Prince
Prince
Warner Bros. BSK 3366
1979
Prince's second album, which he produced, arranged and performed all by himself. This was the first Prince album that I bought. I picked it up used in the mid-1980s at Aron's Records here in Los Angeles back when they were still on Melrose. I became intrigued with Prince when I read reviews of his early records which basically described him as a sexually obsessed one man band. I loved his singles "1999" and "Little Red Corvette" as well as the songs from "Purple Rain" and decided to check him out even though I was really strapped for cash being an impoverished graduate student at the time. I was a little disappointed by it at the time, but I came to appreciate it more with repeated playing. It opens with "I Wanna Be Your Lover" which is a steamy come-on song. The song has a funky groove and a lascivious vocal from Prince as well as a lengthy synth driven instrumental break perfect for hitting the dance floor. Listening to it now I'm struck by how stripped down the production sounds compared to the denser sound and richer instrumental palette Prince favored later in his career. I still like it a lot though, it is one of my favorite cuts. The dance beat continues with the dynamic "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad" in which Prince complains about being mistreated by his lover. Despite the whiny lyrics, the music is punchy and exuberant with a smoking hot guitar solo. "Sexy Dancer" is a disco song driven by staccato guitar riffs reminiscent of James Brown's work, a technique Prince used throughout his career. It also contains a jumping piano solo. It is a slight song but it gets me moving. The record slows down for "When We're Dancing Close and Slow" which is the most overtly erotic song on an album that features practically nothing but sexy songs. Despite the highly charged lyrics I find the song dull largely because of Prince's subdued vocal and the lethargic music. Side two opens with "With You" which is a sentimental love song. It is another slow jam that I think could use a little more musical heat. That is certainly not a problem for the hard rocking "Bambi" which as you can probably guess is not about the Disney movie. In the song he admonishes his lover for wanting to be with another woman instead of him. The song has a strong riff and lots of vigorous guitar noise which makes it another one of my favorite tracks. The record slows down again for "Still Waiting" which finds Prince lamenting his inability to find love. The song has a classic soul sound to it and a winning vocal from Prince that reminds me of Curtis Mayfield. Next up is "I Feel For You" which was later a giant hit for Chaka Khan. I greatly prefer her far more kinetic and passionate version, but Prince is definitely convincing delivering lines like "I wouldn't lie to you, baby it's mainly a physical thing." The song exemplifies the shortcomings of the DIY stripped down sound of the record, but it is such a great song that it still stands out as the best track on the album. The album concludes with "It's Gonna Be Lonely" in which he worries about his lover leaving him. The song starts slow and builds in strength giving the record a solid finish. It is a remarkably good second album from a guy who was barely 21 years old when it came out. Of course he would get a lot better on subsequent records, but there is plenty of evidence of his genius scattered throughout the record. I think you can make a case for Prince being the most talented pop music artist of his generation. His mixture of soul and rock was genuinely innovative and exciting. He was remarkably consistent, producing compelling and interesting music throughout his career which makes his premature demise all the more lamentable since he undoubtedly had much more wonderful music still in him. One of his rivals liked to call himself the King of Pop, but if you ask me Prince was the real royalty in pop music. Recommended to Marvin Gaye fans who think he was too celibate.
Reality...What a Concept
Robin Williams
Casablanca NBLP 7162
1979
A post for the late Robin Williams. I think the three greatest comedians of my youth were Richard Pryor, Steve Martin and Robin Williams. They hit their prime while I was in high school and college and entertained me countless times. What I especially liked about them was that they were not only funny, but they made me think as well. Although I liked some of Williams' movies as well as his television series "Mork and Mindy" I think that scripted entertainment was not Williams' strength even though he was a fine actor. I liked him best in situations where his manic imagination and improvisation skills could run free, namely stand-up comedy and appearances on talk shows. This was Williams' first record album, taken from stand-up performances at the Copacabana in New York City and the Boarding House in San Francisco. Of course records can't capture the visual side of Williams' humor, but his routines still come across pretty well. The record opens with some bantering with the audience before launching into "Nicky Lenin" featuring Williams' Russian impersonation which is one of the funniest routines on the record. It concludes with some rapid fire random jokes including a reference to Fritz Lang's film "M" (which seemingly nobody in the audience gets) followed by his fabulous Martian haiku "red sand between my toes, summer vacation in outer space" as well as some other weird poems which provoke the comment that provides the album's title "wow reality what a concept." Fabulous stuff, Williams at his best. "Pop Goes The Weasel" is an extended routine parodying "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood" with Mr. Rogers as a maniac and "Firing Line" with William F. Buckley analyzing "Goldilocks." I don't find it very funny but it is engaging just experiencing the weird tangents Williams' mind goes to as well as hearing his excellent impersonation of Buckley. "Kindergarten of the Stars" pokes fun at privileged rich kids. It is a funnier bit and has more great voices. "A Touch of Fairfax" finds Williams impersonating a crabby, old Jewish man selling girlie magazines and snorting cocaine. It is really funny and over way too soon. Side one ends with "Reverend Earnest Angry" in which Williams portrays a southern preacher. It is mostly lame and goes on way too long, maybe you had to be there to appreciate it. It is funny though when a guy in the audience wants to kiss Williams and he starts riffing on homosexuality. Side two opens with the highlight of the record, the amazing "Shakespeare (A Meltdowner's Nightmare)." Williams asks the audience for some topical subjects to improvise around. Someone suggests Mork which makes Williams react in comical horror. Eventually he gets the topics of the Three Mile Island nuclear disaster and Studio 54. Williams proceeds to make up a Shakespearean style play constructed around the topics with lots of funny detours on the way. It is classic Williams, such a brilliant comic mind. "Tank You, Boyce" is a short bit with Lawrence Welk talking jive talk. "Roots People" is an absurdly condensed version of the mini-series "Roots." "Hollywood Casting Session" features a bug auditioning for Kafka's "The Metamorphosis." "Come Inside My Mind" is a crazy trip inside of Williams' mind as he argues with himself about how well his routine is going. Williams' manic bravura performance is another album highlight for me. The album ends with "Grandpa Funk" in which Williams portrays an old man in some post-apocalyptic future reminiscing about the past. It is a rambling routine but consistently entertaining, occasionally even hilarious and concludes with a touching homage to Lord Buckley where he quotes his statement "people they're kind of like flowers, it's been a privilege walking in your garden." For me it is a poignant moment. The privilege was mine as well. I think we were all blessed that Williams chose to walk in our garden and nurture us with his wit and imagination. He was a unique talent and I'm grateful for the time he shared with us. Recommended to surrealists with a sense of humor.
Light of the Stable
Emmylou Harris
Warner Bros. BSK 3484
1979
Along with "A Very She & Him Christmas" I have been playing this album a lot this Christmas. I have had it since the 1980s but I have not played it much since then. I pulled it out because I have started listening to my Emmylou Harris albums again after seeing her perform a fabulous show with Rodney Crowell over the summer. It reminded me what a great singer she is and shame on me for not keeping up with her. My initial interest in Harris stemmed from her work supporting Gram Parsons and I found I liked her own albums too. I never really embraced this record though. My favorite Christmas music is secular and needless to say on this record the light in the stable is not Rudolph's nose. This record is all about Jesus, not Santa or chestnuts roasting on an open fire. The only secular song on this album is Tex Logan's "Christmas Time's A-Coming" which is my favorite song on the record. It is among the most country-style songs on the record with some fine pickin' on mandolin and banjo from Ricky Skaggs. Skaggs also enlivens a lovely performance of "O Little Town of Bethlehem" with his mandolin. I've never cared much for "Away In a Manger" but I have to admit that Harris' duet with Nancy Ahern on this song is gorgeous, the best version of this that I've ever heard with a terrific mandolin solo from Albert Lee. Rodney Crowell's "Angel Eyes" is not a Christmas song but it does fit in with the religious flavor of the rest of the album. Willie Nelson sings back up on the song, making it a bit less sappy than it might otherwise be. The side ends with an a cappella performance of "The First Noel" supported by Sharon Hicks and Cheryl Warren. My other favorite song on the record is A. L. Phipps' "Beautiful Star of Bethlehem" which is a traditional country style song with some tasty fiddling from Ricky Skaggs. "Little Drummer Boy" was my favorite Christmas song when I was a child, but now I just find it tedious. The song has the most robust instrumental arrangement of any of the songs on the record, which makes it a lot easier for me to listen to. "Golden Cradle" is a traditional Irish lullabye sung as a duet with Nancy Ahern backed only by Brian Ahern on guitar. This also isn't a Christmas song although with its lyrics describing an infant being watched over by angels in a cradle it is applicable to the baby Jesus and in that sense is consistent with the theme of the album. "Silent Night" is beautifully sung and tastefully played, one of the best versions I've ever heard. The album concludes with "Light of the Stable" by Steven and Elizabeth Rhymer. It was originally released as a single in 1975 and features stellar harmony vocals from Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Neil Young. It is not a particularly memorable song, but it sounds terrific and does give the album a strong finish. As Christmas albums go, this one has its limitations. My wife and son dislike it and I would not put it on for a Christmas party, but I like listening to it late at night while looking at the Christmas tree lights blinking. My Christian days are long behind me (thank God) but I still appreciate spiritual sincerity which this album has in spades. Plus it just sounds so lovely that I can't resist it, it is hard to believe these are the same tunes we used to butcher in church and elementary school. Recommended to people tired of the crass commercialism of Christmas.
Present Tense
Shoes
Elektra 6E-244
1979
I was shocked when I saw that Shoes had released a new album this year, "Ignition." I had no idea they were still together. They last released a new album in 1994, that is quite a gap. It doesn't look there will be a vinyl version of "Ignition" so I won't be writing about it here but I'm impressed that they are still at it and I will be buying the CD at some point. Anyway in honor of the band's return to action, I pulled out their second album, (not counting private pressings) "Present Tense." I discovered the band many years after this record came out when I got into power pop in the 1980s. All the songs are written by various combinations of guitarists Jeff Murphy and Gary Klebe and bassist John Murphy who have such homogenous styles and themes that it is tough for me to distinguish between their songs. Nearly every song is an unhappy love song, most of which feature the singer ragging on his girlfriend. A line from "Every Girl" sums up their basic theme, "every girl I've ever had, has treated me so wrong." The most ambitious song, "Three Times," is a
suite with each of the three songwriters contributing a separate
section, the first section features a girl breaking up with the singer,
in the second part the singer wants to break up and in the final section
he wins the girl by dominating her. That basically encompasses all of the band's themes on the record. A steady stream of this stuff over the course of the
album comes pretty close to misogyny, particularly on a song like
"Cruel You" where the singer pulls a gun on his unfaithful girlfriend
hoping she'll beg for her life whereas she remains unfazed because she
has so little respect for him. Maybe they've just had a lot of bad luck with the ladies, but I think they probably have issues. I find their whining a bit wearying after awhile, it is a good thing that the music is a lot more upbeat than the lyrics. "Tomorrow Night" opens the album in classic power pop style with propulsive drumming, jangly guitar lines alternating with power riffs and melodic vocals supported by harmony vocals. It is my favorite song on the album, pure pop candy. "Too Late" has more enticing vocal harmonies and a big hooky bass riff. "Hangin' Around With You" has a chugging sound and punchy style suggestive of the Cars although the ebullient chorus is pure Shoes. "In My Arms Again," "Somebody Has What I Had," "Now and Then," "I Don't Miss You," "Cruel You" and "I Don't Wanna Hear It" are riff driven rockers with strong beats and power pop amenities, right in my wheelhouse. "Your Very Eyes," "Every Girl" and "Three Times are more subdued, with their jangly guitars and pretty vocals they sound a bit like Badfinger. Musically this record is flawless, I enjoy every song and I love the band's sound. I just wish they liked their girlfriends more. Recommended to fans of the Knack.
Armed Forces
Elvis Costello and the Attractions
Columbia JC 35709
1979
I initially thought that Elvis Costello was a punk. I first saw him on "Saturday Night Live" delivering a blistering version of "Radio, Radio" and in a promotional video for "Pump It Up" which featured him spastically stomping his way through the song apparently seething with anger. "Aha," I thought, "so this is punk rock." Of course if I had heard his debut album "My Aim Is True" first, I would have realized how wrong I was - he may have been angry but he was no punk. EC was a classic power popper just like his comrade Nick Lowe which I found out when I bought this shortly after its release in 1979. This album is just as scathing and bitter as "Never Mind the Bollocks," but EC's commitment to pop craftmanship is evident throughout - no 3 chord primitivism for him. For me that is a good thing, I listen to this more than my Ramones, Sex Pistols or Damned records. It never gets boring. "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding" was the hit single, but if you changed the words to be about romance, it is not all that removed from the music of the Ronettes or Bruce Springsteen, dramatic mainstream pop delivered with a wall of sound. My favorite song on the album is "Green Shirt" with it's sustained tension and drumbeats that rattle on my skull like a billy club. The underlying violence in the song reappears throughout the album whether involving romance in "Accidents Will Happen," geopolitics in the brilliant "Oliver's Army," careerism in "Senior Service," or education in "Goon Squad." The flip side to all this hostility is that Costello's attitude towards love and human relations is decidedly misanthropic, bordering on misogynistic. The original title of this album was "Emotional Fascism" which would be an apt title for a record that so blatantly views relationships in terms of power and control. Costello's sardonic perspective is pretty harsh even for a pill like myself, but it is easy for me to cut him some slack because he writes such amazing lyrics, his love of word play and his sarcasm are enormously appealing to me. I consider him the best lyricist of his generation. This is a gloomy record but it is also lots of fun and musically it is very compelling. It is my favorite Elvis Costello record and one of the very best records of the late 1970s. It was the record that got me excited about the New Wave. I didn't believe in punk, I liked the excitement but thought it was regressive and a dead end. Listening to "Armed Forces" in 1979 I recognized that it was a departure from the 1970s AOR stuff I was used to hearing - Boston, Aerosmith, Eagles, and so on, yet it was not all that different than the Beatles - Costello even quotes the closing riff from "You Never Give Me Your Money" at the end of "Party Girl." Costello was taking the musical values of the 1960s and building on them with a modern sensibility. This was progress and it got me interested in modern music and the future of rock again. Recommended to sociopathic Paul McCartney fans.
