“Solid Gold” is the second full album by Gang of Four. Of course, I love it, but not as much as “Entertainment.” It seems like all of the same ingredients are there, but it just doesn’t excite me as much. A couple of the songs were previously released on the “Yellow EP.” My favorite track is “What We All Want.”
It’s a two-fer Thursday! That’s because we have two versions of the exact same Falco 12 inch, “Der Kommissar.” One has the standard plain black DJ sleeve, and the other a vibrant color jacket with a picture of Falco, a.k.a. Johann (Hans) Hölzel. Both pieces of vinyl have the exact same songs, serial numbers, and the year, 1982. But the color sleeve is dated 1983. (?) In the US, people are more likely to be familiar with After The Fire’s cover version of “Der Kommissar”, which came out in 1983. This one is better. You can’t beat early ’80s rapping, in German!
Falco died in a vehicle accident in 1998. He was barely 40. I wish we had more of his stuff, at least “Rock Me Amadeus.” The video for that one is a must-see, and I’ve included it below. Lucky you!
Songs on these 12 inches:
“Der Kommissar (The Commissioner)”
“Auf Der Flucht (On The Run)”
“Helden Von Heute (Alles Wartet Auf) (Today’s Heroes)”
Ah yes, “Ocean Rain.” I could listen to this Echo and The Bunnymen record every day and not get tired of it. And that’s pretty much what I did when it came out in 1984. This record is maybe a little more pop than the first three, not a bad thing, and it also has a full orchestra going for it… which is nice.
Acquired: 1986 ? – When she worked at Plan 9 Records in Richmond, VA.
Keeper: Yes
Peter Murphy (Bauhaus) and Mick Karn (Japan) teamed up to form Dalis Car in 1984. No, I didn’t forget the apostrophe. There’s no instance of “Dalis” with an apostrophe anywhere on this record. “The Judgement Is The Mirror” is the name of this three song 12 inch. They also put out on full-length album. It’s interesting music, but that fretless bass just gets on my nerves.
This is the first solo Nick Cave record. Most people would not recognize it as music. Of course, Mary and I do, but we’re not most people. “From Her To Eternity” is full of very original and very challenging music and lyrics, or stories. In many ways it sounds a lot like his work with Birthday Party. Mary can’t help but rate this a 10, even though she likes his later work more.
Below lies Black Paul
under the upper but
above and beyond the
surface flat-fall there.
Again, my favorite band ever, Bad Brains. This “Rock For Light” album has always confused me. A lot of the songs are re-recorded versions of stuff from their earlier self-titled release on ROIR Records. At the time ROIR Records was actually a cassette-only label. I used to have that “record” on cassette, but now I can’t find it. For some reason “Rock For Light” is mostly made up of songs from that cassette and the rare “I and I Survive” EP I’ve already posted.
Another 12 inch single, “How To Be A Zillionaire”, from the album of the same name. But I think this came out before the album. This record includes the original plus two solid remixes. I dig it.
I`ve seen the future, I can`t afford it
Tell me the truth sir, someone just bought it
Good ol’ Slash Records. This is a compilation of music from some of the great bands on Slash from 1979-1983. The presence of The Blasters and X (two songs each) is what pushes this rating up to 8. Another tasty bit is Fear’s “New York’s Alright If You Like Saxophones.” From the lyrics on that song, and others, it’s hard to tell if they’re homosexuals, homophobes, or just having fun making uptight people mad. Fear was always good for a little controversy.
Zodiac Mindwarp and The Love Reaction -- Interview Picture Disc
Artist: Zodiac Mindwarp and The Love Reaction
Title: Interview Picture Disc
Year: 1988 ?
Format: Vinyl 12 in.
Rating (1-10): 1
Owner: Tracy
Acquired: Not sure.
Keeper: No
If you’re a fanatic about Zodiac Mindwarp and The Love Reaction you may want to have this “Interview Picture Disc.” I was a pretty big fan, but even I don’t want it now. Sure, there are a couple cool pics of the band, in the record itself, but the “interview” is pretty unlistenable. I doubt this recording was intended to be released to the public. It sounds like it was conducted in a busy office, complete with people opening and closing doors, and phones ringing loudly and often.
Acquired: 1987 – When I worked at Mother’s Records in Hampton, VA.
Keeper: Yes
I need to listen to this one again. “See How We Are” was never my favorite X record, but I really wasn’t getting into it after a couple listens today. I do like the songs “4th of July” and the title-track “See How We Are”, but the rest of the album just sounds flat. And that’s despite that there are a number of high-energy fast-tempo songs. Overall it just sounds like they’re bummed out. Maybe they were.
I got to see them live, touring for this record, at the Ritz in New York. They were the opening act for Warren Zevon. To me, at the time that was a bill that didn’t make sense. The whole show was kind of a poignant downer. Guitarist Billy Zoom wasn’t there, replaced by Tony Gilkyson in concert and on the album too, and John Doe and Exene had broken up. The latter point was really driven home by Exene being visibly pregnant with someone else’s child. On top of all that, the biggest let down and surprise was that the most of the crowd was actually there to see Warren Zevon. Maybe I was the last guy to know it was the end for X.
Here’s an article about that show from the New York Times archives. Guess who gets 90% of the ink.
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