I can’t remember if I’ve posted this one before. I know @Eric_Generic loves The Blue Nile so I might have done.
You might have posted it a while back, but I do remember this one quite vividly anyway because it was OMD reviewing themselves and them choosing DM as single of the week always stuck in the memory bank. EG.
Very cutting about Toyah and Billy Idol. Nice to see 'Labelled With Love' getting a good review. I had the Landscape album, From the Tea-rooms of Mars .... It sat alongside In The Garden as my musical equivalents of Tales Of The Unexpected... In a way, it was a rather wonderful time.
The Ultravox influence shines through on this one. Perhaps directly influenced by the Vox's "Visions In Blue" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLtvyFCSy7o
The review for the brilliant "Rattlesnakes" is interesting, it almost come across like a typical snarky Smash Hits review.
Odd that this great tune from 1982 didn't make the charts at all in 1982 (#11 in Australia) but it's their best IMO (aside from the amazing cover of "The Wild Colonial Boy") Throw in "Girls Can Get It" and that's all the Dr Hook I need
I saw Dr Hook at Sheffield City Hall in June '76 on the 'A Little Bit More' tour. Came out with my sides aching. Apart from being splendid musos with fantastic material, they were also comedy geniuses, spinning off the audience. Would not hesitate to see them again.
I paid £45 for a mint copy of the original US CD pressing of Davis's Policy album some years ago, my second ever most expensive CD purchase. "Don't Tell Me The Time" should have been a massive hit, in the US at least.
Ah, the return of Sunie... The Associates "A" Decent offering from the boys; the closing track on The Affectionate Punch album The Creatures "Wild Things" I sort of liked it at the time but I now really struggle with even two Creatures tracks in a row in a way I don't with a full Banshees album New Order "Procession"/"Everything's Gone Green" The former always sounded like a cross between Krautrock and post-punk to me; the latter and better track sounds like an edgier less dancey "Blue Monday" Squeeze "Labelled With Love" Good band, not too keen on this one but I can see the appeal Tom Tom Club "Genius of Love" A little slice of epic. Not even yet a twinkle in Mariah's eyes... Tom Verlaine "Always" I like this a lot but it sounds quite dated today; even then Television's Marquee Moon seemed like a million years removed already Kirsty MacColl "See That Girl" Elvis in the chipshop aside, this lady could do no wrong
"Forever Young" is definitely a cult 80s track for me and soundtracked part of my youth as did the entire debut album from Alphaville. Despite the single peaking at #98 in the UK, it has apparently sold over 200,000 copies here, presumably on downloads? Or maybe streaming, the current chart rules baffle me...
Not RM's finest week. Pretty much all the reviews miss the mark. Well, maybe the Jagger one is justified. EG.
I picked up two records yesterday by artists that have been discussed (one of them at length!) in this thread: North of A Miracle by Nick Heyward and The Changeling by Toyah. You were all 100% correct about North — what a fab album, and really great sounding. It all flows so well and the songs are super catchy. I love it. The Changeling was a real surprise package. It only has one hit on it ('Brave New World', my new favourite Toyah song) but I think it's a better album than Anthem. It's the same prog-pop sound but the songs are stronger. I think this thread has helped turn me into a Toyah fan?
Martha was on Countdown quite a few times in the 80's, think she even guest hosted one episode. Anyway here's a fun interview with Molly from 1985..
I’ve not heard The Changeling, but may well check it out when it gets reissued. I’ve listened to Anthem a couple of times. It’s definitely not as amazing as Toyah said! I hear bits of Adam & The Ants and Siouxsie & The Banshees in there too. It’s a patchy affair though. Which reminds me, who came first, Toyah or Siouxsie? I think the latter had the career and respect the former wanted and imagined that she had. I’m guessing both were knocking around at the same time, but who influenced who?
I really loved Wow! and actually remembered that miserable review from back in the day! I’ve never heard any of the other albums, but it appears Five Star was the LP of the week!