80's Album spotlight- The Fixx "Phantoms" (1984)

The Fixx were one of my favorite groups in the early 80's . Cy Curnin's lyrics were always deep, examining all aspects of the human condition and Jamie West-Oram's guitar textures were very unique. Their work with producer Rupert Hine is some of the finest work of the early 80's/new wave era.

                                                 

In the summer of 1984 I started working in a local record store and was very excited that the Fixx had a new album coming out.

                                                        
 
Overall the concept of "Phantoms" seemed to exam that underneath our public persona's lurks our real selves. ("Are We Ourselves") Before we know it we can lose ourselves and slip into("Phantom Living".
  Also touched upon are thoughts on larger world views and political situations around the globe.("Lost in Battle Overseas")

Cy's comments on each song on "Phantoms"

                                                         
         I always took "Lose Face" as a call to stop being self-conscious, lose some inhibition and let some instincts come out. Try to live your life as you truly want to rather than fall in line with other's expectations.

                            
                  Even in dark times, you've got to hold on and look for "rays of hope".
                                                           "Light in the dark, gives me hope"
                                               
                                                             "Sunshine in the Shade"

                                

                     Cy's comments seem to indicate a larger world view on this one, but I always saw it on a personal level. "Facing the Wind", going against the grain. The struggle to push on and hold on to your values and ideals in the modern world...  

"Just give me something to hold on
A piece of the world that won't go wrong
Is there somebody there I can talk to?
Somebody sharing the same view?"

                       
                                         the 'hit" single. "Are we Ourselves?" Do you get to live your life as the real you or just as some form of a persona you've had to create? The pressures of work, school, family, friends, enemies,etc can cause you to retreat into yourself and cause you to put up your defense mechanisms....

                                 

                                "Phantom Living" closes the record.
To me, again it touches on losing real self and being coming a "phantom" a public person you have to use to adapt. Once again Jamie West-Oram compressed, chiming guitars really shine.

  "I lose myself with a distance in my mind, Throwing out deception emplanted, steals my time"

                     

"Phantoms seems to be currently out-of-print and a little pricey to purchase
                        http://www.amazon.com/Phantoms-Fixx/dp/B000008FN0


A great site for some Fixx rarities

                     http://www.sightnsound.org/fixxmp3.htm

The guys are still active and are in the process of recording a new cd "Beautiful Friction"

Keep up with the band here: http://www.thefixx.com/index.html             

and on Twitter: @FixxOnline                      


                   

Producer spotlight: Steve Lillywhite

I wanted to continue to talk briefly about producers and engineers whose work I admire. They play such a large role on the sound of the music we love. Sometimes without even knowing it, you can have quite a number of albums in your collection and see a pattern of the same producer's names coming up over and over again. 
 
 Steve Lillywhite is one of these folks. Are you a fan of Peter Gabriel, U2, XTC, Psychedelic Furs, the Rolling Stones, Dave Matthews? Steve has worked with them all.

His 80's productions were characterized by a great drum sound, having a great room reverb. The snap of the snare drum on his records was great!
 Working with guitarist like the Edge, Charlie Burchill from Simple Minds and Stuart Adamson from Big Country showcased some very innovative sounds especially the use of delays and echoes.

                                                    


Of course Steve is not some 80's fossil. He has gone onto work with Dave Matthews Band, Phish and Liam Gallagher"s Beady Eye. He has adapted to the changing soundscapes of the era!

            

                                       Some of his work that you may know and love:
                                                   
                                                         U2 -" I Will Follow"

                             
                                          Psychedelic Furs "Pretty in Pink"

                                  
                                        the quirky  XTC -"Making Plans for Nigel"

                                          
   I  remember hearing Simple Minds "Waterfront" in early 1984 on the old WHFS
                                 "Sparkle in the Rain" is one of the best albums of the 80's!

                                 
      Of course U2's "War" had better known songs than this , but I thought I would spotlight this one.
         Great drum sound!  

                                                                    "Like a Song"

                            


                                                                

                                       Marshall Crenshaw's "Field Day" has some gems
                                           "Hold It' really has that Lillywhite drum sound

                                             

        in the US, Big Country is viewed as one-hit wonder but I really love their early albums.
                                           
                                               Lillywhite interview about "the Crossing"

                                           
                                       "Just a Shadow" is one of my favorite songs

                                            

                          Mick Jagger has always kept a keen eye on on who the hot producers of the day are. In 1985 he chose Steve Lillywhite to produce the Stones "Dirty Work" LP; with mixed results but had some good tracks
                                                      "One Hit to the Body"

                        

    the late, great Kirsty MacColl "You and me Baby" featuring Johnny Marr from the Smiths and David Gilmour of Pink Floyd

                                 

 Proving he's not some 80's relic, Steve went to great success producing the Dave Matthews Band.
            This month it was announced he is working with them again on a new album.

                                                             "Satellite"

                     

                    staying in a more recent era , he worked with noted jam-band Phish
                              "Backward Down the Number Line"

Van Halen concert & my Dad- 1980 memories

With all of the excitement of Van Halen putting out their first new album with David Lee Roth in 28 years and touring again, I always start to think back about the first time I saw them in 1980.

 Funny enough, it is usually my Dad that reminds me of it or maybe I remind him of it.
I told him that I've got tickets to see Van Halen next month.

Any time I've ever mentioned Van Halen my Dad usually says "Van Halen, he still alive?" or "Van Halen, He still around?!" I think he's usually thought David Lee Roth is "Van (first name) Halen (last name)".
He did surprise me when I showed him their recent pic and he said "oh yeah, is that Eddie? They look pretty good."

You see in 1980 when I was 14, my Dad took me, my buddy from next door and 9-year-old brother to VH. Hey, I couldn't drive yet, what could I do? I guess he could have dropped us off, but maybe my folks were a little worried. My parents had separated that year so he was also probably trying to be a good Dad and suffer for his kids for a couple of hours. :)
 We didn't get good tickets (thru the local Ticketmaster at a dept.store, pre-internet days).
 We got crap  tickets at the back of the hall. But we were happy to be going, to be at the event and buy a Tour shirt to wear to school in the fall.

 My Dad was 37- years old at the time. Not that old. I am 45 and going to see Van Halen, so it's not an "age" thing it's a generational thing. The guys in VH are now in their late 50's!
My Dad was never a big music guy. His musical taste usually ended around 1962. He likes Buddy Holly and the Everly Brothers, but now,ironically,  so do I! I also remember him liking some 70's stuff Jim Croce, Gordon Lightfoot ( again, pretty good!) and he always used to sing stuff like this around the house:
                                     
   He used to sing all the nonsense scat singing parts in this. He may still do it sometimes , come to think of it!
                                                      " Good Morning Starshine"

                             I also remember him signing "He Ain't Heavy , he's my Brother"

                                                   
                                    and we take him into this!.. poor guy! He didn't know what hit him!

"Ain't Talkin bout love-Baltimore 1980"

                         My Dad wisely went out and stood in the hall. He says he remembers vividly the wasted kids in the hallway and asking one kid in particular "are you ok son?". "Yeah man" the bleary-eyed kid slowly replied". In fact, he says, that seems clearer than some more recent events!

Some things just stick with ya and the concert sure left an impression on my Dad!
 It left one on my little brother too. My brother and I were always close. Most of the time , wherever I went, he went. I didn't mind, I liked my brother (and still do).
The poor kid was holding his nose because of all of the pot smoke around us. Now days people can't even smoke a cigarette at concerts.
Back then? It was mayhem! People were smoking weed, snorting coke, dropping acid, downing Quaaludes and drinking whiskey out in the open. Plus people used to feel the need to bring fireworks to concerts. for what?
 Probably a little too intense for  a 9-year old! (but he has always stayed pretty straight now that I think about it. maybe it turned him off to the drug thing!) He's a good sport.

I don't remember that much about the concert. It was loud, not a great mix. I remember Michael Anthony playing an electric piano housed in a hollowed out old bomb! for "And the Cradle Will Rock". I also remember David Lee Roth doing a long intro to "Ice Cream Man" playing acoustic guitar.  Visually, there were no video screens back then at the Civic Center. SO you were just watching the band from real far away. They probably had some pyrotechnics but not much else as far as presentation.

setlist:
Romeo Delight
Runnin' With The Devil
Break
Loss Of Control
Take Your Whiskey Home
Dance The Night Away
Women In Love
Jamie's Cryin'
Bright Lights, Big City
Everybody Wants Some!!
And The Cradle Will Rock...
On Fire
Guitar Solo
Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love
Ice Cream Man
You Really Got Me


I did get my T-shirt, my Dad survived, my brother survived whatever contact high he got and we all have a funny family memory! Thanks for indulging me....

Can't wait for March 5th!

Producer/Engineer Spotlight: Peter Coleman

I've decided to feature the work of some of my favorite producers and engineers.
What do they do?
To put it simply, they make the songs you love sound good.
They choose and place microphones. They suggest musical ideas. They add effects like reverb, delay, chorus. They mix all of the instruments and vocals that were recorded on separate tracks into the final stereo (sometimes mono) mix that you play in your car or rock out to on your Iphone/IPod, etc...
They are the "knob Twiddlers". (I know, sounds like a dirty metaphor...)..
...Read the album credits and liner notes, you'll learn alot!

Peter Coleman started as an engineer for the great producer Mike Chapman and then went on to produce artists himself. If you aren't into 80's AOR/melodic rock or new wave you might not like his work, lol test drive a few and see if you like....

 a sample of records he's engineered or produced: 

  
                                     The Knack: "Baby Talks Dirty"

                                          Pat Benatar "It's a Little Too Late"

                                                      
                                                     local favs: the Ravyns

   Paul Warren who went on to play with Richard Marx and these days in Rod Stewart's band

                                                
                                               Martin Briley's Mtv hit "Salt in My Tears"

                           Danny Wilde solo 1986, still plays in the Rembrandts these days:

  Songwriter Holly Knight's group that included Anton Fig from Letterman's TV band on Drums

                                           Blondie's cover of Jack Lee's
                                          "Hanging on the Telephone"

                                             Nick Gilder's #1 "Hot Child in the City"

              

Growing Up Different "Watching in the Moonlight"

While I'm in a new wave mood...
Growing Up Different was a local Baltimore band that came from the ashes of hard rock band  
Face Dancer. FD had some mild success with songs like "Red Shoes" and "Forever Beach".

This one is from 1985. These days Face Dancer is back out doing gigs and I would assume Growing Up Different is "retired"
Scott McGinn can be found here.. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1648193945&sk=wall

Don Felder of the Eagles

When Don Felder joined the Eagles in the mid-70's he definitely added a rock edge to their stuff. He wrote the music to "Hotel California", "Victim of Love" and "Those Shoes".
 The first Eagles album I really got into was "The Long Run". Felder and Joe Walsh had a larger role in the music. Ironically, this shift and the desire for more equal say among members drove Glenn Frey to break up the Eagles. Felder, Walsh, and Timothy B Schmit tried to convince Don Henley to continue the band without Frey, but he passed. As Joe Walsh said in Rolling Stone a couple of years ago "It's Glenn's band and Don helps him run it".
So all of the members went solo.
Felder had some rock radio success with "Takin a Ride on Heavy Metal" (with backing vocals from Henley).
I was excited when Felder finally put out his first (and still only ) solo album "Airborne" .

I received it for Christmas 1983 from some family friends (thank you Smith family :) I also got a 1973 Fender Mustang that Christmas from my Mom. It was a good Christmas! but I digress....

I liked and still like the album. Felder's vocals are a bit Henley-esque. There is some nice talk-box guitar present. The first single was the fun "Bad Girls"
The video starred Cheech and probably a bunch of Playboy models! Good enough for this 17 year old boy!

The track "Haywire" was also played on album rock radio and really captures the mood of being a teenager discovering the other sides of life and lust. I was a senior in high school then so this really hit home. Timothy B. Schmit added backing vocals , so it had the sound of a good Eagles rock track.

"Airborne" is back in print and available thru amazon.com and is probably on ITunes as well.

obscure band of the day: Powerplay

I've always enjoyed searching through the record store and flea market bargain bins of Lp's. For .50-$1 you can find some little gems. I look for producers names I recognize, band members I might have heard of . Also you can get a feel for what the music might be like from the album cover. How is the band dressed, haircuts(!)etc.
Powerplay's "Avanti" is one such gem. I believe they are Dutch band. They had one album out here in the States. They sound a bit like the Outfield (4 years before they were out), a little bit like some of their fellow Dutchmen Golden Earring's more poppy stuff. The fretless bass player is amazing! Lead singer Jan van der Mey still plays out with a version of the band.!

I was amazed that there is quite a bit of their stuff on YouTube
Here's a few good tracks. 
"Waste of Time"  really sounds like a lost Outfield track

"Love Can Break Your Heart"

"Make it Alone"

 a cool instrumental "Avanti"

still playing! 2011 "Make it Alone"

Here's a link to their website:
    http://janvandermeij.nl/