Oops, wrong reference. I was referring to today’s song Sign of Love without realizing @groovelocked was referring to Yesterday. My bad!
"Sign of Love" is really quite generic. Even Aimee sounds bored singing it. It's not terrible, though. It has a nice melodic hook. However, the sound is very dated with those fake handclaps and the synth horn. The lyrics are totally unmemorable as well. I'd have been shocked if Aimee had written them. I don't even remember the movie Back To The Beach, and this soundtrack album was probably about as memorable! 2.8/5
I never saw it because I was sure it would suck* which it almost certainly does, but it was actually a biggish hit and I remember other kids at my high school liking it. They were probably the intended audience. *plus had no money or friends to go with.
Back to the Beach is not a great movie, but it's the only place where you can see Annette Funicello play with Fishbone.
Today's song is "Do It Again", written by Aimee Mann and Michael Hausman; produced by 'Til Tuesday. Lyric. Aimee Mann: vocals, bass Robert Holmes: guitar, vocals Joey Pesce: keyboards, vocals Michael Hausman: drums, "Do It Again" was released in 1996 on the compilation Coming Up Close: A Retrospective.
Do It Again This seems far more like an outtake from Welcome Home vs Voices Carry, both production wise and maturity level. Or even a transitional song between Welcome Home and Everything's Different Now, as it's acoustic, no trace of synth/new wave. I like the song. But I'm reading through the lyrics and I can't follow what it's really about. There's a "her" seemingly in a relationship with the singer, a "he" in the chorus, and then a "you" at the end. If someone can follow the relationship map, I'd love to hear their interpretation! It's funny, some of the lyric sites say it was written by George Russell, who I didn't know. Then I looked it up and it was someone in Air Supply, who also had a song with the same title (but different lyrics). So just a mistake. Anyway. . .not a top tier song, but I wouldn't skip over it if it came on. 3.6/5
I think she's looking back on a relationship she ended with a woman who she dumped and drawing a comparison between the woman she dumped and herself now, where she is in in a similar position of weakness in a heterosexual relationship. "That same old rag" is the woman and she sees herself as "that same old rag."
I agree this sounds much closer to WElcome Home than Voices Carry. Not only the acoustic guitar, but also the general country-ish feel (really pronounced here, actually) and guitar work. Keyboards very restrained here, but that's a good thing as they really wouldn't suit this song. In the end I agree this is a very good and verging on great song, but just falls short of greatness. I do find the whole bixexual angle that Aimee was playing with a very interesting facet to her songwriting -- it's pretty frank and matter-of-fact. In retrospect, it seems pretty daring for a would-be American pop star thirty five years ago. 3.5/5
Do It Again I never took to this track, I got the tape at a time I was very into either bass-heavy stuff or more folkie stuff and after the years listening to the albums this song wasn’t enough to hold my attention then and I just never went back to it. I came back to Aimee with Bachelor in 2000 and got caught up. it’s a decent track but not as good as Yesterday which should have been on the comp too. 3.5/5
"Do It Again" is fantastic. It's sprightly, summery folk-pop with a gorgeous vocal and nice production. I think this does sound like something of a bridge between the second and third albums and I'm glad it eventually got a release on the compilation. It would have been welcome on either album at the time. 3.9/5
Today's song is "Goodbye, Amen", written by Aimee Mann; produced by Dennis Herring. "Goodbye, Amen" was released on American Girls sole album, American Girls in 1986; it was also released as a promo 12-inch single. Apparently the album was meant as a demo recording but ended up being their album. Hillary Shepard: lead vocals, percussion Brie Howard: lead vocals, drums, percussion, programming DB Tressler: guitar TEresa James: keyboards, backing vocals Miiko Watanabe: bass, backing vocals
Some interesting power-pop, eighties style here. Icy keyboards and overall "demo" production date it big time. I wish 'Til Tuesday had done this, ultimately, but it's a good curiosity. I feel like Aimee is entering a period where she can write no truly bad songs, so even though this is no masterpiece it's still a 3.5/5
Goodbye Amen I can hear a more sparse, sharper version coming from Til Tuesday’s first album with its simple lyrics, easy to imagine Aimee’s lower vocal, and poppier bass. Might even have been one of the better songs like Love In A Vacuum. 3/5
It’s hard for me to try and separate the song itself from the performance/production, which I’m not really into. On the surface, based on the performance and production, it just seems like ‘80’s pop and I don’t need to ever hear it again. No doubt if Aimee did it, I’d regard it higher, but it still doesn’t seem like a Welcome Home caliber song, more like a Voices Carry “not quite there” level song. 2.7/5
This is my first hearing of "Goodbye, Amen" and it's a decent song. I'm biased in that I'd rather hear this sung by Aimee than performed by American Girls. I can see why this one was given away as I'm not sure it would have been a standout as performed by 'Til Tuesday. It could have fit in on either of the first two albums, although probably more so on Voices Carry. I like the power chords on the bridge. Overall, a song with promise that isn't fully delivered in this recording. 3.3/5
