I'm covering some 7"s again this week and taking another trip back to the mid 80s. It's a mix of songs I know and songs I don't but I've at least heard of each of these artists, including one that I promised a few entries ago...
1266. Dead Or Alive - Something In My House 🔵
This sleeve is a goth masterpiece. It's got smoke, candles, crosses, and Pete Burns smouldering in an over-the-shoulder pose. The single opens with the roar of thunder before a hi-NRG gay disco banger cuts in. The combination of dance beat with campy goth lyrics about being haunted by an old flame feels like an innovative combination. I really want to go out and dance to this, it's a lot of fun. I hadn't heard it before but I plan to listen to it again.
b/w Hit That Button 🟢
Another big dance tune, not as catchy as the a-side but if you want big energetic dance-pop, it does the job. It has a sax solo that might or might not be synthetic, I can't tell. Pete Burns' gothic homosexual (threatening) style made Dead Or Alive so unique and it's a shame he was taken from us too soon - RIP Pete.
1267. The Smiths - Shoplifters Of The World Unite 🔵
Following their tradition of putting 50s and 60s (white) stars on the record sleeves, here we have a portrait of Elvis on the cover of this Smiths single. This must have confused older folks looking for new Elvis reissues. I can't make a connection between him and this song but it is the typical Smiths look. We crash straight into the verse, with Morrissey advocating shoplifting (not a riot, Smiths fans are much too soft for anything revolutionary). As far as Smiths songs go, I think this one is pretty average with no particularly special moments in either the lyrics or the accompanying music. Still, even when they're average, The Smiths are still good, and thankfully this is pretty light on terrible Morrissey opinions.
Lyrically, I much prefer this song to Shoplifters, but musically it kind of wanders along without producing much excitement. I suppose Marr, Rourke and Joyce aren't doing anything exciting here in order to let the words shine and there are a few in here that I really like: "if you have 5 seconds to spare then I'll tell you the story of my life - sixteen, clumsy and shy, I went to London and I checked myself in at the YWCA" is my favourite but I also like "she said in the days when you were hopelessly poor, I just liked you more" which is paraphrased in the song My Sex by Elastica (along with another Smiths line from Reel Around The Fountain). Death to Morrissey but this is well-written. A more exciting Johnny Marr guitar part would elevate it though.
Until now, Spear Of Destiny have just been a name to me with no sound attached. I associate them with goth but the sleeve looks a bit Red Wedge with its woodblock industrial town landscape across the front. Immediately I was surprised by the cowbell's tropical rhythm but layered over the top we have sweeping goth guitar chords, pounding goth drums and snarled goth lyrics, so I guess my initial assumption was correct. I can't tell whether it's about immigration and race as the title suggests, and if it is, I can't figure out their stance. They don't sound happy but surely you don't get goth-pop hits in lefty sleeves in 1987 with a song that's pro-xenophobia? Do you?! Politics aside though, it makes fine indie disco music.
The b-side is a clean guitar ballad, maybe an acoustic version, which I think is about God? I'm not sure about Christian goth, just like I'm not sure about Anti-immigrant goth. Like The Smiths' b-side the song is just a vehicle to convey the lyrics; unfortunately in this case the lyrics aren't that good.
I was promised Springsteen last time I did a 7" review but missed him so here he is now to make up for it. He looks good on the cover but the composite of 2 photos is a bit weird, as if they couldn't pick one so settled for using both and ended up making less impact instead of more. I know Fire but only from the Glee cover which I expect is quite different to the original. This single is a live version and his crowd sounds much livelier than the Dire Straits crowd I wrote about a few weeks ago. The combination of bass, hi-hat and Bruce's hushed vocal is very sexy. In fact, the whole lyric and delivery of this song is very hot, which is a new side to Bruce for me - I'm used to him being big and anthemic whereas this is intimate and seductive. The song stays reasonably calm the whole way through; I wonder whether a big push would have made it better but maybe that would just sound clichéd. He did include a long pause in the middle which was an exciting touch for a live track.
I'm not sure why it's specified that this is live and not Fire, when they both come from the same live compilation album, but it is what it is. For You is more upbeat and traditionally Springsteen with the piano playing high notes, the saxophone and his storytelling lyrical style. It suffers a little in that it sounds like some of his biggest hits but it's not quite as good as them, but it's still a decent song.
A classic record, dressed up in an 80s sleeve. There's a Levi's 501 logo on the front and a man in jeans looking over his shoulder, echoing Pete Burns' pose from the Dead Or Alive sleeve, but this time in a traditionally handsome, classic rock-n-roll style. Confusingly, the sleeve is all about jeans in the front, but promoting the movie 'Stand By Me' on the back - the song was on the film soundtrack, the advert, and celebrating its 25th anniversary all at the same time. All combined, it's full of symbols of rock-n-roll nostalgia, the same kind of looking back that The Smiths are aiming at with Elvis on their sleeve.
These two songs couldn't be more different - they're from the same era but this one is a fast doo-wop hit with loud sax and walking bass. The lyrics, about a teenager forced to do chores before they can go out dancing, are a lot of fun and the bass voice performing the "don't talk back" response of the parents is a great gimmick. It's great rebellious teenage good-time music and it's amazing that both this and Stand By Me were written by Leiber and Stoller since they're like night and day.
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