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/ 

New Order - Substance

YOURZ

Predictably, I thought Mine would give me shit for not liking Substance but I'm pleased to say, in this case, she's wrong.  (Oh, you can't imagine the joy I get from writing this...) (Mine says: OK, stop gloating - but it's really nice you can still surprise me after all this time)

I happen to have a deep, abiding attachment to New Order going back to the early 80s when I was a pale, skinny goth boy who hung around in the only gay club in my town with two of the most beautiful blond girls I never slept with (no regrets there, nope, none at all).  The reason we hung out there is because it was the only place in town playing the sort of music we wanted to hear.

I would dress in black, they would dress in white and we would drink and dance until the sun came up.  I remember walking out into Sunday morning shoppers many times, blinking in the bright  sunlight and burping cocktails into their faces.  New Order, among others, was the soundtrack of these times.

'Hold on, it's never enough, it's never enough until your heart stops beating...'

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

MINE

While I'm sure YourZ will find this album yawnable, it's such a classic for me, I can't imagine my life without it.  Not that I play it much.  I wonder why that is?

When I first sat down to re-listen to Substance for this exercise, it reminded me of a couple of recent incidents, when I've stumbled across a friend from the past I'd lost touch with.  As you do, in this Facebook age.  After the inital surprise I was happy to catch up and was reminded how much I enjoyed their company.  But I'm not rushing to see them again -although I haven't deleted their numbers from my phone and at least one is still a friend on Facebook.

Substance is much like that.  I like to know it's there, and I might take it out and have a listen every few years - but it's not on high rotation.

VERDICT: TURN IT DOWN

For more information: http://www.myspace.com/neworder