Bradley's Buzz

Random CDs for the Week

I didn't get the chance to post my CDs for last week, as I was, oh how would you say it? Hung over like a banshee in the night! That's right, that crazy ass Captain Morgan took his revenge on me once again; all because I had to mingle and watch JOSIE COTTON! And yes, I got to meet her, and yes Deborah Foreman was there, and yes a full post about the special night will be coming... but for now, let's talk about some albums I'm listening to (and a new feature I'll give out some stars based on a five Bradley rating)

RACHEL SWEET Protect The Innocent (Columbia/Stiff; 1980)
This classic 1980 new wave album was released breifly on CD in the late 80s but is now way lost though a new Japanese release came about a few months ago (i.e. lots and lots of money) but luckily last year Bubbatunes made it a reissue album and now all 12 glorious songs are available and I pull this gem out every chance I get - featuring singles "Spellbound", a little poppy number; its the more rocking tracks I look forward to "Take Good Care Of Me", "I've Got A Reason" and the riotous one two punch of the openers "Tonight" and "Jealous" this is new wave glory and should've been a huge burner on the charts; as it is, we are left with only the memories but what a great delve into the past - I give kudos and Four Whole Bradleys! (stay tuned for Bradley icons... it'll be faboo)

LILY ALLEN - Alright Still (EMI/Regal; 2006)
Can you believe, I not only found a new artist and CD but it's actually one I love as well... A Myspace glory story, Lily started posting songs on her page and become a phenomenon; though I have to think being the daughter of a well known actor in England, probably didn't hurt any promotion pocketbooks - still she deserves what she gets for coming up with not only a brilliant little album but what that is actually fun, catchy, bitter, bitchy and most importantly really original. Combining a rocking pop backdrop, the sugary sweet melodies are the backdrop for cutting and slicing apart ex-lovers, arch rivals and complete towns - all done in a slight Cockney accent and boisterous delivery. The first single "Smile" hit the #1 spot in the UK ("At first when I see you cry/ it makes me smile...I feel bad for a while but then I just smiiiile") but that's only the starting point of Alright, Still - the sassiness in "Everything's Just Wonderful" where the beaurocrats won't help her get a mortgage, an ode to her pot smoking brother "Alfie", (set to a hippity little ska beat and sing along lyrics) and a love affair with London seen through the realities of big city life on "LDN" is probably my favorite on the album - I don't think a domestic release has been done it but if you find a copy of this, buy it. Four Bradleys...

THE MOTELS Shock (Capitol; 1985)
My Martha Davis (and yours if you want) can wrap her big deep voice around any lyric and milk it for every ounce of drama there is. Another classic CD from the 80s far out of print, my vinyl has just made it onto CD so there will be a bubbatunes reissue coming soon with bonus cuts, but for now I listen to this 1985 album in its original glory - the last album by the Motels, our girl and boys dumped producer Val Garay who had taken them to the glossified regions of the top 40 on two prior albums and instead hired Richie Zito, a band behind Cheap Trick and the like, to create a more rock orientated album. What is great about anything that involves the Motels is of course the white shocked face you see - that of Martha. Most lyrics are hers, her voice is obviously the centerpiece of it all and it ends up with a strange etheral sound even if it is still glossy 80s rock and roll. Shock, the album contained their last chart hit, "Shame" ("Shame on me, shame on you") and it is still a killer single prompted with big keyboard sounds and Martha's glorious penchant for the dramatic. But the album contains other great cuts as well, the title track was a fast paced single, "Icy Red" plays clever little tricks on the words ("Icy Red/ I see red in me"), "Cries and Whispers" and "Annie Told Me" are all great gems. Shock, as a whole isn't as great as earlier Motels albums but thanks to the girl with the pipes, it's still a pretty good listen and worth having. Two and 1/2 Bradleys...

LITA FORD - Lita (1988; RCA/Dreamland)
Producer Mike Chapman appear to have almost identical taste in music; almost every female led band I ever liked ended up being produced by Mike at some point; Blondie, Pat Benatar, Divinyls, Scandal, even Tanya Tucker - and so it was with Lita Ford. Coming off of the Runaways with Joan Jett; Joan headed towards a glam rock fusion while Lita wanted to hit the heavy metal hair band rhythms and did so on two albums before Mike Chapman got hold of her and turned her growl and sexual allure into full on glory. 1988's Lita started with a bang with its single "Kiss Me Deadly" which showed not only Lita crawling around on a floor and straddling her guitar, it also showed a little bit of brilliance for a good hook; With Lita, Mike brought out the more pop side while keeping Lita's crunch guitar sound and growling vocals firmly in tact. The album is only 9 songs but each of them are really quite brilliant (for their form of music anyway) opening with the seething guitar solo of "Back To The Cave" before going into almost speed metal with "Can't Catch Me" and the oozing guitars and drums of "Blueberry" before reaching the inevitable bounce of "Kiss Me Deadly" each song gets better and better - Tommy Lee guest writes on "Fallin' In And Out Of Love" and of course the fucking Prince Of Darkness Ozzy guests on "Close My Eyes Forever" a song which has many haunting and tawdry memories for me ... incidentally, Mrs. Osbourne, Sharon, was Lita's manager at the time. The whole album comes around brilliantly and though Lita recorded one more with Mike and had a few more albums, this is most definitely the best thing she did. Four Bradleys.

ROSANNE CASH - Interiors (1990; Columbia)
I got on a new kick the other day and it's called the Rosanne Cash Blues, I am loving every thing I get my hands on when it comes to this woman. First, her new album is excellant (see past review) and I found this little gem at Amoeba for only $3 (of course there's a new remastered version I have to get) the album is produced and co-written by Rosanne and tells in 10 little songs the disinegration, the rebirth, the doubt, the pain and trials of a relationship falling apart. Starting out with the upbeat sounding "On The Inside" Rosanne taps into the belief that she and her lover have suffered and excelled on the inside and things will be fine, while in later songs that same (?) relationship is in the thwarts of tearing everyone apart and these are the songs I really like (go figure), the high tension of "Dance With The Tiger" and "Mirror Image"; the most terrifying and high tension songs come from a pair of acoustic styled ditties "This World" makes me want to bawl every time I hear it - "Read about this baby / she got beat up by her dad/ she was 9 months old and he was a full grown man/ she may have been learning how to crawl/ and he hit a face in her face/ doctor said this baby's gone / she can't be replaced.." and the chorus "Now you read a lot of things in the daily news/ but I'm laying awake at nights wonderin' what to do/ I pray the Lord her soul to keep/ cause all down here are fast asleep/ but this baby belongs to me and you..." and the closing track with only a piano and violin accompanying her in a waltz, "Paralyzed" lays more at the ears of the listener than anything someone like Sarah McLachlin could dream of giving us - "Paralyzed" lets us right into Rosanne's real life as she picks up the telephone and hears the conversation between her husband and his lover; she is left paralyzed but not sure - "A life time between us just burned down the wire", "footsteps beside me/ phone in my hand/ I can't move/ I can't stand".. it is truly a treasure trove of inner feelings and something everyone should hear; just as long as you can handle it. Three and 1/2 stars (due to the intense lasting feeling that you just spied on Rosanne Cash at home)

and today's highlight CD is:


THE BEST OF THE SHANGRI-LAs (1996; Polygram)
I discoverd the real Shangri-Las, the Shangri-Las beyond the main hit singles while watching the brilliant Stonewall movie, in which the main drag queen will evolve into pseudo music videos of the Shangri-Las songs, and I haven't turned back since. The Supremes may have had their stake on the pop side of brilliant 60s music, but there has never been another group of girls like Shangri-Las - sure have Ronnie & The Ronettes, but even in all their glory, they didn't take the prospect of teenage love and turn into the most melodramatic horrendous tragedies like the Shangri-Las did. Everyone knows the two huge hits "Remember (Walking In The Sand)" and "Leader Of The Pack" - two groundwork setting singles depicting love's endings in all their heartbroken ways including death. But the latter and its motorcycle seem to have fallen into the world of camp all these years later and that's too bad because when you hear it next to the other 24 songs on this set you realize how gripping the drama of the Shangri-Las really is. Every song is a labor of heartbreak and death be it of love or actual people; in fact it may be fun to go through the tracks and tally up how many people actually die in these little pop gems. But of course the Las aren't all about death; there's a bit of fun to be had by all "Give Him A Great Big Kiss" is an awesome 60s single, "The Train From Kansas City", "The Dum Dum Ditty" and the uber appeal of "Sophisticated Boom Boom" are all examples of the pop hooks but it really is the other songs, the songs with the edge, that get me every time - probably my all time favorite ballad of all time "Never Again" - ("You'd better stop playing games/ I've told you once before; it'll hurt you more this time/ if you walk out that door/ you better think it over baby/ remember what I told you baby cause Never again will I love you this way) I've been trying to get the balls to do a cover of this for years - the song has to be one of the first feminist ballads in the pop music field. The death of the poor leads in "Give Us Your Blessings" who were crying so hard when their parents rejected the blessing for their marriage, they crashed through the sign that said "Detour!", the rape and subsequent hell of the lead in the spoken "Past, Present & Future", the poor runaway in "I Can Never Go Home Anymore". Five Bradleys...

posted by swivek @ 2:05 PM