Brit Pop, Not!
Being a music nut, I have a nearly unlimited capacity to remember songs that strike me one way or another. That can be a good or bad thing. There is a song I heard a few times on the radio back in the early ’90s that I am still looking for. It sounded quite a bit like The Kinks, but I know it wasn’t them. I remember a few lines and have gone through the Internet wilderness, searching and searching to no avail.
It’s almost like a “love at first listen” obsession. Someday I’ll find it and my world will be complete. Or not.
Over the years this has happened to me lots of times, and so far only a few have eluded me. Once the chase is over, it’s usually satisfying to reconnect with an old friend. But other times it’s like those “What was I thinking?” moments you get when you watch an old episode of Emergency with Randy Mantooth.
This was too good not to put up here. I mean Clay Aiken and Emergency, together at last!
It’s disturbing how well Aiken fits with this classic ’70s TV cheese.
When DVDs came out, one of the first ones I bought was the movie version of Hair. I popped it right in, got about half an hour into it, and turned it off. It’s still taking up space on my shelf, I’m sure feeling a bit lonely after not having moved for about 15 years. Some things that are really cool and fun when you’re a teenager just aren’t when you’re a bit older. OK, much older.
When they hold up, it’s a delight.
After searching for years, this song finally made its way to the legitimate music services and YouTube a few months ago. It was worth the time and energy I spent looking for it.
In 1983 one of the worst videos ever made worked its way, briefly, into the MTV playlist. Even for its time, the video is truly awful. The song, however, is a bit of post punk/new wave/retro gold.
I always thought that these guys were a Brit band from the sound of the song.
They’re from San Francisco. Go figure.
And they are still around. Translator
Keeping the arrangement simple and stripped-down allows the lead vocal and harmonies to really stand out. The worry, fear, and eventual anger in the vocal keeps getting more and more intense until he’s pretty much screaming by the end.
Love it! And it was worth the wait. A great song!
Categories: Album Tracks
2 Comments »
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January 28th, 2010 at 4:15 pm
The song you’re looking for, I bet if you post the lyrics you remember, someone will come up with some sort of answer for you. It’s worth a try, right?
As for “Emergency” I loved that show and the clip brought back some great memories, I remember the character names even, go figure.
On to “Hair” that got me laughing because I have a VHS of it somewhere that I bought and watched once with my sister and never looked at again, I think it’s hanging around with “Brigadoon” draw what you want from that.
Now to Translator, I’m not familiar with them at all but I did enjoy the song. They do sound like a Brit band or Canadian (to me) maybe it’s just the genre?
Thanks Pete, I enjoyed this one
February 16th, 2010 at 7:21 am
You raise a lot of questions in my mind; you wrote a good post, but it is also thought provoking, and I will have to think about it some more; I will be back soon.