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Popboomerang
http://www.popboomerang.com
If you’re listening to the Stoneage Hearts’ “Shake Your Popboomerang,” the first song on the identically-titled Shake Yer Popboomerang, you may find yourself thinking, “Gosh, it’s pretty darned coincidental that a song with this title should be the lead-off track of a disc bearing the exact same title.” If you do, indeed, find yourself thinking this, it may well be an indication that you’re a little stupid, because, of course, it’s absolutely no coincidence at all; the song was written specifically for the compilation.
Popboomerang Records first sprung onto the scene late in 2002, when they released Sing Till It Hurts, the debut EP by Sarah Sarah, who, perhaps inevitably, also make an appearance on this collection. In fact, their contribution, “Ignorance & Arrogance,” may well be a viable theme song for the Australian power pop community: “Refuse to play our demo on the air / For our vocal stylings, you don’t care / You say you’re an Australian show, but you’re only airing the people that you know.”
Some of Australia’s finest musicians can be found amongst the 23 tracks on Shake Your Popboomerang, among them Dom Mariani (the Stems, the Someloves, DM3), Joe Algeri (Jack & The Beanstalk), Charles Jenkins (Ice Cream Hands), and one of the brightest rising stars in the power pop community, Danny McDonald. In fact, McDonald collaborates with Algeri on “’Til The End,” though it’s interesting to find that the partnership took place completely by E-mail; as of the date the press release was written, the two had never actually met.
Judging by this collection, the pop scene down under is decidedly diverse. Magneto’s “Living On The Moon” sounds like a cross between the Replacements and the Wonder Stuff; Her Majesty’s Finest fire off a missile of Rickenbacker-powered garage pop. Starky’s “Yesterday I Drove Your Girlfriend Home” begins with a trumpet, while Smallgoods’ “Listen To The Radio,” though a bit underproduced, contains five-part harmonies. The Dreamdayers’ contribution, “I Will Listen,” is reminiscent of the Connells’ best work.
The Decembers are one of those groups who make road-weary artists want to punch holes in the wall, as they make their debut with “Saving Everything” while announcing in the press release that it’s “our first ever recording as a band; we haven’t even played our first gig yet!”
The Elements produce one of the album’s most perfect songs with “Ordinary Day,” a piano-laden pop track featuring the group’s first attempt at a string arrangement; rest assured, the result is exquisite. Immediately following is “Dancing Girl,” by Tim Reid (not the one who played Venus Flytrap on “WKRP in Cincinnati”), which variously resembles Jon Brion, Neil Finn, and, as the press release suggests, perhaps even a bit of Elliot Smith; suffice it to say that these comparisons are intended to be complimentary. Another particular highlight from the second half of the album comes from Showbag!, whose “Goodbye Friend” was mixed by Michael Carpenter, a fine Australian popster in his own right.
There are a few bummers here and there (Superscope’s “Untitled Demo #1” is about as well thought out as you’d expect with a title like that), but, overall, it’s hard to call Shake Your Popboomerang anything other than a qualified success; like its spiritual predecessor, Pop On Top!, it spotlights an often-unheralded side of Australian music and whets ones appetite for full-length platters by the artists included. Whether Popboomerang Records will become the Not Lame of Down Under remains to be seen, but, at the very least, this album certainly finds them headed in the right direction.
---originally written for PopMatters.
She’s
Having A Baby: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Capitol/IRS
John Hughes, no matter what he does for the remainder of his years on this planet, will forever be remembered as the guy responsible for “Sixteen Candles,” “The Breakfast Club,” “Pretty In Pink,” and, perhaps to a lesser degree, “Some Kind Of Wonderful.”
Not that there’s anything wrong with the latter film, you understand; it’s just that it doesn’t possess the same sort of mystique as the former three flicks. “Sixteen Candles” was the cool kids versus the nerds; “Pretty In Pink” was the rich kids versus the poor kids; “The Breakfast Club” brought the whole bunch together and stuck ‘em in detention for one unforgettable Saturday morning.
I’m not entirely comfortable saying that it was the deduction of Molly Ringwald from the equation that led to the decline in Hughes’ work, because, despite often being written off as little more than a gender flip-flop of “Pretty In Pink,” there’s a lot to be said for “Some Kind of Wonderful.”
But I digress.
There’s another common thread running through all four films that’s far more important for the purposes of today’s discussion: there’s some really kick-ass music on their soundtracks.
· “Sixteen Candles” had “If You Were Here,” by the Thompson Twins, which, to quote my wife, “just makes me feel all floaty everytime I hear it.”
· “Some Kind of Wonderful” had the Celtic cover of “Can’t Help Falling In Love” by Lick the Tins, and, perhaps more importantly, introduced the world to “I Go Crazy,” by Flesh For Lulu.
· “The Breakfast Club” had “Don’t You (Forget About Me),” by Simple Minds, which was certainly the most commercially successful song from any Hughes flick.
· And “Pretty In Pink” had...well, let’s not mince words:
“Pretty In Pink” had a soundtrack that, in addition to setting a new industry standard, helped an entire generation figure out exactly what “alternative music” was.
The Psychedelic Furs provided the movie with its title and with the music to play over the opening credits; they were joined by such fellow pale white Englishmen as OMD (whose “If You Leave” was the only real competition within Hughes’ oeuvre that “Don’t You [Forget About Me] had, commercially speaking), Echo and the Bunnymen, the Smiths, New Order, and Belouis Some, who are probably still sending a Christmas / thank-you card to John Hughes every year. Aussies INXS were also along for the ride, as was one of Prince’s proteges, Jesse Johnson. Suzanne Vega teamed up with Joe Jackson to produce one of the best songs of either artist’s career: “Left of Center.” And, for no apparent reason, the never-heard-from-before-or-since Danny Hutton Hitters contributed a cover of Nik Kershaw’s “Wouldn’t It Be Good” instead of Hughes using Kershaw’s original version...but, hey, at least Nik’s still getting the songwriting royalties, right?
Point is, as soundtracks go, “Pretty In Pink” is pretty damned hard to top.
And, yet, I present for your approval the following theory: just as “Pretty In Pink” helped define “alternative music” for a generation, it was the soundtrack to a later, oft-forgotten Hughes film that helped define “adult alternative music” for the very same generation.
Ladies and gentlemen, look, if you will, upon the soundtrack to “She’s Having A Baby.”
There are a total of ten tracks on “She’s Having A Baby,” which is exactly as many as “Pretty In Pink” contained. “She’s Having A Baby,” however, is divided into two halves: “He” and “She,” naturally. It’s not that the “She” side is necessarily any more mellow than the “He” side (well, maybe a bit), or that each side is geared specifically toward the tastes of its respective gender designation (a little, perhaps); no, it’s literally that just that there are male vocalists on one side and female vocalists on the other.
And if you doubt that “She’s Having A Baby” can compete with the star power of “Pretty In Pink,” then you clearly haven’t checked out the track listing lately.
Things get rolling with the film’s title track, performed by English Beat / General Public frontman Dave Wakeling...but there are no reggae-influenced beats to be found here, my friends; this is smooth as silk, straight-up pop music, plain and simple, with lyrics that, like the “plight” of the film’s characters, no doubt hit home to the former teens who were “growing up” and “settling down, down, down.”
“Been dreaming about it so long / And now that the moment has come / The fears of the past are all gone,” Wakeling admits during the middle eight. “You know, it couldn’t be better / I swear by the moon up above / I’m feeling a new kind of love / And I hope that it lasts us forever.”
“One thing you start to discern,” he adds, toward the end of the song, “there’s always something to learn.” True, that.
Love and Rockets, who had yet to score massive mainstream success with “So Alive,” follow Wakeling with the incredibly languid “Haunted When The Minutes Drag”; they, in turn, are followed by Gene Loves Jezebel’s “Desire (Come And Get It),” a song which, in some circles, is considered just anthemic as the Cult’s “She Sells Sanctuary.” Mind you, they’re generally very small circles that use a lot of eyeliner and get teased mercilessly for having very silly beliefs, but the song’s still pretty good, anyway.
The soundtrack to “She’s Having A Baby” went out of print for a fair while during the ‘90s, which, since it contains several tracks that were unavailable on any other album, made it quite pricey if you tried to pick up a copy on eBay. One such track, XTC’s “Happy Families” (more or less based on a British children’s game), is an oft-overlooked highlight from Andy Partridge’s late ‘80s work...and, since “Skylarking” was released during that period, that’s really saying something.
Bryan Ferry’s cover of Van Morrison’s “Crazy Love” began life being unavailable elsewhere, though it later popped up as a B-side to one of Ferry’s singles. In fact, most of the tracks have since turned up as bonus tracks on CD reissues of the artists’ catalogs or on rarities compilations...though, if the liner notes are to believed, the version of Everything But The Girl’s “Apron Strings” is still available nowhere else but on this soundtrack.
Kirsty MacColl hadn’t made much of an impact on US audiences at the time she contributed a cover of the Smiths’ “You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet, Baby” (a nod back to the “Pretty In Pink” soundtrack, perhaps?), but her song kicks the “She” side into gear right off the bat. On a related note, “This Woman’s Work,” Kate Bush’s gorgeous donation to the album, was later covered by R&B artist Maxwell to tremendous effect.
Things begin to wind down with Carmel’s “It’s All In The Game.” Though she never made much of an impact on the States, her jazzy pop stylings were of more interest to Brits...which, given that every single artist on the album hails from the UK, is really only appropriate, anyway.
Lastly, to compete with the Danny Hutton Hitters in the never-heard-of-before-or-since category, there’s Dr. Calculus, which, though he doesn’t front the mic on the track, is actually the work of Stephen Duffy, who formed the Lilac Time right around the same time the soundtrack was released...though you’d never know it by the sound of “Full of Love.”
No, “Full of Love” can’t even begin to compete with “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want” as a closing track. In fact, it doesn’t even try; it’s really the only song on the album that’s a snooze, and it ends the proceedings on a bum note. Better a portion of Stewart Copeland’s score from the film should’ve been used to close things instead...or, better yet, someone should’ve sprung for the extra bucks to include Sam Cooke’s “Chain Gang,” which played a key role in one of the film’s funniest scenes.
---originally written for PopMatters.
Various
Artists, Planet
of the Popboomerang
Sounds
Like: the current crop of power
pop
Is
It Any Good: First, they gave us
the best from down under. Now,
it’s the best from around the world. Popboomerang
knows how to make a great compilation disc.
May the trend continue.
Rating:
5
(originally
appeared in NineVolt Magazine)
A&M
/ Universal Chronicles
Although many artists have been “cursed” with achieving a top 10 hit and have spent the rest of their career trying desperately to recapture the magic that resulted in such a success, Suzanne Vega hasn’t.
She’s just tried to be herself and, simultaneously, figure out exactly what she wants to do with her music.
When Vega first emerged on the New York folk scene in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, no-one really knew what to make of her. Certainly, she wasn’t a folk artist in the traditional sense...or, perhaps more specifically, she wasn’t going to be restrained by the traditional definition of what a folk artist is supposed to be.
As Lenny Kaye wrote of her early days in the liner notes to Introspective: The Best of Suzanne Vega, “she listens to Lou Reed as well as Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen segueing Woody Guthrie, the Police, the Smiths. She is a modern girl, living in her present tense, playing a music that seems to venerate old-timey tradition. She thinks of herself as a ‘solitary troubadour,’ and wants to be on her own, to be able to ‘pick up my guitar, and get on a bus, and go anywhere, and play by myself.” It should therefore come as no surprise to anyone that, when a band with aspirations to be the next Fleetwood Mac tried to get Vega to be their Stevie Nicks, it just wasn’t happenin’.
Suzanne Vega’s self-titled debut, released in 1985, spawned a surprise hit in the UK with “Marlene In The Wall”; in fact, Vega performed the song at the Prince’s Trust 10th Anniversary Party.
Following that, she turned heads there and on these shores with her contribution to the Pretty In Pink soundtrack: “Left of Center,” which featured piano from Joe Jackson. The song’s lyrics spoke of the outsider characters in the film, as well as to the real-life Andies and Duckies in the audience.
When
they ask me, "What are you looking at?"
I
always answer, "Nothing much.” (Not
much.)
I
think they know that I'm looking at them
I
think they think I must be out of touch
But
I'm only in the outskirts and in the fringes
On
the edge and off the avenue
And
if you want me, you can find me
Left of center, wondering about you
It was Vega’s sophomore record, however, Solitude Standing, that really did the trick for her in the US.
Enter “Luka.”
On the topic of her hit single, Vega told the Berkshire Eagle in 2002 that the “success was much bigger than I expected it to be, and it was the type of success I assumed I wouldn’t have. The annoying thing about it is that people want you to keep doing it.” That frustration could be heard to a certain extent on her follow-up album, Days of Open Hand, where she tried to expand the form of the pop song (certainly, “Book of Dreams” deserved to scale the upper reaches of the charts), and, though she succeeded far more often than she failed, the results didn’t translate to sales that matched Solitude Standing.
It probably also didn’t help any that Days of Open Hand hadn’t even been in stores for six months before a vaguely-trip-hop version of “Tom’s Diner,” a song from Solitude Standing, was taken into the charts courtesy of remixers DNA.
Though she didn’t really have any hand in it, there’s reason to argue that she was influenced somewhat by the sound of the new version of “Tom’s Diner”; her next album, 1992’s 99.9 F, was decidedly more experimental in feel. Produced by Mitchell Froom, who would go on to become Mr. Suzanne Vega, it was a successful experiment by the estimation of most critics, but, again, it didn’t translate into significant sales figures. The subsequent album, Nine Objects of Desire, in 1996, didn’t turn the trend around.
By the time Vega returned in 2001 with Songs In Red and Gray, so had her trademark folk-pop sound...but Froom had not. Not as producer, nor as significant other. The result was an album with Vega’s most personal lyrics in years, with Rupert Hine handling duties on the boards.
Retrospective is the second collection of Suzanne Vega’s greatest hits, but it’s the first to be released in the US. Tried and True emerged onto the UK market in 1999 and features a relatively similar track listing...and running order, too. Obviously, the tracks from 2001’s Songs In Red and Gray on Tried and True, but the only tracks that didn’t make the transition onto Retrospective were “When Heroes Go Down” (a rather inexcusable omission, given that it was actually released as a single) and “Book & A Cover” (which is only available on Tried & True, therefore still making it indispensable for the Vega fan who has to own everything).
Retrospective is, even with its mild fault in the inclusion of its selections, an excellent sampler of Suzanne Vega’s career for the casual fan and a fine introduction for anyone who seeks exposure to one of the most consistent female artists of the ‘80s and ‘90s.
NOTE: A&M has already opted to reissue Retrospective in a deluxe format...everywhere in the world except for North America. This deluxe version of the album contains a second disc of an addition 19 songs (including the elusive “When Heroes Go Down”...though, predictably, “Book & A Cover” still remains MIA) as well as a DVD of 12 of Vega’s videos. To date, there has been no mention of a release date in the US. Thanks, A&M...for nothing.
(originally appeared on PopMatters.com)