This looks like an interesting mix of the different directions taken by bands in the post-punk early 80s. I know all of these artists but none of these songs, so lets explore.
#421. XTC - Senses Working Overtime 🟡
There's something about this sleeve that gives me an indication that this is a nerd-rock single but I can't put my finger on what it is. The photo of the band on the reverse side is funny - there's one member at the front (who I presume is the singer) holding a cat, and one at the back in a shirt and suit jacket looking like their dad.
Having played this record I realise I know the chorus. My assumption from the sleeve was correct, they do sound like a bunch of nerds - it's a flavour of post-punk that I'm not really into. The song is very bass/drum heavy although that could just be my busted speakers. The song is okay but I don't think it's a classic. The chorus is catchy - obvious, given it has a counting bit - but that's all it really has going for it.
b/w Blame The Weather 🟠
This is another song that has a catchy chorus and not much else. That's not much of a review but it's all I had to say for it.
Tissue Tigers (The Arguers) 🟡
This is more interesting musically. It's reminiscent of Adam Ant but not as good as what he put out. XTC have managed to fit 2 full length b-sides on this 7" which would be great if they were good songs, but one of these would have been plenty.
#422. U2 - Gloria 🟠
The sleeve makes it clear that U2 are from the Joy Division school of post-punk bands. I don't like U2 but my dad was into them so unfortunately they're going to crop up often. The guitar part reminds me of The Cure crossed with the big indie bands of the 2000s. The song could be good if they had a powerful singer but Bono is not it. They're trying to sound like a big arena rock band but they aren't ready to fill that position yet (and I'm not sure that sort of music existed yet anyway).
b/w I Will Follow (Live Version) 🟠
Bono speaks at the beginning of this - the last song in their set as he's saying his thanks to the audience - and he doesn't have an Irish accent, which is weird. I'm not particularly impressed by this song either. It doesn't say anywhere on the sleeve where this live version was recorded - Wikipedia says it's the 900-seater Paradise Rock Club in Boston - which again struck me as odd. U2 aren't that different to other band of this era/genre who I love, but for some reason I just can't bring myself to like them.
#423. Bill Wyman - (Si Si) Je Suis Un Rock Star 🟠
New Wave colour blocks and squiggles on the sleeve to make this look modern, but Bill Wyman put this out at age 45. I know there's something sketchy about this guy and possibly this song but I'm not sure what it is. It's got a Heart Of Glass produced by Malcolm McLaren timbre but dear god, he cannot sing at all. He's talk-singing in a Cockney accent and it is horrid - it makes sense that Wikipedia says he wrote this for Ian Dury who turned it down. It's a shame because if you took the vocal off this song and put something else on top of the accompaniment it could be quite good. Alarm bells started ringing at the lyric "they'll think I'm your dad and you're my daughter"... how old is the girl he's chatting up in this song?! And with that, I've uncovered the sketchy thing: a couple of years after this, Bill Wyman started dating a girl who was 14. That is fucking unacceptable. She was 11 when this came out. Disgusting. It misses out on a red rating for the accompaniment and nothing else.
b/w Rio de Janeiro 🟠
He's not doing the Ian Dury thing on this song as much as on the a-side but unfortunately the music isn't as good on this one. The lyrics are also terrible - it's about the city of Rio but very much at surface level, referencing coffee, beaches, women and football. It reads like a primary school project about the city. Maybe his girlfriend wrote it.
#424. A Flock Of Seagulls - Space Age Love Song 🟢
The airbrushed, heavily made-up eye and glossy red lips alongside retro-futurist space imagery and lurid colours mean one thing - it's New Romantic time, baby! The big drums and soaring guitars sound so John Hughes, and it has laserbeam synths. The vocals aren't quite right though; I can't decide whether it's the way they've been mixed or the singer's ability or a bit of both. The song could do with a massive chorus but that's not A Flock Of Seagulls' style so they've not written one. It's still pretty good though.
b/w Windows 🟡
This sounds like the way that the future was supposed to sound from the point of view of the 80s - the sonic palette is rad. Neither of the songs on this picture disc are particularly good as songs but they have interesting sounds and sometimes that's good enough.
#425. The Boomtown Rats - House On Fire 🟠
Bob Geldof is another 80s figure who I do not like so it's great to have to cover him and U2 in the same week. This has a boring sleeve, it looks more like the 1987 batch I covered previously but with some Bauhaus imagery thrown in to keep it current. The song has a reggae groove and I'm not sure I want to hear Bob Geldof's interpretation of reggae. It sounds like they're trying to go 2-Tone, as if they saw the gap left by The Specials and decided they could be the ones to fill it. It sounds embarrassing though - I'd maybe accept it as a cover version but it's a Geldof original. Super cringey and ill-advised.
b/w Europe Looked Ugly 🟠
Before I played this, I had to find out immediately what Geldof's stance was on Brexit. It turns out he's pro-EU and has done battle with N*gel F*rage so at least he's got one good thing going for him. Anyway, this song is a bit Human League. It appears that The Boomtown Rats were having a serious identity crisis in 1981 and I can't tell whether they were trying to parody or emulate the popular movements of the day. I love listening to a man realising he's become irrelevant in real time.
Not a good batch here, which is disappointing. Journalist Simon Price always says that 1981 was one of the best years for pop music of all time but not if these 5 singles are anything to go by.
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