Sardonicus reviews a bunch of old 45s (1 Viewer)

[lolly]

I don't care for ABC much. The Lexicon Of Love was obviously huge at the time, and I can appreciate the songwriting and (particularly) the production, but I don't particularly enjoy his voice or the visuals.

Beauty Stab left me pretty cold. How To Be A Zillionaire appealed to me more, but again I've never been able to really get past Martin Fry as a front man.

 

[funky]

ABC are interesting because I always pegged them as New Romantics (are they? I don’t know a lot of their stuff) and usually that stuff is largely ignored by critics who favoured the electronic side of the 80s new wave scene, such as Depeche Mode, New Order, PSB etc. But ABC can often be found in best albums polls and have had good reviews for some of their stuff. I was never sure what set them apart really.

 

[Sardonicus]

The Doobie Brothers - Long Train Runnin' (Sure Is Pure Remix Edit b/w Original Version)

UK chart peak - Number 7

Can anyone remember what prompted this remix to take off & hit the top 10 in 1993? My best guess is the record company had heard Bananarama's (utterly fabulous) Latino dance cover from 1991 & decided to contact Sure Is Pure to see if a hit could be had - after their remix of We Are Family, by fellow 70s act Sister Sledge, reached the UK top 5 in early 1993.

Whereas the disco classics of the Sledge were always going to be ripe for a modern dance re-interpretation though, The Doobie Brothers wouldn't have been at the forefront of anyone's minds to head down the CLUBBY ROUTE years after their heyday. They epitomised a certain strand of very 70s soft rock crossed with a bit of blue eyed soul, & they're all beardy types that look like they enjoy a plate of GRITS (@Joseph can you clarify what GRITS actually are pls). They had a lot of success in the States, but only minor impact in the UK, with even signature song What A Fool Believes only crawling to number 31 despite winning Record Of The Year at the Grammys & number 1 in the USA. Thank God too, as I'm adding it to the overrated classics thread. The vocals from Michael McDonald sounds STRAINED & the plodding piano is SHITE.

Long Train Runnin' is sang by Tom Johnston & it's a top tune in its original version - a little bit rocky, a little bit funky, top harmonica & guitar solos, & a nice little fake out before the music kicks back in towards the end. Sure Is Pure keep all that & add in a driving backbeat that just gives the song a tad more oomph & hustles you towards the dancefloor a little more. They haven't reinvented the WHEEL, just brought out the elements that suited a disco rather than a rock gig, & it modernised the song while not doing anything particularly NEW. I'm going to assume the band were game for it although I don't remember any promotion from them, but it was well in line with what radio was looking for in 1993, & gave The Doobie Brothers a surprise belated top 10 hit.

I'm going to share the follow-up, a Motiv8 remix of another early hit, Listen To The Music, as it's & I imagine Moopy would be BIG FANS of the sound. It deserved another top 10, but was in at 37 then straight out again, & that was YER LOT for the Doobie Brothers & their brief dance comeback. It might be one of the earliest - perhaps even THE FIRST - instance of a few classic rock tunes being taken to the dancefloor, so the band perhaps helped push into the mainstream a subgenre of dance that continues to throw out the odd hit to this day. Not a bad latter day legacy for a band mostly considered to be a 70s throwback!

 

[Sardonicus]

Listen To The Music as remixed by Motiv8.

 

[lolly]

ABC are interesting because I always pegged them as New Romantics (are they? I don’t know a lot of their stuff) and usually that stuff is largely ignored by critics who favoured the electronic side of the 80s new wave scene, such as Depeche Mode, New Order, PSB etc. But ABC can often be found in best albums polls and have had good reviews for some of their stuff. I was never sure what set them apart really.

I'd think of them more as influenced by the New Romantic movement (I guess not many UK bands of that era weren't) rather than belonging to it. Certainly by the time of their breakthrough, the movement had peaked and was arguably waning. I'd personally put them more in the second phase of synth pop or new pop which formed the Second British Invasion, although like @Sardonicus says, they were very fond of playing with genres.

 

[octophone]

I did like that ABC were basically a different band with every album. My favourite ABC is the cartoon era, the Zillionaire album with "Be Near Me" as the hit single. It's a really good pop album, albeit of a very different stripe to the drama of Lexicon and the cynical darkness of Beauty Stab.

 

[Joseph]

They epitomised a certain strand of very 70s soft rock crossed with a bit of blue eyed soul, & they're all beardy types that look like they enjoy a plate of GRITS (@Joseph can you clarify what GRITS actually are pls).

Grits is like oatmeal but made of dried corn which gives it an especially grainy texture. I HATE grits but it’s a very popular dish here.

A lot of people either make them super sweet or super savory because at the base, they have no actual taste.