Bonnie Hayes With The Wild Combo - Good Clean Fun (1982)

"IT'S NEW TO ME" WEEK (OCTOBER 20-26, 2013) 

Like the Josie Cotton albums featured earlier this week, this album is another fantastic find stemming from the Valley Girl soundtrack. The two Bonnie Hayes songs included in that movie are the first two tracks on this album (Girls Like Me and Shelly's Boyfriend). This is my favorite CD purchase of the past 6 months; it flips my switch for sure. Classic New Wave - uptempo, hook-filled, retro power pop sound complete with Farfisa organ. Hayes is not only a great songwriter, she's got the perfect voice for this type of music. The lyrics are sexy as hell from a confident girl who knows what she wants, so I'm not exactly sure about the "clean" part of the album title, but it is indeed "good fun" - one of the funnest albums I've ever heard. I have no idea how Hayes wasn't a bigger pop star in the early '80s - let's blame the record label or misogyny. Damn shame. All killer, no filler.

Press of the time:

• Robert Christgau (A-): "she comes off smarter, surer, and more sisterly than just about any new rock and roll woman I can think of."
• Rolling Stone (★★★): "Bonnie Hayes seems enormously talented"
• Trouser Press: "too good to overlook"
• Billboard: "The title says it all."

In a ★★★★½ review, Allmusic calls this album a "neglected '80s pop masterpiece" and boldly claims it to be "the finest album of the entire early-'80s California girl pop scene. Yes, even better than Beauty and the Beat or All Over the Place." That's an audacious statement and one with which I am in full agreement. I have no idea how Hayes wasn't a bigger pop star - let's blame the record label. More than any album I've mentioned this week, this is the one I wish I had picked up when it was released. It would have gotten plenty of playing time in the Markmobile when I was in high school. As it is, this disc hasn't left my truck's player much since I got it. Highly recommended.

From what I can tell, Hayes teaches songwriting at Boston's Berklee College of Music. If this album is any indication, they're lucky to have her; I'd take a class with her anytime.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart. It was "bubbling under" at 206.

Tracks:

1. Girls Like Me: From the intro designed to keep you off-kilter to that fantastic bass line to the vocal harmonies to the keyboard solo, this is three minutes of pop bliss. Absolutely zero nits to pick.
2. Shelly's Boyfriend: Hayes wrote this thing high in her range and it almost sounds like a different singer but it's the perfect voice for the teenage "that boy's no good for you - you deserve better" lyrics.
3. Separating: after a piano intro, the verse sort of lopes along at half-time then it kicks into the chorus with staccato guitar upbeats then back again but the soaring guitar solo might be the best part. "If you think you're gonna play me, you'd better find another game."
4. Dum Fun: This tune just steps right into it from the get-go with no intro and gets better from there. I enjoy the way the guitar and organ play off each other. Then an organ solo leads into a bluesy, half-time guitar solo and it's perfect. Then it's over as quickly as it began.
5. Coverage: this is no ballad, but Bonnie finally slows things down a bit, adds some mixed meter and a relentless guitar ostinato pattern. All ten tunes on the album are great, but this is the one that always seems to become an earworm.
6. Inside Doubt: upbeat and aggressive, this thing screams NEW WAVE on all counts: bouncy bass line, Farfisa organ, and hooks a'plenty.
7. Joyride: More hooks! Gimme more hooks! "She said, 'I like it in the back seat.'" Have mercy. Is it hot in here? Great guitar solo over Hayes' electric piano. Again, the switch from a half-time feel works so flawlessly you hardly notice the difference.
8. Loverboy: The best song the Go-Go's never recorded. The guitar solo definitely has a surf-rock vibe.
9. Raylene: Latin-flavored party groove. The bass line doesn't quite match up and that used to bother me until I realized Hayes did that on purpose to create tension that's released later in the tune. Brilliant.
10. The Last Word: I love the building intro that's later used to lead into the chorus. Guitar and organ both get solo turns. "You can't tell me what to do." And I wouldn't want to, Bonnie, except maybe to ask for another tune or four?

Personal Memory Associated with this CD:  None.