#442 – Devo, ‘Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!’

Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Released: 28 August 1978
Label: Warner Bros.
Genre: Punk rock, new wave, post-punk
Producer: Brian Eno

For fuck’s sake. This is just ker-razy. I had like really been looking forward to listening to Devo. Not just because of “Whip It”, maybe the only song that I actually knew, but just generally because I thought this would be great fun. I like new wave, I love Brian Eno, the title of the album is complete gold, and the band’s ethos is pretty awesome (down to their name even).

But man, on the first few listens this was tough going. It’s all insane time signatures and disjointed vocals. It sort of sneers at you, daring you to bother listening. Without having the luxury of growing up with it, the virginal listen-through was a disaster. This seemed like CRAP: I HATED the cover of “Satisfaction”. I can only imagine parents at the time being disgusted.

But it grows on you. Keep going. It’s funny (it’s actually really funny), it’s cool, it’s punk and it’s actually pretty listenable once you get used to it. I wouldn’t try and make someone else listen to it, it’s an acquired taste, but you can absolutely hear the influence that Devo have had on a lot of music today and the music I like most nowadays. It is a bit same-y, like it goes nowhere, but it is pretty fun. Seminal, if you can get used to it.

Top tracks: “Jocko Homo” (the best name of a song ever), and maybe “Shrivel-Up” which has a slightly different vocal and tempo.

#448 – The Police, ‘Synchronicity’

Synchronicity (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Released: 1 June, 1983
Label: A&M
Genre: New wave, reggae rock, post-punk, soft rock
Producer: The Police, Hugh Padgham

I came to Synchronicity with a basic dislike of The Police, and especially of front man Sting. I know they were once the biggest band in the world, I could just never understand why – but reggae has never been a sound I’ve warmed to. And I’ve just never loved Sting’s voice (or name), and, well, I just don’t like this band. Pushing through this album isn’t that bad.. and of course objectively it’s good. There’s still too much reggae influence (which I’ve read  was actually dialed down for this final record), and the pace is too quick – too many syllables packed into each line of every lyric – and the new wave sound just isn’t new wave enough, and Sting remains an issue in general for me. All that being said, I didn’t hate this like I thought I might, and somewhere one-day, I might even grow to like it.

Top tracks: Of course, the über-creepy “Every Breath You Take”.

#475 – Elvis Costello and the Attractions, ‘Armed Forces’

Armed Forces (album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Released: January 5, 1979
Label: Radar (UK), Columbia (US), F-Beat (1981 UK Reissue), Demon/Rykodisc (19 October 1993 Reissue), Rhino (19 November 2002 Reissue), Hip-O (10 September 2007 Reissue)
Genre: New wave, punk rock
Producer: Nick Lowe

Aaaaaand so from a 4-disc opus to a 2-disc posthumous hip-hop epic, I get to a snappy-as-all-get-out 40 minute pop album that skips along like a kid on school holidays. I’d been wanting for a while to hear some Elvis Costello, another artist who was always on my periphery but who I’d never had the opportunity to really get acquainted with, and I think I’ll want to get more acquainted with Mr. Costello. I guess this is going to be the ongoing challenge with this project – getting through the core 500, but also wanting to be across artists’ other works, and there only being a finite amount of time in the day!

This is what I like to call smart-pop – 3 and a half minute minute pop songs that are expertly crafted and executed, that don’t ask you to reach into the depths of your soul on a journey of introspection, but are well written and produced and do mean enough so you don’t float off into the commercial abyss. Songs like this remind me of some of my favourite artists, like Lily Allen and Robyn, Hot Chip and Cut Copy, Ladyhawke and La Roux, and even Cyndi Lauper – a place where pop isn’t a dirty word – pop at it’s best.

Armed Forces was so refreshing, such a treat, and at 40 minutes short, I’d challenge anyone to take a listen and not find something that they like here. And what’s it about? Your guess is as good as mine.

Top track: “Accidents Will Happen” and “Busy Bodies”, and (on this version of the album) “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?”.

#487 – Cyndi Lauper, ‘She’s So Unusual’

She’s So Unusual (Cyndi Lauper album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Released: October 14, 1983
Label: Portrait
Genre: New wave, pop rock
Producer: Rick Chertoff, William Wittman, Cyndi Lauper

Now we’re cracking! This album is awesome, and I feel like I’m on a bit of a roll with this list. After mentioning that music from this list is everywhere now that I’m really listening, I saw a poster for a Wilco tour… a couple of months ago I wouldn’t have known who they were. Love it.

She’s So Unusual is absolutely fucking awesome. Cyndi Lauper for me had just always been on the periphery, either screamed out by a drunk hen’s party at karaoke, or some rendition of “True Colours” performed by someone somewhere, and then there’s “Time After Time”. But this is really terrific pop music, really quirky and really cool.  What strikes me most is the strength of Lauper’s voice; her vocals are almost unbridled, technically not-at-all perfect, and the songs are all the better for it. There’s real feeling and fun and a hell-for-leather attitude in here. I fell in love with this album.

This was Lauper’s first studio album and garnered four top-5 hits – a first for a female artist. Really great stuff.

Top track: “Money Changes Everything” is great (a cover itself), as is “When You Were Mine” (which I know as a cover from Triple J’s Like a Version). For 80’s girl-power attitude, I’d skip “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and head straight to “Kiss You”.

This week: Well, I did say work was hard at the moment. It all got to be a bit ridiculous on Friday and so I wrote that last post. I won’t say much more for now, except things are a bit better. It’s amazing what some perspective can do. It is funny what you choose to listen to depending on what’s happening in your life… “Money Changes Everything” was really speaking to me this week, even though it’s unlikely I can actually relate to the song itself right now.

#492 – Eurythmics, ‘Touch’

Touch (Eurythmics album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Released: November 26, 1983
Label: RCA Records
Genre: New wave, synthpop, experimental rock, electronica
Producer: David A. Stewart

Listening to Touch is like listening to an era –  and if that era was amalgamated into a single sound it would be the sound of the synthesizer  I guess now we laugh at that quintessential 80s sound, but at the time this album was at the cutting edge of experimenting with new, sexy electronic sounds, and we’re all richer for it.

These are great pop songs, clearly lasting the test of time. But the best part of this album, the most rewarding part for me, is listening to it really loudly so Lennox’s voice fills your head. Annie Lennox surely has one of the best female voices in pop, and listening to her belt out some of these songs is really enriching.

Top track: A collection of mostly fantastic tracks! “Here Comes The Rain Again” is gorgeous and a classic, as is “Who’s That Girl?” (probably the best), but I also really like “The First Cut”.

Anyway, moving on…