I’ve been doing some advance reconnaissance for the 2021 edition of SRIR, and maybe two-thirds of the issues I plan to examine this year have been tentatively selected. As of this moment, I don’t expect there to be any that came after this one, but we’ll see. While it’s possible I could have read this while home on my first winter break from grad school, nothing feels familiar; maybe Dad had already let his subscription expire…
Articles
Ann Ferrar Talks with the Bangles
“Walk Like an Egyptian” was riding high on the charts when this issue appeared, but the interview must have taken place several months earlier, as “Manic Monday” is the only song from Different Light to receive mention. Ferrar catches up with them on a night they’re to appear at Catch a Rising Star in NYC; the article touches on their 60s influences, notes the opportunity that having four vocalists presents, and addresses comparisons to the Go-Go’s (natch) and Bananarama.
Steve Simels on Starting a Compact Disc Collection
Simels takes a look at ten favorite discs that one might consider as the CD-era begins its fast rise. His choices include Wish You Were Here, Synchronicity, Scarecrow, Beggar’s Banquet, Hounds of Love and two from the Who.
Our reviewers this month are stalwarts Chris Albertson, Phyl Garland, Alanna Nash, Mark Peel, and Steve Simels.
Best of the Month
–Talking Heads, True Stories (MP) “The songs these stories inspired, an American-made gumbo of rock-and-roll, gospel, Tex-Mex, and mariachi, are simple yet absorbing…dissecting the facts and perceptions of the characters’ lives and rearranging them in strange, unreal ways.”
–Timbuk 3, Greetings from Timbuk 3 (SS) “…one of the sharper debut albums of the year. The basic sound…is a sort of sardonic, bluesy, neo-folk rock, with occasional forays into peripherally related styles like reggae.”
Other Disks Reviewed (* = featured review)
–*Beat Rodeo, Home in the Heart of the Beat (MP) “The alliance between pop, punk, and country creates what I can only call a mournful playfulness—the country in Beat Rodeo wants to make these songs sad, but the pop keeps winking at you.”
–George Benson, While the City Sleeps (PG) “Best of all, there are times when he engages in his special manner of singing in unison with his agile guitar improvisations…You can’t ask for too much more—except, perhaps, for a little jazz.”
–The B-52’s, Bouncing Off the Satellites (MP) “I feel a little silly playing this record when anyone else is around, but I sneak a listen whenever the opportunity presents itself…”
–Suzanne Ciani, The Velocity of Love (MP) “Ciani is clearly trying to create a soundtrack for a love affair…What she ends up with, though is the kind of gauzy, breathless stuff a ‘ladies’ man’ puts on to go with a candlelit dinner…”
–Duke Ellington, New Mood Indigo (CA) “Because Ellington recordings are available in such abundance, this release, which has the earmark of a grab bag, loses some of the interest it might otherwise merit.”
–John Fogerty, Eye of the Zombie (SS) “…a snoozer, the sound of a genuine rock original approaching self-parody.”
–Phyllis Hyman, Living All Alone (PG) “…plays up the finest qualities of Hyman’s lusty, full-throated voice and sensual delivery with songs that reflect a full range of moods in tasteful, rhythmically varied arrangements.”
–James, Stutter (AN) “All in all, this is a most challenging and creative romp through a lyrical and melodic house of horrors where you never know what kind of twisted image waits around the corner.”
–Huey Lewis and the News, Fore! (MP) “With the Tower of Power horns at the hot end and the News’s patented a cappella vocals at the cool end, there’s plenty of material here for all those prom bands out there.”
–*Lyle Lovett, S/T (AN) “Sophisticated and sinewy whether he’s writing about twisted love or the high and low life of society, he has a lot of the New Breed of Nashville scared silly.”
–Out of the Blue, Inside Track (CA) “It does not take a keen ear to predict that (this group) has a bright future on the jazz scene, and though it echoes the last great period in jazz history, it sounds far fresher than so-called New Age music.”
—Television’s Greatest Hits, Volume II (SS) “…an album that, among other splendid accomplishments, validates Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious…While the music ranges from the genuinely excellent to the surrealistically awful, there’s never a dull moment.”
–Toto, Fahrenheit (MP) “Toto has always been able to take mediocre material and make it sound great…Fahrenheit begins to show songwriting ability that approaches the level of (their) tremendous musicianship.”
–Tina Turner, Break Every Rule (AN) “…impressive and sometimes stunning. But it is also a portrait of a superstar playing it safe.”
The Music of My Life 