reach For My Revolver” and “ All World Cowboy Romance”, the “Marquee Moon” of post-punk, the EP’s intense, noisy, yet catchy punk rock sound nearly instantly transformed alternative rock and what we played on college rock radio. My favorite EP of the year, the CD version includes the first single “Academy Fight Song/Max Ernst” and other extra tracks.

Gang of Four : To Hell With Poverty

On July 3, 1981, Gang of Four released the single “To Hell With Poverty”, perfectly encapsulating the Reagan/Thatcher attitude towards people of lesser means. The punky funk number became a dance club hit in America where cheap wine comes in refrigerated boxes.

Foreigner : Urgent

As July of 1981 began, a new song topped FM rock station playlists. Featuring synthesizers programmed and played by an unknown Thomas Dolby and a sax solo by the legendary Junior Walker, “Urgent” was one of the great booty call songs of the decade. The first single from 4, “Urgent” was a US#4 hit. The album is also a huge seller because most listeners aren't as annoyed as I am by Lou Gramm constantly pushing his vocal range to the breaking point (ie "He heard one guitar/juts blew him away" on "Juke Box Hero").

Electric Light Orchestra : Hold On Tight

Electric Light Orchestra : Yours Truly, 2095

Like a lot of fans I walked away from Electric Light Orchestra following the Xanadu soundtrack and I now realize that was a big mistake. For Time, released July 2, 1981, a concept album about time travel, Jeff Lynne traded his orchestra strings for the sounds of synth pop. Gary Numan and OMD are often mentioned as influences, but I hear a lot of New Musik. The album spent two weeks at the top of the UK charts. Its reputation has grown over the decades especially among science fiction fans. I'm posting "Hold On Tight" because it was the only American hit and the music video was the most expensive ever made at the time. But check out "Yours Truly, 2095" to hear why fans were originally baffled by the new ELO.

Lists Lists Lists from 1981, pt 1

2021-06-27T00:00:00.011-07:00

Here's a compilation of some music lists mostly culled from Smash Hits and Record World magazines in the Summer of 1981. The laziest post I have ever made, but it's 118 degrees in Washington State and I just...can't ...do more.

What's a Doll To Do? David Johansen and Syl Sylvain releases

2021-06-23T00:00:00.070-07:00

David Johansen : She Loves Strangers

When the New York Dolls lost their recording contract the band split up with Johnny Thunder and Jerry Nolan forming The Heartbreaks and Syl Sylvain teaming up with David Johansen for Johansen's solo career. Sylvain helped with the songwriting on a couple of songs here but this is mostly the work of Ex Beach Boy/sideman extraordinaire Blondie Chaplin. Out of the gate, "She Loves Strangers" is the song that connects from Here Comes The Night, released in June of 1981. "Homer" Robert Christgau graded the album a very generous A-, writing "If In Style sounded desperate, this one sounds past caring, and carelessness was always the Dolls' secret. Inspirational Cliché: "You think I'm a whore/But I got a heart of gold."

Sylvain Sylvain : Formidable

Syl Sylvain and the Teardrops is the second solo album from the Dolls guitarist, who passed away in January of 2021. It's a charming pop effort, pretty much lost to history. Hey, I guess that's I do this blog when Trump can't. In any case "Formidable" got some radio airplay in the Summer of '81.

The Specials release the Song of the Year

2021-06-21T00:00:00.120-07:00

The Specials : Ghost Town

In June of 1981 The Specials released the Ghost Town EP. The title track would spend three weeks at #1 in the UK and would top the critics end of year polls at the NME, Sounds and Melody Maker. The Village Voice Pazz and Jop Critics poll listed Ghost Town as the best EP of the year as well.

The song was inspired by a UK tour The Specials did to promote their second album.

In 2002 Dammers told The Guardian, "You travelled from town to town and what was happening was terrible. In Liverpool, all the shops were shuttered up, everything was closing down ... We could actually see it by touring around. You could see that frustration and anger in the audience. In Glasgow, there were these little old ladies on the streets selling all their household goods, their cups and saucers. It was unbelievable. It was clear that something was very, very wrong."

The song is also a reflection on the band, which had been written off by critics and would soon break up. There's surely enough misery here for everyone.

The Kinks : Better Things

If you're looking to the Kinks to get cheered up, you're out of luck. Despite the title, the UK#46/US#90 "Better Things" is a a breakup song Ray Davies wrote about his failing marriage. This Give The People What They Want track was covered by Pearl Jam and Dar Williams.

Future Yo La Tengo/ present day rock critic Ira Kaplan named "Better Things" one of his fave songs of the year.

IRA KAPLAN (alphabetical):

Cramps: "Goo Goo Muck"/"She Said" (I.R.S.);

Cyclones: "You're So Cool"/"RSVP" (Little Ricky);

Fleetwood Mac: "Farmer's Daughter" (Warner Bros.);

Funky Four Plus One: "That's the Joint" (Sugarhill);

Vic Godard and Subway Sect: "Stop That Girl" (Oddball import);

Grace Jones: "Pull Up to the Bumper" (Island);

Kinks: "Better Things" (Arista);

R.E.M.: "Radio Free Europe"/"Sitting Still" (Hib-Tone);

Skeletons: "Trans Am"/"Tell Her I'm Gone" (Borrowed);

Voggue: "Dance the Night Away" (Atlantic).

The Freshies: I Can't Get Bouncing Babies By The Teardrop Explodes

Chris Sievey returns with another long-titled single that sounds like something the girl on the Manchester Virgin Megastore check-out desk might tell a customer.

Ben Watt : Can't

Finally future Everything But The Girl Ben Watt releases his first single on Cherry Red Records. It's called, in keeping with this post's theme, "Can't". The song and the two B sides are produced by Kevin Coyne.

Juju is a new peak for Siouxsie And The Banshees

2021-06-19T00:00:00.067-07:00

Siouxsie And The Banshees : Arabian Nights

On June 19, 1981 Siouxsie and The Banshees released Juju, one of the albums recorded with Magazine's John McGeoch on guitar. His swirling guitar sound joins Budgie's drumming and Steve Severin's bass playing to create a dark and heavy atmosphere for Siouxsie's commanding vocals. And by commanding, I mean that she commands listeners on Spellbound "When your elders forget to say their prayers, take them by the legs and thrown them down the stairs".

Met with critical acclaim, Juju peaked at UK#7 and was released in North America on PVC in October where the band toured for six weeks, selling out shows in Los Angeles. Severein told Cashbox "We're not interested in cracking America. We like success and our audience seems to be growing all the time, but we'd rather enjoy ourselves than 'slog away' like so many other bands. The desperation to make it really big brings out the worst in people. "

ROCKERILLA BEST ALBUM OF THE YEAR 1981

1. Siouxsie & the Banshees - Ju Ju

2. Joy Division - Still

3. Echo & the Bunnymen - Heaven up here

4. P.I.L. - The flowers of romance

5. New Order - Movement

6. Brian Eno & David Byrne - My life in the bush of ghosts

7. Motorhead - No sleep till' Hammersmith

8. Clock Dva - Thirst

9. Psychedelic Furs - Talk talk talk

10. Cure - Faith

11. Iron Maiden - Killers

12. John Foxx - The garden

13. Riot - Fire down under

14. Bauhaus - Mask

15. Lounge Lizards - The Lounge Lizards

16. Killing Joke - What' this for

17. Tuxedo Moon - Desire

18. Exploited - Punk's not dead

19. Rip Rig & Panic - God

20. Tygers Of Pan Tang - Spellbound

The Sparks Brothers: Your Favorite Band's Favorite Band

2021-06-18T10:34:00.006-07:00

Sparks has been called your favorite band's favorite band.

“Throughout all the years that I've been making music, if you get on a tour bus with a bunch of musicians, eventually the conversation will go to Sparks,” Beck says in The Sparks Brothers, a documentary directed by Edgar Wright (Baby Driver, Shaun of the Dead).

“The reason I wanted to make this documentary is I felt that Ron and Russell and Sparks were like the greatest and most influential artists that didn't have a documentary about them,” Wright says. During the 1970s when weird music could actually top the charts, nobody had more weird hits, at least in the UK, than Sparks.

The documentary tells the story of two Southern California siblings, Ron and Russell Mael, who joined forces to make ambitious pop music. They scored nine UK chart hits in the '70s including the operatic UK#2 hit "This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us".

Evening’s Saint Bryan is a huge fan and he wondered if Ron Mael ever came up with a melody that was so convoluted that his brother wondered if he could sing it.

“He does that all the time,” laughs Russell Mael. “From day one they've been convoluted.”

“That's called Sparks songs,” laughs Ron Mael.

“No option but to sing it,” adds Russell Mael.

The band's image also caught on with fans of both sexes. Long-haired and handsome Russell Mael could be mistaken for any 1970’s pin-up. His brother, on the other hand, wore a mustache that reminded people of Adolf Hitler and glowered at the audience.

Bryan asked Ron Mael what it was like seeing teenage girls rush the stage to kiss his brother.

“Oh they kissed him too as you see in the documentary,” interjected Russell Mael. “ There's one that was a super fan who's in love with Ron.”

“I don't have quantity but I have quality,” laughed Ron Mael. “The more intellectual, introspective ones are the ones that come after me so I don't feel deprived at all.”

Sparks has kept reinventing its sound, scoring hits overseas to this day. The Mael brothers even have a second movie coming out this Summer. They wrote the screenplay and music for Annette, a film that will be distributed by Amazon Studios in August.

How long can the Mael brothers, both in their 70’s, keep this up?

“I've often asked that question,” Ron Mael says. “When we saw the first record that we had ever done in 1971, that was enough. We said we made it. That's all we need. We don't have a plan, so this could go on for quite a bit longer and Edgar has already signed on to do the sequel to this documentary so we're set."

“Sparks: the next 50th,” adds Wright.

The Sparks Brothers can now be seen in local theaters.

Out To Offend : Oingo Boingo's debut and other June 1981 releases

2021-06-17T00:00:00.116-07:00

Oingo Boingo : Little Girls

When Oingo Boingo released their debut album Only A Lad on June 19, 1981, the NME's Robin Eggar wrote "this record will make the kind folks up at Virgin Records as sick as parrots. You see Oingo Boingo have made the album they've always wanted XTC to make. Full of fractured rhythms, pop hooks, warped humor and commercial appeal".

The album's most notorious track is "Little Girls", Danny Elfman's character study of the a type he saw all the time. "Out here in Hollywood, you see so much of that; the older guy's in the car with some young girl who essentially asks no questions," he said. The video , directed by his brother Richard, was banned in Canada.

Some other noteworthy tracks are "Only A Lad", "Capitalism" and their cover of The Kinks' "You Really Got Me".

Killing Joke : Follow The Leader

On the second Killing Joke album furious tribal drum beating replaced synthesizers Yes, the songs on What's This For drone on endlessly but that's all for the master effect. Killing Joke played dark and disturbing music, but you definitely could dance to it! Reviews were mixed with Melody Maker's Adam Sweeting providing the dissenting opinion:"a tired and very noisy collection of ripoffs", and deemed the whole effort "unlistenable ... apart from the spaces between the tracks" .

T.S.O.L : Code Blue

In June of 1981 True Sounds of Liberty released their debut album Dance With Me. The band is essentially trying to come up with a fusion of hardcore and "Monster Mash".

The highlight is "Code Blue", a song about having sex with dead women :

Never on the rag or say leave me alone

They don't scream and they don't moan

Don't even cry if I shoot in their hair

Lying on the table she smiles and she stares

I actually saw TSOL play in New York City. I was so loud I never realized what they were singing about.

Some New Romantics: Double Duran and the Village People

2021-06-15T00:00:00.003-07:00

Duran Duran : Girls On Film

On June 15, 1981 Duran Duran released its self-titled debut album, which would peak at UK#3 and US#10 a couple of years later. The A-side is almost entirely made up of hits: the UK#5 "Girls On Film", the UK#12 "Planet Earth", then "Anyone Out There", followed by the UK#37 "Careless Memories"( which sounds an awful lot to me like "A Girl's Mammaries" and, on the reissues, the 1983 UK#1 "Is There Something I Should Know". Duran Duran takes everything they could learn from Roxy Music (including Bryan Ferry's fashion sense) and the dance clubs and melds them together for one of the defining sounds of the decade.

As if pin-up looks weren't enough, the band achieved notoriety for its videos, particularly the Godley and Creme produced "Girls On Film", which featured female models in various stages of undress. Andy Warhol once said he masturbated to Duran Duran videos.

Village People : Food Fight

On the same week in June, The Village People followed up the Razzie Award winning Can't Stop The Music by rebranding. They traded in their costumes and hopped on the New Romantic scene, which was enjoying its heyday with the likes of Adam And The Ants, Spandau Ballet and Duran Duran. It's one of the more bizarre moments in musical history, but people who have taken the time to listen to the Renaissance album say it's not as bad as you might think. Still, the punk rock "Food Fight" may be regrettable.

Wordy Rappinghood and other Summer singles from 1981

2021-06-13T00:00:00.159-07:00

Tom Tom Club : Wordy Rappinghood

In June of 1981 Tom Tom Club, an offshoot of Talking Heads featuring the husband and wife team of drummer Chris Frantz and bassist Tina Weymouth, released the single "Wordy Rappinghood" in the UK. Critics weren't overly astounded. Record Mirror wrote "Bassist Tina Weymouth raps a little stiffly on a funky soundtrack that borrows a lot of the lyrical style of her mentor David Byrne, File under (barely) interesting." How very wrong!

The project wasn't necessarily meant to be appreciated sitting down. The couple wanted to make a song that would be a hit in the clubs. Chris laid down the the drums. Tina added bass. And the two would take turns adding simple keyboard lines. To get the big drum sound of "Wordy Rappinghood", Chris drove downtown to Nassau's only music store where he scored a big fat tympani.

Tina and her sisters remembered a Moroccan song from their childhood and sang it together:

A ram sam sam! A ram sam sam!

Kuni kuni kuni kuni ram sam sam!

A ka yay yoopi a ka yay

A roo roo a nbi ki chi!

"Wordy Rappinghood" topped the US disco charts and peaked at UK#7. In a year of Talking Head solo projects, Chris and Tina would have the biggest hit single and album of 1981.

The Go Gos : Our Lips Are Sealed

On June 12, 1981 The Go Go's released their first debut American single, "Our Lips Are Sealed", co-written by Jane Wiedlin and Terry Hall of The Specials. This terrific pop song would peak at US#20 months later thanks in part to a classic music video that showcased the band's personalities. 40 years later it is still one of the great songs of Summer.

Daryl Hall and John Oates : You Make My Dreams

The irrepressible duo Hall and Oates released "You Make My Dreams", the fourth single from the platinum album Voices. The single works as though it were programmed with every feature a 1981 single would need: a hint of new wave, a touch of soul, and a one shot video. Used to death in every light comedy trying to make its audience feel happy for the characters.

Tubes : Talk To Ya Later

Gone are the costumes and the wild soft -core stage shows. The Tubes are ready to start making money.

The first single from The Completion Backwards Principle, "Talk To Ya Later" scored a 99% positive rating on WMMR's "Smash Or Trash". It has to be a hit this summer of I'm going to have to get out of radio and manage a McDonald's" said one program director. The single peaked at #7 on the Mainstream Rock chart, but only at US#101.

Three Hardcore EPs from bands that changed the world

2021-06-11T00:00:00.001-07:00

Minor Threat : Straight Edge

In June of 1981 Washington DC hardcore band Minor Threat released its debut EP consisting of 8 self-righteous songs played in 9:20. The 44 second "Straight Edge" is about singer Ian MacKaye's abstinence from drugs and inspired the straight edge movement, which emphasized a lifestyle without alcohol or other drugs, or promiscuous sex.

I'm a person just like you

But I've got better things to do

Than sit around and fuck my head

Hang out with the living dead

Snort white shit up my nose

Pass out at the shows

I don't even think about speed

That's just something I don't need

Black Flag : Six Pack

Black Flag releases the three-song single "Six Pack" on SST Records, recorded just before Henry Rollins replaces Dez Cadena on vocals. NME says "It'll take a long time for us Europeans to appreciate the L.A. beach punk scene, that fascinating subculture which still seems to produce the kind of fast, psuedo-angry predictability most of England forgot about years ago. Give thanks". A UK tour at the end of the year was instead met violent silence from audiences.

Meat Puppets : In A Car

Finally The Meat Puppets released their debut EP In A Car on World Imitation Records. Featuring a cover drawn by guitarist Curt Kirkwood, the record features five hardcore songs in 5:18. New York Rocker wrote "The Meat Puppets screech, howl, and make the most racket of any trio this side of The Minutemen. Their credo seems to be "When in doubt, miniaturize," and rather than condense in the manner of Reader's Digest, they compact in the manner of one of those machines that turn cars into boxes".

Squeeze's Glenn Tilbrook : My All Time Top 10

2021-06-09T00:00:00.000-07:00

Squeeze : Tempted

In June of 1981, while his band's East Side Story was receiving critical buzz comparing them to the Beatles, Squeeze 's Glenn Tilbrook provided Smash Hits with a list of his all time Top 10. Yes, there is a Beatles track there, but there are also quite a few surprises.

Grieving for John : Yoko Ono's Season of Glass and George Harrison's " All Those Years Ago"

2021-06-07T00:00:00.003-07:00

Yoko Ono : Goodbye Sadness

In early June, 1981 Yoko Ono released Season Of Glass. Released six months after Lennon's murder, making music may very well have been Ono's most therapeutic way to deal with her grief, anger and sadness. It was recorded with the same New York session musicians who played on Double Fantasy and Phil Spector is credited with producing the album. There is another contributor who is not credited, the memory of her husband. And that weight hangs over every song.

Unfortunately there were people who saw it as a cash grab and found the cover, with Lennon's blood-soaked glasses, distasteful. Some American radio stations used that as an excuse not to play the album. A program director in Key West found the cover morbid and use of her son Sean telling a story about her dad "shocking enough to make even the Plasmatics seem tame...Season is more than not nice--it is strongly distasteful and it will be a cold day in Key West before this trash is played on the station".

Yoko's response to the criticism:

I felt like a person soaked in blood coming into a living room full of people and reporting that my husband was dead, his body was taken away, and the pair of glasses were the only thing I had managed to salvage – and people looking at me saying it was in bad taste to show the glasses to them. "I'm not changing the cover. This is what John is now," I said.

The album peaked at US#49 and finished #29 in the Pazz and Jop Critics Poll. Pitchfork ranked Season of Glass 188 of the best 200 albums of the 1980's.

George Harrison : All Those Years Ago

On June 1, 1981 George Harrison released Somewhere In England, which was preceded by the US#2/UK#13 single "All Those Years Ago", a tribute to Lennon (They don't act with much honesty /But you point the way to the truth when you say/ All you need is love) that featured the surviving Beatles. What's not often mentioned is that Ringo played his part weeks before Lennon was murdered and Paul and Linda merely came in to add backing vocals. The song is surprisingly upbeat considering the subject matter.

There are several gems on this album and there's quite a bit of humor. "Blood From A Clone" is about the Warner Brothers record executives who rejected the original album as too laid back but Somewhere In England left many critics unmoved. As Rolling Stone's Harry Thomas concluded in a a review that gave the album two starts out of five:

The most paradoxical of the ex-Beatles, George Harrison is an enigmatic mixture of exquisite craftsmanship and heavy-handed hack work, touching sincerity and plain disingenuousness. As it stands, Somewhere in England is neither here nor there.

The Raincoats return with Odyshape

2021-06-01T00:00:00.012-07:00

The Raincoats : Only Loved At Night

On June 1, 1981 The Raincoats released their second album, Odyshape. It would enter the UK Indie charts at #6. If the band sounded like they were still getting to know their instruments on the debut, here the charm lies in the multitude of instruments and the hypnotic quality of their music.

We wanted to push ourselves, so when we made our second album, we weren’t going to make a sequel to the first.," guitarist Ana da Silva tells Louder Than War. "We wanted to do something different.”

They found that difference at Manny's Music in midtown Manhattan. The store had a treasure trove of instruments. “I bought a few little things there and Gina bought a balafon," da Silva said "We had all of these new instruments, so of course, we wanted to use them!”

Spin's Alternative Guide has this line about the album : Odyshape has a reputation as some sort of mystical transcendence of rockdom in New Age textures, but it's unmistakably a rock record.

A balfon

YEAR END PAZZ AND JOP BALLOT FROM GREIL MARCUS:

Go-Go's: Beauty and the Beat (I.R.S.) 20;

David Lindley: El-Rayo-X (Asylum) 20;

Red Crayola with Art & Language: Kangaroo? (Rough Trade) 15;

Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Reactor (Reprise) 10;

The Mekons (Red Rhino import) 10;

Joy Division: Still (Factory import) 5;

Rickie Lee Jones: Pirates (Warner Bros.) 5;

The "King" Kong Compilation (Mango) 5;

Au Pairs: Playing with a Different Sex (Human) 5;

Raincoats: Odyshape (Rough Trade) 5.

A pair of knock outs from May of 1981

2021-05-31T00:00:00.002-07:00

Sparks : Tips For Teens

In May of 1981 Sparks released Whomp That Sucker, a return to the sound that made the band so popular in the UK in the mid 70's. Record Mirror's Mark Total gave the album its highest possible rating, writing "Sparks score a knockout in the first round." Even so, the album failed to chart in the UK and only peaked at #182 in the US. The Sparks Brothers documentary, while making great use of the pugilistic music video for "Tips for Teens", does not spend much time on the album.

Robyn Hitchcock : Acid Bird

In May of 1981 Robyn Hitchcock released his debut solo album Black Snake Diamond Role, kicking off one of the most enjoyable solo careers of the decade. Those who had already been following The Soft Boys will often cite this release as their favorite. Assisting Hitchcock in the studio are members of The Soft Boys, Vince Ely of the Psychedelic Furs and an almost unknown Thomas Dolby.

The Jam's Funeral Pyre and other May 1981 singles we missed

2021-05-29T00:00:00.136-07:00

The Jam : Funeral Pyre

On May 29, 1981 The Jam released the UK#4 hit "Funeral Pyre" b/w a cover of The Who's "Disguises". It's one final burst of punk anger from Weller who would soon start fancying the 70's soul of Curtis Mayfield, forever changing the course of the band and leading to the formation of The Style Council.

Wire : Our Swimmer

A new one-chord single from Wire ( actually recorded in 1979) is released to further provoke interest in Document and Eyewitness, a live album coming soon.

Toni Basil : Mickey

37-year old Toni Basil re-recorded Racey's "Kitty" as "Mickey" and eventually scored a worldwide smash, topping the charts in Australia, Canada and the United States. Basil has sued Razor & Tie Direct, Forever 21, Disney, Viacom, VH1, and South Park for using the song without permission. Hope I fall under her radar.

Dead Kennedys : Too Drunk To Fuck

"Too Drunk To Fuck" snuck into the UK Top 40 without any help from radio or advertisement. They sold 20,000 copies in one week reports Cherry Red Records. In the US, the IRS promo man Michael Plen tried to convince rock stations to play the song, telling them "Remember, it's not against the FCC law to play a song with the word 'fuck ' in it , It's just against the law to say it. " That may not be true. And in any case no station gambled their license on the single from Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables.

Ultravox : All Stood Still

Another single from Vienna, this is the Ultravox tune I played most on my college radio show. "All Stood Still" breezed into the UK Top 10 on a wave of synthesizers and a catchy chorus. Nobody could stand still listening to this one!

E.S.G. : You're No Good

The Bronx sisters who made up Emerald Sapphire & Gold released their debut single, "You're No Good", in May of 1981. Restricted by their budget to just drums, congas and a bass they make up for it by inventing a new sound that sounds as fresh as it did 40 years ago.

Echo & The Bunnymen find Heaven Up Here

2021-05-26T07:32:00.000-07:00

Echo & The Bunnymen : A Promise

On May 30, 1981 Echo and the Bunnymen released Heaven Up Here, a UK#10 hit that won best album from the readers at the 1981 NME Awards and is currently ranked 463 in Rolling Stone's list of the greatest rock albums of all time. NME critics ranked the album the #22 best of the year, while it came in #2 in the Sounds poll and topped the Rockerilla list.

The album cover tells you exactly what's in store, a more atmospheric, moody and melancholic album than the debut, and requires repeated listens to "get". But the reputation of Heaven Up Here has grown over the years. The label didn't hear a single and instructed the band to write one. The result is "A Promise".

Recorded in Wales with Hugh Jones producing, the album re-creates the dry ice atmosphere of the Bunnymen's stage show. In a recent Tim' sTwitter Listening Party guitarist Will Sergeant says Jones sent his instrument through reverbs, echo "and a new thing called the Eventide Harmoniser... The slightest scrape, scratch, flick, squeak or pop of the guitar could be used and transformed."

Some of the influences cited by various Bunnymen include Pink Floyd's "Lucifer Sam", The Velvet's "What Goes On" and James Brown's Sex Machine.

The NME's Barney Hoskyns described the album as "one of the most superior articulations of 'rock' form in living memory. The Village Voice's Robert Christgau was not so taken by the album, giving it a grade of C and writing:

Word was these erstwhile-and-futurist popsters had transcended songform, so I gritted my teeth and tried to dig the texture, flow, etc. Took the enamel clean off. I hold no brief against tuneless caterwaul, but tuneless psychedelic caterwaul has always been another matter. Ditto for existential sophomores. And, need I add, Jim Morrison worship

The album cover was shot by Brian Griffin in Porthcawl, Wales, with a bucket of fish used to entice the seagulls. The album earned the "Best Dressed LP" award from the NME. Outtakes can be found on the photographer's website.

Present Arms is another huge hit for UB40

2021-05-24T00:30:00.001-07:00

UB40 : One In Ten

In the last week of May, 1981, UB40 released its second album Present Arms. Despite the fact that they've been playing their instruments for fewer than three years, and looked less than trendy, the band was selling more albums in Britain than any other living reggae act.

"I think we've been really lucky," singer Ali Campbell told Smash Hits," in that we were around when The Specials were just taking off, and we were nothing to do with the 2-Tone thing, but the media aligned us with them --you know, black and white act--and we got to play gigs with them, and as far as England was concerned that really helped.

"And then we're much more accessible than most reggae bands. There's a lot of people who find it strange listening to Jamaican reggae.There's nothing to identify with when you've got a black band singing about Jah. It's definitely easier for white people if some of the group are white too."

The single "One In Ten" is an attack on Thatcherism :

“I’m a starving third world mother, a refugee without a home/

I’m a housewife hooked on Valium, I’m a pensioner alone”

The album would peak at UK#2, and like the debut, stick around for months and months, eventually going Platinum. An amazing accomplishment for an indie release. UB40 earned 65% of every record sale, as opposed to 10% for most artists. Every member is involved in writing the lyrics and music so everyone was earning good, if not an outrageous amount of money. Saxophone player Brian Travers bought a new house in 1981. He said everyone in the band is at the same level musically, and they like it that way:

"If someone came in from the outside who was either better than us at his instrument or worse than us, that's really throw us. We're happy as we are. "

Critics had mostly kind things to say about the sophomore album. The Village Voice's Robert Christgau gave Present Arms an A-, writing:

They're not about to revolutionize JA--not by carpentering the bass lines, horn charts, and dub effects of the reggae of yesteryear (1975, say) into an indigenous pop r&b. And though they have their own DIY label, they're not about to revolutionize their native U.K. either. But their conscience is catching--I know, because I fell for "One in Ten" on Radio Luxembourg despite my objections to its merely liberal message. Their toasting is pretty infectious too. And they relegate the instrumentals to a bonus twelve-inch. Still, I doubt they'll break the DOR barrier here--what passes for mild protest in England these days might sound dangerous Stateside. It might even be dangerous

Record Mirror's Mike Gardner gave the album 4.5 stars out of 5 , calling UB40 "the hardest dance band in the country and you can't complain about that".

Siouxsie And the Banshees hold fans "Spellbound"

2021-05-22T00:30:00.013-07:00

Siouxsie And The Banshees : Spellbound

On May 22, Siouxsie and the Banshees released the UK#22 "Spellbound", eliciting this review from Barney Hoskyns of NME who described "Spellbound" as a "glorious electric storm", further adding, "Siouxsie and the Banshees are one of the great British bands of all time" . The single, a preview of the upcoming album Juju, suggested "When your elders forget to say their prayers, take them by the legs and throw them down the stairs".

From Smash Hits :

From Record World

With Red, Black Uhuru releases the best reggae album of the year

2021-05-20T00:30:00.001-07:00

Black Uhuru : Youth of Eglington

In May of 1981 Black Uhuru released Red, produced flawlessly by Sly and Robbie. The album finished #3 on the NME year end chart, behind Grace Jones's Nightclubbing and Kraftwerk's Computer World, all released within days of each other. The album also ranked #14 in the Village Voice Pazz and Jop Critics poll. Dean Robert Christgau gave the album a grade of A-, writing :

Forget Sinsemilla--this one'll getcha. Believe me, Michael Rose isn't trying to fill anybody's shoes--he'd probably rather not wear shoes. The ululation and ragged sense of line are pure country, like Jamaican field hollers; lots of times the songs don't even rhyme. But "Youth of Eglington" lets you know right off that this is a country boy who reads the papers, and with Rose pouring forth and Sly and Robbie rolling that rockers riddim, who needs such niceties?

from Cashbox: