Long time, no listen: Episode III

Five more albums off my shelf that I hadn't listened to in at least ten years:

Cowboys International - The Original Sin
Methinks I grabbed this out of a used bin, thanks to an endorsement from somebody here on the board. (I'm not inclined to do any sort of search on the forum, to find out who recommended it. Come on, man, I'm too busy listening to records.) Great stuff that fits in with the sound of 1980, in all the best ways. A bit like the Boomtown Rats, with a hint (just a hint) of Springsteen on tracks like "Pointy Shoes." Really not a weak song on the whole album. Yeah, this one's definitely a keeper.

Cutting Crew - Broadcast
Frankly, I don't have any memory of ever hearing the whole album. I certainly remember "I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight," because adult contemporary radio has never let anyone forget it. I'm sure I married into this one. The band and its producer hewed faithfully to the audio template of the times. No drum sound is so big that it shouldn't be bigger; make sure the additional percussion tracks all sound unmistakably synthetic; if you have an effect for the guitar, then by all means, use it. If you have any effects left over that you didn't use on the guitar, be sure to use them on the singer's voice. Spray the whole thing with synthesizer polish and buff to a gleam. It all adds up to "that execrable '80s sound" that we've discussed on this board. (The producer, Terry Brown, made his name working with Rush on their first nine studio albums. In the Beyond the Lighted Stage documentary, one of the reasons Brown gives for parting ways with Rush is because the trio wanted to apply more synths to their music, and he just wasn't interested. Three years later, I guess he had bills to pay.) A few good songs manage to fight their way to the surface, but mostly, the production just smothers everything. The smarmy saxophone that colors a few of the songs on side two becomes the last straw. I didn't make it through the whole LP.

Dead Boys - Night of the Living Dead Boys
A German pressing of the legendary punk band performing at CBGB, or so the sleeve says. This is actually the first Dead Boys recording I purchased. Ira wrote the liner notes, but the printers included them in green ink on top of a very busy photo montage, making them damn near impossible to read. (I learned that Ira saw the Dead Boys only once. Sorry, Ira, but after the first sentence, it was just too much eye strain for me.) This one is a hit & miss affair, with very little bottom end (since they apparently didn't have a bassist at this point in their career) and a mix that veers between Stiv's blaring vocals and Cheetah and Zero's blaring guitars. The stage patter adds either entertainment value or a squirm factor, depending on your proclivities. (They greet the crowd with "We're the wonderful Dead Boys! Who wants to give us head?" The rest of their stage talk is less refined.) The TP review calls this "a punk documentary of some merit," but I think I'll stick to the two studio albums.

Dead or Alive - Youthquake
Another album that I'm sure I married into. (I do have some great memories of being on a dance floor with a beautiful girl -- an honest-to-goodness ballerina -- while "You Spin Me Right Round" was playing. But those memories still weren't great enough to compel me to buy the record.) "You Spin Me" still holds up, but taken as a whole, this album seems like an example of how to use the grooves and beats to pummel the listener. A few songs start off sounding a bit like New Order, and a few others start off sounding a little like Visage ... but on every track, the Stock-Aitken-Waterman team shows their determination to blow up those qualities to gargantuan size. (Motörhead may have coined the slogan "Everything louder than everything else," but in practice, S-A-W beat Lemmy & the guys to it.) I don't see myself wanting to listen to this one again in ten years.

De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising
This is one I bought after hearing some of its tracks played between sets at a Drivin' n' Cryin' concert in Birmingham. The music I heard charmed me enough to compel me to seek the record out the following week. And I guess I didn't play it all that many times after buying it, because the vinyl is still pretty darn shiny. This album remains one of hip-hop's most fun spot-the-sample playgrounds, and the raps have an unforced quality that keeps them more listenable than I tend to find in hip-hop. The overall groove, however, takes a while to get moving -- most of side one, in fact. Truthfully? I'm on the fence with this one. But hey, I was disappointed by Bouncing Off the Satellites, only to catch myself humming tunes from it the following day. So anything's possible.

I rescued Cowboys International - The Original Sin from a used bin, probably because Terry chimes and Keith Levine are on it. “Aftermath” should’ve been a hit. That was a mixtape staple of mine for a while.

“3 feet high and rising” was a shock when it came out. But honestly, the follow up, “De La Soul is dead“ is, well, more alive. Nothing wrong with the debut, but back in my hip-hop days, I reached for number two more often.

Willingly listening (or attempting to listen) to entire albums by both Cutting Crew AND Dead or Alive?! You are made of stronger stuff than I, good, sir!

MrFab Wrote:
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> “3 feet high and rising” was a shock when it came
> out. But honestly, the follow up, “De La Soul is
> dead“ is, well, more alive. Nothing wrong with the
> debut, but back in my hip-hop days, I reached for
> number two more often.
>

De La Soul is Dead is the only hip-hop album I've ever purchased (I had a copy of Fear of a Black Planet). Once the tape wore out I never replaced it. It was fun, but rap was never my thing. Never had any other in my possession.

> Willingly listening (or attempting to listen) to entire
> albums by both Cutting Crew AND Dead or Alive?!
> You are made of stronger stuff than I, good, sir!

Or dumber stuff. Take your pick.

Anyway, as I said, I was familiar only with the singles that each album coughed forth. So it didn't seem right to ignore or dismiss the rest of their contents without a listen. Besides, it should be pretty clear that this is part of an effort to thin out those crowded vinyl shelves.

Delvin Wrote:
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> Or dumber stuff. Take your pick.
>
> Anyway, as I said, I was familiar only with the
> singles that each album coughed forth. So it
> didn't seem right to ignore or dismiss the rest of
> their contents without a listen. Besides, it
> should be pretty clear that this is part of an
> effort to thin out those crowded vinyl shelves.

Yes. If it's an item you purchased yourself, I would think you did so for a reason at the time (well, at least that's my thinking regarding the ones in my collection). But you also said you inherited some of these, so those can be an easy target to ditch. My wife doesn't ever listen to her old CDs, so I've made some executive decisions about what stays and goes.

I've always meant to hear Cowboys International, due to the PiL and Clash connections, but never gotten around to them.

I had all these on vinyl. Some thoughts:

Don’t part with that de La soul too cheaply if it’s an ‘89 tommy boy copy. It fetches a good price… I know from experience.

I always liked the opener ‘detention home’ on that live dead boys, and it wasn’t on either of their first two albums. Too true about the cringey stage banter, tho…

My copy of Cowboys International was from a public library! I didn’t know what to expect but liked the new wave-ish haircuts on the cover. I thought “thrash” was fantastic. The lp is very good. Shockingly, this is on Spotify..

I’m guessing that of these five, Cutting Crew would’ve been the biggest seller… three songs I recall hearing on the radio fairly regularly.

Another nice installment!!

The versions of De La Soul's Tommy Boy albums now on streaming had to delete or re-record some of the samples, so even if you're not into THREE FEET HIGH AND RISING, it might be worth hanging on to the original.

Thanks for the input, gentlemen. Yes, my copy of 3 Feet High and Rising is a 1989 Tommy Boy pressing.

And here's five from me.

1. Electrical Storm (1985) by Ed Kuepper: Just like he did-post Saints, the vehicle for Kuepper’s post-Laughing Clowns foray went in a totally different direction, this time stripped right back. He was gone by the time I first saw The Saints (Monkey Puzzle had just come out), so, at the time, it was curious to see him …. erm …. rock. Like all his tangents, I found it enjoyable.
Highlight - Car Headlights.
2. Red Barked Tree (2010) by Wire: This had just come out when I finally got to see them and I was a bit bummed at the time as this was pretty much the set, apart from Kidney Bingos and Two People in a Room, so I was unfamiliar with almost every song. That said, I got into it this time around. Some straightforward moments and some very inventive moments. Makes me want to dig out the Read and Burn stuff, which I will.
Highlight - Two Minutes
3. Umbar (1989) by Bitch Magnet: I think I came to these guys after liking a Seam song on a sampler and the resultant deep dive. Like the aforementioned Laughing Clowns, they’re one of those bands where you have to be in the mood. Some cool moments here, though and some arrangements that set it apart.
Highlight - Goat-Legged Country God
4. Instinct (1994) by The Moles: Nowhere as immediate as the excellent Untune The Sky which had Sydneysiders losing their shit at the time. This one has a different line-up, apart from singer Richard Davies, who basically got some studio time and looked into who was available in London. One such honorary member was Hamish Kilgour of The Clean and some classical players who apparently didn’t enjoy the experience. Apparently recorded on magnetic film, a lot of it sounds like exactly what it is, people mucking around in a studio to see what comes out. The result is a pretty unique platter. Wasn’t planning on this one, but my kid scored it on Record Store Day.
Highlight - The Crasher
5. Sunburnt Throats and Happy Thunderclouds (1990) by Crow: Ended up giving this a nostalgic spin after hearing of the untimely death of founder-member Peter Archer. Very unwelcome news. This EP is more of a taster of what was to come, including their debut My Kind of Pain, which was an Albini production. It was an enjoyable listen due to the presence of a couple of live favourites from their early shows. A new album, Hold Sway, came out yesterday. Get around ‘em.
Highlight - Godfearing Shareholders of the Lord.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/21/2026 09:06PM by Aitch.

I think Red Barked Trees is the best post 2000 Wire album. That tour was my first time seeing them as well. The only time I got to see 'Kidney Bingoes', 'Drill' and 'Map Ref' played together. I've since seen them every tour after that one and I like the fact that the majority of the setlist is the album they're promoting. Makes one think they're proud of the album.

You were lucky. I was straight up hanging out for Map Ref. Apparently their previous visit was a greatest hits type affair, purely because they hadn't been here before. Not sure why I missed that one.

Only familiar with Kuepper and Wire, but not this Kuepper album.

I have listened to all of Wire's releases, but not too in depth past the classic first three. From my recollection, Red Barked Tree is one of the better of the 21st century releases.

Nice Aitch… the only one of these I owned was the Bitch Magnet. Agreed, have to be in right frame of mind for it, I rarely played it. I thought the band name was funny.

re: Bitch Magnet - Jon Fine, who was in the band, wrote a great book about his experiences called Your Band Sucks.
Here's an interview he did about it
[www.brooklynvegan.com]

Jon Fine also has a new band with BM drummer Orestes Morfin called We Contain Multitudes. They put out a cool album last year which will appeal to fans of Bitch Magnet (and I was/am definitely one of those). The drumming on Umber kinda blew my mind back in 1989.

Fine also had a band around 20 years ago called Coptic Light that were also quite good. And Your Band Sucks is a great read.

Just on Cowboys International, they have a significant bearing on my deviation to independent music. When I was a kid in the late ‘70s, my best friend (who would later end up managing a band I was in) had a great sound system at his house but whenever I would visit, I was subjected to his favourite records, which was a Bay City Rollers album and the Grease soundtrack. One time his mother noticed I was a bit over it and said “do you want to listen to 2JJ?” This was the Sydney station of the national broadcaster and not far from moving to the FM dial as Triple J and becoming a national network. I liked it a lot and being the national broadcaster, I also liked that they could swear. The two songs I remember clearest from those formative years were A Message To You Rudy by The Specials and Thrash by Cowboys International.