Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Shocking Little Robbers

and here we have our two final Bubbatunes reissues of the Motels great back catalog. Today we venture into the years 1983 and the hit album Little Robbers and the blown up extravagance of the Motels final album 1985's Shock. So let's take a look shall we?

bub79 The Motels – Little Robbers (March 27, 2007; 1983)
For the follow up to All Four One, The Motels ran with the pop mainstream sound Capitol Records had pushed on them. Perhaps because of the Apocalypso sessions, All Four One still had a high arty vibe to it; Little Robbers leaves that vibe behind to push it more into the rock/pop of the early 80’s. That’s not to say Little Robbers isn’t a good album because it is. It’s really good in fact, but to truly appreciate it I think you have to leave the memory of the greatness that is found on Careful and All Four One and look at the album as a product of itself. Little Robbers launched two of the best singles The Motels ever put out – “Suddenly Last Summer” with its sweeping melancholy vibe of forgotten memories and “Remember The Nights” which follows along the same lines. In fact, the whole of Little Robbers seems to be one of misbegotten youth and long lost love affairs. Opening with “Where Do We Go From Here (Nothing Sacred)”, the rock vibe hits you right off lambasting with an eerie keyboard lead which makes you take a whole new look at the cover artwork, a purple and yellow mesh of 20’s gangster flicks, once again emulating Martha’s stance on “music noir.” Album tracks keep up the vibe with the riotous title track, the bouncy “Trust Me” and the excellent take on youth gone wild, “Into The Heartland” co-written with Bernie Taupin, which finds the lead characters of Martha and a girl named Rita on a rampage after stealing a Pontiac. The chorus is as hilarious as the song is rocking, "Rita’s fingers fumblin' trying to roll one/ My frozen fingers trying to find a cold one/Tonight we dine on the line and the lone one/As I gun this sucker straight into the heartland.” The working person’s hum drums are featured on “Monday Shutdown” with a synth driven type writer for a back drop while “Isle Of You” takes a clever turn with it’s lyrics (try to escape from the isle of you… as in ‘I love you’), the final tracks “Tables Turned” and “Footsteps” are exactly what Capitol Records was probably trying to push on the band and onto the radio, pop styling that though written by Martha seem to lack a bit of the creativity and cleverness associated with her best work. Not to say they aren’t good songs either, because I bounce and sing along with Martha but after the great songs offered to us by the Motels, they both seem to be rehashed from ideas that have proceeded them. Though kudos have to be given for the cool New Wavey organ solo in "Footsteps."

For our Bubbatunes compilation of Little Robbers, we get the bonus of some very exciting added tracks, most notably the two b-sides for the singles – the best of the two, the piano driven ballad “Some Things Never Change” has the Martha imprint all over it and compliments the album quite well with that unrequited loss at the forefront. In fact, it has quickly become one of my all time favorite songs by the band. The B-side to the single “Remember The Nights” is the fairly hard to find “Killing Time”, a Motels tune if ever there was one – the ballady rock/pop of such hits as “Only The Lonely” and the singles from Little Robbers.

We also found some exclusive tracks that were never released until Anthologyland. The outtakes “Mystery DJ”, another Taupin co-write that has a thrilling premise – the lack of clever tunes on the radio but isn’t up to the greatness found on “Into The Heartland”. Also included is “Room At The Top” a song that has a strange mystery surrounding it. (see below), and an alternate version of “Suddenly Last Summer”, a demo of “Some Things Never Change” with Martha in full blown diva mode, and a live version of “Remember The Nights” taped from the Motels Saturday Night Live appearance in 1984.

And for some added fun, let’s look at what Martha has to say about some of these songs.

MARTHA’S RAP SHEET
What Martha Davis has to say for herself:
The Motels – Little Robbers (bub79; 2007; 1983)
Track List:
01. Where Do We Go From Here (Nothing’s Sacred)
02. Suddenly Last Summer – The Melody of this song woke me up in the middle of the night. I got up and wrote it on the spot at 3 a.m. I think it had its origins many years earlier in Berkeley, CA. It was the end of summer; I was sitting on the grass in my backyard. A cool autumn wind began to blow, and off in the distance the bells of an ice cream truck were ringing. I began to think about how this would be the last time that I would hear that sound that summer. A sound that seemed happy a few months earlier now felt hollow and lonely. The change of the seasons echoed the changes that were taking place in my life, the loss of innocence. Though the summer would return the following year, the innocence would not. (November 2001 for Classic Masters – the Motels)
03. Isle Of You
04. Trust Me
05. Monday Shutdown
06. Remember The Nights –Do you remember the nights? Of course I remember the nights – I think. Then again some of the things I remember didn’t happen, and some of the things that happened I don’t remember. So sometimes I make it up. This is a song of images, some real, some imagined. Images of romance brought to life by memories that may or may not exist. If you have a problem with that you’ll have to revoke my poetic license! (November 2001 for Classic Masters – the Motels)
07. Little Robbers
08. Into The Heartland
09. Tables Turned
10. Footsteps
11. BONUS TRACK – Some Things Never Change – My mother used to quote Thomas Wolf, “You can never go home again,” she would say. But it’s not so much that you can’t go back home, it’s that when you get there it will all be changed. Places always change, people seldom do. If you want things to stay the same, visit them in your mind. (2000 Martha Davis – Anthologyland)
I have always loved this song. It was the B-side to Suddenly Last Summer. It takes me to a place when I perform that few songs do. It reminds me of my family, loss & love, and how time changes all but a very few things. (Martha Davis; November 2001 for Classic Masters – the Motels)
12. BONUS TRACK Killing Time
13. BONUS TRACK Mystery DJ – That’s the thing about this biz, one minute you’re talking to Roy Orbison (one of the greatest voices and songwriters in all of Rock & Roll) and the next minute you’ve written a song Bernie Taupin (one of the most brilliant lyricists of our time, and I might add, truly one of the most wonderful and gracious men in the business)…my life is so good!!! (2000 – Martha Davis – Anthologyland)
14. BONUS TRACK Room At The Top – This is where we get to the spooky part of ANTHOLOGYLAND. I was doing some writing with ‘Goldie’ aka Steven Goldstein, who did additional keyboards and arranging on the albums LITTLE ROBBERS and ALL FOUR ONE. Anyway, it was late; we were in my garage studio, working on the very beginning of Room At The Top – just a walk-man, a keyboards, Goldie and me. No one else was even home. I pulled out a brand new cassette, unwrapped it, put it in the walk-man and pressed play & record. We recorded the song, just for the arrangement. I was faking the lyrics and getting a handle on the melody. I layed out here I thought it was appropriate for the solo. Then, we played it back and there were these weird moaning voices in the solo sections. We both freaked, I called Val (the producer) at home, woke him up and I think we actually took the cassette to the studio to try and enhance the voices. Where is David Duchovony when you need him? Anyway, it freaked me out so bad that I’d forgotten until I got to Anthologyland, that we had actually finished a professional recording of this song. What’s even more weird is that Goldie doesn’t remember this version either. I still have the evil cassette and the voices are still there…SPOOKY. (2000 – Martha Davis – Anthologyland)
15. BONUS TRACK Suddenly Last Summer (Alternate Take) – I remember this song waking me up at 3 am. That riff beckoning me to get up, get my guitar and see where it would take me. Cut to a very well executed musical track accompanied by what we in the biz call the ‘scratch vocal”. The scratch vocal being the one you are NOT going to use. We had probably been recording for house and I may have had a couple of drinks…translation…it was 4 am and I was shit faced. Net result = Bad karaoke! But we’re in Anthologyland and somehow I feel this brings us closer together…(2000 Martha Davis – Anthologyland)
16. BONUS TRACK – Some Things Never Change (demo)
17. BONUS TRACK Remember The Nights (Live on Saturday Night Live) –Live television – could anything be more nerve wracking…yes, Val Garay telling you, “Don’t smile, this is New York, you have to be cool.” What could be worse than that? Michael Palan’s (Monty Python) 71-year-old mother introducing us wearing a hat wit ha spring-loaded hammer hitting her in the head every time she moved… “Try not to smile, be cool.” (2000 Martha Davis – Anthologyland)

bub80 – The Motels – Shock (March 27, 2007; 1985)
For the final Motels album things take a somewhat drastic little turn, Shock has its moments but for the most part it doesn’t take any kind of expert to hear the album is over produced and stuck in the 1985 rock that just didn’t stand the test of time as some of the other 80’s songs did. There are great moments of Martha and the boys even with the intense backdrop of synthesized rock. The single “Shame” was a bit of a hit and one of the best videos the band made, not to mention a damn catchy little song. Even the title track “Shock” has hit written on it (though it wasn’t) either despite or because of the intense backbeat. In other places Shock demonstrates more the lack of passion than anything else – “New York Times”, “State Of The Heart” and “Night By Night” all come off sounding like half thought out ideas. I’m sure Martha put her best into it, but from what has been said by everyone involved it appears Martha’s full passion wasn’t there anymore. When you put those songs along the brilliant pieces of music like “Annie Told Me”, “Icy Red”, “Cries And Whispers” and the aforementioned “Shame”, you realize this album isn’t all lost. It’s just too bad it couldn’t have kept going with that type of thought and precision into all 10 of the songs. But The Motels did leave a legacy of great albums and each of the five albums has moments of brilliance, so nothing’s a complete loss when it comes to the back catalog of the band. And for the completist, this is the only place to find Shock on CD under the $90 price I’ve seen it for. Thanks to my pal Luther for his excellant work getting my vinyl copy to sound remastered.

For bonus cuts, we found some pretty good stuff to throw on Shock – the B-side to the single “Shame” was a poppy little number called “Save The Last Dance For Love” which unfortunately ends up sounding a little like the not so wonderful songs on the album itself. The “Shock (Remix)” was the single version released and is actually very close to the original, though a little shorter and sharper. “In The Jungle (Concrete Jungle)” was recorded and released a year earlier than Shock, for the Teachers soundtrack, and it’s a fun little jaunt that bridges the sound of Little Robbers and Shock. The song was also released as the B-side to “Shock” so it fits here perfectly. Then we get the demo version of “Shame” which is surprising in that it sounds almost like the finished product showing Martha really knows what she’s doing. We conclude the reissue of Shock with one of the best cuts by the Motels, the ballady pop of “We Never Danced”, a Neil Young song from the soundtrack to the film Made In Heaven, which would be the last official The Motels recorded. “We Never Danced” includes a chorus of kids and happily comes across as exciting and nice instead of overblown and silly.

And once again for that added excitement, Martha has commented on a few of these choice songs:

MARTHA’S RAP SHEET
What Martha Davis has to say for herself:

The Motels – Shock (bub80) (2007; 1985)
Track List:
01. Shock
02. Shame –Ahh yes, the AFFAIR. I’m sure the “shame” adds to its allure. The taboo, the guilt, and the guilty pleasure, the rude awakenings, especially the pain. God, I’m glad that’s over with! Looking back on it, I think the saddest part of the affair is when you cross the line from lust to love. All of a sudden you discover that the hardest part of the affair may very well be walking down the street not holding hands! (November 2001 for Classic Masters – the Motels)
03. Hungry
04. Annie Told Me
05. Icy Red
06. New York Times
07. State Of The Heart
08. My Love Stops Here
09. Cries And Whispers
10. Night By Night
11. BONUS TRACK Save The Last Dance For Love (bside to single SHAME) Uhhh, ltet’s think about this, it was the B-side to the Shame single. First verse lyrics, “Dream comes true and it cuts like a knife,” I’m thinkin’ we hadn’t found our happy spot yet… (2000 Martha Davis – Anthologyland)
12. BONUS TRACK Shock (Single Remix)
13. BONUS TRACK In The Jungle (Concrete Jungle) – from the Teachers soundtrack This was a Motels collaboration and as a special bonus, we got to go to the opening and it was very fancy. Nick Nolte was there and it was cool…So L.A. (2000 Martha Davis – Anthologyland)
14. BONUS TRACK Shame (demo) – Anyone ever been an adulterer? (2000 Martha Davis – Anthologyland)
15. BONUS TRACK We Never Danced – from the soundtrack to the film Made In Heaven (1987) - This is a beautiful track written by Neil Young and elegantly produced by Richie Zito from a timeless movie by Allen Rudolph. If you’ve never seen this movie, rent it, you’ll love it. My favorite part of this recording is the children’s choir. The most angelic voices and the most hilarious kinetic pizza-eating cherubs you’ll ever meet. (2000 Martha Davis – Anthologyland)

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posted by swivek @ 8:52 AM 1 comments

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

All Four One and One Four All

Today we continue with our look back at the Motels catalog - a collection of albums that I decided need to be re-released and once I tell you all about them, I'm sure you'll agree. Luckily, cause I have so much time on my hands, I added all 5 of the Motels plus Martha Davis' solo album to our Bubbatunes catalog, and today we are going to talk about bub78, All Four One, the Motels' third or really fourth album. In fact, let's start right now shall we?

bub78 – The Motels – All Four One (March 27, 2007)

All Four One, is the most popular and successful album that was released by The Motels, and likely so since the band actually had two shots at making it. In the fall of 1981, Capitol Records set up the Motels with producer Val Garay, who had just come off the highly successful Kim Carnes Mistaken Identity album (“Bette Davis Eyes”) and with some inner turmoil in the band, Martha hired a few new guys and the producer set up a few session men to help fill out the sound for what would be the Motels’ third album Apocalypso. As it turned out, that third album didn’t really get the release it was supposed to and everyone had to go back and re-record in order to come up with an album Capitol Records would release. But why take it from me, when you could hear it first hand from Martha herself?

From the liner notes of All Four One (Expanded Edition):
OK…I’m sitting down to write about perhaps one of the most confusing times of my life and certainly a critical time for The Motels. The first thing I realize is I’m still confused. Where do I begin…?? How do I describe…?? What the hell happened anyway…???!!

The Motels were a “lucky band.” We were lucky to be around during the 1979 signing frenzy. We were lucky to be signed (and not dropped 6 months later) and we were lucky to get signed by Capitol Records, a label that was about the music and the commitment it had made to its artists – the proof of this being that we had already released two albums that had basically done nothing in America.

So maybe it was time to rethink the situation. “A new producer.” Exit John Carter AKA ‘Carter’ (a friend to this day)…enter Val Garay. Let’s have a flashback, shall we? (I love flashbacks.) Between the first and second albums it became evident that Jeff Jourard and myself were incapable of working together – this is where the phrase “personal differences” comes in so handy. Exit Jeff, enter my then-boyfriend Tim McGovern. He was one of the greatest musicians I’d seen – he played everything – drums , bass, guitar…he was like a psycho Hendrix. Unfortunetly, the psycho didn’t always stay onstage, and our relationship was stormy to say the least. As for myself, I was pretty much a stark raving lunatic…

Now we’ve circled around and are back at Val Garay, who was just experiencing huge success with Kim Carnes’ Bette Davis Eyes, and guess what? He was also a lunatic. At this point I want to impress upon you the fact that there were three other Motels – Michael, Marty and Brian – who were wading through all this shit as well. But their lunacy paled in comparison to the aforementioned group.

The shit we were all wading through was the making of the third album, Apocalypso. We knew that we had to start achieving some sort of commercial success, and the pressure was on. I cannont describe the energies, egos & power plays at work here. It was kind of like Harryhuasen Clash Of The Titans – Tim obsessing because he was finally able to flex his musical muscle; Val obsessing on visions of his production and management empire; me writing, depressing and obsessing…

When we finished one year later, Apocalypso was born…stillborn, that is. You see, Val had never let the record company hear the work in progress. When they finally did hear it, I still remember Rupert Perry (one of the great ones) looking at me, saying, “we’ll release it, if you insist…but the promotion guys will probably not work it.” In other words, it was already dead.

I found myself muttering, “I can’t go on”…and then proceeded as though on automatic pilot (actually, more like “Night of the Living Dead”) to pick up and fire Tim (from both home and studio), write new songs, get a new guitar player and start recording again. It hit me and it didn’t feel like a kiss… We recorded the new record – I think it took another year. By the time we were finished, we were tired, hurt, a little broken and on the verge of being a success (overnight).

The album was entitled All Four One because it was the fourth album and it was the four of us that weathered the storm.

Apocalypso was an album that was maybe too kooky for its day…nonetheless, it has always been one of my favorites. And now, for the first time, some of those tracks get to come out and play. I hope you like these recordings and know that no matter how crazy it gets, there’s always joy in creating and performing music. Thank you for making that possible. – Martha Davis, 1999.

All Four One would be released in April in 1982 and end up reaching #16 on the pop charts, helped along by the hit single “Only The Lonely” – the definitive in Martha’s spooky ethereal divaness. The album also launched two more singles, “Take The L”, with its so simple it’s utterly fabulous finding that if you take the l out of lover it’s over, and the boppy pop of “Forever Mine”. Both singles scored on the top 100 and probably received more airplay than sales since the album was being bought up left and right.

The rest of the tracks on All Four One, are the ones that really blow my mind. I’ve had about five versions of this album in my catalog over the years. One Way Recording released it on CD around 1995 and then an Expanded Edition came out in 1999 that included 4 of the Apocalypso session songs. As the years go by, I find myself going back to this album over and over. Though I have to admit it wasn’t until I made the Bubbatunes version that I really got into it. Where I used to think Careful was a profound stop on the Motels tour, I now believe All Four One is their very best album.

The darkness and allure that would’ve been found on Apocalypso isn’t completely gone from All Four One. The moodiness of the hit single is just one instance of this, but add in the surf scare sounds of “Tragic Surf” and a cover of the Crystals strangely alluring “He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)” and you get the Shangri-La’s going new wave. It’s hard not to feel the venom of Martha’s sting when she’s singing such ‘carefree’ songs of death and domestic violence. “Art Fails” is another crowning achievement in the Motels repatoire, with its new wave jaunty back beat and Martha pleading, “I don’t want you to see me this way.” There’s also the title track of that misbegotten album with the jungle rhythms, off kilterness of “Apocalypso” – “they dance all night at Love Café/ Gina finds it very good that way/ no day/ no tomorrow/ all the children making love out of sorrow…” Martha is a supreme lyricist and her takes on foreboding love and city life attach themselves right into my psyche.

Of course nowhere is she more evident about singing the city life than in “So L.A.” another moody track that tells the tragic story of LA life – “Jimmy cracked when he came out here/ his precious dream was never clear/ though he practiced it a thousand times/ the city should’ve been his that night/ but the man on the corner got something new/ and something new is good for you tonight!” It’s always been one of my favorite Motels songs.

There’s even moody jazz thrown in, with the ballady “Change My Mind” and the opener of the album is a song that inspired me to write Swivek’s “Mouth” – the straight up new wave rock of “Mission Of Mercy” – “He didn’t say where he was goin’ but he left in such a hurry/ saying something about a mission of mercy/ mama hasn’t been sleeping well at all/ as she lays stretched out in the hall/ waiting for him to call…”

Though Capitol released All Four One as an expanded edition including some of the Apocalypso tracks, the CD is way out of print and they didn’t include a number of songs they could have. So when I decided to put Careful (1980) and Shock (1985) two Motels albums that saw the light of a CD release very briefly in the 90’s, on the Bubbatunes reissue list, I decided with all the rare Martha Davis and Motels I had, I would just re-release their entire catalog. And though I didn’t go the full way and actually release Apocalypso as a single disc, I did add all the tracks I could find as bonus cuts – including the groovy dreaminess of the original piano driven “Only The Lonely”, the first versions of “Mission Of Mercy” and “So L.A.” and three super cool tracks that would’ve been on the third album – “Lost But Not Forgotten”, “Schneekin’” and “Who Could Resist That Face?” and for a special added bonus there’s a bonus cut from the All Four One sessions called “Surrender” which is so frickin’ cool I can’t believe it didn’t make the final cut. But once again Martha’s words are probably more interesting than mine so here are her rundowns on a few of the tracks.

MARTHA’S RAP SHEET All Four One (1982) Apocalypso (1981)
What Martha Davis has to say for herself:

bub78 The Motels – All Four One (2007, 1982)
Track List:
01. Mission Of Mercy – Very few heartbreaks are as tough as parental abandonment, and whatever the reasons for leaving, I doubt that they will ever be understood by the children left behind. (2000 Martha Davis – Anthologyland) Mission Of Mercy is a song of abandonment, initially inspired by a child I knew whose father had disappeared. I now realize that it could very well have been about myself, dealing with the loss of my parents. After all, I did spend a lot of time “stretched out in the hall.” (Martha Davis; November 2001 for Classic Masters – the Motels)
02. Take The L – This classic, brought to you by Marty Jourard and Carter, is about being in the end of a relationship and not feeling too good about it. I remember Marty was going thru a break-up, and he and Carter were having a heart-to-heart. Carter said something to the effect of “Take the L outta lover, and it’s over.” Marty then excused himself, and went immediately to the piano. (Martha Davis; November 2001 for Classic Masters – the Motels)
03. Only The Lonely– Memories of the conception of this song are vague. I don’t remember what time of year it was, what room I was in or my state of mind. I know that in interviews I have said that it was about the paradox of “making it”, of being signed. In one hand you have the applause, the tours, the roses and the champagne; in the other, a feeling of emptiness, insecurity and loneliness. The diversions seemed necessary to fill the void. The one thing I do remember about this song is that it wrote itself. I picked up my old guitar (the one I’ve had since I was 8 years old), and there it was waiting for me. I guess if I could say anything about this song, it would be that it was a gift. (Martha Davis; November 2001 for Classic Masters – the Motels)
04. Art Fails
05. Change My Mind
06. So L.A.
07. Tragic Surf
08. Apocalypso
09. He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)
10. Forever Mine
11. BONUS TRACK Surrender – I kinda like this song…the arrangement needs some work…but who knows, I might take it back to the shop and tinker with it some more, don’t be surprised if you hear it at the next show. (2000 – Martha Davis – Anthologyland)
12. BONUS TRACK Only The Lonely (Alternate/ Early Version) – From the famous album that got away, APOCALYPSO, we bring you the original, Only The Lonely. That was the album that we had to do over, cause there “were no hits on it.” By the way, I apologized personally to Roy Orbison for using the title, he said it was cool. (2000 Martha Davis – Anthologyland)
13. BONUS TRACK – Lost But Not Forgotten – The verse of this song still makes me hot. It does what The Motels did best, “music noir.” With a little work on the chorus, who knows? (2000 Martha Davis – Anthologyland)
14. BONUS TRACK - Schneekin’
15. BONUS TRACK - Who Could Resist That Face?
16. BONUS TRACK - So L.A. – Apacolypso version
17. BONUS TRACK – Mission Of Mercy – Apocalypso version
18. BONUS TRACK – Only The Lonely (Live)

For more fun with the Motels visit the website www.marthadavis.com and www.jourard.com

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posted by swivek @ 12:38 PM 0 comments

Monday, March 13, 2006

#40 - 36

Just call me Casey Kasem and send me your long distance dedications, cuz I'm about to give you the Top 40 Singles Of The 1980s - According to me of course!

#40 THE KID IS HOT TONITE - Loverboy
(Bernard Aubin/Paul Dean)
Columbia/CBS Single #38-02068
Chart Debut: 06/20/81
Chart Position: #55 US

Once more we go into the boy crushes of my past - Mike Reno with his head band and tight leather pants in every single color really did something to me. Perhaps it was even those yellow or red or black leather pants that turned me gay... I'm not sure but I do know I thought he was one hottie. Plus I really loved the songs. "The Kid Is Hot Tonite" was the second single from their 1980 self titled debut album. From the moment I heard it on the radio I loved it. In fact, I loved it so much I had to request it over and over and over at our local rock station WIFC. I'm not sure if that station still exists but when we were kids that was the only place to hear the new rock of the day. One night while staying up late with my friend Samantha, I called and called and called and ended up talking with the DJ for hours. I have the strangest feeling he thought I was a girl the whole time but being a rather strange and somewhat manipulative child, I never bothered to tell him the truth. I know you're all thinking, "Holy crap!" but at the time it seemed innocent enough, but now I realize the whole scenario could've been the opening montage of Law & Order - Special Victims Unit - but in 1981 it was harmless fun.

As for the song itself, it's pop/rock genius and it has a fairly fine sense of new wave to it. In fact the entire debut album by Loverboy feels more new wave than the hard rock they would come to be known for. Still to this day, "The Kid Is Hot Tonite" is my favorite song they ever put out... "How do you like him so far/ how do you like his style/ how do you like the way he looks and the way he smiiiiles..." Well, if he looks anything like Mike Reno did in '81 then the kid is hot tonite! I couldn't find any video of the song that showed off Reno's hot leather pants so here's the band performing the song recently, not exactly the same image but the song is still really good!

#39. THEY DON'T KNOW - Tracey Ullman (Kirsty MacColl)
MCA/Stiff single #52347 (US) / Stiff single BUY 180 (UK)
Chart Debut: March 17, 1984 (US)/ September 24, 1983 (UK)
Chart Position: #8 US / #2 UK

An almost forgotten little gem from the early 80s this is the Tracey Ullman you think it is. The Tracey Takes On... of the 1990s - the woman with a thousand voices and roles. When she first began she was but a token comedienne starring in a somewhat funny show called Girls On Top, written by and produced by Dawn French & Jennifer Saunders - yes, the girls who gave us Ab Fab. It also starred Ruby Wax, an American comedienne who for whatever reasons has made the UK her home and here Stateside is barely recognized. Anyhoos, the Trace left the show and decided pop songs was the way to go. Lucky for her she chose one of my all time fav gals Kirsty Mac Coll to help her out. Kirsty had made a bit of a splash with her own version of "They Don't Know" in 1979, then made interesting, lovely, exceptional singles sparingly until her untimely death a few years ago.

But in 1983, she helped out with Tracey and the single chosen was this gem, with its girl group production, Tracey's high vocal tones and as is always the case with a Kirsty song - very clever lyrics. Plus the bonus of Tracey's version is after the guitar solo when the voice chimes in, "Baby!" and I turn up the volume every single time. Incidentally, I've read but never have known for sure that it's actually Kristy's voice there taken from her version of the song. Anyhoos, the song of hidden love, "They don't know about us and they've never heard of love..." was Ms. Ullman's one big pop claim in the US but she did it very well, and for crying out loud, Paul McCartney was in her video! Watch it here!

#38. ONLY THE LONELY - The Motels
(Martha Davis)
Capitol Single #5114 (US)/ Capitol single #263 (UK)
Chart Debut: May 29, 1982 US
Chart Position: #9 US

Martha Davis can turn a lyric about a fish fry into the most dramatic reading you have ever heard. Not there are any songs by the Motels about fish fries, I'm just saying drama oozes from her voice no matter what her subject matter is. In most cases, the subject matter is lost love or broken down characters. In their biggest US single "Only The Lonely" we get both. "We walked the loneliest mile/ we smiled without any style/ we kissed all together wrong/ no intentions..." Sophisticated pop is what Martha does best and this little pop ballad clocking in at only 3:15 has more dramatic pauses, solos and haunting lyrics that most artists mutter in their entire careers. If you haven't by now I strongly suggest you find yourself a Motels compilation and listen to it beginning to end, and back again. It really doesn't matter what CD or old album you find because I guarantee you won't be disappointed. As for the rest of their career, the Motels had a few more clever and over looked hits - "Take The L", "Suddenly Last Summer", "Shame," "Shock" - all of which further proved Martha Davis was a drama queen - and for once it's meant as a compliment. Watch the video.

#37. INTO THE GROOVE - Madonna
(Madonna/Stephen Bray)
Sire single #8934 (UK)
Chart Debut: July 27, 1985 (UK)
Chart Position: #1 UK

In June of 1985, my fav Madonna performance hit the screens – Desperately Seeking Susan and along with it a little dance ditty entitled “Into The Groove.” Probably one of her most famous singles ever, the song was actually never released in the US as a single. Instead it was on the 12” single for Angel. The UK however would have none of that and they released the song as a single and it shot all the up to #1. It’s one of those strange occurrences I guess for it is still one of her most popular songs –“Get into the groove boy you’ve got to prove your love for mee….” I can’t hear the song without spouting off lines from the movie, like,
“Maybe she’s having an affair,”
“I think I would know if my wife were having an affair?”
“Why? You didn’t know she was a prostitute.”

and of course the image of Aidan Quinn as Des with his licking lip scenes, his losing his towel at just the right precise moment... well, it all just makes me want to get up on my feet and dance to the beat. I tried to look for a video shot of Aidan and his lovely derriere, but alas it was a no go so instead watch the Madonna video here!




#36. DON'T YOU WANT ME - The Human League
(John Callis/Phillip Oakley/Phillip Wright)
A&M/Virgin single #2397 (US)/ Virgin single #433 (UK)
Chart Debut: April 10, 1982 (US) / December 5, 1981 (UK)
Chart Position: #1 US / #1 UK

One of the rare instances on my list where the song was not only a hit in both countries, but it was also #1 in both countries.. this electro gem from the Human League was actually the very first #1 single for the Virgin record label and I personally believe it helped them fund all those airplanes they have.

A clever little take on fame, using people and bitterness, "Don't You Want Me" has it all. Our vocals take us through both the female and male interpretations of the love affair and we are left wondering who is really telling the truth. Personally I believe in the words "I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar/ that much is true/ but even then I knew I'd find a much better life/ either with or without you..." Sassy fun. Watch the video here!

and though I know you have a much better life than one in which you constantly read blogs all day long, I hope you will join us again, as we count down numbers 35-31 on our way to the #1 Single of the 1980s (according to me!)

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posted by swivek @ 9:39 PM 0 comments