Ultravox - Vienna (1980)

European Import

Note: this release was originally purchased as a UK import LP, later replaced by the 2 CD 2018 Remastered Definitive Edition containing a bonus disc with 11 bonus tracks.

The group's fourth studio album, but the group's first release with Midge Ure as a member. Ure was able to focus the band's efforts and provide a template for an overly-polished synth rock sound. It yielded commercial results in the group's native UK, but only one track saw any US chart action (Sleepwalk, #24 dance). There's plenty of stylish gloom but also memorable melodies and great beats, somehow balancing atmosphere with accessibility. If I want to lean into hyperbole, I could say the album laid the groundwork for the New Romantic movement, showing that synths weren't just cold, futuristic, novelty tools, they could also be commercially successful. I've put off buying a CD version of this album and I have absolutely no idea why. It's a nostalgic trip back to the early '80s for me as the album remains a fascinating document of a time when overwrought synthpop musicians became convinced that indifference equaled cool sophistication. At the time, adolescent me attempted (unsuccessfully) to join them in that attitude. Good times.

Press of the time:

• Billboard: "futuristic, electronic based songs, several with a hard rock edge."
• Record World: "Ultravox has been making pop music longer than most other groups in the genre"
• CashBox: "Ultravox may do for electronic music what Jimi Hendrix did with the electric guitar."
• Smash Hits (8 out of 10): "Synthesizer music with backbone and muscle."
• Rolling Stone (★★): "overblown arrangements, familiar and banal electronic effects."
• Trouser Press: "Ultravox is attempting to reconcile synthesizer lessons with more accessible forms - a move that should bring them the larger audience they deserve."
• Robert Christgau (C): "dance music for the locked pelvis"
• New Musical Express: "an album of gaudy, sometimes magnificent, but mostly hollow edifices"
• Record Mirror (+++½): "electronic rock songs which are beautifully executed but never inspiring."

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #164
• CashBox: #154
• Rolling Stone: #59

Tracks: The album contained four UK singles and all charted there: Vienna (#2), All Stood Still (#8), Sleepwalk (#29), and Passing Strangers (#57). I like those four and also the instrumental lead track, Astradyne. However, I've always been captivated by Mr. X, a haunting noir piece with definite Neu!/Kraftwerk influences plus some bizarre spoken word, provided by the group's drummer/drum machine programmer, Warren Cann, and a disjunct solo on electric violin from Billie Currie. It's all very strange, and was especially affecting to a 16 year-old boy growing up along the rural Texas coast in the early 1980s (i.e., one of my general height, weight, and build). The silliness of the text is overshadowed by the serious, minor key synth pads. I'm not sure I've ever liked this thing yet I can't stop listening to it.

The skippable filler tracks are New Europeans and Western Promise.

Bonus "Further Listening" disc: The usual suspects. B-sides, a couple of live cuts from August 1980, rehearsal recordings, demos, and an extended cut of All Stood Still which I already had on the Extended CD. The only track of any interest to me is Herr X, a German version of Mr. X that was the b-side of the Vienna 12" single. I would say "for completists only" but a completist would own the 6 disc "Deluxe Edition" issued in 2020.

The WKRP crew stand in contemplation
of the krautrock influences on this album.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I'm certain my first Ultravox album purchase was Quartet sometime in 1982, but I picked up Vienna soon after. It was my first UK import purchase and remember how different the flimsy album packaging felt in my hands compared to what I was accustomed to buying in the US. I loved the differences and began seeking imports whenever possible (and affordable).

Previously revisited for the blog:
Extended: A Collection of 12" Remixes (1998)
The Collection (1985)
Quartet (1982)
Rage in Eden (1981)

Talking Heads - More Songs About Buildings And Food (1978)

EU import

This album was included in the 2005 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, with the line "David Byrne and Brian Eno were a match made in art-school heaven." And that's an understatement if I've ever heard one. Eno took the quartet from a nervy art-school curiosity and got them sounding like a fully operational band that nervously locks in and really grooves (mainly thanks to Tina and Chris). David Byrne sings like he's having a panic attack, delivering lyrics that somewhat cover the topics of buildings and food, but they're really about the various systems we have to deal with in our lives.

Definitely no sophomore slump here, but the best was yet to come.

Press of the time:

• Billboard: "superbly produced collection of 11 songs."
  
• CashBox: "The charm and humor of this minor classic are in giddy abundance."
• Record World: "should appeal to those outside of new wave circles as well as those from within."
• Rolling Stone: "so much humor and energy"
• Trouser Press: "very good"
• Roadrunner: "An extremely stimulating record"
• Robert Christgau (A): "Every one of these eleven songs is a positive pleasure"
• Record Mirror (+++++): "listen, and listen at length and with maximum attention. Here are the borders of pop music."
• Stereo Review: Recording of Special Merit

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #29
• CashBox: #70
• Rolling Stone: #33

The album was voted the year's fifth best album in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll for 1978. The album has consistently been listed in Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time, #382 in 2003, #383 in 2012, and #364 in 2020 & 2023.

Tracks: I'm a big fan of the group's cover of Al Green's Take Me To The River (#26 pop), but of the originals here I've always been partial to Found A Job. Other favorites include Thank You For Sending Me An Angel, The Girls Want To Be With The Girls, and Artists Only.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: When I visited the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in October 2007, one of my favorite installations was the original Polaroid mosaic of the cover of this album. After seeing it for years as a 12" square, it was a pleasant surprise to see it as about a 6 foot square where I could get close and see each individual Polaroid. According to the exhibit, the mosaic sat above David Byrne's couch then the Polaroids were put in a shoe box for about 20 years before they made their way to Cleveland where the mosaic was reconstructed.

Previously revisited for the blog:

The Best Of (2004)	The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads (1982)
Little Creatures (1985)	Remain In Light (1980)
Stop Making Sense (1984)	Fear Of Music (1979)
Speaking In Tongues (1983)	Talking Heads: 77 (1977)

Wynton Marsalis - Marsalis Standard Time, Vol. 2: Intimacy Calling (1991)

The supposed second entry in Wynton's six volume 'Standard Time' series. For reasons unknown (to be honest, I didn't care to research), Volume 2 was released after the third volume in the series. In any case, as the subtitle "Intimacy Calling" suggests, this is a romantic listen and - although not all ballads - perfect for nighttime listening. But that model on the cover looks uncomfortable in that pose, don't ya think?

Complete credits and liner notes available at the Wynton Marsalis website.

Ratings/reviews:

• Billboard: "delicately and lovingly delivered"
• DownBeat (★★★★): "there's plenty to like about this record"
• The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000):★★★
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★½
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #112
• Billboard Jazz: #1

Tracks:

1. When It's Sleepy Time Down South (1931) ✔
2. You Don't Know What Love Is (1941)
3. Indelible And Nocturnal (1991 Marsalis original)
4. I'll Remember April (1941)
5. Embraceable You (1930) ✔
6. Crepuscule With Nellie (1957)
7. What Is This Thing Called Love (1929)
8. The End Of A Love Affair (1951)
9. East Of The Sun (West Of The Moon) (1934) ✔
10. Lover (1932) ✔
11. Yesterdays (1933)
12. Bourbon Street Parade (1949) ✔

If you're using this album as a mood-setter for adult activities, you might want to skip the last track unless you plan on a victorious exit march from the bedroom to the kitchen à la NOLA second-lining. But you be you.

Exclusive CD longbox photo courtesy of
Dirk Digglinator of the Hambonian Archives.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None, but around the time this album was released I was snapping up Marsalis CDs fairly frequently so it wouldn't surprise me if I bought this one at some point in '91. And yes, Volume 3 will eventually appear in this space. Stay tuned.

Previously revisited for the blog:

Two Men with the Blues (2008)	Baroque Music for Trumpets (1988)
Standards & Ballads (2008)	Portrait of Wynton Marsalis (1988)
Live at The Village Vanguard (1999)	Marsalis Standard Time, Vol. 1 (1987)
Marsalis Plays Monk (1999)	Carnaval (1987)
In Gabriel's Garden (1996)	J Mood (1986)
Joe Cool's Blues (1995)	Black Codes (1985)
Baroque Duet (1992)	Baroque Music for Trumpet (1984)
Uptown Ruler (1991)	Hot House Flowers (1984)
Tune In Tomorrow (1990)	Trumpet Concertos (1983)
Crescent City Christmas Card (1989)

INXS - X (1990)

It's no Kick, but how could it be, no matter how hard it tries? The results are uneven, but the good stuff is very good while the other tracks are easily forgettable. I'd rank this one behind Kick and Listen Like Thieves, about on par with The Swing.

Press of the time:

• CashBox: "full of singles that should fit into almost every format"
• Billboard: "there's nary a false step here."
• Musician: "instrumental finesse, sly shifts in dynamics and deep, deep grooves"
• Smash Hits (7 out of 10): "Not too remarkable in the innovation department, but 'X' is still pretty good."
• Rolling Stone (★★★½): "big-audience rock & roll that feels right for our time"
• Stereo Review: "the band's most flinty, knife-edged album of rock noir to date.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #5
• CashBox: #3

Tracks: The album starts off with a one-two punch of the two best songs, Suicide Blonde (#9 pop, #1 album rock, #1 modern rock, #25 dance) and Disappear (#8 pop, #6 album rock, #10 modern rock, #41 dance). Also good are Bitter Tears (#49 pop, #4 album rock, #6 modern rock), On My Way, and The Stairs, which might be the best song Simple Minds never recorded. The so-so filler is Who Pays The Price, Lately, and Know The Difference. And I flat-out skip the depressing By My Side.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: When this album was released, I was 24 years old, had been married for a little over a year, recently moved back to my hometown, and had started my second "adult" job: teaching instrumental music classes at the same middle school I once attended. Part of that particular job included helping with marching band at the high school from about 7:15 to 8:45 each morning before driving my new Nissan truck (5 speed manual!) across town to start teaching classes to around 200 students aged 11 - 14. That morning drive between campuses usually included a stop at Shipley's Donuts or Jack In The Box to pick up a quick breakfast (didn't JITB have some sort of "breakfast pocket" served in pita bread back then?). In any case, I have specific memories of hearing Suicide Blonde on the radio during that drive down 6th Street and being absolutely mesmerized by the harmonica lick. The decision that kept me from buying X on cassette that fall was probably based more on finances than music.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Kick (1987)
Listen Like Thieves (1985)

Utopia (1982)

Canadian import

Note: this release was originally purchased as a 2 LP set, later replaced by this CD.

At some point in late 1982, I was over at my buddy Jim's house watching MTV. Those visits happened frequently in 1982-83, especially on weekends as dates with members of the opposite sex were few and far between at that time. The unusual video for Feet Don't Fail Me Now appeared at some point and while I didn't care much for the video, I couldn't resist that hook. I bought this Utopia album on our next trip to the Houston record stores, which probably didn't happen too much after we saw the video for the first time. I didn't love the album at first. I guess I was expecting different - I mean, just look at their New Wave outfits on the cover! But I only found a little bit of a New Wave vibe; this album was a pastiche of different grooves and rotating lead singers. Plus, the format was odd: the first LP was "normal" with 5 tunes on each side, then there was a second LP (listed as a "5 track bonus LP" in the ad below) that had the same 5 tunes on both sides. It's the kind of inconvenience that puts off a lazy, 16 year old nudnik. Add to that the wide variety of styles and young Mark didn't spin this one very often.

That was then, this is now.

I eventually came to love the thing and play it often. Indeed, my enjoyment of Todd Rundgren's work has only increased over the years. And while this is decidedly a group effort in which all band members make considerable contributions in songwriting, production, and lead vocals, Rundgren is first among equals.

Press of the time:

• Rolling Stone (★★★½): "With enviable ease, Rundgren and Utopia use simple melodic devices to trigger a dominolike succession of core riffs, crack rhythms and chorus hooks."
• Billboard: "this could be the band's biggest in some time."
• CashBox: "a bevy of upbeat tunes geared for hook-conscious listeners."
• Stereo Review: Best of the Month. "A Nearly Perfect Set of Well-Made Pop Songs"

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #84
• Billboard Rock: #23
• CashBox: #93
• Rolling Stone: #55

Tracks: Let's rank 'em! (excluding the bonus track, the Dance Mix of Hammer In My Heart)

1. Feet Don't Fail Me Now
2. I'm Looking At You But I'm Talking To Myself
3. Neck On Up
4. Hammer In My Heart
5. Bad Little Actress
6. Forgotten But Not Gone
7. Princess Of The Universe
8. Chapter And Verse
9. Say Yeah
10. Libertine
11. There Goes My Inspiration
12. Private Heaven
13. Call It What You Will
14. Burn Three Times
15. Infrared And Ultraviolet

As you could probably guess, this album plays much better on a single CD than on 3 different LP sides. Despite the MTV airplay, the aforementioned Feet Don't Fail Me Now only managed to climb to #82 on the pop chart. I love that hook as much now as I did when I first heard it. The other single released from the album was the Hammer In My Heart, which didn't reach the pop chart at all, but managed to get to #31 on the rock chart.

Videos for Hammer In My Heart and Feet Don't Fail Me Now - along with You Make Me Crazy from the 1979 album Adventures In Utopia - appeared on a "Video 45" tape titled The Utopia Sampler.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: see above

Larry Carlton - Discovery (1987)

Note: this release was originally purchased as a CD which was either sold, stolen, traded or lost, then replaced by another CD.

I owned this CD in 1988 when I was trying to finish up my undergraduate studies and recently finding another copy in a used bin was like reconnecting with an old friend. Back in '88, I didn't have many CDs so the few that I had were played quite a bit and this was one of those few. The album features Carlton on acoustic guitar and he receives a lot of support from Kirk Whalum on saxophone and Terry Trotter on keys. There's also a few of Carlton's fellow "West Coast sound" stalwarts in the credits, including Jerry Hey, Rick Marotta, and David Pack. The single released was a cover of the Doobie Brothers' Minute By Minute, which hit #25 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and received a Grammy award in the category of Best Pop Instrumental Performance (Orchestra, Group or Soloist).

Reviews/ratings:

• CashBox: "bright and melodic fusion date"
• Billboard: "On some past albums, Carlton was seduced by the rock side of fusion, but this leans heavily the other way."
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #180
• Billboard Contemporary Jazz: #1
• R&R Jazz Radio National Airplay Chart: #2
• CashBox Jazz: #4

Tracks: It's a smooth listen from top-to-bottom, but my favorites haven't changed since 1988. Of the nine tracks (7 Carlton originals, 2 covers), my top picks include the aforementioned Minute By Minute plus Hello Tomorrow, My Home Away From Home, and a cover of Knock On Wood.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: see above

Previously revisited for the blog:
Fingerprints (2000)
Larry & Lee (1995)
Collection (1990)

Fleetwood Mac - Rumours (1977)

Note: This release was originally given to me as a LP, later replaced by this CD.

I'll save you the trouble: "Hey Mark, I thought this album would have appeared on the blog years ago." Well, for many years, I - like many people born in the 1950s and 1960s - had a vinyl copy of Rumours that I liked to spin. But when my youngest son decided he was going to collect vinyl, I wanted to encourage his worthwhile pursuit of physical media so I let him take any of my records that he wanted. Rumours was the first thing he pulled from the shelves. Smart kid. So I picked up this CD.

I consider Rumours to be a seminal summer album and I really can't add anything new to the mountains of words written about this great collection of songs, so I'll just shut up, listen, enjoy, and attempt to rank the tracks. Spoiler alert: I like the singles that I remember hearing on my AM radio back in '77 (see below).

Press of the time:

• High Fidelity: "will end up as one of the year's top ten releases."
• Stereo Review: "it seems rather pointless to shell out $7.98 for what is essentially a one-song album."
• Rolling Stone: "bright little three-minute singles with a hook in every chorus."
• Robert Christgau: A
• Billboard: "Fleetwood's astonishing breakout success of 1976 is consolidated and verified"
• Record World: "A consistently beautiful sounding album that encompasses many styles and emotions."

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #1
• CashBox: #1
• CashBox CD (1984): #28

The album won the Grammy award for Album of the Year, besting the likes of Aja, Hotel California, and the soundtrack to Star Wars. Over at the My Favorite Decade blog, I ranked Rumours as the 4th best album of 1977, behind The Stranger, Aja, and the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever. Other awards, honors, and accolades available over at the album's Wikipedia entry.

Tracks, ranked according to today's mood, and peak on the Billboard Hot 100:

11. Oh Daddy
10. Never Going Back Again
9. I Don't Want To Know
8. Second Hand News
7. Songbird
6. The Chain
5. Gold Dust Woman
4. Go Your Own Way (#10)
3. Don't Stop (#3)
2. You Make Loving Fun (#9)
1. Dreams (#1)

I've long maintained that the best thing Stevie Nicks ever wrote was Sara, but Dreams certainly runs a close second. And before you tell me that I should have purchased a CD that included the track Silver Springs, save it. I bought this CD to replace an LP and I wanted to replace it as is. (as was?)

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: As I mentioned above, this is a quintessential summer album and I'm immediately taken back to the summer of 1977. I turned 11 that summer and it consisted of the usual stuff: swimming pools, miniature golf, trip to my paternal grandmother's house in Tyler, Vacation Bible School, etc. I also took a trek to Las Vegas NM with my father to climb to the top of Hermit's Peak. In related news, Summer 1977 was also around the time I discovered backpacking and camping wasn't for me. And then, in late summer, I started my first and only year as a member of a tackle football team through the local Boy's Club. In related news, Summer 1977 was also around the time I discovered contact sports weren't for me. Below is a picture of me and the cabin caretaker at a cabin near the base of Hermit's Peak. That kid looks like he's up to no good but sweet mama I sho do miss that thick blonde hair.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Greatest Hits (1988)

Running Scared: Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack (1986)

Note: this release was originally purchased as a cassette tape, later replaced by a CD. My copy has a smooth-sided jewel case but was once relegated to the cut-out bins. "Cut-out" is a term carried over from vinyl record overages in which a notch would actually be cut out of the album cover. In the case of CDs, it is sometimes a small hole drilled through the bottom right hand corner, but there's no firm rule of how or where.

But I digress. How's the music?

While this isn't the best pop/rock soundtrack of the '80s*, it's one of the better pop/rock soundtracks of the '80s. Four singles were released: one monster hit, two moderate hits, and one I honestly don't remember. Most tracks comfortably crossover between rock and R&B but with Prince tearing up the charts with that approach, who could blame the movie producers for going that route? The producers were wise enough to sign the incomparable Rod Temperton to write and produce most of the songs. By this time, Temperton had already written a dozen Top 40 hits for the likes of Heatwave, Michael Jackson, Donna Summer, George Benson, and others. This soundtrack provided him with two more. All that quality work and the man doesn't even rate a credit on the album's front cover. I'm incredulous!

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #43
• Billboard R&B: #38
• CashBox: #88

Tracks (compositions by Temperton marked with an asterisk):

1. Man Size Love* (#15 pop, #43 R&B, #18 dance) - Klymaxx
2. Sweet Freedom* (#7 pop, #17 R&B, #8 dance, #4 AC) - Michael McDonald
3. I Just Wanna Be Loved* - Ready For The World
4. Running Scared* - Fee Waybill
5. Once In A Lifetime Groove (#10 R&B, #9 dance) - New Edition
6. I Know What I Want - Patti LaBelle
7. Say You Really Want Me (#44 pop) - Kim Wilde
8. El Chase (Instrumental)* - The Rod Temperton Beat Wagon feat. Larry Williams
9. Never Too Late To Start* - The Rod Temperton Beat Wagon feat. Tommy Funderbunk

Before buying this CD, I hadn't heard some of these tunes in over 30 years and I had forgotten how good some of the cuts are. If you bought this soundtrack solely for Sweet Freedom, you're in for a treat because here's the full 7½ minute 12" version. The other single releases are enjoyable as are the deep cuts Running Scared and especially Never Too Late To Start.

Confession: for years, I thought the title of the instrumental El Chase was a silly way of substituting a Spanish article for an English article. In my mind, the real title of the track should have been 'The Chase' but The was switched out for El. Many years after the fact, it finally occurred to me that the chase scene in the movie takes place on Chicago's elevated train system, nicked named 'The El.' Facepalm. That said, it's a nice piece of tension-building soundtrack work, even better when you consider soundtracks were out of Temperton's usual comfort zone. But maybe a better title would have been Chase On The El??

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I saw the movie with my future wife at the theater back in the summer of 1986. I rewatched it several months ago and can now opine that I prefer the soundtrack to the movie, your mileage may vary.


*So what's the best pop/rock soundtrack of the '80s? I have no idea, but I'd start the discussion by mentioning Footloose, Xanadu, Pretty In Pink, Times Square (yet to be released on CD! I'm incredulous again!), and Purple Rain. As others spring to mind, I'll give ya a call.

Various Artists - Just Say Yes... (1987)

Sire's Winter CD Music Sampler (awesome!)

The first of seven volumes in the "Just Say Yes" sampler series by Sire Records. The series began in 1987 and lasted through 1994. Of the four volumes I currently own and have heard, this is the most enjoyable throughout.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks, with my (somewhat predictable) picks for the top tracks checked:

1. Depeche Mode - Never Let Me Down Again (Split Mix) 9:31 ✔
   #63 pop, #12 dance, from the maxi-single
2. Echo & The Bunnymen - Lips Like Sugar (12" Mix) 6:44 ✔
   from the maxi-single
3. The Mighty Lemon Drops - Out Of Hand (Extended Version) 5:25 ✔
   from the 12" single
4. James - Ya Ho 3:31
   from the album Strip-Mine
5. The Smiths - Work Is A Four-Letter Word 2:45
   previously unavailable in the U.S., available internationally on the Girlfriend In A Coma single
6. Figures On A Beach - No Stars 4:40 ✔
   from the album Standing On Ceremony
7. The Wild Swans - Young Manhood 3:46
   from the album Bringing Home The Ashes
8. Ice-T - Somebody Gotta Do It (Pimpin' Ain't Easy!!!) (12" Mix) 3:27
   from the maxi-single
9. Ramones - I Wanna Live 2:36
   from the album Halfway To Sanity
10. The Replacements - Can't Hardly Wait 3:02
    from the album Pleased to Meet Me
11. Throwing Muses - A Feeling 3:07
    from the album The Fat Skier
12. Aztec Camera - How Men Are 3:38 ✔
    from the album Love
13. The Casual Gods - Cherokee Chief 4:30
    from the album The Casual Gods
14. Erasure - Hideaway (Little Louie Vega Mix) 7:12 ✔
    from the remix album, The Two Ring Circus

If Billboard had started its Modern Rock Tracks chart earlier, surely a few of these would have placed there. However, that chart didn't begin until the September 10, 1988 issue so we're left guessing.

Every time I hear a track from Aztec Camera, I always wonder why I don't have any Aztec Camera CDs. Easily remedied, perhaps, but that doesn't explain why I've waited so long. And if Cherokee Chief doesn't rip off The Talking Heads tune Girlfriend Is Better, I'll eat this liner note booklet. Is that Jerry Harrison's little dig at David Byrne?

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None. This sampler was released just a couple of months before I bought my first CD player in January 1988. At a $6 price point, I wish I'd seen it then.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Vol. VII: Just Say Roe (1994)
Vol. IV: Just Say Da (1990)
Vol. II: Just Say Yo (1988)

Talking Heads: 77 (1977)

Note: the CD I listened to was the 1988 reissue.

I've written plenty about Talking Heads on this blog and there's still more to come. So, instead of discussing the band, I'll write about how unfairly I treat this album. In 1977, 11 year old Mark was an AM radio junkie with no connection to this sort of stuff. My first memory of Talking Heads is seeing David Byrne jerk around in the video for Once In A Lifetime when it aired on MTV in late '82/early '83. From there, I heard Remain In Light, then Speaking In Tongues helped soundtrack my senior year of high school, then I caught on to the live albums, and so on. So I didn't hear the music on Talking Heads: '77 until I was already deeply immersed in the band's later œuvre. As such, these songs didn't have the impact on me as they might otherwise have. Is that fair? Probably not. Is that way it is? Yup. Shrug.

Comparisons to Marquee Moon are common and not without merit. This album met with more critical success than commercial success, possibly because the press didn't know how to classify the eclectic rock/funk/pop/new wave sound of the music. As the CashBox review (below) states: "this band has been tagged with the 'punk' label, which fits them about as well as a tux at the beach." I'll leave you with this blurb taken from the CD booklet, also printed on the back of the CD longbox:

It is indeed a masterful debut, but today I'd place it either 5th or 6th if I was ranking the group's eight studio albums.

Press of the time:

• Billboard: "a style that crosses precise and lightly funky arrangements with a shade of avant-garde/modal progressiveness that's neither hard, soft nor punk."
  
• CashBox: "An interesting and highly appealing band that bears watching."
• Record World: "The Heads are really far removed from this mainstream."
• Robert Christgau: A-
• Rolling Stone: "one of the definitive records of the decade."
• Trouser Press: "This album will test your capacity for wonder."
• Roadrunner: "it will get inside your head and it won't leave you alone. You have been warned."
• Record Mirror (++++): "An impressive debut."
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Indie & New Wave (1998): ★★★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #97
• CashBox: #169

The album was voted the year's seventh best album in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll. It was also included in the 2005 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, where it was written that the band "had taken elements of punk, funk, and disco and convincingly created a unique sound of their own." In 2013, Rolling Stone ranked the album at #68 on their list of "100 Best Debut Albums of All Time;" however, it was dropped from the 2022 revision of said list.

Tracks: Let's rank 'em!

11. Tentative Decisions
10. No Compassion
9. New Feeling
8. The Book I Read
7. Happy Day
6. First Week/Last Week...Carefree
5. Don't Worry About The Government*
4. Pulled Up
3. Uh-Oh, Love Comes To Town
2. Psycho Killer
1. Who Is It?

*Note: I'm really worried about the government.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None.

Previously revisited for the blog:

The Best Of (2004)	Speaking In Tongues (1983)
Little Creatures (1985)	The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads (1982)
Stop Making Sense (1984)	Remain In Light (1980)
	Fear Of Music (1979)

Doc Severinsen & The Tonight Show Band - Once More...With Feeling! (1991)

Severinsen was the leader of The Tonight Show Band from 1967 until Johnny Carson retired in May 1992. Much like they had with similar releases in 1986 and 1987, Amherst Records got the band to record (mostly) big band classics and jazz standards. Hence the album title - one last hurrah for the band before permanently dissolving. This time, however, it's an analog recording (AAD) and they invited guest artists Tony Bennett and Wynton Marsalis to sit in on a couple of cuts.

As one would expect: great arrangements, stellar solos, and, of course, solid performances. The album was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance, eventually losing to Live At The Royal Festival Hall by Dizzy Gillespie.

Even though he is a legend, I don't think Doc ever got the respect he deserved from the jazz community. Was it jealousy of a steady jazz gig or simple envy of his trademark ultra-cool wardrobe? We may never know.

Peak on the US Billboard 200 album chart: Did not chart

Tracks:

1. Honeysuckle Rose (Thomas "Fats" Waller, 1929) 3:40
2. Poor Butterfly (Raymond Hubbell, 1916) 3:41
3. Body & Soul (Johnny Green, 1930) 5:27
4. Just Friends (John Klenner, 1931) 3:54
5. I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart (Duke Ellington, 1938) 3:59
6. Three Shades Of Blue (Tommy Newsom, 1990) 5:12
7. St. Louis Blues (W.C. Handy, 1914) 3:50
8. I Can't Get Started (Vernon Duke & Ira Gershwin, 1936) 5:33 with Tony Bennett
9. Avalon (Al Jolson, Buddy DeSylva and Vincent Rose, 1920) 4:15 with Wynton Marsalis
10. My Old Flame (Arthur Johnson, 1934) 2:40
11. Things Ain't What They Used To Be (Mercer Ellington, 1942) 5:15
12. What Is This Thing Called Love (Cole Porter, 1929) 5:49
13. Isn't She Lovely (Stevie Wonder, 1976) 3:48
14. Bugle Call Rag (Carey Morgan, Eubie Blake, 1916) 2:53

My favorite tracks are 1, 4, 7, 9, 11, and 14.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: When I hear big band recordings, it reminds me how much I miss playing in those groups. It's been a long while since I sat in one - my best guess is 27 years - but I still remember the rush. And, for reasons that have nothing to do with the slightly-above-average trumpet playing abilities of my earlier life, my daughters-in-law and grandchildren call me "Doc." I realize that fact has nothing to do with the music on this CD, but I like to mention my beautiful grandchildren whenever the opportunity arises. 😎

Previously revisited for the blog:
Merry Christmas from Doc Severinsen and The Tonight Show Orchestra (1991)
The Tonight Show Band with Doc Severinsen, Vol. II (1987)
The Tonight Show Band with Doc Severinsen (1986)

Herb Alpert - Keep Your Eye On Me (1987)

"Admit it - if it were your record company, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis would have produced your solo album, too." - Musician magazine

Ya damn right they would have. I might even get my label's current star to sing on a couple of tracks and have a few big late-career hits. But I'd probably use that formula for the whole album. That's not the case here as Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis bring their immediately recognizable Minneapolis sound to only 4 of the 10 tracks on the album. The remainder of the tracks are typical '80s Alpert fare, written and produced by Alpert himself or guests such as Albert Hammond and Roy Bittan (I count a total of 7 producer credits on the album). So the album is incredibly uneven moving from new jack swing to instrumental pop and back again, but somehow the variety makes for a pleasurable listen and a musical time capsule direct from 1987. Good, not great, but certainly worth the $1.99 I paid for it.

Reviews/ratings:

• Billboard: "an altogether commercial package"
• CashBox: "Amid all the technological razzmatazz, strains of the old TJB brass sound seap [sic] through."
• Musician: "there's never anything condescending about the music here"
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #18
• Billboard Contemporary Jazz: #16
• Billboard R&B: #5
• Billboard CD: #29
• CashBox: #16
• Rolling Stone: #29

Tracks: I think the best tune here is the title track (#46 pop, #3 R&B, #3 dance). The bigger hits, though, were Diamonds (#5 pop, #1 R&B, #1 dance) and Making Love In The Rain (#35 pop, #7 R&B, #21 AC); both featuring lead and background vocals by Janet Jackson and Lisa Keith. The other Jam/Lewis tune is titled Pillow and features a vocal duet between Alpert and his wife, Lani Hall. Of the remaining six tracks, my picks are Our Song and Rocket To The Moon. 

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I had given up on new Alpert releases in the early part of the decade and had moved on to albums by other trumpeters, so I didn't purchase this album in 1987. After all, I was a 'serious musician' by that time. What a knucklehead. I would have enjoyed the heck out of this thing back then.

Previously revisited for the blog:

A Portrait In Music (1997)	Beyond (1980)
Passion Dance (1997)	Rise (1979)
Classics, Volume 1 (1987)	What Now My Love (1966)
Magic Man (1981)

Various Artists - Soul Hits of the '70s: Didn't It Blow Your Mind, Vol. 6 (1991)

Because one simply doesn't pass over volume 6 of this 20 volume Rhino series when it pitifully sits in the used bins, begging to be played loudly. The series is long out-of-print and many of these volumes are sometimes difficult to find and obtain. However, as more and more people foolishly cast away/sell their CD collections in favor of streaming and/or vinyl, CDs in this series are now hitting the secondary markets at somewhat reasonable prices and here we are. Singles included on this volume charted in late 1971, when your humble blogger was 5 years old. Nice mix of big hits and singles that peaked a little further down the charts. 12 tracks, 43 minutes and when it's over, I'm left wanting more.

Tracks, with my favorites indicated (✔) and Billboard chart peaks:

• Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get - The Dramatics (#9 pop, #3 R&B) ✔
• Ain't No Sunshine - Bill Withers (#3 pop, #6 R&B)
  Produced by Booker T. Jones. Previously appeared on this blog on Bill Withers' Greatest Hits & Forever Soul, Vol. 1.
• Women's Love Rights - Laura Lee (#36 pop, #11 R&B) ✔
• The Love We Had (Stays On My Mind) - The Dells (#30 pop, #8 R&B) ✔
• Thin Line Between Love & Hate - The Persuaders (#15 pop, #1 R&B)
  Previously appeared on this blog in the Atlantic Rhythm and Blues 1947-1974 box set.
• You've Got To Crawl (Before You Walk) - The 8th Day (#28 pop, #3 R&B) ✔
• I've Found Someone Of My Own - The Free Movement (#5 pop, #20 R&B) ✔
• Theme From Shaft - Isaac Hayes (#1 pop, #2 R&B) ✔
  Previously appeared on this blog on Billboard #1 Hits Of The '70s.
• A Natural Man - Lou Rawls (#17 pop, #17 R&B) ✔
• Have You Seen Her - The Chi-Lites (#3 pop, #1 R&B) ✔
• Where Did Our Love Go - Donnie Elbert (#15 pop, #6 R&B)
• Respect Yourself - The Staple Singers (#12 pop, #2 R&B) ✔
  Grammy Hall of Fame Award Winner, 2002

9 of the 12 tracks are apparently new to my shelves, but I can't believe Have You Seen Her and Respect Yourself haven't already appeared here.

Exclusive CD longbox photo courtesy of
Dirk Digglinator of the Hambonian Archives.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD:  None

Previously revisited for the blog:
Volume 5
Volume 13
Volume 14
Volume 15