Long Time No Listen: Episode XI

The Morells – Shake and Push
The price tag is still on the cover of this one: I paid $1.99 for it at Amoeba Music. I'm sure I bought it on the strength of reviews in both TP and RS. Well, it's a bit rootsier than I often tend to go, but like Thee Headcoats, this record is an instant good time. The playing is tight, the recording quality is clean without being slick — well, it is on most of the tracks — and the overall groove is infectious. Like the TP review here says, this record is bound to make ya wonder where you can find an authentic burger joint like Red's. (In my case, I see a visit to Mikie's in my near future.)

Alison Moyet – Alf
Being a Yazoo fan from way back, I was glad my wife brought this album with her. Not surprisingly, only a year after her split from Vince Clarke, and smack in the middle of the Eighties, she and her producers still pursue a very contemporaneous, synth-centric sound. It's nothing like Yazoo, but still, it works, mainly because the sound never smothers Miss Moyet. Her gorgeous, soulful voice is always front and center. A bit more echo and delay than necessary get applied to her tracks now & then, but it's never overdone (except, to a degree, on the single "Invisible"). And the songs run from good to great. Well, maybe a couple of cuts that are simply adequate. But overall? A keeper. (Has anyone here seen Alison onstage in recent years? My friend Leilani saw her at Cruel World, and said her voice is in great shape.)

The Motors – 1
According to the price tag, this album came home with me from Amoeba as well. (What happens in California doesn't always stay in California.) "Dancing the Night Away" is a long-time favorite of mine, but I'm much more accustomed to the three-minute single version (which I heard first on a Rhino compilation). The six-minute version of that song is, well, longer, but not necessarily better. Fortunately, The Motors offer quite a few other good tracks on this album. In fact, there's nothing on this album I don't like (although a couple of tracks are just okay). Yeah, it's going back on the shelf between Motõrhead and Mott.

The Nails – Mood Swing
The Nails – Dangerous Dreams
My wife brought one of these albums into the marriage; I found the other in a used bin some time after. Mood Swing gets off to an unappealing start, its first track marked by a big monotonous beat and a non-melodic, sing-speak approach from the lead vocalist. From there, things get onto a roller coaster ride that's never too much of a plunge, but never much of a climb either. "Home of the Brave," "Mood Swing," the raga-meets-rock "Phantom Heart" and the remake of the Hombres' "Let It All Hang Out" are enjoyable enough. On the downside, "88 Lines About 44 Women" hasn't improved with the re-recorded version here, let alone with age. Dangerous Dreams is a smoother ride overall, with more melody to the songs and a more consistent set of songs ... although none of them is quite a standout.

The Neville Brothers – Treacherous: A History of The Neville Brothers 1955-1985
We found this one in a used bin, not long after we saw The Neville Brothers, so it was a gotta-buy situation. This one needs little explanation. Twenty-four funky tracks spread over two LPs, including recordings by The Hawketts, The Wild Tchopitoulas and solo recordings by Art and Aaron. There is simply nothing bad here -- not even really any tracks that are just adequate. Anyone with an appreciation of soul music in general will find plenty to appreciate and enjoy here; anyone with a taste for New Orleans music probably already has this compilation, along with a few more records by the Crescent City's first family of funk.

I have been interested in seeing Alison Moyet for a long time, but don't want to see some festival with a bunch of other retro 80s acts.

Friends of mine just saw Alison Moyet in Nashville with Soft Cell and the Human League. Alison was the only act on the bill featuring its original line-up.

Yes, that is the tour I'm specifically uninterested in seeing.

I just saw her a couple of nights ago (with the others). I've seen her a couple of times before as well. Interestingly, when I've seen her on own, she's just been backed by Sean McGhee but this time she had a full band. Her voice is still the same. If you're hoping to hear 'Invisible', forget it. She won't sing it anymore for several reasons but mainly because she's not the same person she was back then. It is endearing how she says 'Thank Youuuuuuuu!' after every song. I think she's having a great time now.

Interesting side note. One of the backup singers for Soft Cell is Kelly Barnes. Barnes is also a touring member for Heaven 17 and the definitive singer of 'Temptation' (at least I think so). Sadly, she didn't have much to do with Soft Cell. The new stuff sounds pretty good though.

Another good slew of records, Delvin… I had all these on vinyl except for the Nevilles.

You listing the Morells REALLY got me thinking. I learned about it through good reviews in magazines as well, probably Creem and TP. Never found it when it was fresh, but was excited to find a used copy 10-15 years ago.
What strikes me is how pre-internet, two kids like you and I, from totally different areas, would’ve read about this album and got jazzed about it. I really thought I was all alone in my musical interests growing up (my pals were all back-road stoner metal guys).
NOW I know there were plenty of oddballs like me… but then? No way.

Thanks, Bip, I certainly can relate. Getting into the new wave while living in Louisiana, and later in Alabama, definitely felt like a singular pursuit. None of my classmates in high school could appreciate it the way my brother and I did. And the few of my friends who got into the records I played in my dorm room? Most of them, I'd say, were humoring me. (Which isn't to say that a few of those guys still aren't my close friends.)

By the time I made my way back to the Rockies, after my "detour" through the Deep South, Colorado was just playing catch-up with the new wave. But hey, that was something I could participate in, right? Especially with the 'zines coming out of Denver (and points beyond), and with college radio stations like KRCC becoming so important to the expanding music frontier.