Mad Bad and Dangerous To Know
(Episode 1.3)
By Aaron Proctor (grsapnuwaver@aol.com)
Welcome back to yet another edition of MB&DTK.
Shall we take a trip in the wayback machine? The genre of New Wave flourished in the 1980s, a decade seemingly much more innocent than today. Today's installment of MB&DTK features reviews of two albums: one from euro-pop-waver Fancy and the other from staple-wavers Naked Eyes. I'll also tack on my recommended song downloads/purchases for the week!
But first, however severely not foremost, He's Back! I'm not talking about Elvis, I'm not talking about Jesus Christ - I'm talking about that bagpipe-playing, kilt-wearing, Mort Downey-punching pseudo-Scottish scoundrel "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. One of the greats of the 1980's WWF heyday, Roddy Piper returned last Sunday at WWE Wrestlemania 19 (not a typo for those of non-wrestling ilk, as the WWF is now called World Wrestling Entertainment). His famed segment, "Piper's Pit", returns to television next Thursday on WWE Smackdown on UPN. (Speaking of wrestling - if you're in the LA area, come check out "The Noticeable One" [me] as I manage The Philadelphia Connection in their ongoing battle against Southern California in Pacific Coast Wrestling. PCW is running April 26th at Frank & Son's in City Of Industry, CA and April 27th at Knights Of Columbus in Buena Park, CA - check out www.socaluncensored.com for more information!)
Now, on to the most beautiful music in the worldŠ on to the New Wave reviews
First of all, I love it when main to semi-mainstream music stores go out of business. Not that I wish ill will towards any company who is chock full of MTV material, but more that you can buy used CD's for ridiculously cheap prices and new stuff for reasonable prices. I love to download mp3's, especially since I dwell so much in obscurity, but its always nice to have the actual CD, liner notes, pictures, lyrics. The Wherehouse here in the Los Angeles area is closing a lot of stores and I took full advantage of purchasing some New Wave gems a few weekends ago. I'll continue to review two of those gems this week: Naked Eyes "Everything And More", and Fancy "Golden Hits - Golden Stars".
Naked Eyes - EVERYTHING AND MORE
One Way Records (2002)
Classification: Sophisti-Pop, Synthpop, Sterile (in a good manner, like New Order, very clean sounding electronic group. Not grindy like Nitzer Ebb - which is also not a bad thing LOL.)
Being a 21 year old New Waver is hard because other 21 year olds usually don't know what you're talking about. Thankfully, a conversation about a band like Naked Eyes can be easily remedied:
Some 20-21 year old dude: "Hey, what are you listening to?"
Me: "Naked Eyes".
Some 20-21 year old dude: "Never heard of them."
Me: (sings about three words from "Always Something There To Remind Me")
Some 20-21 year old dude: "Oh yeah... those guys were one-hit wonders right?"
Me: "UGHHHH!!!"
From One Way Records - the label that re-releases cult-status artists' material by request - comes Naked Eyes, EVERYTHING AND MORE. I highly recommend that if you are interested in more than just "Always Something There To Remind Me" - I give you "Promises, Promises" that this CD will not disappoint!
Naked Eyes began as The Neon, a group which also spawned Tears For Fears. Naked Eyes themselves only released 3 albums due to the untimely death of band member Rob Fisher. By the way, the band consists of vocalist Pete Byrne as well as the late Rob Fisher and remixer-all-pro Tony Mansfield. This CD covers their journey from The Neon to pop stardom. Included are both the 7" and 12" mixes of "Promises Promises" - previously unreleased, I might add - and mixed by Jellybean! Madonna is a surprise guest vocalist on both of these unheard rareities.
For the pop connisseur, there is a beautiful near 6 minute Tony Mansfield 12" mix of the ever-popular Burt Bacharach cover, "Always Something There To Remind Me". Also, for the non-Naked Eyes aficiniado, there are great songs such as "Pit Stop", "Sweet Poison", and "Answering Service". The track that goes unmatched is the "Sacrifice" 12". It's a beautiful dance track mixed by Arthur Baker, of New Order-remix and producing fame. The CD closes out with early stuff from The Neon days. These tracks are very Gary Numan "Replicas"-esque and contain beautiful melodies that will be stuck in your head like "Communication Without Sound" and "Me I See In You" (not disconnect from you!).
I purchased this CD for almost $12, as it was 30% off. I'm sure it can be found in other Wherehouse stores that aren't yet closed and on my personal and favorite CD store, Amazon.com.
* AARON'S RATING: 8 out of 10 jelly bracelets. I highly, highly, recommend this CD, but 2 points off for not containing "Voices In My Head", the absolute best from Naked Eyes.
Fancy: GOLDEN STARS - GOLDEN HITS
Spectrum Records
Classification: Hook-Driven (Most of the songs are driven by unique, catchy hooks that often sound like other songs the group has created).
How many times have you bought a CD under two dollars that wasn't as a joke? Usually, any CD purchase before this Wherehouse excursion that totaled less than 2 dollars ended up being a used copy of the Quad City DJ's "Come On Ride The Train" or a Rick Astley best of. However, I came right in under the bar ($1.66) with this used gem. I honestly don't know why anyone would get rid of this album!?
GOLDEN STARS - GOLDEN HITS is not a studio album, it's a best-of from the folks at Spectrum Records. They've also made these simliar compilations for ABC, Tom Jones, Status Quo, The Bee Gees, and Barry White. I didn't realize that until I took the liner notes and translated them on Babelfish. I thought Fancy was thanking these interesting and ecclectic slew of artists.
If you like the Pet Shop Boys, Erasure, and the Bronski Beat (whom all I love, by the way) - you'd very much enjoy Fancy. Fancy is not a "they", Fancy is a he. Fancy is one man, whose real name is Tess. He's actually hit the Billboard dance chart three times in his illustrious but highly underrated career and still makes albums to this date, which I'm not saying as a surprise because I hate when people act like New Wave bands can't make albums anymore.
This compilation is hard to find but I highly recommend it if you see it anywhere. It covers the main portion of Fancy's early discography - from 1984 to 1988. I highly recommend 1988's "Flames Of Love" & "China Blue", 1986's "Bolero", "After Midnight", and 1984's "Chinese Eyes" and my personal love affair with 1984's "Slice Of Life". Each track is a beautiful menagerie of the european dancefloor and an excellent compliment to the Pet Shop Boys. It's a great follow up after listening to "Disco 2" or "Introspective". It's like the Pet Shop Boys are the cheeseburger and Fancy is the French Fries.
Fancy scored some underground hits with "Chinese Eyes" and "Bolero" and his track "After Midnight" was very popular on my former netradio show, "New Wave Wednesdays". The CD is also worth the very rare tunes of 1986's "Latin Fire", and 1985's "Check It Out" and "Colder Than Ice". This CD is a beautiful tribute to one of the most underrated New Wave and dance-pop musicians out there.
AARON'S RATING: 6 out of 10 jelly bracelets. Despite it's brilliant beauty and listen-to-over-and-over-ness, it is hook-driven synthpop and many of the songs sound very much alike.
Recommended Songs For The Week:
Good luck finding these since the closure of Audiogalaxy, but if you see these anywhere - snatch them up while you have the time!
Nine Ways To Win "Close To You"
Thomas Lang "The Happy Man"
Fancy "Slice Me Nice"
Naked Eyes "Sacrifice"
EBN OZN "The Bag Lady"
Duran Duran "Faith In This Colour"
[Note from Brian: Duran Duran's "Faith In The Colour" can be found on the new Duran Duran: The Singles 80-85 (12" Singles Box Set). The original and an alternate mix are included in this 13 disc/40 song set.]
Missing Persons "Noticeable One"
That's all for this week! Next week I'll cover some more album reviews of fabulous New Wave I've recently acquired and compare and contrast Morrissey to a most unlikely mate!
God Save New Wave.
Related Links for today's article:
PSB's Official website
Fancy's Official Site
Naked Eyes Unofficial Fan Site
More info on PCW show, etc.
Next Time: TBA
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