Dennis DeSantis wrote:
> I never did understand the OMD appeal though. I think maybe it was
> because every song was in the shiniest, happiest unrelentingly major key
> - it all sounded like a vapid commercial for girls' toys or something...
Holy smokes. Haven't you ever heard the early OMD stuff, Dennis?
Like the first 2 albums (self-titled and "Organization") or the
"Messages" 10" single? Man. Those were amazing records. "Electricity"
was the Pop Hit of the era, but everything else from that time period
was darker and pure Electronic goodness.
And as much as I hate to disagree with Sean Deason (who has put out an
album I consider one of the greatest records I've ever heard), but
back in the day, Duran (and Spandau) *was* cheesy amongst the headz!
(I liked The Scars and Visage a lot more than either of them from that lot)
"Save a Prayer" was nice, but it was considered an anomaly, not an average :-)
(Though "Save A Prayer" was in '82, there's a list Rob Theakston has of
Top 100 records of 1981. There was some truly amazing stuff out in that
year - Ob. 313: including "Sharevari" and "Alleys Of Your Mind" - and
yet I found myself thinking of all the amazing songs left out of the list,
in addition to the *dozens* that were on it. Wanna post it, Rob? :-) )
That said, I still think it's neat to see what tracks became Big in Detroit
back then. They sure didn't get big in Los Angeles!
Re: Heaven 17: I'd *still* play out the B.E.F. instrumental track that Shake
still plays out (as far as I know). The "Music for Stowaways" (Walkmans)
cassette from 1980 was a way-ahead-of-its-time slice of (occasionally)
Funk/Electronic wonderfulness.
Re: ABC: The *real* find is to find tracks from Martyn Ware's pre-ABC band,
an early Electronic outfit called "Vice Versa". Check out this article
on this ABC site:
http://www.ABCMartinFry.COM/vice1.html
Geez, all this nostalgia's getting me hyped for the Sex Pistols show in
3 weeks :-)
- Greg the Old Punk Geezer
