Black Sabbath - Live Aid (1985-07-13)

 

Black Sabbath, Live Aid rehearsal 1985

Last weekend, I did the pay-per-view for "Back to the Beginning", the farewell concert for Ozzy and Black Sabbath.  Artists often manage to have several "farewell" tours, with some of them lasting years, but with Ozzy's Parkinson's diagnosis, this really did feel like the last time we'll see the original four play together.  Given their activity and apparent good health, I suspect Tony and maybe Geezer will continue to be active, even if not as "Black Sabbath".

Ozzy is unable to stand and performed while seated in a "throne". Danette and I both noticed that there were several times where it was clear he wanted to get up and move around, but alas he could not.  Regardless, he sounded great, as good as ever in fact. It was also great that Bill participated, since contract disputes had prevented his involvement with their final studio LP and farewell tour.  

But this post isn't really about the "Back to the Beginning", it's really about the deja vu and nostalgia that I felt, watching a festival and waiting for Black Sabbath to play.  It was 40 years ago nearly to the day that Black Sabbath played in Philadelphia for Live Aid.  That was also a reunion of the original four members, albeit only six years out from the Ozzy leaving the first time in 1979.  

Still, I remember the anticipation of their brief reunion in 1985. I had the TV on, but was frequently in the back yard, doing something that I have long since forgotten.  I'd come in periodically and see who was playing, and then head back outside to the heat of July in Virginia -- not totally unlike last weekend. 

I was happy that my schedule allowed me to watch this concert last weekend -- and in 1985 as well.  It's hard to overstate the role of Black Sabbath in creating the genre of heavy metal, and I enjoy their music non-nostalgically and non-ironically even to this day.  

The video of their Live Aid performance is included below, but although this is the from the official Black Sabbath YouTube channel, the opening minute or so of "Children of the Grave" is cut off.  I'm also linking a Japanese feed, which is complete but has subtitles.  

Gogmagog -- "I Will Be There"

With all of the good backlogged music I have, why am I taking time to talk about this best forgotten metal history footnote from 1985?  It's actually fascinating, in that it illustrates why supergroups often fail, and why each group needs a strong, primary songwriter.  Imagine having a metal supergroup with this pedigree: 

• Paul Di'Anno (former Iron Maiden)
• Pete Willis (former Def Leppard)
• Janick Gers (former Gillan and future Iron Maiden)
• Neil Murray (former Whitesnake and future Black Sabbath)
• Clive Burr (former Iron Maiden)

And releasing something that's really, really bad? Not just "not good", but something that sounds more like show tunes than metal?  The musicians listed above formed Gogmagog, a supergroup that existed for about a minute in 1985.  To be fair, this project was really the brainchild of BBC impresario Jonathan King*, and not really a "band" in the conventional sense of the term, and we really should limit how much blame we place on the participating musicians.  King wrote two of the three songs Gogmagog recorded, and hired gun Russ Ballard wrote the third.  And therein lies the problem: while this lineup's pedigree appears impeccable, there's not a primary song writer in the bunch, no Ian Gillan, Steve Harris, nor David Coverdale to shoulder the load.  The ones with the most songwriting credits to their names, Paul Di'Anno and Pete Willis, were both kicked out of their original bands for substance abuse and as a result past the prime of their careers.  For all practical purposes, Di'Anno, Willis, and Burr never really did anything of note after this, Murray continued as a journeyman bassist, and Gers is the only one whose career improved after Gogmagog.  

I know there's a trend for the hip folks to try to rehabilitate objectively bad LPs (e.g., "Wild Honey", "Crazy Horses"), and "I'll Be There" sometimes is spoken of similarly.  But don't let the novelty and your love of these artists in their former bands distract you: this EP's obscurity is well-deserved.  

Standout tracks: none

Skip 'em tracks: all (yes, all of them).

Final score: 2/10 

* And as it turned out, BBC pedophile.  And no, not that BBC pedophile, King is yet another one.  

Psychic TV - "Godstar"

Genesis Breyer P-Orridge died about a month ago.  You probably never heard of Genesis, and I'm not going to be able to summarize their career in any meaningful way (I must confess, I understand -- truly understand -- only a small portion of it myself).  But among the many things that Genesis did was be the focal point for both Throbbing Gristle, arguably the first industrial band, and later Psychic TV, arguably the first acid house band.   For more about Genesis and their impact on modern music, read the articles by BBC, NPR, Pitchfork, The New Yorker (!), and Rolling Stone.  You might not have heard of bands like Throbbing Gristle, but they were influential on bands that you have heard of, like NiN.  His influence also extended into mysticism projects like Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth, which included members of other bands in Genesis's orbit, such as Coil (one of Herbert's favorite bands).

I first heard of Psychic TV via Terry when we lived on Chesapeake Ave in the mid 90s.  He got a VHS tape, probably "8 Transmissions 8", and we watched it on his giant projector.  Clearly it made quite an impression on me, especially the video for "Godstar", an homage to Brian Jones.  "Godstar" is probably some of Genesis's most accessible music; I'm almost embarrassed to use this song to memorialize Genesis, but it's simply a great song.

I thought about marking Genesis's death during Women's History Month, or postponing it until Pride Month (June).  But I'm honestly not sure if either are completely appropriate.  On the surface, you could say Genesis was trans, but the "Pandrogeny Project", where he and his wife Lady Jaye underwent body modifications to become the same person, some how seems different.

In summary, although I know only the tiniest portion of their canon (Throbbing Gristle has 87 LPs and Psychic TV has 90), I know enough to know that Genesis might be the most influential modern musical artist you've never heard of.

Psychic TV - "Godstar"

Yo La Tengo - Yellow Sarong (the song remains the same)

photo credit

Continuing with the previous theme of Yo La Tengo and Women's History Month, today I'll focus on one Yo La Tengo's great cover songs: "Yellow Sarong", originally by The Scene Is Now.  My first experience with the song was Yo La Tengo's 1990 LP of covers, "Facebook".  The original version was from The Scene Is Now's 1985 LP "Burn All Your Records".  I prefer the YLT version over TSIN version: that could be because I heard YLT's first, but I also just love YLT and how they remake all the covers in their own idiom.

When Johan and I were practicing for our DJ premiere (ca. 2003), I always tried to find a way to work this song into the set list.  It never worked with what we were shooting for (Thievery Corporation-style, downtempo, coffeehouse jazz), but I kept trying because the song is that much fun.

The live 2015 version on soundcloud (from acidjacknyc) features a good shot of Georgia Hubley, so I chose that as the main image for this post.  I don't know that much about The Scene Is Now, but they do have a female member as well (Sue Garner), so much like my work with Johan, I'm going to shoehorn "Yellow Sarong" into Women's History Month, whether it fits or not, because the song is that much fun...

The Scene Is Now - "Yellow Sarong"
Yo La Tengo - "Yellow Sarong" (studio version), live 2015-10-10, live 2016-09-09

Queen - "One Vision" (forgotten song)

We saw the Queen / Freddie Mercury biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody" about two weeks ago.  I enjoyed it, even though Danette is a much bigger fan of Queen than I am.  I don't dislike them, and I certainly recognize their proficiency and importance, but they were never important to me.  Regardless, the movie was enjoyable and it motivates today's choice for a "forgotten song".

Even though the movie ends with Live Aid (1985) and thus did not cover the 1986 LP "A Kind of Magic" from which the single "One Vision" was released (it was also on the Iron Eagle soundtrack, if anyone still remembers that movie...).  "One Vision" received radio and MTV airplay at the time, but it's certainly not one of their better songs and has mostly faded from our collective musical radar...

So why choose this song?  Because I want to introduce you to Laibach, a band which was (is?) important to me (albeit for other portions of their canon).  What can I say about Laibach?  They're exactly what you'd think an Eastern European, martial, art-by-committee, collective would sound like.  It was never really clear if they were fascist or communist, or perhaps simultaneously both in defiant self-negation, but it was clear they were authoritarian.  I've never been sure if they're serious, or if they are just the Slovenian version of Devo and the Church of the SubGenius and it's just a long running inside joke that I lack the cultural context to process (in the same way the Chinese Government struggled to understand The Onion).

Regardless, I'm using their "cover" of "One Vision" as an opportunity to introduce them here.  Laibach occasionally did loose covers of popular Western songs, although whether they did them out of respect or disdain is not entirely clear either.  Their "cover" is appropriately renamed "Geburt einer Nation" ("birth of a nation"), and is from the 1987 "Opus Dei" LP.

Are they for real?  Or a performance art, musical version of the Colbert character?  Either way, they convey more middle-class shock than Queen ever did...

Queen - "One Vision"
Laibach - "Geburt einer Nation"


P.S. Both Freddie Mercury and "Eber" (a pseudonym; lead vocals for Laibach) are both sporting the same 70s pornstache...

Aretha Franklin - "Freeway Of Love" (forgotten song)

Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, died today.  I'm not even an especially big fan of hers, but her impact is far too significant to ignore.  I'm not going to even to attempt to review her career -- spanning 60+ years, with over 100 charting singles, and 18 Grammys, her career speaks for itself.  I do count myself lucky to have seen her perform live once: Danette and I saw her at the Ferguson Center in Newport News in 2009. 

I will mark her passing with her 1985 single "Freeway of Love", from the LP "Who's Zoomin' Who?"  It's certainly not one of her classics, but it was her last #1 single and did result in her 12th Grammy.  It's a very 80s sounding song, and features Clarence Clemons (bonus Bruce reference -- he had a 1984 song called "Pink Cadillac").  And while you hear her classics all the time, I don't recall the last time I heard this song.

Aretha Franklin - "Freeway of Love": single edit, 12" "Rock Mix" (this version also features Dez Dickerson of The Revolution)

Allan Holdsworth - "Metal Fatigue" (LP Review)

Although it was nearly a year ago, I only just recently learned that Allan Holdsworth died.  You probably haven't heard of him, but he was a guitar players' guitar player, venerated by  Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Yngwie Malmsteen, et al.

The only reason I know of him was because his LP "Metal Fatigue" was reviewed in metal fanzine Kick*Ass Monthly* shortly after it came out in 1985.  I recall Bob Muldowney saying in his review something to the effect of "I don't really understand this LP or why I was asked to review it."  For whatever reason, Holdsworth had switched to Enigma Records, which primarily had metal bands, and this LP was sent for review to KAM.  I was in search of the next "Rising Force", so despite the cautionary review I ordered this LP from Slipped Disc.  For the first 25 seconds I thought I had found the next "Rising Force", but then at 0:26 it became clear that this was jazz fusion, or perhaps what fusionists think a metal LP should sound like. 

But I didn't dislike it, and it stayed in low rotation; it even grew on me enough that in college (I think?) I picked up his 1982 LP "I.O.U.".  Then I got his 1986 LP "Atavachron", where he fully embraced the "SynthAxe", and my revulsion was so strong that my Holdsworth period was mostly done (think Eddie Van Halen switching to keyboards on "1984", but much, much worse). 

My musical horizons were expanding by the time I hit college and I became more knowledgeable and appreciative of jazz.  But this LP still occupies a weird place in between metal and jazz.  I won't go so far as to say it's a necessary LP, but it's certainly a good LP that nicely showcases Allan's challenging style, even if it sounds like it was written for fellow guitarists instead of regular listeners.  I should revisit his extensive discography and forgive him for his SynthAxe dalliance. 

Standout songs: "Metal Fatigue", "Home"  (full LP)
Skip 'em songs: "In the Mystery"
Final score: 6/10


* See my "Haunting The Chapel" review for a note about Bob Muldowney and Kick*Ass Monthly.  

Metal Church - "Metal Church" (LP Review)

LP review, special Halloween edition...

On a recent business trip to Los Angeles, while working on slides in the hotel I found myself humming the opening lyrics to Metal Church's "Beyond the Black":

Negotiations are over
Troops are marching to their doom
All that I see is a nightmare
The smoke is blotting out the moon

Why?  I couldn't tell you -- I can't recall the last time I thought about this song, LP, or band.  I have a high school era tape copy somewhere (probably dubbed from Scott), but I never had this on vinyl or CD.  In the hotel room, I found a copy of the LP on Youtube and played it while I worked.

It was almost as good as I remembered it, complete with every heavy metal cliche but an umlaut.  But truth be told, I was only a moderate Metal Church fan even in high school.  And their self-titled LP (released in 1984, and then again in 1985 on a major label) is a notable point in the evolution of the Bay Area thrash metal sound, but "Metal Church" doesn't have the staying power of "Kill 'Em All" or even "Show No Mercy" (both 1983). My recent replay of this LP pretty much matched how I remembered it from 30+ years ago: the first three songs are great, the middle three are good, and the last three are just OK.  The closing cover of "Highway Star" is especially awkward and out of place.

Standout songs: "Beyond the Black", "Metal Church", "Merciless Onslaught"

Skip 'em songs: "Highway Star"

Final score: 6/10.  Good, but mostly from nostalgia.

Bonus link: full LP.

The Rave Ups - "Positively Lost Me" (forgotten song)

I've previously mentioned the juggernaut that was the 1986 Pretty in Pink Soundtrack, but did you know that one of the arguably better songs from the movie did not even make the cut for the soundtrack?  "Positively Lost Me" was from the 1985 LP "Town + Country" by The Rave Ups.  The band was featured in the movie, in the bar scene where the four main characters meet up, and "Positively Lost Me" was one of the two songs they played in the background.

A perfect 80s pop break-up song, I love how the song builds a line at a time:

You lost a lot when you lost me

You lost a lot when you lost me
Six paperback books and a dying tree

You lost a lot when you lost me
Six paperback books and a dying tree
A looking glass and a diamond ring, yeah

You lost a lot when you lost me
Six paperback books and a dying tree
A looking glass and a diamond ring
You lost me and you lost some dreams

How did this song get left off the soundtrack?  How did this song not become a huge hit?

"Positively Lost Me": studio version with movie footage, 2011 live version (they still have it, all that is missing are Duckie & Iona in the foreground -- you didn't identify with Andie or Blane, did you?).

Honorable mention: the brief snippet of "Rave Up, Shut Up" that also appeared in the movie.

Kate Bush - "Running Up That Hill" (the song remains the same)

Part two of my "please do more Kate Bush covers" series...

"Running Up That Hill" is probably my favorite Kate Bush song, at least as performed by Kate herself. This is probably in part due to the song coming out in 1985 (on the "Hounds of Love" LP) and trading in the production excesses of the late 70s for, well... the production excesses of the mid-80s, but at least those are more palatable to my GenX sensibilities.

People seem to have different ideas about what the song is actually about; Kate herself is quoted as saying it is simply about swapping roles (Male <-> Female) in order to understand the other. I tend to think there is more to it than that: despite the upbeat feel, the song seems to be a jumbled mess of sexuality ("do you want to know how it feels?"), codependency ("tell me, we both matter, don't we?") and possession ("let me steal this moment from you now"). Basically, Heathcliff and Catherine again.

I'm pretty sure Placebo agrees with my darker, more sinister interpretation. Available on some versions of 2003's "Sleeping With Ghosts" as well as 2006's "Meds", their cover of "Running Up That Hill" is sparse, menacing, desolate and desperate. Given that Placebo has made a career out of mining the androgynous / ambiguous sexuality thing (cf. 1996's "Nancy Boy" -- thanks to Johan for originally pointing me to this version), they were obviously destined to cover this song.

Placebo's video is edited together from the submissions of various fans lip synching; it adds an additional disturbing fanboy element to an already claustrophobic song. Kate's version features more interpretive dancing ("hooray!"), but at least it makes the meaning of the song that much more obvious as the couple are alternatively intertwined and then tackling each other when they separate.

In my review of "Wuthering Heights", I admitted that I like the Pat Benatar version better than the original Kate Bush version. That's not the case here: I like Placebo's version as a sinister, 20 year update to the original, but Kate's version remains my favorite.

Kate Bush: YouTube.

Kate Bush & David Gilmour (from The Secret Policeman's Third Ball): YouTube. (Obligatory "David helped `discover' Kate" reference).

Placebo: Official version. Fan video version. Live version.

2017-01-31 edit: This cover by Wye Oak is too good to ignore (2021-01-22 edit: alternative link for this version).

2019-07-18 edit: Drew let me know about this great version recently released by Meg Myers.  

2020-02-24 edit: I just discovered two remixes.  The first is the 1985 12" remix, which differs from the LP version by featuring a guitar more prominently and clocking in at about 1 minute longer (12" version). 

I also discovered this nearly 11 minute "Ultratraxx rare mix", which is especially engaging via a more substantial production sound.  I couldn't find a good link for the provenance of this remix, and the coverage of "Ultratraxx" in discogs.com is spotty.  I did find this Youtube playlist, so I'm guessing Ultratraxx (aka Gustavo Mario Rodriguez) is a DJ and these are bootleg remixes.  Regardless, it's excellent. 

2023-05-24 edit: This 2007 cover by Chromatics.  

Husker Du - "New Day Rising" (LP Review)

Having already reviewed "Flip Your Wig", it's only right to return to Husker Du's "New Day Rising". NDR was released in early 1985 and FYW was released in late 1985. Most bands can go their whole career and never produce an LP of the caliber of NDR or FYW; for Husker Du to release two such LPs in less than a year is remarkable.

As discussed in the FYW review, NDR finds the band in transition from strictly hardcore punk to punk tempered with conventional pop music structure. That may sound like damning with faint praise, but it really just means there are strong vocal hooks to go with their blistering sound. This ain't Gap Punk...

After reading the FYW review, Danette observed that I had not really dealt with the musicians themselves. Husker Du was a trio, consisting of guitarist Bob Mould, bassist Greg Norton and drummer Grant Hart. Mould and Hart were the principal songwriters. They occasionally collaborated, but most of the songs are individually written with Hart's contributions slowing increasing with each LP. Like any good songwriting tandem (e.g., Lennon/McCartney, Jagger/Richards), there was a great deal of friction and competition between Mould and Hart and it (exacerbated by substance abuse) would eventually split up the band. While Mould would go on to have a successful post-Husker Du career (both as a solo artist and in Sugar), Hart's output is more limited (solo and as Nova Mob). Norton apparently left the music industry altogether. But neither Mould nor Hart have since equaled their banner year of 1985.

While I consider FYW to be a slightly better LP than NDR, I would also argue that NDR has better individual songs, even if they don't form the cohesive unit that FYW does listening from start to finish. Whereas FYW has "Makes No Sense At All", NDR has the title track "New Day Rising", "I Apologize", "Folk Lore", "Celebrated Summer" and "59 Times the Pain" that are all nearly as good as "Makes No Sense At All". The title track proves that it is possible to write an amazing song whose lyrics consist of simply repeating three words: "new day rising..." Listen to it and you'll be hooked.

But why I give FYW the nod over NDR is because tracks like "Perfect Example", "Powerline" and "How To Skin A Cat" are easily forgettable. The latter is punk/psychedelic noodling (in comparison, "Plans I Make" or the "Dreams Reoccurring"/"Reoccurring Dreams" pair from Zen Arcade are better examples of the sound they were after). The former two songs are not really bad, but they're not really good either. They're just there.

Random observation #1: The LP cover art surely has to be in the top 10 of all time. The cover captures the feel of the songs in a way I can't put in words.

Random observation #2: Yes, they have modish heavy metal umlauts over the "u"s in their name. They formed in 1979 and that's just how things were done then. The board game from which they took their name has macrons instead of umlauts.

Standout Tracks: "New Day Rising", "I Apologize", "Folk Lore", "Celebrated Summer", "59 Times the Pain", "Books About UFOs"; the full LP in a single video.

Skip 'em Tracks: "Perfect Example", "Powerline" and "How To Skin A Cat"

Final Score: 10/10. I thought about giving them a 9/10 because of the three weakest tracks, but the strength of the other tracks makes up for those three.

P.S. YouTube user SUICIDEVOM has uploaded a "New Day Rising"-era concert in seven parts: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7. The sound quality is good and it is well worth checking out.

Husker Du - "Flip Your Wig" (LP Review)

"Flip Your Wig" is Husker Du's final LP on the seminal alternative label SST Records (if you listened to alternative music in the early- mid-80s, you had a lot of SST releases and respected them -- until 1987 when SST rolled over on Negativland, but that is a story for another time).

Flip Your Wig is actually the second LP Husker Du released in 1985; earlier that year they released "New Day Rising" and in 1984 they had put the world on notice with their double LP "Zen Arcade". Conventional wisdom says that their best LP is Zen Arcade, closely followed by New Day Rising. To me, Zen Arcade is an important LP with some quite good songs. New Day Rising is an exceptional LP, marred only by a few self-indulgent songs (e.g., "How To Skin a Cat"). But Flip Your Wig represents the band at its zenith: the right combination of punk power (slowing maturing since 1981's nearly unlistenable "Land Speed Record") and pop sensibilities (the first glimpses of which we saw on 1983's "Metal Circus" EP) . Their last two studio LPs on Warner Brothers, while not entirely bad (too much pop and not nearly enough punk), simply can't compare to their SST releases. But for Flip Your Wig, it all came together in an LP that features great songs, furious power, and an LP that is easy to listen to start to finish. Yes, the production quality is thin, but that was par for the course in the mid 80s. Their major label releases had "better" production which ultimately makes for a less enjoyable listen.

It would be easier to list the songs on this LP that are not great: "The Baby Song". That's it. That's the only song you'll skip on this whole LP. And it's not even a song, it's just 47 seconds of silly slide whistle filler. Maybe it seemed funny at the time, maybe they did it on a dare. Past that, there are only two kinds of songs on this LP: excellent and mind-blowingly excellent. I'll only list the latter below. If forced to pick a single song, "Makes No Sense At All" is probably the best punk anthem ever recorded.

Standout tracks: Flip Your Wig, Makes No Sense At All, Green Eyes, Divide and Conquer, Flexible Flyer, Private Plane, The Wit and the Wisdom

Skip 'em tracks: The Baby Song.

Final Score: 10/10.

Blacktask - "Blacktask" (LP Review)

This one goes out to my friend Scott, who was extremely well connected in the mid 80s demo tape trading scene when we were in high school. Scott turned me on to all kinds of good stuff (including this EP) back when finding out about music you did not hear on the radio required you to have knowledgeable friends. In the days before the Internet, MySpace, etc. it was all about word-of-mouth, fanzines and tape trading.

I listened to a lot of metal back then. Today some of it I enjoy for just the nostalgia, and most of it seems like just a quaint and unintentionally humorous soundtrack for 1980s white-suburban-teen-angst. However, a small percentage of it remains quite good, often for reasons that are hard to express.

Blacktask was a thrash metal band from Philadelphia. They released a 3 song demo tape in 1984 ("Spikes to the Wall") that was pretty good, but their self-titled 1984 EP (released on the tiny label Damnation Records) was the high water mark for this band. The four songs on the EP were titled "Sex and Destruction", "Kill Your Enemies", "Firestorm" and "Smash Your Face". That should pretty much tell you all you need to know.

On this EP they managed to combine the best elements of early Slayer (esp. the opening riff on "Sex and Destruction"), Venom (the opening of "Kill Your Enemies" sounds like Cronos to me), Motorhead (check out the Lemmy-esque bass on the "Smash Your Face") and hardcore punk. The punk influence is especially notable -- the entire EP is 10 minutes long with the songs clocking in at 1:28, 2:40, 2:08 and 3:47. This is in sharp contrast with most metal bands that were doing longer, more heavily-structured songs that were due to the NWOBHM influence. For most metal bands a 1:28 track is a "spooky intro", not a full song.

The production quality is typical for the era -- which is to say almost non-existent. But that's part of the appeal, of course. Sure, it sounds a lot like AM radio static, but how else would you capture the fury of these songs? Polish that out and they're just not as good. This is the same reason that 1950s era blues sounds the best -- some things are not meant to be cleaned up. Sadly, the band did not realize this and their 1986 LP "Long After Midnight" was polished and it s-u-c-k-e-d. Don't waste your $ on that LP (I have a vinyl version somewhere, played just once or twice). It's best to just pretend that Blacktask only released the demo + the EP. Add these songs to your "exercise" playlist on your iPod and if they don't help you get that last mile, set, or whatever then nothing will.

Standout tracks: all -- "Sex and Destruction", "Kill Your Enemies", "Firestorm" and "Smash Your Face"

Skip 'em tracks: none.

Final score: 9/10

P.S. Why just a 9? Two reasons: 1) I've been reserving 10/10 for genre-defining releases and while this is a nearly perfect 4 song EP it synthesizes the influences listed above; and 2) its "just" an EP; a 10 song LP in this vein would have earned a 10/10. In contrast, Slayer's "Haunting the Chapel" EP would earn a 10/10 because of its genre-defining influence.

P.P.S. The above links are to YouTube versions of the song, but an entry on "bounded by metal" has a link that ultimately leads you to MP3 versions.

P.P.P.S. Yes, I know this is an EP and I've labeled it an LP review. I've decided against separate labels for reviews of singles and EPs.

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - "So In Love" (forgotten song)

Before their 1986 smash hit "If You Leave", Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) had a minor hit in the US with "So In Love" from their LP "Crush". Although I did not realize it at the time, OMD had 5 critically acclaimed LPs prior to the more commercially oriented "Crush". I recall this song receiving minor airplay on MTV, but then all trace of it was removed when the Pretty in Pink soundtrack juggernaut rolled through. It has a nice hook and Andy McCluskey certainly has a distinctive voice, but what does it for me is the mid-80s synth pop meets Wall of Sound production quality. What's not to love?

Links: YouTube.

The Highwaymen - "Highwayman" (forgotten song)

What's cooler than Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson (collectively known as "The Highwaymen") singing together? How about them singing "Highwayman", a Jimmy Webb song that is: 1) a literal account of reincarnation, 2) an objectivist paean to heroic individualism, or 3) an example of Nietzschean eternal recurrence. Take your pick, but it's a cool song.

It is a single of the 1985 debut LP "Highwayman". Cash, Jennings, Nelson & Kristofferson are four of the main figures in "Outlaw Country", which is a lot more fun than the lifeless, corporate- & RNC-approved pablum that currently passes for country.

Link: YouTube (live 1993)

Bonus Links #1, studio version: last.fm, YouTube (cheesy video alert!).

Bonus Links #2, Jimmy Webb version: last.fm, YouTube.

Bonus Link #3, Glen Campell: live 1992.  

(Thanks to Joy for the updated links: 2015-03-07)