The dB's - "Stands for Decibels" Vinyl, Album, UK, 1981 (Albion)

There is something criminally wrong when a band like The dB's are not considered to be one of the great groups that came out of the U.S.  in the early 80s.  Their good friend's REM became mega-successful, yet The dB's are thought of as an afterthought than a group of musicians and songwriters who were crucial in their time and place.  Those who know the band's music loves them.  The question is why are they not huge in their time, and more importantly why are there records out-of-print?

"Stands for Decibels" always struck me as a greatest-hits album, because that is what this record sounds like. Every other song either sounds like a magnificent A-side to a single, or a very interesting B-side.  Chris Stamey and Peter Holsapple are the songwriters in the group and Gene Holder and Will Rigby are the rhythm section.  A too-easy comparison is with The Beatles era "For Sale/Beatles '65", but like the Fab Four album, these are songs with twisted emotions and intense deliveries. Stamey and Holsapple have their distinctive way of writing songs, which makes them stand out, so one can tell which is a Chris or Peter song.  Still, this variety pack is equally fantastic in the mix that is "Stands for Decibels."   Broadly speaking (or listening) Stamey's songs are dreamy and biting in that John Lennon sense, while Peter's work is straight forward with great choruses.  Very much an underrated band, and this album is a masterpiece. 

Gérard Manset - "Le Train du Soir" Vinyl, LP, Album, France, 1981 (EMI)

I know almost nothing about Gérard Manset, except that he's French, songwriter, artist/photographer and made some remarkable music.   I discovered him during the heights of music being on the Internet, and one could download songs/albums on various collector's websites.  I made a note to myself that I should find myself a hard copy of Manset's "Le Train du Soir" as soon as possible. It took me five years, but I found a used vinyl copy in Paris, and I think it's a remarkable album. 

People find it hard to believe, but I don't know the French language except for specific words and a general over-all menu in a cafe.  Still, I have a life-long fascination with anything French, especially literature and cinema.  French pop music was a recent discovery, perhaps 20 years ago when I came upon Serge Gainsbourg. That opened up a whole avenue of artists for me to explore and purchase for the next decade or so.  Still, even in those terms, Gérard Manset is an unknown figure outside of the French-speaking world. 

I get the impression that he's very independent minded, and is skilled as an arranger and musician.  I know he has worked with massive orchestrations on previous and future albums from "Le Train du Soir."  What makes this record so good are the songs, and although they were recorded in 1981, it sounds very 70s to me.  It also reminds me of studio minded artists like Emit Rhoades or Nillson in that there's a great deal of songcraft that goes in his work.  This is without a doubt a rock album, but it is such an album that has music history attached to its presence. 

Not knowing the language thoroughly, I'm sure there is the context within the music that is beyond my knowledge, still, on a listening experience, it's an excellent way of spending 40 minutes or so. There are six songs, including the 12-minute length of "Marchand de Rêves (Dream Merchant)," which is a series of melodies that fit in the song itself.  My favorite cut on the album is "Les Loups (Wolves)" which is a perfect build-up of melody and passion.   I'm frustrated that there seems to be no information in English about this unique artist, but alas, give me time. 

Nick Mason - "Nick Mason's Fictitious Sports" Vinyl, LP, Album, 1981 (Columbia)

Actuality, there are only two cool people in Pink Floyd.  Syd Barrett of course, and the other guy, who was their drummer, Nick Mason.  He's cool because he produced classic Robert Wyatt albums as well as The Damned's second album.   He's the kink in the well-oiled Pink Floyd machine.   Nothing against Roger Waters and Dave Gilmour.  Both good guys, but Mason I felt, investigated areas outside of the Pink Floyd world.  When you hear a Waters or Gilmour solo album, you pretty know what you're getting. On the other hand, what in the hell is a Nick Mason solo album? 

"Nick Mason's Fictitious Sports" is not really a solo album by Mason.  He co-produced, co-engineered, played the drums and I have to imagine he picked up the recording cost bill, but in its essence, it's an album by Jazz composer and pianist Carla Bley.  I'm not that familiar with Bley's music, except that her band is very much a big or enlarged jazz band. The one album I do know of is her work with Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra album which is excellent.  Haden's work has a strong left political context, but here, Bley's lyrics tend to be more on the side of absurdity, which serves the over-all humor of Nick Mason's album.  

The key reason why I bought this album is all due to Robert Wyatt.  He is the lead singer on this disc, and anything that has his magnificent voice is worth having.  Saying that, this is not really a Wyatt album, even though he has done many covers in his solo career, this still belongs to Bley.   If pushed to the corner and my back against the wall I would describe the music as big band jazz arrangements but with pop music overtures.   This is work that is very tightly arranged, and Wyatt, Mason and other great musicians that are in Bley's world, fits in like a great puzzle.   Basically, Mason lent his name and reputation to this project for Carla Bley.  Which again, makes him the coolest member of Pink Floyd. 

One also must give credit to Michael Mantler, who has done music with Bley for years, and her husband, the bassist Steve Swallow.  Dynamic horn section consisting of Gary Windo, Gary Valente, Howard Johnson and others.  Sharp guitar work by the fantastic Chris Spedding.   It's literally impossible for this group of musicians to make bad music together.  

Liquid Liquid - "Successive Reflexes" 12" 45 rpm, Vinyl, EP, Reissue, 2015/1981 (Superior Viaduct)

Liquid Liquid is a remarkable band from New York City, and they made noise in 1981.  "Successive Reflexes" is an EP of five tracks.  They're really not songs, but more of a groove with tons of percussion instruments. There's a tiny essence of a piano, but mostly it's bass and drums.  In a sense, they remind me of ESG, another band from the New York area of that same time/era.  Clearly, LCD Soundsystem is very much influenced by Liquid Liquid, which is a hybrid of post-punk, dance music and disco - yet, more geared in the dub era of Public Image Ltd.   They also remind me a bit of the Factory Records band A Certain Ratio.   

They made live recordings, but I prefer this EP of studio work, due to the experimentation of the sounds they are making.  There is something clinical but raw sounding about their approach, but it is clearly music to make you hop, twist, and shake your body parts.   

Heaven 17 - "Penthouse and Pavement" Vinyl, LP, Album, 1981 (Virgin)

A bit of social-analysis seen through the noise and head of Sheffield's Heaven 17.  One of the great (and smart) synth-funk- pop albums ever.  One of the beauties of the album is that it's under-cooked with respect to production.  In its own fashion, the 'sound' is minimal, and not fussy.  Very straightforward and in one's face.  Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware were members of The Human League who made two great albums (with them in it) that pioneered the electro-experimental-pop sound. Very urban in a JG Ballard landscape that one imagines Sheffield as in the late 1970s and early 1980s.  They left Phil Oakley (lead singer/co-writer) of the League to form B.E.F. with the singer Glen Gregory,  and in theory, Heaven 17 is an off-shoot of this company/production house/art collective.  In many ways, a pop version of Public Image Ltd.  "Penthouse and Pavement" is an album about Capitalism and everything wrong with it, yet, done with beautiful melodies and a steady dance beat. 

This edition is very vinyl aesthetic.  Side one is the Pavement side (probably Situationist minded), and two is Penthouse side.  As the album format goes, this is very much thought out work of pop music making.  The first song on the Pavement side is "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang," a song that by all means should be the rallying cry in every demonstration against the corporate and political world.  Written in the Reagan/Maggie era, this song still holds up in today's environment. It's impossible not to shake your hips or move your hands up and down when this record is being played. The "Pavement" side is very groove orientated, compared to the pop leanings of the Penthouse, which has five incredible songs in a row.  Starting off with "Geisha Boys and Temple Girls" (a play of gender in that song) that lead to "Let's All Make a Bomb" which is probably the catchiest song about bomb-making ever in the pop music world.  "The Height of the Fighting" is a glam electro song, that also serves as an anthem, made perfectly for the local Football match or a political rally.  The entire side two is extremely focused on this type of music, where one feels 'action' is taking place instead of talking.  The album ends with "We're Going To Live For A Very Long Time" which never ends if you have a turntable that doesn't turn itself off.  The song continues in the runout until one picks up the record needle.    Fantastic end to a perfect album of its time and place (the early 1980s).

The one persistent style or influence that goes through Heaven 17 and early Human League is glam rock.   The Human League covered Mick Ronson's "After Dark" and Gary Glitter's "Rock n' Roll Part 2" and "Penthouse and Pavement" is very much soul meets glam.  Heaven 17 continued to make  good records, including their work with B.E.F. (British Electronic Foundation), but never came close to the brilliance and great songwriting of "Penthouse and Pavement." Also note that the album is engineered and co-produced by Peter Walsh, who worked on the later Scott Walker masterpieces.   And advice to the buyer, do get the British edition of this album on vinyl, just for the fantastic endless groove of "We're Going To Live For A Long Time." 

Pete Shelley - "Homosapien" Vinyl, LP, Album, 1981 (Arista)

One cannot ever underestimate the greatness of The Buzzcocks.  For one, Pete Shelley is one of the great songwriters of the Punk/New Wave era.  What gives Shelley that extra edge is his interest in not only rock n' roll, but also contemporary classical music and electronics.  When The Buzzcocks went to sleep for whatever reason, Shelley reinvented himself as a solo act that's focused on his songwriting, but also electronic pop.  It was nice that Shelley could express himself with the two guitars, bass, drums of The Buzzcocks, but also into the world of computer technology (at the time of 1981) and the so-called "modern pop.  

"Homosapien" is a great album, but the title song is a classic.  A piece of music that flirts with the idea of homosexuality in a song format, and under Shelley's brilliant skill as a lyricist.  I have the album version, but I also have the numerous remixes of this song, and it never fails in its dynamic getting out of the closet approach.  

The technique of Shelley both in The Buzzcocks and his solo material is that he often builds tension by just repeating the phrase or chorus till the breaking point.  There is also a circular motif in his work where it starts off but meets again in the end.  The listener feels like that they are surrounded by the song, and basically, you are trapped or motivated to go to the circle.   Besides Philip Glass, I can't think of another composer or songwriter who has this approach to their songwriting.  Songs like "Qu'est-Ce Que C'est Que Ca," "Guess I Must Have Been In Love With Myself," and " Don't Know What It Is" makes one feel that they are being pulled by a giant magnet to the song, and the lyrics are often mantras served as a lyric.  The songs are of heartbreak and love, but there is also a strong eastern philosophy or religious aspect as well. 

Pete Shelley is a very unique writer, and it bugs me that at least in the media, he is sort of this classic punk rock guy, but the fact is, he's much more than that.   He has a genius sense of having the perfect melody touch, as well as an emotional punch.   The Buzzcocks/Shelley rocks yes, but they also give the listener a feeling of bliss that for me, borders on meditation.  The Punk Era, both in the United States and in England, has produced a lot of great songwriters, but Shelley I feel should be on the top of the pile.  "Homosapien" is the essential listening experience. 

Japan - "Tin Drum" CD Album, Reissue, 1994 original release 1981 (Virgin)

This was my first introduction to the band Japan, and the voice of David Sylvian.  My first hearing experience was "a Roxy Music rip-off."  And on top of that, what a horrible name for a band.  It's common knowledge that any band that names itself after a city, a state, a country or continent, sucks.  But I do have to admit, it's a great album cover.   The second listening experience brought me pleasures that are still with me.   Japan was a very original band.  

Sylvian's voice is very mannered in the Bryan Ferry mode, but he uses it in a different method with respect to his music.  As for the band, the strongest presence on "Tin Drum is Mick Karn's fretless bass playing.  A remarkable musician.  To me, he's the Brian Jones of the band.  The rest of the instrumentation the drums or percussion is sparse (by Sylvian's brother Steve Jansen) but in a very jazzy complexed manner.  The keyboards (Richard Barbieri) add electronic effects that are mood more than melody.  Sylvian carries the melody in his vocals.  The band and recording (by the great Steve Nye) are tight.  Almost if the air has been sucked out of the room.  

On the surface, it's Asian sounding, but why?  It's almost like a Wittgenstein response in that you know what's in front of you, but one can't define the experience.  There are song titles that bring the image for instance "Cantonese Boy," "Visions of China," and "Canton."  But it's a very romantic, yet at the same time, dry look at a culture or country.  This is not negative criticism.  I think Japan is exploring worlds that are known, but to them at the time, perhaps not that well known.  

The band is eye-candy as well.  You can't go wrong with a group of young guys in make-up.  But their style at this time was sort of like Asian minimal chic, with a touch of Brooks Brothers button collar shirts, but of course, with make-up.   Fans take them seriously, but I think if there was no Japan there would be no Radiohead.