Machinations - Big Music. 1985 White Label (LP). From a store in Pueblo (Oct). Nice Australian original of a New Wave album I was entirely unfamiliar with despite eventually obtaining a US release on Epic and being a hit. Not only is the title Big Music, but the band obtained the Kleenex effect by having an entire subgenre named the same as this album (though technically the genre is credited to The Waterboys). I enjoy this kind of New Wave, high energy and dance oriented. Nothing really grabbed my ear for repeated listens, and I have a few others like it in the collection, so not something I need to keep. But table stakes for genre fans I would imagine.
*Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft - Alles ist Gut. 1981 Virgin (LP). Also from T&R (Aug). Excellent thick sounding synthesizer and real drums. It's a Conny Plank production for certain. Vocals sort of drone on in German, reminding me a bit of Sepi Kuu (of all groups) which came to me after the second listen. Musically it's like a German reaction to America's disco. Robotic and repetitive. Kraftwerk is a necessary comparison, but DAF are more sinister in tone. I don't have anything like this in the collection so I'm keeping it.
A Certain Ratio - Live in America. 1987 Dojo (LP) (1985). From T&R sale (Jul). Intriguing album sounding something like a musical Throbbing Gristle. Live recording is a bit distant but I heard enough to think their studio albums might find a place in the collection. But will I find them as I did this?
Mike Rutherford - Acting Very Strange (LP). 1982 Atlantic. From the Showrunner's garage sale (Jul). Much worse than I thought it would be. All the Genesis members were hungry for pop stardom, but Collins proved much better at it.
---I bought a large 125 piece collection in July. Many were in this category. The ones below came from that.
INXS - Shabooh Shoobah. 1982 ATCO (LP). I found myself enjoying The Swing, but the later titles haven't done much for me. So I thought the album prior would have more positive results. A little bit yes, but still nothing I feel compelled to keep. They need something - more energy maybe? (Aug)
Duran Duran - Notorious. 1986 Capitol (LP). Disappointing 4th album, even less so that Ragged Tiger. Misses all that was great about their first two albums. Just boring 80s pop music. (Aug)
*Talking Heads - Remain in Light. 1980 Sire (LP). I'm not convinced this is one of the greatest albums of all time, but I do find it intriguing enough to keep. It's non-commercial in nature yet maintains wide appeal. I suspect this is a kind of gateway drug to the experimental for many people, and so it's exposure allows for early epiphanies. When these folks discover other like minded people are out there - in fact it represents a majority - the momentum builds even greater. Then it appears they cannot rush fast enough to carve out their slice of how great it is, even if it may not be. Time and place remains one of the primary reasons for an album's adulation. (Jul)
Talking Heads - Talking Heads: 77. 1977 Sire (LP). As noted with their follow up, More Songs about Buildings and Food, Talking Heads were considerably ahead of their time. This debut underscores that. Which doesn't necessarily translate into a more pleasurable listen for me. In fact, a bit less. I didn't take notes, but I also heard a couple of their less respected mid 80s albums, and those are more generic and even less to my taste. (Jul)
Devo - Are We Not Men? 1978 Warner Bros (LP). I don't think Devo is going to be my artist of choice. This is their influential debut, and it's here they create their iconic sound. Innovative for its time, though not my style really. (Jul)
Devo - Shout. 1984 Warner Bros (LP). By this point, Devo sounds like every other synth pop band, and are pretty far removed from their unusual arty stance of the past. (Jul)
---end of sale
April - Magical. 1990 Metropolitan (LP). This was from that big haul that I mostly documented in the soul and fusion journals (Jun). April Kelly was a girl on the rise as the 80s closed. Her music is called Freestyle, but she sounds a heck of a lot like Madonna to me. And has the look too. At first I quite liked this high energy dance styled music But as the tunes wore on, they all sounded the same (just like with Kon Kan). I would say it's average for the style. Rare album at least.
Kon Kan - Move to Move. 1989 Atlantic (LP). Estate sale pickup (Jun). Same day but different sale than the Flock of Seagulls buy. At first I found myself enjoying the high energy dance music, but as it wore on, it's too much of the same thing. In fact the album comes across as dated for 1989, copying what occurred throughout the decade with synth pop, but it was time to move on.
A Flock of Seagulls - The Story of a Young Heart. 1984 Jive (LP). Cheyenne Mountain estate sale pickup (Jun). A Flock of Seagulls' third album sees the band maturing, but not as much fun. It's better than its reputation but it is kinda dull in the end.
---The next entries are from a large amount of albums that I bought at the last Colorado Springs Record show (May) from an Australian guy who happened to setup next to me at the last show.
INXS - Kick. 1987 Atlantic (LP). My thoughts here echo what I said about Listen Like Thieves. It's a very ordinary pop rock record and misses the vibrancy of The Swing. The big hits from this album I do like such as 'The Devil Inside' and 'Need You Tonight' but mostly this is blandola. (May)
Talking Heads - More Songs about Buildings and Food. 1978 Sire (LP). Talking Heads were a very prevalent band during my high school years of the early 80s, but they were already well known by the late 70s. I don't think I've ever given the band enough credit for how different they truly were in their era. This is miles away from the generic AOR being pushed down our throats back then. It's a no wonder they were pioneers of New Wave. This is a very good album, with various world music influences, but not enough for me to hold onto. I feel like one of their albums is going to make it though. Been at this "digging in the wilds" thing for 5 years now, and this is the first Talking Heads for me to find. They get snapped up quick, or you pay full price at the record store. The latter is what will happen when they buy this from us. :-) (May)
XTC - English Settlement. 1982 Epic (LP). Single album version, though I can't imagine the double swaying my opinion much here. XTC are one of those 80s bands I thought I missed back then. But so far all I hear is ordinary pop music. Seems I might like their earliest work best. (May)
Wham! - Make it Big. 1984 Columbia (LP). Well it doesn't get any gayer than this. As a straight guy, I do have to admit to wishing I looked like George Michael back in the day. Can you imagine the selection of girls I would have had? This is where I get religion, as you can also imagine the amount of trouble I would've gotten into. Thank you God for protecting me from myself. The only song I know from this is 'Closest Whisper' which is a very fine smooth jazz pop number. But it's not really representative. Much of it is showtooney Broadway styled brash pop, which goes hand in hand with the culture. Not for me. (May)
New Order - Brotherhood. 1986 Factory (LP). New Order are one of those bands that I probably know better than I think I do. Their beginning was after Joy Division broke up after the suicide of their lead vocalist. All the same, I hear this as "just one more" 80's album. I didn't recognize anything from it, and that seems to help when analyzing albums such as this. All good, but nothing more. (May)
Pet Shop Boys - Please. 1986 Parlophone (LP). First UK pressing. This is the first one up from the sale I mentioned above. Like Dead or Alive below, this is one of the more iconic releases from the gay synth pop movement. I always liked 'West End Girls' and there's a few other tracks here I enjoyed. But I have enough representative albums of the era, so this one can go. (May)
---end of sale
*Dead or Alive - Youthquake. 1985 Epic (LP). The next three albums come from a buy at an antique mall (Feb), all priced way below market. Youthquake is about as representative of the 80s synth-pop dance culture as any you can possibly name. OK boys, get out your eyeliner! Music like this was the exact opposite of what I was into in 1985. Today I hear it as an encapsulation of the era in which it was released. Highly melodic, well composed, and very danceable. Not sure how many 80s albums like this I will keep, but this one is likely to hang on longer because of its iconic sound.
Bangles - Everything. 1988 Columbia (LP). Bangles are one of those bands I find myself rooting for, but I just can't get into them. Their first two albums fell a little short of acceptance, but Everything - their 3rd effort - falls into the disappointing category. Straight forward begging-for pop hits and nothing more. Throw out 12 (12!) three to four minute boring tracks and hope for the best. Not for me. (Feb)
Berlin - Love Life. 1984 Epic (LP). This is the second time for me to try for this, the other came from the large collection buy in 2019. I've warmed up to their second album Pleasure (and this seller also had the rare small label pressing of that album that I picked up for the collection), so I thought maybe I'd feel similar about their 3rd release. Nope. It's a hair better than the Bangles' junior year offering, as there were a couple of decent instrumental moments. But otherwise they wasted Terri Nunn's hypersexuality to produce a rather safe New Wave album. Average at best. (Feb)
* - Keeping for the collection
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