Bananarama

....Sometimes it's hard to tell were New Wave ends and Pop begins, the line begins to blur and at some point gets crossed. When I was a teenager I might of cared about such things but now I don't give a shit, I'm not that pretentious.

.... This English girls group first formed in 1979 with the original line up of Siobhan Fahey, Keren Woodward and Sara Dallin who had all been friends since childhood. In 1981, Bananarama's members were living in a flat above the rehearsal room used by former Sex Pistols members Steve Jones and Paul Cook with their help, Bananarama recorded their first demo "Aie a Mwana" During the early period Bananarama was approached by Malcolm MacLare, the Pistols manger who tryed to sign them, they turned him down which in hindsight was probably a good idea. Their greatest success was during the period from 1982 to 1989 most of there top charting singles were recorded during this time. Their debut album Deep Sea Skiving was released in 1983 and yeilded three UK singles "Really Saying Something" (#5 UK) and "Shy Boy" (#4 UK) — and a cover "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" (#5 UK). Although there have been some line up changes over the years they continue to perform today and have released a total of 9 studio albums.

Hysteria - The Human League

OK, I'm not gonna lie about this one, not a big fan of the album, I guess they can't all be good, I just closed my eyes, reached into my CD collection and pulled out anything. A shinny little gem floating in a sea of mediocrity, that's how I'd describe "The Lebanon" the lead off single from Hysteria. This politically charged tune boasts a killer bass line, meaningful lyrics plus a fusion of guitar and synthesizers that create an energy like few songs can, add to that a great hook and you get what could be considered an almost perfect song. Unfortunately the rest the tracks don't fare quite as well, the album seems rushed, thrown together almost as if Philip Oakey was in a hurry. It's not that the albums bad, don't wanna give that impression, just a bit mediocre and simple. There's a few other tracks I found interesting, namely "The Sign", "So Hurt" and "Life on Your Own" but in general it's a forgettable disc by an otherwise talented band.

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Hysteria peeked at number 62 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart.

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The Tracks are as follows...

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1. I'm Coming Back

2. I Love You Too Much

3. Rock Me Again and Again and Again and Again and Again (Six Times)

4. Louise

5. The Lebanon

6. Betrayed

7. The Sign

8. So Hurt

9. Life On Your Own

10. Don't You Know I Want You

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Bonus Tracks on CD Re-master

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1. Thirteen.

2. The World Tonight

3. The Lebanon ( Extended )

4. Life On Your Own ( Extended )

5. The Sign ( Extended )

Express - Love and Rockets

Express is the second album by Love and Rockets, released in 1986 on Beggar's Banquet label and it is the first recording I personally picked up by this phenomenal British band. I believe it is their strongest work in a library that includes seven studio albums over thirteen years, although I must admit I'm still unfamiliar with their final two releases ( Sweet F.A, and Lift ). The album is ingenious and could best be describes as having a post punk, psychedelic sound with a bit of gothic style thrown in for good measure, a remnant from the old Bahause days. I still listen to it on a regular basis, it is a mainstay in my collection there aint nothing better than blasting this album loud. The big single I guess would haved to be "Yin and Yang" but every track is strong, especially "An American Dream" which is my personal favorite. I don't really think this band gave a shit about commercial success, if they had I suspect this album would have been much bigger than it was... it is an almost perfect record. Like Bauhause before them Love and Rockets cared more about the music and the fans, sales seemed be a second priority... It appeared to me at the time ( once again this is only my opinion ) that everyone I knew had this album (in my social circle anyway) but there was very little fanfare during the release nor any real advertising during the initial run, word of mouth seemed to be the order of the day, the band had their cor set of fans that were quite loyal of which I was one of them and that seemed to be sufficient...if you disagree fell free to say so, sometimes I can be quite full of sh*t.....

Track list is as follows...

1. "It Could Be Sunshine"
2. "Kundalini Express"
3. "All in My Mind"
4. "Life in Laralay"
5. "Yin and Yang (The Flowerpot Man)"
6. "Love Me"
7. "All in My Mind (acoustic)"
8. "An American Dream"

The original CD release also included "Ball Of Confusion"

David Byrne at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre

It's great to see he's still going strong...As a member of the legendary new-wave pioneers Talking Heads, David Byrne has captivated audiences for over 30 years. And now, as a solo he is touring his latest record, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, Byrne pulled into Vancouver for a stop at the Queen Elizabeth Theater last Friday evening Feb 20th. Byrne's latest record is his first collaboration with famed producer Brian Eno in 17 years. He is touring with a four member backing band and three back-up singers this time. During their lengthy set they played material from the new release and also some classics like "Once In A Lifetime" and "Take Me To The River", for those that may not be familiar with his new work. By all accounts it was a great show, the sell out crowd spent most of the night on their feet, I wish I could have been there...

B-Movie

....One of those odd ball new wave bands that I used to like but had a hard time following because the material available was so limited. Two of the most phenomenal club singles from the 80's were released by this relatively unknown band. "A Letter From A Far", which I bought 12'inch single back in 84 still in my opinion one of the best songs of all time, and "Nowhere Girl" their most popular single. Surprisingly the bands most successful single in the UK was "Remembrance Days" which although good is in my opinion the weakest of the three songs.

....From Mansfield England the formed in 1978, active in the first half of the 1980,s they called themselves B-Movie after an Andy Warhol painting of the same name. They were originally signed to the Some Bizzare record label. Bizzare Records was a British independent record label founded in 1981, with the release of Some Bizzare Album , a compilation of unsigned bands including Depeche Mode , Soft Cell , The The and Blancmange. Though B-Movie release a number of singles they didn't actually release an entire album until 1985, the album was called Forever Running ( Sire Records ) unfortunately is was a commercial failure. Shortly after it's release the band broke up, each going their separate ways, most joining with other bands.

B-Movie are...

Rick Holliday.......Keyboards
Steve Hovington..Vocals/bass
Paul Statham......Guitar
Graham Boffey....Drums

Everythings Different Now - Til Tuesday

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An American contribution to the New Wave scene exceeding by far most others, an absolute a tour de force. Released in 1988 it was Til Tuesday's third and final album, much like the second album it was poorly promoted by Epic Records and as a result it finished up at position 124 on the Billboard Top 200. A tradgedy to be sure, and as usual it's the music fans that suffer the most, a gem has been lost to the masses forever. Few, if any below the age of thirty-five will even know of it's existence, much less be inclined to buy it. The only single to be released "( Believed You Were) Lucky" although an excellent song, was far from the best. Four songs in particular " Everything's Different Now", "Rip In Heaven", "Long Gone" and "How Can You Give Up" each stronger than the lead off single should have also been released. Bring me the record executive that is responsible for this debacle, I want his f##kin head on a platter, material like this should not be allowed to fade into obscurity. The whole album is strong, there in no fill on this record at all, once more Aimee Mann shows her incredible singer / song writer ability. I've listened to this album countless time over the years and will continue to in the future...

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Track Listing

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1. Everythings Different Now

2. Rip In Heaven

3. Why Must I.

4. J For Jules

5. ( Believed You Were ) Lucky

6. Limits To Love

7. Long Gone (Buddy)

8. The Other End ( Of the Telescope )

9. Crash and Burn

10. How Can You Give Up

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Til Tuesday Are...

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Aimee Mann............ bassist/vocalist

Michael Hausman......drums

Robert Holm...........guitarist/ background vocalist

Michael Montes........keyboards (replaced Joey Pesce previously on keyboards )

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Below I'll include the video "Lucky", the one single to be released, but as previously stated, although it is a great tune it is far from the best this disc had to offer...

Talk Talk Talk - The Psychedelic Furs

There are albums I've continued to spin over the years, albums that I never seem to get board with, this is one of those albums. I first picked it up in perhaps 1983 on vinyl two years after its original release in 1981. I was just starting to discover the whole new wave scene and was looking for new stuff to listen to, it didn't take long to find this gem. Considered by many to be the Furs best work Talk Talk Talk is the second of five releases by The Psychedelic Furs. Produced by Steve Lillywhite it helped establish the band not only in the UK but North America as well. A solid album from beginning to end it yielded two charting singles "Dumb Waiters" and an original version of "Pretty in Pink" which slightly different than the version used in the John Hughes film. A raw hard edged sound but at the same time well composed an melodic, it is an excellent example of the work being done in the post punk era by a band that knew how to write good songs. I absolutely f--kin love this album, the saxophone work is exception, pick it up...

The Tracks are as Follows, including bonuses on the CD re-issue.

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1. Dumb Waiters

2. Pretty In Pink

3. I Wanna Sleep With You

4. No Tears

5. Mr. Jones

6. Into You Like A Train

7. It Goes On

8. So Run Down

9. All Of This And Nothing.

10. She Is Mine

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Bonus Tracks

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11. Mr Jones (single version)

12. So Run Down (early version)

13. All Of This And Nothing (demo)

Serious Young Insects

New Wave / Power Pop

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Though not entirely familiar with their work this is what I do know about the group. From Melbourne Australia they played their first professional gigs in 1980. They were at first a garage band consisting of five members in 1979. Mark White ( vocals and drums ) and Mick Vallance (vocals and Base) and three unknown members that were dropped after they met Peter Farnan (vocals and guitar). Their early success was due entirely to word of mouth as they had no recording contract. As the popularity of their music grew the the number of gigs increased and they would play regularly. By the late 80's Serious Young Insects has opened for bands like XTC, and the Cure. What set this band apart from many others was that all three were singer song writers and as such provided the band with lots of material, and also different styles. Their first single release in 1981 was "Trouble Understanding Words". In early 1982 they released their first album Housebreaking which was worked on by veteran engineer John French. The first single of the album was called "Be Patient" it wasn't well received. In October of 1982 the third single was release "Faraway Places". slightly better response. They did some touring that year but that's pretty much it, they did their last gig in December 1982. They played over 35 songs and came off stage arguing over what they forgot to play, end of story, if Ive forgot anything lemme know...

Nowhere Girl - B-Movie

B-Movie was a New Wave band from Mansfield England active in the first half of the 1980s. They released this tune 'Nowhere Girl' in 1982, it's probably my second favorite single, it made the Top 10 in many European countries and reached 68 in the United Kingdom. My favorite single was "A Letter from a Far" but unfortunately they never made a video for it...or at least I don't think they did, but then again wtf do I know...

Nowhere Girl

The Stooges - Ronald Frank Asheton

Another bad week for music...- Ron Asheton, a guitarist and founding member of the influential rock band The Stooges, has passed away at his home in Ann Arbor, Michigan last Tuesday he was 60 years old. The Stooges formed in 1967, with a lineup that consisted of Ron Asheton his brother Scott on drums and the late Dave Alexander on bass and of course Iggy Pop on vocals. Known for a violent and primitive style that featured stage-diving and outrageous antics by Pop, The Stooges were part of a late 1960s Detroit-area rock scene.

From Iggy's Web site...

Ronald Frank Asheton July 17, 1948 - January 6, 2009

We are shocked and shaken by the news of Ron’s death. He was a great friend, brother, musician, trooper. Irreplaceable. He will be missed.

For all that knew him behind the façade of Mr Cool & Quirky, he was a kind-hearted, genuine, warm person who always believed that people meant well even if they did not.

As a musician Ron was The Guitar God, idol to follow and inspire others. That is how he will be remembered by people who had a great pleasure to work with him, learn from him and share good and bad times with him.

Iggy, Scott, Steve, Mike and Crew

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I am in shock. He was my best friend.

Iggy Pop

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Thanks Steve