Pretenders - Pretenders

MINE

In the same way as the pouty sneer of Debbie Harry told the teenage me girls could legitimately front a rock band, the spiky sneer of Chrissie Hynde told me you didn't have to be a blonde to do it.  But for some reason I ended up with Parellel Lines on vinyl and not Pretenders - probably due to teenage budgetary restrictions more than anything else.

I missed out on seeing the band when they toured Australia in early 1984, when she and Jim Kerr from Simple Minds first got together at the Narara music festival, as I was overseas at the time.  But I remember seeing them in 1986 at the Brisbane Festival Hall, a massive venue, I think supported by Do Re Mi in what would have been a meeting of angular-faced brunettes!  Pretenders were electrifying, despite the relatively early hour for a concert - mid-afternoon, as I recall, due to the at-the-time laws about having people leaving a venue late at night.  Ah, Queensland in the 80s - it truly was another country.

We only got this CD a short time ago, and I've really enjoyed having it around.  We have Learning to Crawl on vinyl (two copies, I think) and I'm also looking forward to hearing that again shortly.  Yes, we finally did it - bought a turntable!  Anyway, I love Chrissy's trademark voice, those choppy, jangly guitar sounds - I love this album, raw and untried as they were.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

YOURZ

In 1980, thanks to the wonderful music show Countdown, I was first introduced to the Pretenders by way of their first hit in Australia, Brass In Pocket.  The video featured a suitably attired Chrissy Hynde as a waitress in a grimy cafe and looking all kohl-eyed and sexy.  It was fuel for a punk lad's fire.

It wasn't until a couple of years later, when I was earning my own money, that I went and got Pretenders and the imaginatively-titled followup, Pretenders II.  Both albums became some of my favourites, particularly when cruising around in my old Chevy.  In fact, it kind of became a battle of the Chrissys as I was also a big fan of The Divinyls around the same time.  Both Chrissy Hynde and Chrissie Amphlett were two women who not only looked suitably punk and sexy at the same time, but could hold their own in a rock band. 

There's a lot to like about this album.  The cover of The Kinks Stop Your Sobbing is better than the original, in my opinion.  And tracks like Precious, Kid, Private Life and Mystery Achievement (all personal favorites) not only proved Hynde could write great songs but added a more dynamic feminine perspective to the mostly male-dominated punk scene.  But best of all, Pretenders still sounds as good today as it did when it first came out.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

For more information go to http://www.thepretenders.com/

Blondie - Blondie

YOURZ

The first encounter I can remember having with Blondie was via the video for the track Heart Of Glass, which was absolutely everywhere in the late 70s.  Like a lot of lads at the time, I lusted for Deborah Harry, who was cool, sexy and way out of our league. 

Blondie is the eponymous debut from the band and obviously shows the beginnings of what became a stellar career, albeit one defined where Ms Harry and the Blondie name became entwined to the point where many thought she was Blondie and led to merchandise being issued by the band, in the form of a button, stating 'Blondie Is A Band'.  As a debut it clearly shows the band's penchant for writing wonderfully hook-laden pop.

A leading light on the punk scene, the band eschewed the rough and ready sounds employed by so many of their contemporaries in favour of well arranged and produced tracks, with Harry's voice clear over the top of the instruments.  And what a voice is is too - listening to her, I can imagine she has that sexy half smile she is known for while singing.  What a wonderful picture that is too, although I imagine nothing like the Penthouse magazine pictures Mine mentions below, a magazine I couldn't get my hands on for love or money, damn it all.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

MINE

"I couldn't resist you/ I'm not deaf, dumb and blind..."

My first view of Blondie came with this album, when the then-iconic Aussie TV show Countdown played In The Flesh - apparently in error as it was actually the B-side to their first single.  And I fell in love.  While not a real fan of blondes, Debbie Harry's cutting, sultry drawl and that pouty, Parisian look just knocked me over.  Although I didn't buy a Blondie album until Parallel Lines came out the following year, I picked up this CD a few years ago because I don't own In The Flesh.  And it's a great album. 

Ms Harry was also responsible for me buying Penthouse magazine, with many blushes, for the first time.  Because there was a huge 7-page interview and many photos of her, which I clipped out and stuck on my teenage bedroom walls.  Not sure what became of the rest of the magazine...

Blondie became a staple of my record collection, and the Greatest Hits is a poor substitute for the aforementioned Parallel Lines or Autoamerican.  *sigh* more for that damn shopping list, YourZ.  Wasn't the whole object of this exercise to throw music out?  (YourZ sez: look at it this way, hunnybuns - we're only improving on the collection, regardless of what we do).

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

In our collection, we also have The Complete Picture: The Very Best of Deborah Harry & Blondie

The Motels - No Vacancy (the best of the Motels)

YOURZ

It's funny we're reviewing this as lead singer Martha Davis has been staring at me from a picture hanging in our kitchen for almost as long as Mine and YourZ (truly) have been together.  But I've been told this is all I can say about the picture as the story of why belongs to Mine (better to do as I'm told than risk another beating). (Mine says: glad to see you're finally getting the message)

I have fond memories of The Motels, associated with being in an early eighties covers band in which we played Total Control.  The song was always a winner with the audience.  In fact, it was one of those tracks we could rely on to get the audience up and dancing, even though it was kind of slow.  Don't ask me why, though.

I'm actually surprised by how many tracks off No Vacancy I'm familiar with, given that I've never had anything more than a passing interest in the band.  Quite a few of these songs were played a lot on radio and music television in Australia in the early eighties, as The Motels, for some reason, struck a chord with the general public and were quite popular here.  These tracks sound quite dated now but in the same way The Cars tracks sound a little dated.  Unlike The Cars, though, I don't think I'll be revisiting this album in a hurry.

VERDICT: TURN IT DOWN

MINE

The picture hanging on the wall of our kitchen was taken on the night of 11 November, 1980, when I saw the Motels live for the first time.  I went along with a group of friends (Hi Deb and Karen!) and we'd declared the day National Motels Day, skipping school and consuming lashings of rose, our favoured drink of the time.

The details of how we spent the time between then and the actual concert has blurred, but I remember being terrified I'd be carded at the door - it was a licensed venue and I was four days off my 18th birthday.  Deb and I knew all the words to the songs bar one - which wasn't on either their self-titled debut album or the follow-up, Careful.

It remained the best night of my life for some time, which is why I took the opportunity to buy the photo some months later.  I'm sad it's faded over the years, and wish I'd spent that extra bit of money I didn't have at the time to buy the framed print, rather than the laminated board.  So if anyone knows if photographer Steve Nebauer still has the negatives from that night, maybe they could drop me a line?  I have more cash these days.

Martha Davis was a personal hero of mine.  She wasn't a teeny-bopper goo-goo doll, she was a real woman fronting a real band writing real songs - much like another hero of mine, Debbie Harry of Blondie.  For that, and because those songs are still as fresh in my mind 30 years later, this album is always staying with me.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP (Celia, see what you've done...)

For more information: http://www.themotels.com/

Ladyhawke - Ladyhawke

YOURZ

Oh, guess who loves the 80s.  Ladyhawke does, that's who.  But rather than copy the sounds, Pip Brown (her real name) has remodelled the sounds and updated them to create a hybrid blend that works well.

While this album has been in our collection for some time, I dismissed its presence as more girly dance music, the sort Mine loves.  But the reality is far from my rather blinkered point of view.  This album has some great new wave rock moments reminding me of some of Kim Wilde or Pat Benatar, which, in case you're wondering, is a good thing.  (There's also a little bit of Billy Idol as well - just listen to the track Danny & Jenny).

Oh, there are some more obvious influences for sure, but these are more in passing rather than as templates for the whole album.  In fact, Ladyhawke has more depth and substance than many similar artists who have adopted the same stylistic references.  As a début, it's certainly allowing Pip to spread her wings and leave room to fly in any direction she chooses.  And I can't wait to see where she lands.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

MINE:

One of the albums I bought for myself purely with my Music Magazine Mojo (MMM), this New Zealand singer's debt to the 70s and 80s is obvious from the second you begin listening.  Artists that coursed through my mind as the tracks ticked by include 10CC, Gary Numan, the Cars and Blondie.  And there have been times in the past that I've dissed modern bands for re-creating the sounds of previous eras.  I mean, if I want to listen to that sound, I'll play those albums, right?

But there's a moment in this CD - I think it's the hit single My Delirium - that made me just smile and say, what the hell.  When reinventing Sounds Past to make Sounds of Now really works.  Funny, I listened to this a lot when I first bought it but I've been ignoring it recently.  This Stops Now.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

For more information: http://www.ladyhawkemusic.com/