Comments on: White Label Wednesday: Romeo Void, “A Girl in Trouble (Is a Temporary Thing)”

By: Mix Six: "415 Records" | Popdose

Mix Six: "415 Records" | Popdose — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:32:21 +0000

[...] the big finish!Â Romeo Void has been covered by David Medsker, in his pre-scaled back White Label Wednesday feature, and by John C. Hughes.Â However, the song “Never Say Never” hasn’t been featured [...]

By: autodidact

autodidact — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 20:20:01 +0000

Nice song. I haven't heard this before. It reminds me of music from 1990s anime. What? You guys afraid of the word “fat”? She was on the fat side. Which, let's face it, is not rock n roll. Rock n roll is emaciated from smoking and doing too much heroin. Let's hear it for heroin!

By: autodidact

autodidact — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:20:01 +0000

By: autodidact

autodidact — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 15:20:01 +0000

By: Ted

Ted — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 03:32:33 +0000

In 1987, Debora Iyall came out a suburban radio station I was working at in Concord, CA for a radio interview and to promote her new album. She was pretty friendly and happy that someone was willing to put her on the air, but when we heard the album, it was pretty disappointing, so we passed on the single and just put “Girl in Trouble” in a higher rotation for a week after her interview. Mostly because she recorded one of those “Hi, this is Debora Iyall from Romeo Void, and you're listening to (insert call letters here).”

I've always loved “Never Say Never,” but was kind of bummed that “Girl in Trouble” was so mainstream for a band that really caught my attention with such a cool post-punk tune.

By: thefxc

thefxc — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 02:40:49 +0000

All three + 1/2 of Romeo Void's albums are worth listening to (and they're all available on CD now, thank you Wounded Bird!). “Girl In Trouble” is a bit slicker than some of their earlier albums (it's the drum machine, I think) but it's not really far from their earlier sound. All of their records hit a nice post-punk groove, think Solid Gold-era Gang of Four plus sax plus an awesome female poet on vocals. You may pick at the sax requirement, but Ben Bossi was a brilliant player and he was absolutely integral to their sound.

By: DavidMedsker

DavidMedsker — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:13:41 +0000

(*looks up picture of the Gossip singer*)

Wow, how about that. I'm shocked. I'm glad, but I'm still shocked.

By: Aryl W

Aryl W — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:41:19 +0000

Agree with Dolph. Beth from Gossip is not pretty & is heavy. Part of her appeal to me (straight white male) is that she is confident & comfortable in her own skin (I'm jealous) and she is fantastically talented. It's fantastic she made it through. I'd be sad to be without her music…

By: Dolph

Dolph — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:57:31 +0000

Nice article. One refutation of the idea that weight-ism would have ruined Romeo Void's chances today: The Gossip. Great songs and great pipes can still rule all.

By: kingofgrief

kingofgrief — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:54:51 +0000

I have a CD-quality mp3 of this mix if you're so inclined. It's wound up on a few compilations before. I think I might also be in possession of the 12" for the followup single, "Say No". If so, I can digitize.

I was a freshman in high school when "A Girl in Trouble" was new, and I do remember thinking to myself upon seeing the video, "Hey, she's cute". I've never had the problem with full-figured women that most of Straight White Male America tends to suffer from. Just think, had this video been shot six years later, some Vogue-approved waif would be miming the lyrics and Ms. Iyall would be relegated to Martha Wash status. Another reason I began missing the 80s alrmost immediately.