Bradley's Buzz

The Bubbatunes Vaults 8

Here we are yet again, so shake that dust and cobweb off your shoulder and grab some headphones cuz the next 6 CD's in our Bubbatunes compilation collection are 6 very exciting and thrilling albums; only one of which has had an official release on CD and it doesn't even come close to the masterpiece I created. Though we have 6 CD's we have stumbled upon a series where one wonderful musician has a collection of albums so we are only actually looking at three singers, but those three will thrill you like the kid in america I know you are, so let's not wait til the edge of seventeen to figure out this new mystery...

bub 43 Kim Wilde - KIM WILDE (2004; 1981)
One more gem of a new wave masterpiece that is overlooked and so underappreciated, the debut album by Kim Wilde only caused a ripple here in America when the single "Kids In America" was released in 1982, but prior to that the single was released in the UK where it hit #3 and then when the album was finally released Kim found herself with a top ten album and two more hit singles - the chugging drama of "Chequered Love" and the rocking "Water On Glass." For some reason Kim's new wave drama hiccupy hit didn't make a huge impression to most in the US, but to me it did. The album came out when I was quite young but how I loved "Kids In America" and I really didn't know that Kim had already been having hits in the UK for over a year, but I wanted this album and after much whining I got it. Ever since that day Kim Wilde has rarely went two months without a spin on the cassette player and with this Bubbatune on the CD player. The album itself is pure 1981/82 poppy new wave full of pounding drum lines, synth and keyboards and lyrics about teen angst, hookers, strange radio frequencies and the ever present love gone wrong. Set to a trancy energetic beat there isn't a song to be missed; of course like most UK/US releases of the time, the tracks were arranged differently, only this time it was only a few songs, the original UK version opens with "Water On Glass" a fast rocking little ditty that would be released as a single while in America the single "Kids In America" opened the album. Since the original release was in the UK I went with their track list so we go from "Water" to "Our Town", a tale of trying to break out but forced back into your small world before the reggae tinged "Everything We Know" and onto one of my all time fav songs "Young Heroes", a pumping little song about celebrating your differences, "We only wanna stay young/ we only wanna be free/ She doesn't want to be me/ he doesn't want to be you/ we're all young heroes/we only want to be free..." Onto the big hit of the set with "Kids In America" which is such a great song I just can't get enough. You'll remember it made the top ten of my best song of the 80's, and Kim recently redid it on her latest album Never Say Never, a sort of throwback to this era of Kim songs. Starting with synth waves and breaking into moody pop, this is a song that though it has that 80's feel still seems to fit perfectly in 2006, a true test of what a great pop song can be. The album continues on in the same vein with the catchy and big UK hit "Chequered Love" followed by another reggae-ish tune only set to a much fuller and faster beat "26580", an ode to a prostitute and then the moody love song "You'll Never Be So Wrong", the power tranced rock of "Falling Out" a big kiss off song that is probably my favorite song on the whole album, "So now it's over and there's nothing more to say/ the flame that burned inside my heart now slowly fades away/ so don't you ever think of knocking at my door/ just turn the light, close your eyes and think of me no more/ and it's too late to say you're sorry/ you'll never change and there's nothing you can do about it/ faaaalllling ouuut/ cutting me up in pieces..." and ending with the spacey trance of "Tuning In, Tuning Out" which was a sort of inspiration for my vocal take on Swivek's "Intensity Is Recommended" - full of overdubbed spoken and sung vocals, it's a perfect way to end a new wavey masterpiece but thanks to the Bubbatunes world, this version of Kim Wilde is far from over, as we have collected more of the first incarnation of Kim's recording career; the b-side of the UK "Kids" single is here; a fast paced rocker "Boys" which would've fit perfectly on the album, then the rest of her singles discography released on the UK label RAK before she secured a worldwide MCA contract and switched her sound from new wave rock/pop to dance pop - here we have "Cambodia" a wonderful little trip into the mind of new wave 80's, "View From A Bridge", "Child Come Away" a sort of danger filled pop song in the same vein as "Cambodia" and as equally enjoyable, the horned up and fast "Love Blonde" and ending with "Dancing In The Dark." Kim Wilde was released in the UK on CD at one time but is long out of print and for sure doesn't come with the bonus tracks, and I'm so glad I have this collection for this is the ultimate in Kim Wilde's album discography and worthy of a spin every few months.

Track List:
01. Water On Glass 02. Our Town 03. Everything We Know 04. Young Heroes 05. Kids In America 06. Chequered Love 07. 26580 08. You'll Never Be So Wrong 09. Falling Out 10. Tuning In, Tuning Out
Bonus Tracks:
11. Boys 12. Cambodia 13. View From A Bridge 14. Child Come Away 15. Love Blonde 16. Dancing In The Dark

bub 44 Stevie Nicks - BELLA DONNA (2004; 1981)
I can't start any post about Stevie without mentioning how much I love this woman. She is one of those performers that has been around forever and has stuck pretty close to the same formula for 30 years yet she somehow keeps it all so interesting. Her hoarsey vibrato, her mystic creations, her shawls, all of it so Stevie, and so intriguing. After spending a few years with Fleetwood Mac and becoming one of the biggest bands in musical history, our poor Welsh witch was getting frustrated as only two or three songs of hers could ever be put onto a Mac album, so she opted to strike on her own. She hooked up with Jimmy Iovine who created Modern Records for the sole purpose of Stevie's solo work, she rang up a few musical legends and (most likely) bed partners and she dusted off her notebooks of countrified rock to create her debut solo album Bella Donna. A huge hit, the album hit the top of the charts in the US and had four top 40 singles, starting with the dramatic hook ridden Tom Petty duet "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around", then onto the country sounding ballad "Leather & Lace" with Don Henley, finally some of her solo work hit with the rocking and long winded "Edge Of Seventeen (Just Like The White Winged Dove)" a song which is so catchy and yet so strangely written you have to wonder how you can get into Stevie's world without ruining any brain cells, and finally the very countrified "After The Glitter Fades" a haunting little take on fame and fortune. Why Atlantic Records (the parent company of Modern) has opted not to remaster and re-release this on CD is beyond me. Oh well, at least there's Bubbatunes.

Like so many of these older albums the songs that weren't released as singles are just as if not more so appealing to me; opening with the dramatic title track, a 5 minute opus of piano, guitar and longing, "Kind Of Woman", my favorite track which is really about a man cheating on his girlfriend/wife but told in that oh so Stevie way you have to cut through the vines and imagery to get to the real story, but that's exactly what makes her so great. Bella Donna moves forth with the piano and sublte acoustics for more ballads and some higher energy rock but it's really Stevie's voice and words that always get me, no where is she more clear than in "Think About It" a nice little melodic tale about leaving things behind, a subject which for some reason always seems to appeal to me and one in which Stevie dispenses some ot the best logical advice I've ever heard - "take on the situation/but not the torment/ now you know it's not as bad as it seems". Meanwhile, "Outside The Rain" and "How Still My Love" are subtle little love songs while the Eagle-ish melodrama of "The Highwayman" is an interesting way to end the album.

But like all (or most) Bubbatunes, I can't just "remaster" a release that you can go out and buy at Wal Mart (well maybe not Wal Mart), so I added a slew of bonus Stevie. "Blue Lamp" is a 1981 track Stevie recorded for the opus cartoon flick Heavy Metal, and "Sleeping Angel" is a track done in 1982 for Fast Times At Ridgemont High, both are of the dramatic nature found in most of Stevie's work and you have to figure they were both lyrics and music she was working up for a solo or Fleetwood Mac album, in other words these aren't really throw aways or anything of that sort. Pure Stevie all the way. I found some strange demo versions of Stevie's work a few years ago and included two of the better ones, "After The Glitter Fades" and "Kind Of Woman" both of which are similar to the way the songs ended up sounding on the Bella Donna album but it's interesting to hear Stevie's rough vocals before production etc. not that it's bad at all, it's just different. I had a need to fill more of the album with some other Stevie so I also opted to put on a few cuts from her follow up album 1983's Wild Heart including one of my favorite singles by the girl "Nightbird", plus "Enchanted" (probably my favorite Stevie song ever) and the single "Stand Back", they don't necessarily fit with the Bella Donna tracks but hey, they're great songs. The only thing I own of the Bella Donna sessions that didn't make it is a sixteen minute demo track of "Bella Donna" that includes Stevie talking in the studio but the sound is kind of sucky and well, it's umm 16 minutes long.

Track List:
01. Bella Donna 02. Kind Of Woman 03. Stop Draggin' My Heart Around 04. Think About It 05. After The Glitter Fades 06. Edge Of Seventeen 07. How Still My Love 08. Leather And Lace 09. Outside The Rain 10. The Highwayman
Bonus Tracks:
11. Blue Lamp 12. Sleeping Angel 13. Kind Of Woman (Demo) 14. Enchanted 15. Stand Back 16. After The Glitter Fades (Demo)


bub 45 Lisa Hartman - LISA HARTMAN (2004; 1976)
Oh yes, this is the highlight of the entire Bubbatunes Collection if you want my honest to God; the entire Lisa Hartman album releases on CD for the very first time ever; well at least in my hot little hands. My girl is known to most as an actress and or wife to country crooner Clint Black who she married in 1991. After a couple more years of acting, our girl got preggers and kind of semi retired to Nashville and the family life; but every now and then she can be coaxed out to do a TV movie or sing a country duet with her husband.

But prior to all of this, Lisa Hartman had a dream - a dream to be the next big Grammy winning singer and for a brief minute or two it looked like it may happen. Discovered singing in a bar band in Houston by Brill building biggie Jeff Barry, the 19 yer old Lisa was shipped off to LA to record her debut album. 10 midtempo pop songs were written for Lisa by members of Barry's team, mostly by Jeff himself. Not quite country yet not quite rock enouth to be Linda Ronstadt, Lisa Hartman is more a product of the 1976 adult contemproary set, think pre-Grease but post-country Olivia Neton-John. You know 1976 ONJ.

The whole Lisa Hartman album was a bit of a surprise to me. First of all I never even knew it existed until around 2002 when I found a tribute site to Lisa called Kentucky Rainbows. The title Lisa Hartman was used for the reisseue of her 1982 album Letterock so when I found there was a whole different Lisa Hartman titled album I was in awe.

Soon after that a fellow internet Lisa fan sent me the two CD's of Lisa songs I talked about back at bub07, but it was missing 4 of the 10 songs found on this album. A short while later I found "He Ain't You" and "Right As Rain" but it wasn't until 2004 when I contacted that original Kentucky Rainbows dude did I get "Seeing Is Believing" and "Room Without A Door", and you can imagine how exciting it was to find out almost 30 years later, two new Lisa tracks I had never heard. And let me tell you "Room Without A Door" is a pure gem. A ballad set with strings and the whole shizz, she sings straight from the gut for her man to let her back into his life and more importantly to actually share his thought and feelings, "You're a river much too deep for me baby/ you're a mountain much too high/and I would like to laugh with you again baby/ like we used to laugh before/ but how can I get next to you baby/ you're like a room without a door.." It's by far my favorite track on the debut album.

Lisa Hartman launched three promo singles, all of them pseudo ballads so prominent of the time - "Pickin' Up The Pieces", "Saying Hello, Saying I Love You, Saying Goodbye" and "Kentucky Rainbows"; all three are of the same type of vein, love found, love lost, love gone; but the individual songs definitely have their own personalities yet none of them seemed to mesh with either the radio programmers or their listeners.

Luckily, we're still left with all 10 of these gems and the song "He Ain't You" a type of countrified pop about breaking up with a man for another man but wanting the first man back (who hasn't done that) actually became a hit for Lynn Anderson on the country charts, and since it's one of the only songs co-written by Lisa herself, it was in some way gratifying for her I'm sure.

Lisa Hartman opens with the uptempo "Somebody Been Lovin' Her" and it's catchy fun right from the beginning to the end. The first single "Pickin' Up The Pieces" comes in right after and shows off that Lisa was not fooling around when it came to her singing. She belts it out and you feel the feelings coming off of her. In fact the whole debut album is a very pleasant surprise in that it's not terribly cheesy in a way a lot of music in this genre was, and Lisa's voice is very heartfelt and full of passion. She has a mid range alto and doesn't croon or orchestrate in a Streisand kind of way but instead just sings from her gut and gets her feelings out there through song. What more could a listener or singer really want? But the biggest surprise about Lisa Hartman is how much airplay it gets around my house. I play it a lot more of ten than I ever thought I would. In fact it seems to get played even more than what I always thought was my fav Lisa album Letterock.

After the rather dismal failure of Lisa Hartman, our girl took up some modelling and acting jobs including the lead in the ABC series Tabitha, a spin off the Bewitched series about Samantha and Darrin's daughter living life in LA as an assistant at a TV station. The show didn't do well and Lisa took another stab at a single with 1978's "Nobody Likes Lovin' More Than I Do", a more upbeat track than most of the debut album though it is similar in sound to the opening track "Somebody Been Lovin' Her". The single tells the tale of holding your ground against a one night stand declaring as much as she likes "lovin'" she wants more than just sex. The single came with the equally entertaining "100 Different Ways" as a B-side, both included here as bonus tracks.

Track List:
01. Somebody Been Lovin' Her 02. Pickin' Up The Pieces 03. Room Without A Door 04. Right As Rain 05. Kentucky Rainbows 06. Saying Hello, Saying I Love You, Saying Goodbye 07. Seeing Is Believing 08. So Glad I Found You 09. He Ain't You 10. The Ice Cream Man
Bonus Tracks:
11. Nobody Likes Lovin' More Than I Do (Dreamer Of Dreams) 12. 100 Different Ways

bub 46 Lisa Hartman - HOLD ON (2004; 1979)
Lisa came off of Tabitha and a few films to try her hand in the studio one more time, 1979's Hold On pushed her music more around the Motown sound she had grown up loving than the adult contemporary she had done on her debut. Opening with a cover of "Hold On I'm Comin'" the album was off and running with a renewed energy and some pretty killer hooks; the strangely entertaining "If You Want To Come Home" is pure Bob Segar-ish type of late 70's pop/rock and with the back up "oohs" and "aahs" you can hear the original Motown influence and the "we can just sit home and get high" lines gives it that ultra cool 1970's feel but for some reason it wasn't a hit, in fact it wasn't even released as a single but had I been an A&R guy it's the one I would've pulled. Instead they pulled "Walk Away" which is a good song but it's another ballad and it seems to me they were really trying to push her as an Olivia styled chanteuse, but by 1979 even ONJ was wearing leather pants and cooing to the rock beat of "Deeper Than The Night". But it's not like they concentrated only on ballads for Hold On, for Lisa tackles some fairly big rock tunes to cover, Segar's "Old Time Rock & Roll" and the Supreme's "You Keep Me Hangin' On" which she does well on both though I much prefer her Supremes cover which is slightly more convincing than the lyrics of "Old Time Rock & Roll" particularly when you put those lyrics of reclaiming rock and roll along side the disco tinged "Who's Gonna Hold You" or the string laced "Steal Away Again." But don't get me wrong, I'm not making fun of these songs at all because for some reason I really, really love them. The thrill of having CD's no one else can buy keeps me going and the love and admiration I have for my Ciji Dunne also only goes so far, eventually you have to cut to the music and I can honestly say I love this album. Her ballads aren't the cringe worthy over the topness of say some of the catalogs from Melissa Machester or god forbid Celine Dion, instead we have a group of really pretty songs about love and longing and none are better than the closing track of Hold On, "Don't You Love Me Anymore" a very bittersweet rendition with a crackling performance by Lisa where it almost appears as if she is crying by the end of the song, a great song. But should I ever not include something bonus like to hit, we get two great rock songs from 1980; the uber catchy and fabulousness of "Falling In Love With Love" and "Waiting For A Miracle". The pair are songs she performed in the TV movie The Great American Traffic Jam, playing, what else but a singer of a rock band caught in the great traffic jam with her band mates so they perform a few songs and these songs are two of my favorites in Lisa's whole collection. Unfortunetly they were never issued in any form, well until Bubbatunes stepped in.

Track List:
01. Hold On I'm Comin' 02. If You Want To Come Home 03. Oh Me Oh My 04. Walk Away 05. Old Time Rock & Roll 06. Who's Gonna Hold You 07. Steal Away Again 08. Livin' Without Your Love 09. You Keep Me Hangin' On 10. Don't You Love Me Anymore
Bonus Tracks:
11. Falling In Love With Love 12. Waiting For A Miracle


bub 46 Lisa Hartman - LETTEROCK (2004; 1982)
The infamous of all the Lisa Hartman albums, Letterock is the album everyone searches for and though I think that has a lot to do with the fact she sang a slew of these songs in her stint as Ciji Dunne on Knots Landing, it should also be noted that this is probably her most consistent and appealing album.

In fact of all four of Lisa's albums, Letterock holds the place in my heart as my favorite. Not because it’s the music that first introduced me to Lisa Hartman or even the fact it’s the 80s personified or even the shot of Lisa in a blue teddy on the back cover (yes even on the Bubbatunes reissue), I just happen to think it’s a damn good album and why it didn’t score with radio is a mystery to me. Letterock even had the advantage of promotion as Lisa was performing the songs on Knots Landing. But apparantly timing is everything and Letterock was released months before Lisa debuted on the show and so when she was signing those songs her album had already hit bargain bins and the like.But none of that means this album isn't good because it really is, I mean really, it is.

Letterock opens with “Hidin’ From Love” a rocking little number that sounds like so many other 80s songs only this is Lisa singing it. The song is actually a Bryan Adams written ditty and has been covered by others, but Lisa did it first. It was the first (and only) single released from the album and it’s always been one of my favorites. “Hidin’” along with a few of the other tracks has a little countrified rock sound going on that was so typical of 1982. Not quite as country as say Juice Newton but not quite as rock as say Pat Benatar. Riding somewhere in between (“Riding in the middle/you’re halfway into me”) it should’ve struck a chord with someone. Lisa sasses her way through the song hoping her guy will stop hiding from love, “You were hoping love was something else/ I was hoping it was you.” Interestingly enough this song is one she didn’t perform on Knots Landing – though she would begin performing it when the album was re-released in 1984.

“Why Baby” opens with the background synthesized “aaahs” of some male singers and a breezy new wave country feel. Like most of the songs on the album, the topic is love or lost love but Lisa is riding on different territory so it isn’t so much a song of desperation as it is of confused turmoil. She gave her best but “you were lying” so “Why Baby, why are you back on my mind again?” The song originally appeared in the 1981 TV Movie Valley Of The Dolls where Lisa played the Neely O’Hara character. Apparently Lisa liked it enough to record a different version for this album.

“Johnny’s Always On My Mind” has to be one of those 1980s gems that everyone wanted to do. It’s the rock version of the new wave pseudo hit “Johnny Are You Queer?” telling the tale of a boy named Johnny that the singer is in love with. Unfortunately John has a boyfriend, “His name is Don and he’s a major disappointment.” But that won’t stop Lisa, she’s going to “make it with his roommate” while he’s gone - anything to get Johnny off her mind. It’s hilarious, it’s topical, it’s something she did not perform on Knots Landing. Though with the subtext of Laura and Ciji being lesbian lovers, the song may have been perfect.

Now for the goods, “If Love Must Go” begins with a twang, a ballad of 1980s Urban Cowboy mentality. Lisa performed the song on Knots Landing the very first time she ever donned the famous red alien dress. In the show, she sings the song as the characters’ love lives are falling apart; a poignant moment of the series and a great performance on record. In fact Lisa, whose voice isn’t all that edgy or full of range, performs her little heart out and trying to sing along is a lot harder than you would think. In spite of or even because of the country twang in the song, I really like it. It has the feeling of a smoky small town bar where the lights are coming up, the booze has been drunk and your love life is in the toilet. Lisa has a way of singing about heartbreak in the most delicious manner.

In 1981, another soap star by the name of Rick Springfield made an album called Working Class Dog. The album contained a little ditty known as “Jessie’s Girl” and Rick became an international music star leaving behind his soap opera days. Like Lisa, Rick was originally a singer way before ever trying his hand at acting. Unlike Lisa, Rick found that international success and got to leave the acting behind him. It’s almost ironic that Lisa chose a Rick Springfield song to cover. Even choosing one off of Working Class Dog but that's exactly what she did with “Hole In My Heart”. Perhaps it wasn't irony at all but just very well thought out publicity since "Hole In My Heart" is also the Lisa song that was most heavily promoted on Knots Landing. (For nit pickers, I said it’s almost ironic, I’m still rather confused – I blame Alanis of course, for a lesbian comedienne recently told me, Alanis did not have “ironic” experiences but rather she had “unfortunate” things happen to her – irony is “a Scottish man cloning a sheep” and not a “black fly in your Chardonnay.” – so whether or not this is ironic, is really up to you – it is at least interesting, right?)

I didn’t have the Rick Springfield album until years later so it was Lisa’s version of “Hole In My Heart” that I heard first. I’m still a little torn between which version I like the best. I know I like the ending of the Rick version better which ends with an overdubbed version of the chorus just hanging mid air, but I have to say Lisa does a bang up killer job on this rocking track.

The imagery of the song, the lyrics, (“I must’ve looked like a prime one/running after you thinking we still could survive/but nobody I ever loved ever hurt me like you did/and I can feel it…”) and Lisa’s best growling through the verses and the long-winded “Iiiiiiveee got a hoooole in my heeeaart” make this one enjoyable ditty and open to repeated listenings. Once again it’s a bitch to sing along with, though that doesn’t stop anyone I know.

“Two To Do” begins with keyboards churning, rock guitars crunching, a piano pounding away and Lisa crooning “when you’re alone the night can last forever/it takes love to get you through and love takes two to do.” Not necessarily the most clever lyric but the passionate approach and the general electricity make the track so 1982 enjoyable.

“Games” is pseudo ballad/pseudo new wave in the vein of “Why Baby,” only this time we have some pretty clever lyrics. Comparing love to a game of cards is probably nothing new (“Queen Of Hearts” anyone) but I’ve always liked this particular lyric. It’s also one of Lisa’s best vocal performances declaring, “Those Games that you play/don’t you play them with me.”

I’ve always loved female performers but I am especially partial to those that are sassy, no holds barred, not to be messed around with women. Of course I’m also an 80s aficionado who loves a good pop hook and this song pretty much has it all. The background “Aaahs”, the keyboards, the guitar solo all help to make this song one of the best on the album. Again, it’s a song she performed on Knots Landing so Lisa must’ve enjoyed it as well.

Like “Hidin’ From Love” and “Why Baby” it borders on the country pop line but with its stops and starts, the keyboard running through it, the guitar solo and Lisa screaming, “no baby no baby no no!” at the end, it rises up above those two songs and I love it! It’s another I have to wonder, "Why baby, why wasn’t this a hit?"

Where “If Love Must Go” was the ballad with the guitar, “Miss You (Like I Do)” is the full on piano ballad. It’s fairly reminiscent of the material Lisa did on her previous album, 1979’s Hold On, but instead of being 1970s shtick, it’s very modern (1982 modern but modern nonetheless). Thanks to the minimalist instrumentation this one may stand up in the contemporary world than others on the album.

One of my favorite Lisa ballads is “Don’t You Love Me Anymore” from Hold On and this one is a close runner up to that song. Lisa’s high pitched crooning, emphasizing every note and word, touches me somehow. Like any good ballad, the song starts slow and quiet and gears up from there. The first verse is piano and then the drums and guitars kick in, then the bridge. I am a sucker for a good bridge and this song has one of the best, “For some folks it can be so hard/depending on who thought who was true/but as it stands/ well all I’ve got/is too much time trying to figure out/ how a love so strong/ could go so wrong/I miss you like I do” then a guitar solo. I tell you this song has it all. It’s a sweet little number that I always end up replaying after I listen to it.

The album’s closers are where Lisa really letserock (get it?). It’s rock and rock in 1982 new wave fashion and probably not coincidentally these two songs seem to be the most popular among her fans as well. It’s really no wonder once you hear them.

“Don’t Let Me Go” kicks in with a hard new wave drumbeat, cowbells(??) and guitar then Lisa takes it from there, growling and squeaking her vocals. “Oh baby don’t let me go/I’ll do what you do (oouh!)/I’ll go where you go/still I don’t know/what’s going on/ between you and me/it’s not like it’s supposed to be/I sit around by the telephone/I wait for your call/you left hours ago/and I’m tired of waiting around/hanging around/just a goin’ around.”

The song is obviously a plead not to be thrown away by her lover but the power that lies in the thumping beat and Lisa’s hardcore vocal take lead you to believe she doesn’t really care if you let her go or not. Perhaps Johnny is still on her mind. The versatile song combining high hats, a great guitar solo and drum rolls severe could’ve been a hit for anyone from Josie Cotton to Olivia Newton-John to the Go Go’s. The performance and the music is new wave at some of its finest. Again, why wasn’t this a hit? I would’ve roller-skated to it.

The final track of the original album is “New Romance (It’s A Mystery)” which is a song whose story and connections could probably write a full biography. Written by Holly Knight and Anton Fig of the band Spider it was a top 40 (#39) hit for the band in 1981. It would be their only single chart success but tucked away inside of the band’s two albums was not only this little nugget but a song called “Better Be Good To Me” which Tina Turner made into a hit, “Changes” a hit for John Waite and “Little Darlin’” a song that Rachel Sweet took to new levels. Spider (with lead vocals by Amanda Blue) would only have a hit with “New Romance” but Holly would go on to better things – not only as co-writer of the above mentioned songs but also “The Warrior” (Scandal), “Love Is A Battlefield” and “Invincible” (Pat Benatar) and a few more for just about every artist involved in 80s rock.

I recently found the two Spider albums conveniently released on one CD. I hadn’t known how exactly I was going to react to their “New Romance” as to me it will always be Lisa’s song. I was particularly afraid I might like the original better. Luckily, I was wrong. Lisa takes the song to completely different levels. Amanda’s voice is low and manly and somewhat off key while Lisa does a Benatar impression and I think it’s her version that should’ve hit the top 40. Incidentally, Spider’s version of “Better Be Good To Me” is killer.

Lisa’s “New Romance (It’s A Mystery)” is a new wave confection, starting with a keyboard whirlwind and a drumbeat roll blended by a thumping guitar lick which pushes through the first verse … “I fell in love today/never thought I’d feel this way/been so tired of one night stands/now I’m ready for a new romance” before the “ooh’s” kick in and the beat changes, “oooh it’s a mystery/I can’t figure it out/oooh it’s a mystery/do you know what I’m talking about”, then the beat changes again adding a harder edged kick, “Do you love me? Do you want me? Maybe it’s crazy/Give it a chance/I think I like this New Romance.” Then the whole idea starts over for the second verse.

On Knots Landing, this song could arguably be dubbed as Lisa’s (and thus Ciji’s) theme song. It’s the first song Ciji is actually able to lay down a track for when recording her album and the episode “Celebration” which is the one in which Ciji ends up dead on the beach, begins as a pseudo music video for the song.

The episode begins with different shots of Ciji riding her bike through Knots Landing. Wearing short shorts cut in one side red/one side white, she whizzes through the street as the song plays. We get practically the whole song in those first three minutes of the show and it’s a great send off not only for the Ciji Dunne character but for the Letterock album as well. Again...single? Hit? Why?

When Lisa Hartman signed onto Knots Landing in 1982 it was for the sole purpose of exposing more people to her music. She had just released Letterock when filming began and she thought it would be the perfect vehicle for such a thing. For some reason, it didn’t work out that way. After Lisa had been back on the show and again making a splash in the waves off of Knots Landing, the album was re-released and re-named Lisa Hartman. The front and back cover was switched around putting the shot of Lisa in her neon blue negligee front and center. There was even a huge sticker stuck to the front, declaring, “Lisa Hartman, singer of TV’s Knots Landing.” Again, the album didn’t sell.

In between leaving and returning to Knots Landing, Lisa starred in a little known series called High Performance and got her big movie break. She took one of the leads in yet another classic remake when she starred in Where The Boys Are ‘84.

The movie is about four-college girls heading to Fort Lauderdale for Spring Break. Lisa is a music major who meets one of her friend’s classic music loving cousins. Meanwhile, a more rock and roll guy also has his eye on Lisa. The movie is pure T&A comedy so typical of the 80s but it gave Lisa a chance to release one more single in the theme song.

I had the luxury of seeing her perform “Where The Boys Are” on Solid Gold when I was a kid and the sheer excitement of it all was a tad too intense for my little frame. I had to see the movie, but alas I couldn’t for it was “filth” in my mother’s words. Eventually, I would see it and so typical of almost everything Lisa has done, it’s yet to see an official DVD release – just like this CD!

When I wanted to do a cover of a Lisa Hartman song my intitial choice was of course "New Romance" but once those beats starting dripping out of my head, I knew a pop dance cover of "Where The Boys Are" was the way to go. Actually, it came to me one day while listening to this very album. I thought, "What a great song to cover," and initially the song was going to be a lot closer to this version. Of course, Lisa's version isn't all that different from the original Connie Francis version so I took a completely different direction. And MOST people seem to enjoy it, I wonder what the queen Mrs. Black would think of it, someone will have to ask her!

The "Where The Boys Are" single, like the Letterock album, and to some extent, the movie itself, didn’t make much of a dent in the charts, or pop culture for that matter, and just like the single, the Letterock album and the movie, the reasons for the lack of success aren't very clear. Lisa’s musical performances are of no less caliber than any of the female rockers of the day who happened to have hits.

Lisa definitely had the look, she had the talent, and she had the sass, plus she seemed down right likeable. Perhaps it was timing, musical tastes were changing, other females were coming up, perhaps it was the radio stations. Pat Benatar said even during her highest career point some radio programmers would tell her they were already playing one female on the radio and didn’t have room for more.

By the mid 80s (and Lisa’s next album) the landscape was different, but again it didn’t work out for our girl, perhaps by then there were just too many women rock performers. Whatever the reasons, and there are plenty of them, Letterock didn’t take off but it hasn’t left my CD player since I made this reissue or anyone else’s who happens to have a copy of it… and that should say something about the lasting power of Lisa Hartman’s music.

Track List:
01. Hidin' From Love 02. Why Baby 03. Johnny's Always On My Mind 04. If Love Must Go 05. Hole In My Heart 06. Two To Do 07. Games 08. Miss You (Like I Do) 09. Don't Let Me Go 10. New Romance (It's A Mystery)
Bonus Track:
11. Where The Boys Are

bub 48 Lisa Hartman - TIL MY HEART STOPS (2004; 1987)
The only Lisa Hartman album to have an official release on CD, this 1987 freestylin' synth drum popping album is long out of print and another that fans search and search for. The last going price I found for it was $75 starting, so it's pretty cool that Bubbatunes is around and with bonus cuts to boot.

Til My Heart Stops seems to be an album that Lisa really wanted to make. Her voice is strong, the songs are well chosen rock/pop songs of the era and she even co-wrote a little. Also a thing to think of is when she recorded the album she had made a name for herslef as an actress, having chosen to leave her 4 year stint on Knots Landing and concentrate on TV films, which included the starring role in a huge mini series Roses Are For The Rich, so she more than likely could've given up the singing all together but not our girl for even in a 1985 TV Guide article about her role on Knots Landing, she declared she really wanted to be a singer, "I came out here with a dream and plan to fulfill it," she said.

So she took off Knots Landing and headed to the studio to begin recording a new album of fresh material. I remember when Til My Heart Stops came out, I was so frickin' excited and I couldn't wait to get it. It seemed to have come out around my birthday in the summer of the year I was living in a car with Tim Tauges and camping out all the time, as he wrote a bad check at Camelot Music to buy it for me as a birthday present - oh the men I fell for.

Anyhoos, opening with the rocking "Tempt Me (If You Want To)", the album found Lisa in full on rock mode, a Benatar-ish attitude set to the freestyle synth pop of 1987. In fact that's perhaps what made the album fail, (chart wise) is that it wasn't anything particularly fresh or unheard of. But that shouldn't be held against her then or now as she took the style that worked for her and I can tell you this album was on contant and I do mean constant replay that summer and beyond.

The first single was the slight ballady "I Don't Need Love" complete with guitar solos and a growling Lisa bridge, there is even an awesome video featuring her 1987 hot hair. 'Til My Heart Stops goes through all the motions of the synth pop/rock including more of the ballad styled songs like the awesome "How Many Rivers" and a single "The Dress" in which she tries to get her man back by declaring she could wear the dress he used to love. "Til My Heart Stops Beating" is an epic ballad with drums and guitars and a heart felt gut wrenching performance by Lisa and is probably one of her best sung songs.

The rockier side of Lisa shows through on the rest of these 9 tracks including hte bouncy "Ooh I'm Satisfied" and the bitter-ish "Tender Kiss" but it's really "Imagination" and "I Can't Get You Out Of My System" that stand out for me. In the former, Lisa is at the club when a guy eyes her up and down and up again as she wonders if it's all in her mind, the song leads to a fairly predictable solution but the grittiness and sexiness of the song takes you to that conclusion with great results. In "I Can't Get You Out Of My System", the cliches may fly fast and furious in the lyrics but what was 80's rock about if not cliches? It's a perfect product of its time and if I were in charge that is the song I would've released as a single and I think Lisa may have a had a good shot at the charts.

As it stands I really love 'Til My Heart Stops but for some reason I don't love it as much as I did in 1987, for some reason the whole style of the sound that was so prominent then sounds more dated than her earlier 80's album Letterock. I'm sure it's the syths and the drum machines that do it, but if you get past that or if that's what you like about that era's ear than Til My Heart Stops is a great listen. In any case, it's great to hear Lisa stir up a rock album with such gusto.

To add to the bonus side of this album, we took the only post- Til My Heart Stops songs Lisa has ever recorded. Her two hits (yes they hit the charts!) duets with Clint Black - the chart topping, award winning (just like Lisa always wanted) "When I Said I Do"; a song Lisa didn't even want to record as she thought Clint's career had gone so well so far and her music career was well not so successful, she felt for sure she'd jinx it, but Clint said he wasn't going to record it with anyone else but her and he would just shelve the song so she finally agreed and she got those awards that she alwasy wanted, not to mention a new legion of fans for her singing as the song is one of the top wedding songs since its release in 1999.

TWo years later, the Blacks got together again to record another duet - the much better in my opinion, "Easy For Me To Say"; not quite as big of a hit but still a hit none the less and a very sweet, not sickly sweet just nice, song about loving each other. I've decided it's one of the songs I have dubbed "our songs" with the Leivas.

Track List:
01. Tempt Me (If You Want To) 02. I Don't Need Love 03. Ooh I'm Satisfied 04. I Can't Get You Out Of My System 05. Tender Kiss 06. The Dress 07. How Many Rivers 08. Imagination 09. 'Til My Heart Stops Beating
Bonus Tracks:
10. When I Said I Do (with Clint Black) 11. Easy For Me To Say (with Clint Black)

and we have thus completed our round of Bubbatunes album reissues but should you get nervous and think this is the end of the dark halls of the Bubbatunes vaults, you'll be pleased to know there is still more to come. We head back into the vault onto a another series of compilations including some country divas, some pop divas, some rock divas and oh well, hell all kinds of divas, so join us next time when we hit Bubbatunes #s 49-54!

posted by swivek @ 8:15 AM