Random mumblings and mundom ramblings on music (mostly), and whatever else pops into my mind . . .
[The files attached here are for review only, and should be deleted after two weeks. If you like the bands, go buy the albums . . . like I did!] . . .
And yes - EVERYTHING posted here is still available!
Nowadays, the early '80s band A Flock Of Seagulls has been reduced to little more than a punchline, remembered more for lead singer (and former hairdresser) Mike Score's unusual hairstyle and the derisive mention of the group's name in the film Pulp Fiction than for their music. And if any of their songs are recalled at all, most people lump them all together and refer to the band as "just another cheesy '80s group".
But in hindsight, A Flock Of Seagulls were pioneers and extremely influential, with their dance-able electronic synth-pop sound and style leading the way for similar and subsequent British bands that followed in their wake. While their heyday was brief, they opened the door for New Romantic bands like Duran Duran, Culture Club and Adam & The Ants to dominate the US and international charts, along with "Second British Invasion" groups like Wham!, Eurythmics and Bananarama, and allowed subsequent later acts such as Kajagoogoo, ABC, Dead Or Alive, and Talk Talk to make significant inroads on worldwide charts as well. In my opinion, in many ways you can draw a direct line from what A Flock Of Seagulls was doing at the time to the current state and nature of dance, electronic and some pop music on the airwaves today.
As significant as their achievements were, as I mentioned above, A Flock Of Seagulls' time in the spotlight was very brief, peaking in 1982 with three monumental international hits: "I Ran (So Far Away)", "Wishing (If I Had A Photograph Of You)", and what I consider to be their magnum opus and one of the greatest synth-pop songs of all time, "Space Age Love Song":
"Space Age Love Song" is so well-constructed that over the years, many a band, both well-known and obscure, has seen fit to try their hand at covering it. I think it was about three or four years ago that I came across an entire ALBUM of these covers offered on someone's website; I wish I could recall where I got them from, so I could give the compiler all due credit and respect for pulling these together. But the location seems to have been taken off-line, or has otherwise eluded my searches for it.
But in any event, here it is for you to enjoy: Space Age Love Song covers, a delightful and entertaining bootleg of some of the best attempts to re-record/reimagine this tune. Have a listen, enjoy, and as always, let me know what you think.
Please use the email link below to contact me, and I will reply with the download link(s) ASAP:
Jane Wiedlin's music career has long been a source of curiosity and disappointment to me. As a member of the seminal new wave girl group The Go-Go's, Wiedlin wrote or co-wrote at least half of the songs on the band's first three albums - including huge hits and fan favorites such as "Our Lips Are Sealed", "How Much More", "Lust To Love" and "Tonite" off of 1981's Beauty And The Beat, "Girl of 100 Lists" and the title track off of 1982's Vacation, and "Turn To You" and "Beneath The Blue Sky" off of 1984's Talk Show. But after the band broke up after that third album (done in by nonstop touring, injuries, and the endless partying with its attendant copious use of drugs and alcohol), and Wiedlin began her solo career, she seemed to find little success in translating that songwriting ability into her own music.
I believe that part of this stemmed from the insecurity she might have felt then being on her own. With The Go-Go's, Wiedlin had four other band members to not only bounce ideas off of, but also serve as a "united front" against producers and label executives who were interested in exploiting the group and/or drastically modifying their sound. And for the most part, this unity was successful, only faltering somewhat on their second album, Vacation, produced by former Brill Building alum Richard Gottehrer. Gottehrer slicked the band's sound down somewhat on this album; although it was still successful (reaching #8 on the Billboard 200), it received lukewarm critical
reviews and was seen in many quarters as a step backward by the group. Talk Show, released two years later, was considered a "return to form" for The Go-Go's, returning the bite and drive to much of their music. I enjoyed this album very much, and recall being disappointed when I learned of the group's demise soon after its release; it would have been interesting to see in what direction The Go-Go's would have gone with future albums. But it was not to be.
Trying to make a name for herself as a solo act, I think that Jane fell under the influence of the label and the producers assigned to her first release in her/their drive to make the disc more accessible/"commercial" and
thereby more successful. In many ways, 1985's Jane Wiedlin is way overproduced, full of shimmering effects, '80s-style beats and guest musicians (Chris Sheehan participated in several of the recordings for this album) that bury the effect and urgency of the lyrics she penned. It also doesn't help that Wiedlin's voice is rather thin and lacking in range... but with the right producer, that could have been managed. In her best songs on this album, especially on "One Hundred Years Of Solitude", the special effects are toned down, allowing the quality of her music and vocals to shine through. Alas, it wasn't enough - IRS dropped her after Jane Wiedlin peaked at only #127 on the charts. I still bought the disc, though, out of my love for and loyalty to The Go-Go's (and because, on the album cover, Jane reminded me of a girl I once adored in college).
Jane moved to Manhattan Records, where she released Fur three years later, in 1988. But again, she made the same mistake as with her previous album. Fur is even more slickly produced than her first album, with producer Stephen Hague (who helmed albums by Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, Erasure and The Pet Shop Boys) liberally ladling on the synth-pop. This album should have gone nowhere as well...
however, it did produce a Top Ten hit single, "Rush Hour", which helped drag the album up to #105 on the charts. But the rest of the disc is airy and forgettable. Wiedlin managed to release one more album, Tangled, on yet another new label (EMI) in 1990... but the damage was done. Tangled failed to chart. Jane wouldn't release another solo album for another decade.
[It is interesting to note that during this time, Jane's former band mate Belinda Carlisle also began a solo career, albeit in a poppier, more radio-friendly vein, and found much greater
success with arguably more inferior material (although her first big hit, 1986's "Mad About You", was originally slated for release on The Go-Go's aborted fourth album). Other huge hits for her, including "I Get Weak" and "Heaven Is A Place On Earth", soon followed.]
Although "Rush Hour" was Wiedlin's biggest solo hit, I've always felt that "Blue Kiss", off of her first solo outing, was the best song she ever did on her own, even though it only reached #77 on the charts.
IRS seemed to think so as well; "Blue Kiss" b/w "My Traveling Heart" was released as the first single off the album, and later that year the label issued a 12" of dance and extended versions of the song on vinyl. To date, these songs have never been released on CD.
Here's the lineup
Blue Kiss (Special Dance Version)
Blue Kiss ("V" Mix)
Blue Kiss (Instrumental Version)
So here for your enjoyment is Jane Wiedlin's Blue Kiss 12", put out by IRS Records in September 1985. Enjoy, and as always, let me know what you think.
Please use the email link below to contact me, and I will reply with the download link(s) ASAP:
In the mid-2000s, a small British label called Planet
Clique, specializing in dance music, released a series of remix EPs of classic
B-52's hits, mostly on vinyl. The label was an offshoot of Manhattan
Clique, maintained by founders Philip Larsen and Chris Smith, collectively
referred to by the moniker "MHC".
From
their website:
One
of the most enduring and well-respected remix teams of the last decade,
Manhattan Clique have worked with some of the biggest names in pop and dance
music, delivering over 200 dance/crossover remixes to date for all the world's
major labels and many independents. Highlights include Katy Perry, Charli
XCX, Emeli Sandé, Lady Gaga, DJ Fresh, Ellie Goulding, Nicole Scherzinger,
Britney Spears, Carly Rae Jepsen, Example, Wretch 32 and many more.
Manhattan Clique remixes regularly reside in the upper reaches of dance, club
and pop charts in the UK, US and across Europe.
Their remix edits are also hugely popular with radio stations, gaining support
on BBC Radio 1, Kiss and Capital in the UK,
and across a large number of radio stations in the US. The team are also well
known in the blogging world, picking up regular plaudits from leading music
bloggers such as Popjustice, Perez Hilton and Arjan Writes.
Manhattan Clique have also worked with some of the biggest artists in Europe;
from Germany's Frida Gold, Norway's Ida Maria, Holland's Esmée Denters,
Russia's Valeriya to French megastar Mylene Farmer. Her duet with Moby,
"Slipping Away" was Manhattan
Clique's first #1 production, as well as Moby's first and only #1
single, spending several weeks at the top of the French singles chart in
2006.
Outside Manhattan
Clique, Philip Larsen has additionally won a Grammy award for his mix work on
Kylie Minogue’s "Come Into My World". Chris Smith runs the PR
and marketing company Renegade Music, based in London, who consult for a wide
variety of new and established UK
and international talent.
Their remix EP of songs from Whammy! came
out in 2005, followed by their Mesopotamia
remixes the following year and their reimagining of songs from Wild Planet
the year after. All in all, I found these modified songs to be mostly
interesting and enjoyable, and a welcome addition to the overall B-52's catalog.
Took me forever to find these discs... and as
usual, I'm happy to share them with my fellow Bee-Fives fans.
So here, for your enjoyment and perusal, is the Whammy!
- 2005 Remix EP, the Mesopotamia - 2006 Remix EP, and the Wild
Planet - 2007 Remix EP, released in limited
editions by Planet Clique in the years indicated. Enjoy, and as always,
let me know what you think.
Please use the email
link below to contact me, and I will reply with the download link(s) ASAP:
Another icon lost . . . He had so much left in the tank - creatively, personally and professionally. I know that time is finite for us all . . . but this one smarts.
Nothing much else left to say . . . Here's something by someone well-known, who succinctly expressed the overall feeling of Prince's passing today a lot better than I ever could:
All I can do in tribute to this great artist is to provide his music to you - so here you are: Prince's The Hits/The B-Sides three-disc compilation, released by Paisley Park Records and Warner Brothers Records on September 10th, 1993. I bought mine at the old Echo Records in Christchurch shortly after it came out - just looked at it; it still has the price tag on it all these years later: NZ$87.95. Worth every penny I spent on it, and then some.
My favorite song off of this set is "Erotic City" - this song was theJAM during the summer of '84:
Anyway, have a listen to this set tonight, enjoy, and remember this gifted, innovative and prolific artist as he transitions into the realm of legend. Rest well, Prince.
(Man, but I'm tired of writing these eulogy posts . . .)
Please use the email link below to contact me, and I will reply with the download link(s) ASAP:
Found this one over the summer at a hole-in-the-wall vinyl record store in Mystic, Connecticut, situated in a side alley
midway between the town's river drawbridge and the original Mystic Pizza location, namesake of the famous Julia Roberts movie. I was in town for the afternoon, taking in a few of the scanty sights and browsing the tourist trap shops along Main Street, when I recalled the existence of this record store, Mystic Disc, from a previous visit many moons ago.
Mystic Disc is exactly what you would expect in a classic, longstanding record store - a ramshackle space about the size of
a living room in a building that has seen better days, with old-fashioned wooden album racks taking up every possible square foot of floor space conceivable to display the voluminous wares but still allow the minimum amount of free space required for customers to actually move around, and the walls jammed to the ceiling with album covers, concert posters, t-shirts, photos, and other music paraphernalia. The air in the shop is close and semi-humid, with a low, latent scent of dust, the nearby river, armpit sweat from the hippie-fied proprietor, and that 'old record' smell - a staple of old stores like this.
Now, while that description of Mystic Disc may sound a little condescending and depressing, that was not my intention in the least. I LOVE old records stores like this, and whenever I come across one, wild horses can't drag me away until I've had a thorough look through what these places have to offer. I'm always hopeful in my searches through these stores that somehow, someway, that rare overlooked gem that I'd been searching for for years will magically appear and justify the hour or so I spent churning through crusty old Olivia Newton-John and obscure early '70s prog-rock albums. Of course, that very rarely happens . . . but I'm an optimist, and therefore hope always springs eternal.
I wasn't exactly looking for B-52's music that day, but I came across this disc anyway during my peregrinations. "Debbie" was one of two new songs the band recorded for the release of
their 1998 single-disc compilation Time Capsule: Songs For A Future Generation (the other one being "Hallucinating Pluto"). Being a big Bee-Fives fan, I of course bought the comp when it came out all those years ago, but to be honest neither of the two new songs did all that much for me. In my opinion, the sound of both of those songs veered dangerously close to the overall sound of their 1992 album Good Stuff, a disc I've reviled for years (as I've mentioned before in detail). However, of the two, I guess that if I had to choose, I would have to favor "Debbie" over the other one. Here's the video:
[In addition, I consider Time Capsule to be a flawed compilation. Again, it's only a single disc, with fully half of it weighted towards the later-period B-52s songs off of Cosmic Thing and Good Stuff. In doing that, they leave off some some group classics, like "Give Me Back My Man", "Dance This Mess Around" and "Devil In My Car". I
think that even the band themselves realized what a half-assed job Time Capsule did in summarizing their legacy; it was less than four years later that the vastly superior (in my mind) double-disc Nude On The Moon anthology was released. Anyway, I digress . . . let me continue:]
The factor that tipped me towards purchasing this EP that day was the price; Mystic Disc was practically giving it away. Here's the song lineup:
There's nothing particularly essential here in these remixes for B-52's fans; this offering is basically for completists (like me) who want every note, burp and gurgle associated with one of their favorite groups.
So here you are: The B-52's Debbie 12", a promo copy of dance remixes released in the wake of the band's 1998 compilation album, burnt off of glorious vinyl. Enjoy, and as always, let me know what you think.
Please use the email link below to contact me, and I will reply with the download link(s) ASAP:
My younger sister works for a large pharmaceutical company out on the West Coast, and the nature of her job has her traveling all over the country, essentially trying to entice doctors and hospitals to make use of her company's products. It goes without saying that, as one of the leaders of Big Pharm, her company has more money than God Himself, enabling the firm's sales reps to live relatively well when they're out on the road. As such, my sis stays in some pretty swank places and enjoys some fine dining while making site visits. Shoot, I used to travel quite a bit for work myself, but the ambiance I encountered rarely rose above the level of a sweaty-smelling Radisson and T.G.I. Fridays-esque fare in some second-tier Midwestern burg. But I didn't hold my sister's comparatively gold-plated travel against her or her company, especially when, on the times where she traveled to fun places like Vegas or New York, she would occasionally invite me there to hang out and have a few laughs in the city. A free hotel room in the Big Apple is hard to say 'no' to!
During her frequent travels to New York City, she almost invariably stays at one of the many W hotels that dot the town. W Hotels is a subsidiary of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, a corporation that owns and operates the Westin, Sheraton, and St. Regis luxury lodging brands (among others). W is basically Starwood's boutique brand, their attempt to move away from the stodgy, old-fashioned, musty swankiness of their other hoity-toity hotels and project a newer, funkier kind of luxury to attract younger 'urban hipster'-type customers. That "hipness" is reflected in the decor - a lot of earth tones, beiges and dark woods, along with meticulously pebbled atriums containing quiet, sleek sculptures and water art (small waterfalls, fountains, etc.). Thanks to my sis, I've stayed in several Ws in the New York City area, and while they all have their esoteric differences, that nouvelle hip aesthetic is a hallmark of every one of them.
I enjoy the hotel rooms and their amenities, but frankly, I've never felt entirely comfortable in them. Why? Well, a couple of reasons, really. One big problem I have with W Hotels is that it seems they're trying TOO hard to be contemporary and hip, so much so that the whole effect comes off as forced and false. Examples? OK - the one-word shorthand codes for services and amenities: "Bliss" for their soaps and cosmetics, the fitness center is called "SWEAT", pet services and known as P.A.W. I guess it sounded like a good, funky idea when they were setting the places up, but after a while it's just a bit annoying, at least to me.
But my main issue with W Hotels is that in their drive to be 'cooler than . . .', they create a very peculiar kind of exclusivity and snobbishness far beyond that of other higher-end hotels in the city. The lobbies of the W give off a weird vibe of studied pretentiousness. Dark-suited and/or leather-clad young urbanites (both staff and visitors), looking like they're on their way to the next gallery opening, congregate in the desks or hold court in the large open bar area, all but looking down their noses at other folks who don't rise to their perceived level of fashion and sophistication. There's not a lot of Kenneth Cole or Versace in my everyday wardrobe, so I've always felt like "the poor kid in prep school" every time I'm in a W and have to walk through that gauntlet of pretension. I've stayed in other, more storied and swank hotels in NYC (including Le Parker Meridian, Gramercy Park Hotel and the Plaza), and in all of them have felt more welcome and accommodated than I have at the W. That "We're so cool, you really shouldn't be here" vibe there is something they really need to work on to rid themselves of, if they're serious about expanding their customer base to families and regular business travelers - the 'hip' folks won't frequent the same place for forever.
But enough of that. Like I said, despite the weirdness of the lobbies, the rooms are very nice and fairly stuffed with amenities - flat-screen TVs, DVD players, iPod docks, high-end snacks, etc. At one W my sister and I booked for a couple of days, they had a CD available to play in your room during your stay called Warmth Of Cool - Overture, featuring what was described as 'contemporary, relaxing' music. I had a listen to it while we were there, and liked what I heard. Here's the lineup:
1. Wax Poetic (w/Norah Jones) – Angels (Thievery Corporation Remix)
2. Martina Topley-Bird – I Still Feel
3. Rouge Rouge – Décide-Toi
4. Blank & Jones (feat. Robert Smith) – A Forest Remix (Short Cut)
5. DJ Cam – Success (Thievery Corporation Remix)
6. Just Jack – Snowflakes
7. Natacha Atlas – Who's My Baby
8. Stigmato Inc. – Reality Check
9. Federico Aubele – Postales
10. Galactic – Paint
11. Dos Y Uno - Love Is Desire
12. Quantic – En Focus
A lot of the tunes on this disc are just what you would expect a place like W Hotels to feature - stuff straight out of a dance club that they thought was 'cool' (hence the name). However, I do have some favorites on this disc, including the remix of The Cure's "A Forest" by Blank & Jones, featuring Robert Smith himself on vocals; Just Jack's Euro-rap "Snowflakes"; and both of the Thievery Corporation remixes. All in all, it's not a half-bad collection.
Of course, if you liked the CD and decided to keep it, the hotel would charge you something like $25 for the privilege. Fortunately, I had my computer with me. So I quickly burned a copy of my own - problem solved (at least for me!).
So, for your listening pleasure, here's the W Hotels Warmth Of Cool - Overture compilation from 2005 (released in conjunction with Rock River Records). Despite my overall dissatisfaction with the hotels themselves, they DID manage to redeem themselves by making some decent music available. Enjoy, and let me know what you think.
Please use the email link below to contact me, and I will reply with the download links ASAP:
"Fine Time" was the lead single and (in my opinion) best song on what I consider to be New Order's last decent album, 1989's Technique. The album came out shortly after I returned from six months in Europe, where I became a big fan of acid house music. I was stunned and happily surprised when I first heard Technique and found that New Order had heavily coopted that sound. What I learned much later (partly through Michael
Winterbottom's 2002 film 24 Hour Party People - a great movie about the Factory Records/Manchester scene, by the way) was that soon after recording 1986's Brotherhood, the band went on vacation to the Mediterranean island of Ibiza, off the coast of Spain, a renowned European club and party zone. While there, they first came in contact with the rising acid house sound and with Balearic beat, a style of electronic dance music pioneered on the islands. The band fully immersed themselves into the music of Ibiza, and came away from their trip committed fans of that sound. They were determined to have their next album reflect this new musical sensibility.
New Order took a longer-that-usual amount of time to record Technique - almost three years, much to their label's chagrin. By the mid-80s, Factory Records was bleeding money all over the place, but especially through the Hacienda, the Manchester nightclub and music venue jointly financed and built by Factory and New Order. Although popular, the majority of the Hacienda's patrons preferred taking ecstacy and other drugs to buying drinks at the bar. This, coupled with generally low admission prices, led to spiraling debts at the club. These debts were usually covered through revenues from New Order's record sales. By 1987, the Hacienda was costing Factory (or more specifically, New Order) nearly a quarter million dollars a year. So a quick turnaround on a new New Order record was necessary not just for the band, but more importantly for the label in keeping its various enterprises afloat. But New Order would not be rushed, and Factory was in no position to force the issue (especially since the band, not the label, owned all of their music). So all Factory could do was sit and stew as New Order flew back and forth to Ibiza month after month, tinkering with their new sound.
The long wait was justified when Technique was released in January 1989 and became an immediate hit, the band's first UK #1 album and their first non-compilation disc to go gold in the US (the Substance compilation went platinum in 1987), reaching #32 on the US album charts. Two album singles, "Fine Time" and "Round and Round", made the UK Top Twenty, but had even greater success in America, with both songs reaching the top five on the national dance and modern rock charts.
Being a long-time New Order fan, I bought Technique on cassette practically the instant it came out, and played it to death while driving around Virginia that winter. I especially liked "Fine Time", so much so that when I spotted a 12" disc of remixes available at the George Washington University branch of Tower Records that March, I immediately snapped it up. It's such a well-constructed song, that it can withstand the manipulation of several different mixes and still sound fresh and exciting each time.
So here you are, burned off of my still-mint condition vinyl copy - New Order's Fine Time 12", released by Factory Records in 1988 and distributed in the U.S. by Quincy Jones' Qwest Records (BTW - out of the 37(!) different versions of this record available internationally, this one is one of the few that have all five remixes available, along with the b-side "Don't Do It"). I think the quality of this burn is exceptionally good - if you feel otherwise, let me know and I'll rescorch it. Either way, let me know what you think:
Please use the email link below to contact me, and I will reply with the download link(s) ASAP:
Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia is one of the largest universities in the Tidewater area and one of the top institutions of higher learning in the state. It boasts superb facilities, nationally ranked athletic teams, a decent financial endowment and a loyal alumni fanbase. The only knock I have against the place is that, in terms of nightlife and activities, it's dull as dishwater.
I got to know ODU when I lived in nearby Virginia Beach about 20 years ago. My brother was a student there, and on occasion I used to head down into Norfolk to hang out with him. But when I say "hang out", I use that term loosely - in regards to decent bars/clubs/social amenities in close proximity to the ODU campus, the area was sorely lacking. Back then, there were three locales of any distinction close to the school - the 4400 Campus Club and another bar (whose name currently escapes me [addendum - was just informed that the other bar was called Friar Tuck's]) directly across the street from the main quad, and further up Hampton Boulevard, the King's Head, which showcased decent bands from time to time. That was it. Hell, even my alma mater, Navy, had a PUMPING nightlife just outside its gates, with the bars of downtown Annapolis a mere stagger away. The lameness of the area around ODU made Annapolis look like Las Vegas, comparatively.
Still, the ODU area had its attractions - mainly, the college girls who drank there most evenings. The 4400 Club also used to host a great DJ one night a week; the guy would play some pretty decent cuts - everything from Ministry, Nine Inch Nails and the Screaming Blue Messiahs to Madonna and the Cure. The guy also had little contests he ran during his set - trivia questions and "Name That Tune" sort of stuff. It was pretty enjoyable, and I usually ended up winning something on those evenings (due to my profound musical knowledge - ha ha), so I began making a point of going to the 4400 Club on nights this DJ worked,
One night, he was having a "Name That Tune" competition with random CD giveaways as prizes. He put the first song on, which I instantly recognized as Suidical Tendencies' "I Shot The Devil". My prize was a mixtape of various obscure songs and remixes the DJ had put together (it was actually pretty good - I still have it, all these years later) and a CD, Betty Boo's Boomania.
I listened to the Betty Boo CD the next afternoon, and initially I was convinced that the DJ was taking the mickey out of his audience (and me) by having this disc as a "prize". Englishwoman Betty Boo (real name: Alison Clarkson) was an eighteen-year-old sound engineering student in London in 1988 when she hooked up with a band of female rappers called the She Rockers. The group busked around London, and one day during one of their impromptu performances at a McDonald's in the city, were noticed by, of all people, Public Enemy's Professor Griff. Professor Griff produced the group's first single, "Give It A Rest".
He also convinced Betty Boo to leave the group, as it appeared to be going nowhere; after little more than a year with the She Rockers, Boo went solo.
Betty's solo break came mere months later, when she guested on The Beatmaster's hit single "Hey DJ! (I Can't Dance to that Music You're Playing)", which went to #7 in the UK in late 1989.
She quickly followed up with a debut single of her own, "Doin' The Do", in early 1990. The song also went to #7 UK and topped the dance charts in the US. She spent the spring and summer of that year writing and recording songs in her bedroom for her first full-length release, which turned out to be Boomania. The album went to #4 in the UK, spawned two more UK chart hits ("Where Are You Baby?" and "24 Hours"), and at the BRIT Awards the next year (the British equivalent of the Grammys), it helped her earn the title of "Best British Breakthrough Artist". She was still only 20 years old.
The majority of the songs on Boomania are a strange hybrid of dance music and pop-rap, sort of a slightly 'harder', less trippy-dippy version of the stuff that Deee-Lite (whose album World Clique and lead single "Groove Is In The Heart" were big US/UK hits) was putting out during the same time period (Deee-Lite's album was released two months earlier, in August 1990). A lot of Boo's music sounds like the template the Spice Girls used to "create" their hateful pop-rap-dance sound ten years later - not a good thing (I'm sorry, but the British can't do rap to save their lives). Another analogy (I've got a million of 'em tonight) - Betty Boo was like Peaches with a lot less sass and a lot more accent. Which is why after that first listen, I thought the DJ gave out this disc as a joke.
However, once I delved deeper into the album, I found some gold there, once you got away from her formulaic "hits". "Valentine's Day" is an unheralded but superb tune, with Boo's voice exploring a more R&B direction. But the best song on the album in my opinion is "Shame", with Boo's excellent vocals backed by a nagging, incessant bass 'n' drum rhythm that drives the dancable groove along:
"Shame" should have been a huge club hit, but I don't think it even made the charts.
Betty Boo's fall was just as rapid as her rise. She began a world tour on Boomania, but during a concert in Australia in 1991, the audience discovered her lip syncing over taped vocals, and mass derision ensued. She cancelled the rest of the tour and stayed quiet for the rest of the year. Betty also left Rhythm King for Warner Music Group in 1991, and the next year Warner released
her sophomore LP, Grrr! It's Betty Boo. The album charted in the UK, but nowhere near the heights of her first album. In 1993, she left Warner and took time away from music to care for her terminally ill mother for the next several years; this effectively ended her singing career. In the past fifteen years or so, Betty Boo regrouped, and has carved out a niche for herself as a songwriter, writing tunes for British teen pop groups and the like.
As for the "scene" around the Old Dominion campus, the block containing the 4400 Campus Club was completely demolished at the end of the '90s. The area is now the site of the Ted Constant Convocation Center, the university's multi-purpose arena. I have no idea where the students go to hang out now - I guess they have to drive into the downtown area. Oh well.
Anyway, here, for your listening pleasure, is Betty Boo's Boomania, released in October 1990 by Rhythm King, and distributed by Sire Records. Have a listen to the cuts I mentioned above, and as always, let me know what you think:
Please use the email link below to contact me, and I will reply with the download link(s) ASAP:
In the mid-90s, I was a loyal subscriber to Entertainment Weekly magazine. Now normally, I'm not a committed reader of media/music rags. I have been known to pick up the occasional British music magazine (Uncut, Mojo, etc.) from time to time, but it's not like I'm pacing in front of the bookstore every month, breathlessly awaiting the next issue. I've never had much use for periodicals like Rolling Stone, TV Guide, Creem, Hit Parader or mainstream mags of that ilk.
The only other entertainment magazine I ever made the effort to subscribe to was SPIN, back in the early days of its existence (i.e., the late 1980s). In its early days, SPIN's music coverage was consistantly great, a lot better than the middle-of-the-road music dreck that Rolling Stone was putting out. The magazine was so good, in fact, that Mark E. Smith went out of his way to give a positive name-check to SPIN in song (in "Oswald Defense Lawyer", on the 1988 Fall album The Frenz Experiment). When Mad Mark is singing your praises, you KNOW you're doing something right.
But unfortunately, grunge came along and destroyed SPIN magazine. Not that I have anything against grunge - it's just that, suddenly, SPIN became the house organ for the whole movement, and the magazine's coverage became all-grunge, all the time. I liked SPIN for its FULL coverage of the alternative music scene, not just that tiny sliver. After a couple of years of this sort of tedium (I mean, hell, how many times can you write about Mudhoney and Pearl Jam, seriously?), I finally threw in the towel and failed to renew my subscription.
Now, Entertainment Weekly wasn't a substitute for what SPIN used to offer. The magazine wasn't exactly on the cutting edge of what was happening in music and movies, and I didn't have any burning love for Entertainment Weekly's prose either. The only reason I kept getting this periodical year after year was that, as part of your renewal, the magazine would provide free music compilations as part of your paid subscription. Sometimes the compilations were rock; sometimes they were disco; other times they were country. But all of them were superb overviews of their particular genre.
This compilation, Entertainment Weekly Presents Maximum Dance, was mailed to 1995 subscribers. I personally feel that this was the finest of all the magazine's music sets, as it provides an excellent overview of the state of dance music in the late '80s/early '90s. Most of the major hits from that period are included on this two-disc set: Haddaway's "What Is Love"; "I've Been Thinking About You" by London Beat; "O.P.P." by Naughty By Nature; and many, many more.
I'm not embarrassed to say that, back in the day, I spent many an hour getting down to these hits in dance clubs from Narvik, Norway to Valparaiso, Chile and points in between. Yeah, a lot of these tunes seem cheesy now (especially the ones that have moved into the realm of parody, like the Haddaway song and Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy"), but it helps to remember that, in their time, all of these songs were HUGE hits and dance-floor staples. Here's the lineup:
Disc 1: 1. What Is Love - Haddaway 2. A Deeper Love - Aretha Franklin 3. Don't Turn Around - Ace of Base 4. All Around The World - Lisa Stansfield 5. Ride On Time - Black Box 6. Flava In Ya Ear (Easy Mo Mix) - Craig Mack 7. I've Been Thinking About You (Eclipse Mix) - London Beat 8. Just Another Dream - Cathy Dennis 9. Whoomp! (There It Is) - Tag Team 10. Every Little Step - Bobby Brown 11. I'm Gonna Get You - Bizarre Inc. 12. O.P.P. - Naughty By Nature
Disc 2: 1. Mr. Vain - Culture Beat 2. Good Vibrations - Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch 3. I'm So Into You - SWV 4. Movin' On Up - M People 5. I'm Too Sexy - Right Said Fred 6. Summertime - DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince 7. Jump Around - House of Pain 8. Show Me Love - Robin S. 9. keep It Street - R. Kelly 10. Humpty Dance - Digital Underground 11. Big Poppa - The Notorious B.I.G. 12. Froggy Style - Nuttin' Nyce
If you're still a fan of this sort of music, this compilation is a one-stop source for all of the good stuff from back then. If you're not a fan, then hell, at the very least this set is good for a laugh, and hearing what people thought was cool at that time. Either way, here you go. As always, enjoy, and let me know what you think.
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In 2000, I almost got a job with Hewlett-Packard. The company I worked for in Texas had suddenly and unexpectedly been acquired by Citigroup, and as a member of the corporate staff, I knew that my ass, like the asses of many of my compatriots, was going to be grass once the merger was complete. I started trolling around for a new position, and very quickly heard from H-P. They seemed pretty eager to speak with me, so much so that they very quickly sent me a plane ticket to Silicon Valley, California and $150 in cash for any "incidental expenses" I might encounter during my morning-to-evening visit there. I was pretty psyched.
I took an early-morning plane out of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, and by 9 a.m. local time, I was at the airport in San Jose, picking up my rental car (again, reserved for me by H-P) for the drive down to Sunnyvale. The interview there went pretty well, although I was surprised that I was not the only person the company contacted for the position in question - there were a few of us there, from places as far afield as Chicago and Boston, invited to interview for the job. But H-P kept things moving on an assembly-line basis, and every one of us was in and out of there in less than three hours.
My plane back to Dallas didn't leave until six that evening, so I had several hours to kill before the flight. I decided to head into San Francisco for a couple of hours, grab a bite to eat and have a few laughs. However, one destination in that city was in the forefront of my mind - Amoeba Records on Haight Street.
I don't know how many of you are familiar with Amoeba . . . nowadays, there are a couple of branches of this store - the other ones I know of are in Berkeley and the most recent one that opened in L.A. about eight years ago. But the Haight Street location is the flagship. Now, being as crazy about music as I am, I've been to music stores and record shops all over the world, and seen some good ones and some not-so-good ones. I have to say, unequivically, that Amoeba Music San Francisco is THE best record store on the planet. Bar none. It's a huge open warehouse of a space, the main floor of which is covered with bins full of all sorts of CDS and records. One side of this barn is devoted to "new" albums; an equal amount of space on the other side is reserved for "used" records. In previous visits to Amoeba, I'd found things there I'd been searching for for literally YEARS - dirt cheap. For me, that place was and is the Capital of Music . . . and since at that point I hadn't been to San Francisco in a while, and had no idea when I might be back there again, I was eager to spend some time once again browsing those stacks.
I made the hour-long drive into San Francisco with the radio on, scanning the dial, listening for something interesting (great radio stations in San Fran, BTW). I can't remember what station there it was where I heard "Would You . . . ?" during my drive, but the song captured my ears instantly.
Touch & Go was formed in England in 1997 by David Lowe, the only official member of the group. Lowe's day job is as a music producer for British television shows and commercials (all of the music you hear on the BBC News since 1998 was composed by him). He formed Touch & Go as a creative outlet, away from the constraints of TV production. In addition to writing, arranging and producing most of the songs, Lowe plays the keyboards, drums and bass on every release, assisted by various guest musicians who provide vocals, guitar, brass, what have you.
Touch & Go's first release was the Would You . . . ? EP on V2 Records in October 1998. The song's mix of horn-driven Latin jazz, house and electronic elements backing a sexy female voice mouthing laconic come-on lines was a sensation in England, where it shot to Number 3 on the UK Pop charts. Touch & Go began a European tour in late 1998/early 1999, taking their sound to several locations in Eastern Europe, where the song proved equally popular there and in several other worldwide locations (Australia and New Zealand especially).
The song did nothing of any chart importance here in the U.S.; but like I said, it caught my attention during my drive into the city. After a nice lunch at a seafood restaurant on Fisherman's Wharf (great crabmeat sandwich), I made a beeline for Amoeba. There, I proceeded to blow EVERY PENNY of the $150 in "expense money" H-P gave me on music - I got some great stuff, including the Would You . . . ? EP. I made it back to the San Jose airport in time for my flight, with a big bag of CDs tucked under the seat in front of me. I didn't end up getting the job with H-P, but no worries - in my mind, it was still a productive journey (and anyway, inside of another two weeks, I found a better, more lucrative position in New England . . . so there you go)!
On the strength of that single, Touch & Go cut an album, I Find You Very Attractive, in 1999. After a couple of other lesser-received EPs in the early '00s, Touch & Go's star has sort of faded in Great Britain. However, the band remains popular in Eastern Europe, and still tours regularly there.
Here's the Would You . . . ? EP I purchased in San Francisco over ten years ago. This is the U.S. version of the EP (there are about nine versions overall internationally), containing five different iterations of the title song. I still think this tune is pretty cool - have a listen, and let me know what you think.
Enjoy:
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Speaking of more insane Madchester nonsense I acquired back in the day . . .
Here's another one from that era, Slow Bongo Floyd's More Than Jesus EP, released in 1991 on Epic Records.
Slow Bongo Floyd was a minor Manchester band, formed in the immediate wake of the Stone Roses' success (see previous posting). The band was essentially the brainchild/project of local musician Mick Jones (no, not the Clash's Mick Jones - this is another one), assisted by a rotating group of friends and fellow musicians. Slow Bongo Floyd went beyond what The Stone Roses started, and sowed that thumping house groove a little deeper into their music than some of the other Madchester bands (with the possible exception of The Happy Mondays). It's conceivable that this sound should have carried them at least as far as it did the Mondays, but alas, the band was destined to coexist on the fringes of the movement.
I can't remember where or when I first heard this song; it was probably at once of those old dance clubs in Washington DC on F Street. I know I did purchase it from the now-defunct GWU Tower Records the year it came out (too bad Tower went belly up, but it wasn't my doing. I estimated once that in my lifetime, I probably purchased at least 60% of the scores of tapes and hundreds of CDs I own from Tower, with the vast majority of those coming out of the place in Washington).
Slow Bongo Floyd was active for a fairly long period, from about 1989 to early 1992. But strangely, any detailed information on the band is VERY hard to find nowadays. It's weird that in this day and age, they remain somewhat of a mystery.
So, that's all I've got on these guys - not a lot. But I know you're here for music, and not information. So here you go:
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Lordy . . . sometimes I look back through my music collection and shake my head. I was into some very odd stuff way back when.
Here's one I picked up during the late summer of 1991: Fortran 5's Heart On The Line EP, consisting of four remixes of said song. I took a two-week vacation in the spring of that year, and flew over to Madrid, Spain on one of those cheap student tickets (the kind where you can only take what you can put in the overhead compartment or under your seat, as the company who sold you the ticket has the rights to your cargo space) to visit my youngest sister. My sis had graduated from college in Virginia the summer before, and had headed overseas to bicycle around Europe for a couple of weeks before planning to head back to the U.S. to start work. Well, that two weeks in Europe turned into a year and a half, and she ended up in Madrid after finding a job teaching English to Spaniards there. Mind you, at the time, she couldn't speak Word One (or is that "Una Palabra"?) of Spanish . . . but by the time I got over there to see her six months later, she spoke the local language like a native. I guess that shows you what total immersion in a country can do for you.
Anyway, I showed up, and we had a high old time. I was relatively flush with cash at the time, while she was living on her meager wages in a semi-hovel in downtown Madrid with her roommates, two Irish sisters who were constantly at one another's throats. So I tried to get her out to see and do things she hadn't had the opportunity to partake in before, due to her penury, stuff that I took for granted - like going out for pizza and hitting some of the local clubs. This was in addition to the touristy stuff I wanted to see, like the Prado Museum.
It was at one of those city clubs where I first heard "Heart On The Line". That dark, thumping electro-techno tune was perfect for the place where we were, and it tickled my ears enough to have me take note of it for when I went back to the States. Yes, as I've mentioned before, I used to like the whole dance/house thing - so shoot me; I was young and having fun!
When I got back the the States, I found the EP, released by Elektra Entertainment earlier that year, at the old Tower Records near George Washington University in DC. Fortran 5, formed in London in 1989, was basically two guys, David Barker and Simon Leonard, assisted by a bevy of guest artists. They cranked out several singles and albums worth of sample-heavy techno during the early 1990s, with the assistance of members from bands such as Can, Orb, and Sly & The Family Stone. Vocals on the Heart On The Line EP ware provided by members of Miranda Sex Garden.
After their final release as Fortran 5 in 1995, the band added Jane Brereton and morphed into Komputer, which began as a veritable Kraftwerk tribute band before modifying their sound in the late '00s more into electronic sample manipulation. As far as I know, they're still at it.
So here - harken back to the early '90s, and relive those old techno club days with me! Enjoy:
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When I first got to Christchurch, New Zealand, a new acquaintance provided me with a couple of free passes to The Club, an upscale "members-only" booze-and-dance palace located in the old Courts Buildings on the corner of Armagh and Durham Streets, right on the Avon River and just down the street from the Park Royal Hotel and the then-under construction Christchurch Casino. From those first visits, The Club quickly became my locale of choice every weekend. I made friends with the manager and all the staff, and as such, although I never was a member of the place, I never paid a nickel to get in during my time there. The Club was MY place, and I brought a lot of people along to check the place out, who also became regulars.
In the early 1990s, The Club was the preeminent dance club in Christchurch, due in no small reason to the DJ there, Sam. Sam was a black dude from Los Angeles who remained in New Zealand after the end of his Navy duty in Christchurch. In his years there, he had established himself as the top DJ in town, with his regular weekend gig at The Club and a thriving DJ-for-hire business he started there, working weddings and other events. Sam had connections all over town and back home in the U.S., so this guy always had the hottest cuts as soon as they were available, a key factor in a country were new music took weeks or sometimes months to arrive. Sam and I got to be pretty good friends over the years there; I eventually served as one of the groomsmen at his wedding.
Anyway, one night in 1993 at The Club, Sam played a thumping, Hi-NRG remix of Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights".
The song completely rocked the house - everyone there loved it, and it became a semi-regular staple of his set in the following months. I never thought to ask him about who the artist was; I just enjoyed the music.
I left Christchurch in 1995, but returned in 1998 to visit my old home and see all of my old friends. Sam was still in town, and still doing his weekend gig at The Club, so of course I went over to see him as a surprise. He was very happy to see me, and in between changing music, he and I had a very long conversation about our lives over the past couple of years. After an hour or so, I had to leave. But before I did, I remembered to ask him about that long-ago Kate Bush remix. He laughed, reached into his stacks, came up with the CD and handed it to me with a smile, saying "It's yours now." That Sam was a good man.
Anyway, here it is, the Wuthering Eights EP, a three song remix done in 1992 by a group called Kate's Project. I know nothing about this band, although from the sound of the music, I would venture to say they were European, most likely from Italy (that Italian house vibe runs throughout the songs). If you liked Utah Saints' "Something Good", which sampled Kate Bush's "Cloudbusting", this'll be right up your alley.
To quote my friend Sam, "It's yours now!" Enjoy.
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