Was it the cocaine? Was it the labels? What the hell was it?

[Geoff Grace]

Good point I don't know if its fair to class Lovich as "American" in terms of her cultural/musical development. American citizen sure, but she was first generation and spent a big chunk of her formative years in England Im having so much fun...

Fair enough, let's substitute Laurie Anderson for Lene Lovich, then.

Best,

Geoff

[Geoff Grace]

Excellently true, and don't forget fringier acts such as Television and Pere Ubu. Plenty of edge there. All edge, one might be inclined to say.

 

 

There were also acts like Madonna & Michael Jackson that I wouldn't put in either the edgy or bland camps.

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[Magpel]

XTC is one of my favorite bands but some of their best material is marred by rinky-dinky 80s production...

 

 

Mine too, and you MUST be thinking of The Big Express; Great tunes, horrible early '80s production values. To think that this came just two years after the wonderfully plinky and organic sounding English Settlement.

[tradivoro1]

Definitely not one of Jackson's best efforts, but a nice song... Remember that song was written for a movie and Jackson may have been trying to express what was going on in the scene... Compared to what has been passing for music for the last 10 years, I'd rather listen to "somebody's baby" 50 times before "in da club" or "yeah"... While on the subject of egregious {censored}...

[Super 8]

Hmmm... I really miss bubblegum lip-gloss myself. Girls just don't look like girls anymore (and some aren

[Magpel]

Well, for what it is worth it was the sound more than the song that got to me in the accountant's office, and it was hard to discern a DX 7 from a B3 or anything else through the tiny radio speaker, and the stained, water-damaged drop ceiling tiles that make you think your accountant isn't doing so well himself. Very bad magazine selection. Secretary whispering to another accountant that the network has a virus (no kidding). Yeah, she's probably somebody's star tonight...

Though I admit have a bit of a rashy aversion to the song as well. It smells like cocaine to me and I hate that stuff.

Disco...Apocalypse...

I'm going to go to Rhapsody and listen again right now.

[Magpel]

Hmmm...doesn't sound so bad on Rhapsody today. Never mind.

[doug osborne]

Jackson Browne has said that he was a victim of his own success.

Through the first three or four albums he was thought of as the sensitive singer-songwriter, perhaps too introspective and even down, but he says that through this period he was actually having a great time.

This brought greater success, bigger venues, and bigger expectations. He dove right in and tried to write songs that would fill the stadium instead of the coffeehouse. Movie assignments like Somebody's Baby, etc., were the result, with slicker production. I thought SB was pretty lightweight, and very similar to Stevie Wonder's I Just Called to Say I Love You - fluffy, but I wouldn't let either song ruin either artist for me.

Yes the song's production is stuck in the '80s, and suffers for it. Yes, Lee Sklar probably played bass, but his parts fit - he has played with Genesis and many other non-sensitive-singer-songwriter stuff, and still does. Yes, I prefer JB's earlier, funnier records.

Lawyers in Love, Lives in the Balance, I'm Alive, and other albums followed with more political content, and to me they sound like an attempt to say something along with production fit for a wider audience.

[Geoff Grace]

John, I realize you've had a lot to respond to in this thread; but I am curious as to whether or not you've seen Paul Simon's movie, One Trick Pony.

 

It has a lot to do with this topic, and it was released just a couple of years before Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

 

More here.

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[kurdy]

Hmmm...doesn't sound so bad on Rhapsody today. Never mind.

 

 

Yeah, I just went and listened to it on YouTube--it's actually a very good pop song. Not that I ever thought it wasn't, but having heard it on the radio so much made me sort of indifferent toward it, I guess. The synth is definitely there, but more in the background, layered with the hammond, so it isn't too distracting. The only issue I have is with that stratchy lead guitar, but I don't think that has anything to do with '80s music trends. It's just a horrible sounding guitar. But they could've easily gone with the cliche '80s sax solo instead--it clearly would've fit. The fact that they decided to use something else there should earn them a few kudos, I think. But subtract one point for not using a better sounding guitar.

 

Anyway, the song was clearly chasing the '80s pop radio sound of the time. There's a Rick Springfield hit that mines the same territory (which I also think is very good). It's interesting to listen to them back to back (probably best to ignore the visuals, if it ain't your thing).

 

Jackson Browne: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=sjeZ-urVYPM

 

Rick Springfield: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl2ff0yEqcE

[Magpel]

Geoff, I remember the fact of the movie, and I remember the song itself, but I've never seen it. Perhaps I should!

John , I realize you've had a lot to respond to in this thread; but I am curious as to whether or not you've seen Paul Simon's movie, One Trick Pony . It has a lot to do with this topic, and it was released just a couple of years before Fast Times at Ridgemont High . More here . Best, Geoff

 

[Geoff Grace]

 

 

 

I'd say it's all relative. By left coast, punk-central LA standards, I'd agree with you that my list is pretty tame. But when you compare it to the middle-America list that rasputin1963 started -- Neil Diamond, Kenny G, for example -- I'll stick with my original assessment -- especially when you consider the work the artists I listed recorded in the early eighties, which is only fair.

 

Let me add a few more names to the middle-America list, just to flesh out that perspective: REO Speedwagon, Loverboy, Quarterflash, Journey, Billy Joel, Michael Bolton, Kenny Rogers, Peabo Bryson, Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, Juice Newton, Lionel Richie, Mr. Mister, Kenny Loggins, Al Jarreau, Richard Marx, Kim Carnes, and Luther Vandross.

 

While I actually like a few songs by some of those artists, I still think they make my earlier list look pretty hip -- at least as hip as the British bands rasputin1963 referred to, which I guess would include Culture Club, Duran Duran, Thompson Twins, Thomas Dolby, Psychedelic Furs, XTC, Howard Jones, Eurhythmics, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, etc.

 

As always, YMMV.

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[Geoff Grace]

Geoff, I remember the fact of the movie, and I remember the song itself, but I've never seen it. Perhaps I should!

 

 

It's not the greatest movie ever made, but I think it will validate your perspective.

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[Lee Knight]

Let me add a few more names to the middle-America list, just to flesh out that perspective: REO Speedwagon, Loverboy, Quarterflash, Journey, Billy Joel, Michael Bolton, Kenny Rogers, Peabo Bryson, Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, Juice Newton, Lionel Richie, Mr. Mister, Kenny Loggins, Al Jarreau, Richard Marx, Kim Carnes, and Luther Vandross.

 

 

OK... now I'm starting to get queasy.

[thefunkman]

Part, maybe most, of the phenomenon you're railing against isn't Jackson Browne, or "the 80's" per se: It's more about that point in a musical genre's evolution when the "industry" part takes over from the "music" portion of the term "music industry." When things get codified, standardized, and institutionalized. Then it seems like everything sounds alike. Like that 80's "snare hit" that became so prominent. Or when "alternative" bands eventually all had to have a vocalist who sounded like Eddie Vedder (Creed, anyone?) Or once the formula for "hair bands" became standardized...When merely hearing the sonic qualities of the vocalist or the guitar tone is enough to tell you what decade a song was recorded in...

 

Once your musical genre of choice reaches this point, it can become hard for us with the "trained ears" to listen to, although the general public will lap it up for what seems like an eternity. After which the old Hegelian dialectic kicks in...what was once rebellion is now the status quo, and as such, it must be rebelled against...

[GY]

I don't know... despite the criticism here of some of his work, I think Jackson has done very well for himself, considering where he resides. Looks to me as if more of his money went into real estate than up his nose.

[Geoff Grace]

Part, maybe most, of the phenomenon you're railing against isn't Jackson Browne, or "the 80's" per se: It's more about that point in a musical genre's evolution when the "industry" part takes over from the "music" portion of the term "music industry." When things get codified, standardized, and institutionalized. Then it seems like everything sounds alike. Like that 80's "snare hit" that became so prominent. Or when "alternative" bands eventually all had to have a vocalist who sounded like Eddie Vedder (Creed, anyone?) Or once the formula for "hair bands" became standardized...When merely hearing the sonic qualities of the vocalist or the guitar tone is enough to tell you what decade a song was recorded in... Once your musical genre of choice reaches this point, it can become hard for us with the "trained ears" to listen to, although the general public will lap it up for what seems like an eternity . After which the old Hegelian dialectic kicks in...what was once rebellion is now the status quo, and as such, it must be rebelled against...

 

 

Well put.

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[Deef]

I liked Late for the Sky pretty well... "'cause hes the missing link, the kitchen sink, Eleven on a scale of ten Honey let me introduce you to my redneck friend" Great album.

Yes, Late for the Sky is a great album, but what does that have to do with Redneck Friend, which appears on his second album, For Everyman?




And now for the news. Jackson has a new album out, Solo Acoustic Vol. 2, which features a stripped down version of Somebody's Baby. Just him and the piano, apparantly. I haven't heard it yet.

http://www.jacksonbrowne.com/