Morrissey was one of the earliest fans and champions of Britpop glumlords Suede, and it’s not too tough to figure out why.  Besides owing quite a musical debt to Morrissey fave Bowie, and even the Smiths themselves, Suede followed Moz’s tradition of tossing aside their most stellar compositions to inhabit b-sides and extra tracks on EPs.

A prime example is found on the b-side of “Stay Together,” the stopgap single released between Suede’s debut and their fantastic second album, Dog Man Star (also the last with co-founder and guitarist Bernard Butler, Marr to vocalist Brett Anderson’s Morrissey).  While its a-side is a widescreen epic, filled with blistering guitar, a chorus of soaring backing vocals, and tons of production bells and whistles, “The Living Dead” (download) is the absolute opposite.  Stripped down to Anderson’s quiet vocal and Butler’s acoustic guitar, this tale of love torn apart by heroin was a little too close to home, given Anderson’s then well-publicized relationship with Elastica vocalist Justine Frischmann:

Where’s all the money gone?
I’m talking to you
All up the hole in your arm
Is the needle a much better screw?
Oh, but what will you do alone?
Cuz I have to go.

“Tasteful restraint” has never been a term used to compliment Anderson’s vocals, but here the phrase fits, as he holds back his normal histrionics and delivers a gut-wrenching performance, even moreso on this live version from 1994:

The quality and quantity of Suede’s b-sides were so prolific, the group eventually had to release a double-CD collection (which still left a few tracks out - wither “Asda Town?”) called Sci-Fi Lullabies, which, strangely enough, is their most cohesive album outside of Dog Man Star.  It’s packed to the gills with excellent tunes, including the especially brilliant “Europe Is Our Playground.”  With so many to choose from, what’s your favorite Suede b-side?  Chime in below!

“The Living Dead” did not chart.

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Another example of a one-hit wonder in the States while huge in the U.K., paranoid android and Bowie Low cop artist Gary Numan can lay the blame for his lack of U.S. hits solely on his American label, Atco.  After the tremendous success of the iconic New Wave single “Cars,” Atco probably thought it was the right choice to release Numan’s first huge overseas hit (with Tubeway Army) “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” as the follow-up, even though it wasn’t featured on Numan’s then-current The Pleasure Principle LP.  After all, “Are ‘Friends’” was a massive U.K. #1 single, so it only made sense to consolidate his successes to break Numan big in the States.  Problem was, American radio, still in the thrall of the likes of Journey, Boston and Styx, was just not ready for “Are ‘Friends’” (and probably still aren’t), and the single topped out at #105, a pathetic showing for a Top Ten follow-up.

Meanwhile, over in the U.K., the downbeat, moody “Complex” (download) was chosen as The Pleasure Principle’s second single, a bewildering choice.  Almost half the song is a somber, synth instrumental, while the second part is a ballad about disconnection and alienation (on a macro level, you could almost say both halves were ripped off from Low - one moody vocal side, another instrumental).

Numan nearly had carte blanche on the U.K. charts in the early ’80s, so shockingly enough, “Complex” was a Top Ten hit.  However, to this day I can’t imagine why Numan’s record companies on both sides of the Atlantic chose to overlook the obvious choice for a second single, the groove-focused  “Metal,” (download) with its insistent guitar-like synth riff and soaring chords.  Its similarity to “Cars” wouldn’t have hurt its chances either. (more…)

It wasn’t the most auspicious of beginnings for Richard and Karen Carpenter.  Despite later huge success with several Top 40 hits and platinum albums, their first album, Offering, was a huge flop.  In fact, the only single to have any chart action at all from the debut disc was a slowed-down remake of the Beatles’ “Ticket To Ride,” (download) re-imagined as a ballad, putting the focus on the sad, forlorn lyrics.  Of course, that same formula of slow songs and woe-is-me lyrics would later score the brother and sister duo many hits, but the first time out, it fell mostly on deaf ears.

In the Carpenters’ hands, “Ticket To Ride” becomes a break-up ballad, with Karen’s superb voice removing the fun, jangly elements of the original and replacing them with heartache.  When Karen sings, “Think I’m gonna be sad, I think it’s today,” you better believe she means it.  Just listen to the lower notes she hits at the end of the chorus.  When brother Richard and the backing vocals come in during the bridge, however, it all gets a little too Up With People.  But then the arrangement strips things back down to just Karen and the longing returns - when she sings “And he don’t care - don’t care where” near the end, you can hear her little heart shatter. (more…)

It’s a shame The Lucy Show picked an awful sitcom to name themselves after, since the duo of Mark Bandola and Rob Vandeven had little in common with the strained comedy of an aging TV icon with a scotch-fueled voice and brassy henna rinse mugging with Sammy Davis Jr.  This Lucy Show started out more in a Cure vein, creating darkly melodic pop on their debut album - that all changed when A&M Records dumped them.

Recovering with a new deal with RCA-distributed Big Time Records (Love & Rockets’ original label), The Lucy Show lightened their sound a bit on their second album, Mania.  It paid off, since the group soon found itself the toast of college radio with a new sound that could almost be dubbed “gothic power pop.”  Nowhere is this more evident than on the album’s single, “A Million Things,” (download) which got the band considerable airplay on MTV’s “120 Minutes” with video featuring Bandola’s…energetic lipsyching.

Unfortunately, just as things were looking bright for the Lucy Show, Big Time Records went belly-up and the band was once again left without a record deal.  The duo released a final single on an indie label in 1988, but that didn’t do much good, so the Lucy Show finally got canceled.

I bought Mania back in 1986, solely on the strength of “A Million Things,” but I remember giving the album three or four spins before giving up on it when nothing else jumped out at me.  Seeing as its been recently re-released and remastered with bonus tracks (it’s also now available on iTunes), I have to ask any Lucy Show fans out there - am I missing anything?  Chime in if I am.

“A Million Things” did not chart.

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I’ve had it up to here listening to a small segment of people trying to put down America.  America’s the greatest land on Earth and we oughta be proud of what we have!  I’m proud of America.  I’m proud of our people, and I’m gonna prove it!  We’re American and damn proud of it!  Frankly, I’m getting a little ticked off.  Go to Hell!

Ah, Bob Serpentini.  Anyone who lived in Northeast Ohio in the mid-’90s remembers his obnoxious commercials for his Chevrolet dealerships, where he would rant about his right-leaning views for a good thirty seconds (like the quote above), before launching into a hard sell for the latest Impala.  His commercials were so over the top, they became a bit of a local phenomenon, if not an ironic one.

Local boys Dink took advantage of this, sampling one of Serpentini’s spots for the intro of their first single, “Green Mind,” (download) bearing the band’s trademark fusion of industrial beats, rock guitar, and hip-hop samples.  Spawned from Kent, Ohio, the same area that gave birth to DEVO and the Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde, Dink gigged for months before local alternative radio station WENZ added “Green Mind” to its regular rotation.  The band’s multi-media live shows and radio play brought the major labels sniffing around.  Dink eventually signed to Capitol, who released Dink’s self-titled debut album in 1995.  With that major label backing, a snazzy video was shot (in Akron!) for the single and MTV added it to the rotation of “120 Minutes” and “Alternative Nation.” (more…)

It’s a shame that U.K. synthpop duo Soft Cell became the epitome of an ’80s one-hit wonder.  While they charted with several singles overseas, “Tainted Love” was their sole American hit, despite releasing several excellent singles and albums.  One of those unfairly ignored singles was actually the follow-up to “Tainted Love,” another Northern Soul remake called “What!” (download)

“What!” came a few months after “Tainted Love” and Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’s release, a non-LP single to mark time until Soft Cell’s next album.  While non-album single releases were a regular thing in other parts of the world, it was still a relative rarity in the U.S., which may explain why it failed to chart, since record labels tend to ignore songs that don’t promote album sales.  “What!” also had a fun, Pop Art-inspired video that despite being pretty fabulous got scant airplay - that didn’t help matters much.  And yes, New Wave trainspotters, that’s Mari Wilson making a cameo:

An extended version of “What!” (download) finally appeared in album form on the Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing remix LP a few months later after the single, but by then it was too late to help its charting chances.  That’s a shame - while “What!” may have been too similar to “Tainted Love,” it was still a great little single - much more upbeat than Soft Cell’s normal oeuvre - that deserved more than just a few weeks of bubbling under the charts.  Even sadder, it was the last single to make any noise whatsoever for the duo in the States, cementing Soft Cell’s standing as a classic one-hit wonder.

“What!” peaked at #101 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Chart in 1982.

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Richard Jobson and Stuart Adamson founded Scottish punk band the Skids in 1977 - and if that second name sounds familiar, it’s probably because you know Adamson’s more famous combo, Big Country.  But years before, Adamson honed his songcraft and guitar playing on three Skids albums, even charting with a few singles in the U.K.

The Skids are probably best known for two songs:  “The Saints Are Coming,” which was remade for a charity team-up single by Green Day and U2, and “Into The Valley,” a Top Ten hit in the U.K. that featured a near-unintelligible chorus.  But my favorite Skids tune is the follow-up to “Into The Valley,” “Masquerade,” (download) a more New Wave than punk song with its marching beat and distinctive synth line in the chorus.

“Masquerade” was added to a remixed and re-released version of the band’s second album, 1979’s Days In Europa, which was originally pulled due to its controversial cover art depicting what looks like a scene from the 1936 Olympics.  Some felt it had “Aryan overtones,” so while the art was being replaced, the band took the opportunity to beef up some mixes and add “Masquerade” to the mix.  It was a savvy move, since the single hit the Top 20 in the U.K., and got the band a slot on “Top of the Pops.”

You can really hear the Big Country sound gestating in “Masquerade,” especially when you hit that guitar solo at 1:22 - the chiming, bagpipe-like sound is instantly familiar and a sure sign of things to come for Adamson.

Adamson left the Skids after their third album, The Absolute Game, founding Big Country soon after.  The Skids continued for one last album, then dissolved.  Sadly, Adamson committed suicide in 2001, reportedly due to depression compounded by alcoholism.  Co-founder Jobson went on to become a TV presenter and more recently, a film director.  The Skids live on, though, as the remaining Skids reformed on their 30th anniversary as a tribute to Adamson and played a few dates, and this month sees the re-release of The Absolute Game and the band’s final album, Strength Through Joy as a CD two-fer.

“Masuquerade” did not chart.

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There’s never been a musical trend that Cher has been afraid to jump upon.  From watered down hippie-dippy love songs to disco to adult contemporary schlock, the Dark Lady has matched only maybe Bowie in appropriating the current musical climate for her own campy needs.  And New Wave was no exception.

Cher’s flirtation with New Wave started as the ’80s blossomed - she had just released a second, much less successful follow-up to Take Me Home, and the Casablanca disco sound she was currently trading in was on the wane.  Enter Black Rose, a “punk” band that featured Cher on vocals and her then-current boyfriend on guitar.  The idea was that Black Rose was a real band, not a vanity project, so Cher’s image was purposely left off the front album cover art and the press materials downplayed her presence.  The result was a universally ignored album and Black Rose soon withered and died.

Flash forward two years later - Cher signed to Columbia Records for a one-album deal and was teamed with a group of hot writers to record her pop comeback, 1982’s I Paralyze.  Paired with Olivia Newton-John songwriter/producer John Farrar, who was on fire with a streak of hits for John that appropriated New Wave’s synths and drum machines, Cher released the title track (download) as the lead single.  Sounding like an outtake from Physical, “I Paralyze” had all the makings of a sure-fire hit.  However, the single suffered from scant promotion - no video was shot and Cher only made dulsatory appearances on “Solid Gold” and a rapidly aging “American Bandstand” to market it.

Cher’s then-diminished standings in the pop world and the weak promo push resulted in a non-charting lead-off single, not a good sign for the I Paralyze album as a whole.  While most of the world couldn’t hum a bar of the song, it remains a favorite of diva - she even mentions it in her VH1 “Behind the Music” episode as a song she loves and would like to re-record someday. (more…)

After a vacation summering in beautiful Silver Lake, California (aka, barhopping),  John C. Hughes and the world’s foremost Belinda Carlisle impersonator, a.k.a. his buddy Matty (or “Bearlinda,” if you prefer), return to review some singles, No on Prop 8 style. This week your rainbeaux duo take a listen to songs by Duran Duran, Office, Missing Persons, and Vanity 6, plus thrill to Matty’s note-perfect rendition of the Closet World jingle!  Enjoy, and as always, MP3s of the songs are below so you can follow along at home.

Duran Duran — “The Chauffeur (Blue Silver)” (download)

Office — “Wound Up” (download)

Missing Persons — “Words” (download)

Vanity 6 — “If A Girl Answers (Don’t Hang Up)” (download)

Is there such a thing as a casual Trash Can (or Trashcan, if you prefer) Sinatras fan?

I ask that since every TCS fan I’ve met has been nearly obsessive in their love for the Scottish band, which has been making critically acclaimed, hook-filled jangly pop albums since the early ’90s.  Unfortunately, sales have never quite matched that acclaim, but a small, devoted cult of fans has supported the group through the lean times, keeping candles burning during years-long gaps between albums and tours.

After getting some radio and MTV notice for their 1990 debut, Cake, the group took nearly four years to follow up with I’ve Seen Everything.  While I adored Cake, I found …Everything hard going at first, giving it a few shots before giving up on it completely when the hooks didn’t jump out immediately enough for my pleasure.  My mistake.  While lead-off single “Hayfever” (download) was actually very catchy, I found it a bit of an anomaly compared to the denseness of the rest of the album.  And the video got quite a few spins on MTV’s “120 Minutes,” eventually even being featured and mocked on “Beavis & Butthead.”

While I loved “Hayfever,” it wasn’t enough to get me into the rest of the album until a year or so later, when I put …Everything on and just let it play.  Freed from expectation, the songs revealed previously hidden hooks and accessibility.  Highlights include “Killing The Cabinet,” the title track, and my favorite, the acoustic-driven “I’m Immortal,” (download) filled with the fantastic wordplay (unintelligible as it sometimes is) the band is famous for: (more…)