Steppin' Up Inside The Big Boss Groove

Standing in line the other evening at a local Starbucks I happened to hear "Long Hot Summer" by The Style Council while waiting for my venti Zen tea.
While I wasn't surprised to hear "Long Hot Summer" given the time of year what did force me to do a double take was when I looked up The Style Council on trusty Wikipedia,"Long Hot Summer" was released 30 years ago in the summer of 1983.......has it really been that long ago?

I had been a big Jam fan back in the day,"All Mod Cons" remains one of my ALL time favourite albums EVER but sadly to my eternal shame I never saw The Jam live,by the time I became a regular concert goer in 81 there were more bands than I had pounds to go and see and somehow messers Weller,Foxton and Buckler slipped through the cracks calling it a day in 82.
It's fair to say the new musical direction Paul Weller took along side Mick Talbot w/ The Style Council was a radical departure from what he had done w/ The Jam and several hardcorp Jam fans were less then willing to join Paul Weller's new musical scooter so to speak{sly Mod reference!!} but seriously any Jam fan who heard them cover the Curtis Mayfield standard"Move On Up" couldn't have been shocked by the soulfulness the once"angry young man of pop" had in spades.
I personally liked what The Style Council brought to the table their debut "Speak Like A Child" dripped w/ soul and "A Solid Bond In Your Heart" also makes my Top Five Style Council songs of all time.
1984's double A single "You're The Best Thing"/Big Boss Groove" showed how multi layered Weller's Style Council could be,the soulful ballad of "You're The Best Thing"  coupled w/ the bombastic hard hitting "Big Boss Groove" was seldom off my turntable but was nudged to the side in December of that year when "Soul Deep" was released under the moniker of Council Collective.

Never one to shy away from his political opinions Weller launched a musical attack on then prime minister Margaret Thatcher's handling of the miners strike and donated the proceeds of "Soul Deep" to the families of the striking miners,some what surprisingly the single wasn't "banned" by the BBC for being "too political" and was even performed on "Top Of The Pops",to this day "Soul Deep" remains a Style Council favourite and is why I spent the extra dollars to get the deluxe copy of the "Our Favourite Shop" cd just to be able to hear "Soul Deep" over and over again.
The 1985 release of "Our Favourite Shop" would mark the beginning of the end  for The Style Council while 1987's "The Cost Of Loving" album yielded a pair of hit singles "It Didn't Matter" and "Wanted" the wheels were slowly coming off and in 1989 The Style Council were no more.

This however would lead to the third chapter of Paul Weller's career which continues to florish and head into it's fourth decade,"The Modfather" continues to record,tour and be a major influence on English music,long may that carry on.

Still Got The Beat

By the time I reached these shores in the fall of 87 the once all powerfull original Riot Grrrls The Go Go's had called it a day,Belinda was beginning her successful solo career but they left us w/ three great albums to remember them by.
Let's be honest there'd be no Spice Girls or dare I say it Pussy Riot if it hadn't have been for Belinda,Jane,Gina,Charlotte and Kathy and the blue print for every all female group since 1982 was "Beauty And The Beat"

When I heard the Go Go's were coming to The Keswick I quickly set aside my dislike of the venue to see them,don't get me wrong I think The Keswick is a great venue for certain types of bands but my concern w/ seated venues for  bands is if you want to get up and dance to is you give the audiance the option of sitting and if you happen to be in front of someone who prefers to sit then the whole "can you sit down please" debate kicks off,personally if I wanted to sit and listen to the Go Go's I could stay home and listen to the cds{that said while listening to their "Greatest Hits" cd on Wedneday lunch time I found it very difficult to sit still!!},seriously what's the point of having the beat if you can't dance to it????

Prior to the tour I was disappointed to hear Kathy Valentine was no longer w/ the band,I always liked Kathy and I have a fondness for redheads and a weakness for female bass players{Patricia Morrisson.....need I say more....thought not!} so imagine my delight to see Abby Travis filling in as bass player on this tour....I won't say I was heaven but I swear St Peter and the angel Gabriel were in the row next to me!!!!!!
W/ a thundering drum intro The Go Go's kicked off their set w/"Get Up And Go" and while that only got a handful of the audiance on their feet "Vacation" had alot more folks up and dancing....including the women behind me{Sex Dwarf anytime ladies??}so I didn't have to worry about them asking me to sit down.....!
"Tonite" and "How Much More" followed b4 "Mad About You" a Belinda cover,the first of a few.....

"Automatic" and "Fading Fast" continued the "Beauty And The Beat" celebration.nine of the eleven songs on the album made it onto tonites set list.
I recognised the intro to "Paint It Black" the Stones classic right away and was pleasently taken aback at how good of a cover version the Go Go's performed which then lead to an in band discussion about the merits of Mick and company and their ability to cover the song
''Cool Places"  the Sparks written song w/ Jane Wiedlen  followed.....eventually after the band stopped mid way through,Abby had begun the song in the wrong key...hey she's the new girl cut her some slack!,it did however give creedence to what Charlotte had said on the introduction to "Fading Fast" "what you see is what you get w/ the Go Go's,live music,no tapes etc" which Gina then backed up w/ her comment  about them being 100% live and being happy to play for the auidance.
Another cover,"Cool Jerk" followed w/ the band inviting some members of the crowd up on stage to dance w/ them,looking at the tiny girl dressed in a Go Go's t shirt as she danced on the stage probably oblivious to the magnatude  of how cool it was to be on stage w/ the Go Go's I couldn't help but think that as an "elder statesman" of the 80's it's my responsibility to help keep this great music alive for the generations that follow,I was lucky to not only love the 80's but live it also,and making sure that the generations to come who didn't live it w/ me can still enjoy the music.

"This Town" began to crank up the hits as the set drew to a close,"Unforgiven" was the lone "God Bless The Go Go's" number of the nite.
"Skidmarks On My Heart" served as a chance for some of the still seated to get up and dance,by the time the set closed w/ two Go Go's classics "Our Lips Are Sealed" and "We Got The Beat'' which segued nicly w/ the Kiss classic "Rock N Roll All Nite" it seemed like the whole crowd was finally up and dancing.
"Lust To Love" and "Head Over Heals" served as the encore and sadly the end of the show,I'd have loved to have heard "Girl Of 100 Lists" but in concerts as in life we don't always get what we want,if that were true I'd have Abby Travis's phone number.......

Read It In Books

I just finished reading Jonathan Bernstein's "Pretty In Pink-The Golden Age Of Teenage Movies" book and like any book worth the paper it's printed on regarding 80's movies there was a chapter devoted to 80's movies soundtracks....a subject near and dear to my {pagan black} heart.
While not as good a read as Susannah Gora's "You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried" it was still none the less an enjoyable read and while I may not agree 100% w/ all the songs that made the chapter on 80's movies soundtrack songs I guess untill such a time as "The 80's According To Kev" gets published and I get  to devote a whole chapter to 80's movies soundtracks....ney why not a whole book{if you're gonna dream why not dream big??!!} I'll always have to make do w/ other peoples lists.

That said Jonathan Bernstein's list isn't too shabby,more pros than cons in my opinion{for what that's worth} and while I'll never be the final voice on all things 80's I will say of the 30 songs on this list well over half of them would make my list,what about you?

We Got The Beat-The Go Go's-Fast Times At Ridgemont High
Johnny Are You Queer-Josie Cotton-Valley Girl
Weird Science-Oingo Boingo-Weird Science
Rebel Yell-Billy Idol-Sixteen Candles
Invincible-Pat Benatar-The Legend Of Bille Jean
Pretty In Pink-Psychedelic Furs-Pretty In Pink
Hazy Shade Of Winter-The Bangles-Less Than Zero
People Are Strange-Echo & The Bunnymen-The Lost Boys
{Don't You}Forget About Me-Simple Minds-The Breakfast Club
If You Leave-OMD-Pretty In Pink
Crazy For You-Madonna-Vision Quest
On The Radio-Donna Summer-Foxes
Stay Gold-Stevie Wonder-The Outsiders
In Your Eyes-Peter Gabriel-Say Anything
Endless Love-Diana Ross & Lionel Richie-Endless Love
Just Once-Quincy Jones featuring James Ingram-Last American Virgin
Flashdance-Irene Cara-Flashdance
St Elmo's Fire{Man In Motion}-John Parr-St Elmo's Fire
Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now-Starship-Manequin
Let's Hear It For The Boy-Deniece Williams-Footless
Old Time Rock n Roll-Bob Seger-Risky Business
Oh Yeah-Yello-Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Soul Man-Sam Moore & Lou Reed-Soul Man
Johnny B Goode-Judas Priest-Johnny B Goode
Who Made Who-AC/DC-Maximum Overdrive
Infatuation-Rod Stewart-The Sure Thing
All The Right Moves-Quarterflash-All The Right Moves
Together In Electric Dreams- Phil Oakey & Giorgio Moroder-Electric Dreams
Stand By Me-Ben E King-Stand By Me
Somebody's Baby-Jackson Browne-Fast Times At Ridgemont High

Old Punks Never Die....They Keep Making Albums And Touring

I can still remember buying the debut album by The Stranglers "Rattus Norvegicus" in the summer of 1977.
I had just compleated my second year of high school and was off on my summer vaction w/ my family in Cornwall.....oh the irony!,anywho back then as a 13 year old my weekly allowence/pocket money didn't stretch that far so buying albums was reserved for b'days and xmas but w/ vacation money at the start of the trip I plundered a record store in St Austell and bought the cassette of "Ratus Norvegicus",I'd have prefered vinyl but that would mean having to wait till I got home to hear it and armed w/ a tape recorder I figured the tape would get played during the week we spent sampling the delights of South West England....and beyond!
I listened to "Rattus Norvegicus" so much back then not only did I know the lyrics off by heart but if I had played either lead or bass guitar,drums or keyboards I would have had all those parts down pat too.
I also remember later than year thumbing through album racks in WH Smiths one Saturday afternoon and finding their follow up album "No More Heroes",rushing home I dropped a not so subtle hint to my father that there was an album I wanted.....this was met was stone silence....parent speak for"we don't want any more of that racket you call music in this house thank you very much"!!!
I never bought another Stranglers album till the advent of cds but did buy 7'' vinyl singles, "5 Minutes" and "Duchess"were two that frequently made their way onto my fathers old record player and eventually my stereo,I can recall taking "5 Minutes" into our music class in 1978 and pogoing around Mr Berridge's music classroom w/ Glee Rolle one afternoon when we were allowed to bring in our own music,these are just a few of my cherrished Stranglers memories.

For a band who once released the single "Big In America" stateside success for The Stranglers was limited so it was somewhat of a jaw dropper to discover 17 years since their last tour The Stranglers were coming to the States this summer,this was a show I didn't have to think twice about.
Granted Hugh Cornwall is no longer in the band and at 74 Jet Black and suffering from atrial fibrillation often skips tours to be replaced by his drum tech Ian Barnard but still Baz Warne has filled Hugh Cornwall's considerable big shoes and the reviews of recent albums and live shows have indicated The Stranglers are still a force to be reckoned w/ live,on the evidence of last nites Union Transfer show this is true.
The intro to "Waltzinblack" preceeded the band as they hit the stage b4 launching into a rocking version of "Toiler On The Sea".....I knew it was going to be"one of those nights!!!"
''Goodbye Toulouse" followed b4 the classic {Get A } Grip {On Yourself} from the moment Dave Greenfield's keyboard into begun I was pogoing up and down like it was 1977 all over again,sadly at almost 50 and not 13 I don't reach the heights I once did!!!
One of the more recent songs "Norfolk Coast" was next followed by "Nuclear Device" b4 a pair of songs off of "Giants" the most recent and seventeenth studio Stranglers album "Freedom Is Insane" and ''Mercury Rising" as Baz Warne said in a recent interview this wasn't a tour to promote "Giants" but it was understandable they would perform some tracks off of it,and why not it's a good album...don't take my word for it check it for yourself.

A Stranglers classic followed "Peaches" I can remember them taking all kinds of flack for that song on "Rattus" and truth be told they perform it w/ as much tongue in cheek now as they did back in 77.
"Relentless" off of "Suite XVI" followed b4 "Golden Brown" a classic Stranglers track,when I first heard "Rattus Norvegicus" in 1977 I could not have imagined such a tender mellow track as "Golden Brown" 5 years later,leopard,spots.........
"Skin Deep" and "Always The Sun" finished off the softer side of The Stranglers b4 another ah hell yeah number.
"Walk On By" aside from being a classic cover tune is also one of the great brake up songs ever and from Jean Jacques Burnel's bass intro to Dave Greenfield's keyboard solo this has RIGHTIOUS stamped all over it!
"Burning Up Time" "Nice N Sleazy" "Bring On The Nubiles" and "Who Wants The World" allowed us another journey back into classic Stranglers b4 a final "Giants" track "Time Was Once On My Side",ironic given Jet Black is 74,Dave Greenfield is 64  and Jean Jacques Burnel is 61....the once sneering punks have mellowed and judging from the smiles displayed by all four members of the band throughout the evening life is good for the Men In Black and they enjoy what they are doing.
"Duchess" and "No More Heroes" brought their set to an end,but they weren't finished yet......not by a long shot!
BOOYAH! "5 Minutes" began the first encore,cue yours truly going ape ship,granted it wasn't like 78 when Glen Rolle and I pogoed around the music room slamming each other into the desks but after a shitfest of a work day this was the release I craved.
"Straighten Out" followed b4 a second encore of "Hanging Around" and "Tank" Jesus talk about going back in time to 77/78.

I hope I'm wrong but I suspect this may be the last time we see The Stranglers on our shores if that is the case they left me and the crowd at Union Transfer wanting more,I hope my neighbours like The Stranglers cos I have a feeling the cds of "Rattus Norvegicus" "No More Heroes" and "Black And White" will be in heavy rotation this weekend on my cd player.......

Now And Then Jerico

I was delighted to read recently that the original line up of Then Jerico are back together and touring again.
In 1987 their debut cd "First{The Sound Of Music} came out of left field and hit me between the eyeballs like a  two by four.
In 85 their debut singles failed to make a dent in the charts but were huge club hits "The Big Sweep" and "Fault"
Prior to the release of "First" the single "Muscle Deep" was released as a single w/out any success but  somehow "Let Her Fall" became a minor hit in 87 reaching #65{personally I feel it should've gotten higher as it's one several stand out tracks off the album}
Another track I highly rate, the Roxy Music cover of "Prairie Rose" failed to chart and Mark Shaw and co must've wondered if Then Jerico would ever have a hit.........enter "The Motive{Living W/out You"}

Why "The Motive{Living W/out You}'' broke Then Jerico and "Let Her Fall" and "Prairie Rose" both failed is beyond me,granted "The Motive{Living W/out You}'' is a masterpiece but personally I feel any of the first seven tracks off of "First{The Sound Of Music} could've been hits:"Let Her Fall" "Blessed Days" "Laughter Party" "Stable Boy" "The Motive{Living W/out You}" "Muscle Deep" and "Prairie Rose" but don't take my word for it seek out a copy of "First{The Sound Of Music} or check it out on Last FM{MAJOR BOO HISS to Spotify for not having either "First{The Sound Of Music} or "Big Area" but only  their Best Of cd!!!
In 1987 "The Motive{Living W/out You}" was the most played record on BBC Radio One

Two years after "First{The Sound Of Music} in 1989 we were treated to the follow up "The Big Area" which much "First{The Sound Of Music} had some great moments but limited chart success ''Big Area" reached #13, "What Does It Take" reached #33 and should've done better period but given it featured Belinda Carlisle b4 "Sugar Box" reached #22 and w/ that came an abrupt end to Then Jerico.
Mark Shaw released two solo albums in 1990 and 91 "Love So Bright" and "Under Your Spell" but he to faded into 80's obscurity....... another Then Jerico interesting fact "The Big Area" sold 100,000 copies w/in 40 minutes when it was released.

As a champion of Mark Shaw and Then Jerico I'm inclined to pick up their"Acoustic Live London 2012" cd/dvd later this year when I'm in London but for now and for the gazillionth time it's time to play "First{The Sound Of Music}"....you should check it out or revisit it