Martha and the Muffins - Metro Music. 1980 Virgin (LP). Picked this up at a local thrift shop (Dec). A little heavy on the alliteration I think. I remember this band but I don't know why. Even thought they might be progressive (Muffins word association of course). Anyway this is a Canadian sextet led by two female keyboardists and vocalists named Martha. Early days New Wave / Synth Pop is what you'll hear. Seeing a lot of comparisons to Blondie, but not really capturing that ethos. Less sexy, more musical. Nothing grabbed me though - good for the style and nothing else. Surprised to see this album is a cheapie. Albums like this tend to do better in today's marketplace. Must've sold bucketloads back in the day.
Manzanera - K-Scope. 1978 Polydor (LP). I'm not a big fan of genre hopping - especially on solo albums - and that's exactly what K-Scope is. Some art rock, new wave, fusion, folk, and whatever else comes to the mind of the Roxy Music guitarist. Sometimes albums like this produce a couple of seriously great tracks that make you want to hold onto it. I didn't catch any on this listen, though it was good on the whole. Not enough room these days to keep albums like this though. (Dec)
David Sylvian - Gone To Earth. 1987 Virgin. 2xLP. Thrift shop find. I remember this album from college, but never purchased it. The music is a very pleasant and soothing type of slick 80s ambient music with New Wave additives. I hear elements of David Torn, Mark Isham, Robert Fripp (who is all over this album), and late era Roxy Music. At times it can be trance inducing but overall it's not the type of album that I'll want to go back to. (Sep)
After The Fire - ATF. 1982 Epic (LP). I spoke of this band's debut last year: "I never believed them. Never believed who? The catalog dealers 25-30 years ago. They were the first to proclaim that After the Fire's debut album was progressive rock. In those days, sellers seemed desperate to make everything either psychedelic or progressive, when oftentimes they were neither. Not even close. So the group who put out 'Der Kommissar' were really a prog outfit? The track that pretty much defines the early 80s MTV sound? Oh stop... ...They were a prog band. It's true." I saw this mint copy in a thrift shop, and thought what the heck, let's hear it. I've been in an early 80s new wave kick the past year, and I do like the goofy 'Der Kommissar'. Ehh... naa, this is too much early 80s. Sounds like video game music from that era along with other robotic dancey pop. It's not bad at all, but I can't keep stuff like this anymore, and I own better examples. When this group shed its prog roots, they weren't kidding around. The album itself is a compilation of tracks from the preceding three albums plus the megahit. This is also one of the few 80s albums of its ilk to still be worth less than $5. I paid retail lol. (Aug)
Peter Gabriel (1/Car Wash). 1977 Atco (LP). Recently picked up Peter Gabriel's first four albums on vinyl on the cheap. I've always liked the 4th one known as Security, but never warmed up to the first three. Well that was many years ago, and given my new predilection for X Wave, I figured these would go down a storm at the UMR. Bzzzt. The debut is typical of many 70s solo albums in that it lacks any kind of consistency. There's the old proggy Gabriel mixed in with a multitude of other styles, guaranteeing to frustrate all but the most eclectic of buyers. (Mar)
Peter Gabriel (2/Scratching). 1978 Atlantic (LP). More of the same from Gabriel. One can tell he is predicting the sound of the 80s, but he's not there yet. Even ardent fans of Gabriel will tell you this one can be skipped. (Mar)
Peter Gabriel (3/Melting). 1980 Mercury (LP). Of the three I was keen to revisit, I figured this was to be the one I'd gravitate to. It's 1980 and Peter Gabriel was such a natural fit for the decade, and he proved that only two years later. But not so much here. In fact, I liked this the least of the three! 'Games Without Frontiers' is awesome, but most of the rest I can do without. And he seems somewhat self-righteous here to my ears. Oh well, at least I managed to get Security on vinyl. These three will sell at the next show (yep - and I decided to sell Security on vinyl too, happy with the CD), so I'll get my money back plus a few extra dollars for the trouble. (Mar)
Planet P. 1983 Geffen (LP). Now here's the kind of album an early 80s street cred metalhead like me used to trash to anyone who would listen. Planet P of course is none other than former Rainbow keyboardist Tony Carey's band. And Planet P sounds absolutely nothing like that. This is AOR / New Wave music for 1983, wearing it on their sleeves shamelessly. But is that so bad? No - not at all. I would wish for a more Saga like attempt, since Carey does throw in more than a few art rock segments. But the Billboard Charts keep calling their name, and the band reverts back to standard radio fare all too often. My first listen had this one sailing towards the $5 bin (it's definitely a commodity, even these days), but the second side captured my ear, so another run through gave it a spot. I have a small section carved out for X Wave LPs, so when that fills up, I'm not sure I will expand it - so this might be an early purge item (and it was actually...). (Mar)
*Berlin - Pleasure Victim. 1982 Geffen (LP). This is the second time for me to possess this album in the last three years. The first time was part of that 300 piece 80s collection I bought that ultimately ended up in us expanding the Purple Peak Records business. I was anxious to maximize my profit for that purchase as I wanted to use the proceeds to acquire some rare prog albums (and I did so in great fashion). But now I'm in nostalgic early 80s mode, so let's give it a more serious listen. Certainly not the great lost New Wave album of our time, but I did enjoy a +1 listen, enough to keep. They played up the sex kitten angle more than usual for the genre, a little bit like Missing Persons I suppose, though completely different vocal style. (Mar). In 2024 I found the first pressing on M.A.O. solidifying its place in the collection.
Duran Duran - Seven and the Ragged Tiger. 1983 Capitol (LP). Well didn't this end up being a disappointment? Here I am getting all nostalgic for X Wave music, and I really enjoy Rio, so how can I possibly go wrong here? Looks like it was released during my first semester of college. I don't remember a thing about this album, even though it has a cool title. In hearing it, none of the songs registered. Not that I need a hit single to enjoy a record, but this album is borderline "contract obligation". Side 1 is particularly boring. Side 2 is much more interesting but not enough to save it. I'd call it good on the whole, but that certainly isn't going to cut it. Garden variety New Wave. Misses the energy and punchiness of Rio that's for sure. (Mar)
*Madonna - Like a Virgin. 1984 Sire (LP). There's a lot I could write about Madonna, arguably the most successful female pop artist of our generation. I'll lay off the thesis, but her cultural impact goes way beyond her music. Her first two albums represent yet another soundtrack to my late teen years. I never really paid too close attention to the music, beyond her hits (primarily because of my wife's interest many years later). But real time, Like a Virgin didn't irritate me like so many MTV acts of the day did. I was intrigued, but not challenged. Today it pulls all the nostalgia strings, in a good way, and there are some hidden gems on here too. Easy keeper, and it sits next to the debut that I picked up about three years ago for the same reason. Willing to go further in my exploration too. (Mar)
Battiato - L'Arca di Noe. 1982 EMI (LP). I've been into X-Wave music of late, and certainly I enjoy Battiato's early experimental/prog works, so I figured I would enjoy this one. Not common to find in the wilds here in the States, but I thought it was worth the risk. But this one didn't excite me much. Sort of basic new wave sounds, with nice Italian vocals, and excellent guitar from none other than Alberto Radius (Formula 3, Il Volo). Good, but not really my thing. (Feb)
*Heavenly Bodies - Celestial. 1988 C'est La Mort (LP). Yet another pleasant surprise. Along with Encyrcle, this was the other gem discovered in the 25-cents-each haul from late last year. Different music entirely though. Heavenly Bodies is made up of 4AD artists, and the music is similar. I'm now referring to this part of my collection as X-Wave. I'm having my own "wave" of nostalgic remembrance of the 80s - both the early part of the decade (high school) and later part (post college). This falls of course to the latter. This one has been tagged with Ethereal Wave, which sure OK, whatever. I like it. As for this portion of the collection, I see some growth coming. Here is what I said on my RYM list about the genre: "I was never a collector of any of this real time. New Wave / Synth Pop was all the rage when I was in high school. I chose a different route: Heavy Metal. From Judas Priest in 1979 to Metallica in 1983 (and all the great NWOBHM groups in between), that was what I liked. Along with the AOR of the day, and a new fascination with this (cancelled) genre called progressive rock. In the college days from 1983 to 1987, I further distanced myself from the era in which I lived, beginning my deep dive into 70s Euro Prog that somewhat defined who I was to become, while maintaining a healthy love of metal. But Duran Duran? Be serious. Now I'm getting all soft in the middle, and finding these albums in thrift shops and bargain bins has been a blast. While also discovering some new cool sounds I completely missed the first go round. Nostalgia has kicked in, though it was always background radio and movie soundtracks for me. You know all those movies that portray 80's boys with poofy hair, lipstick, and eye liner? Yea, I remember them too. That wasn't me." (Feb)
* - Keeping for the collection
Kudzu Band sounds interesting.
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