Music Banter - View Single Post - That one album you wished you'd never bought

Screen13 · 08-05-2012, 05:21 PM

I think I found the one that I actually kept in my collection...

Sha Na Na - Sha Na Now.

I never had an album by a group that had a cheesy but still memorable show, and now I actually have two, and both are strong disappointments that killed off my slight like of the show (Hey, it had The Ramones on one episode! You don't let go of childhood memories like that.). Their debut had a first side that had their live show, all energetic and fun, but a second that seriously dragged them into MOR. Imagine now that second side dragged on to a whole album. That's the anti-world of Sha Na Now.

Imagine traveling back to the Mid 70's (as this was 1975), meeting a car collector that once was cool, but then hit his Late 30's and went all Mellow on us while still keeping his cars and collector's group jacket while trying to hide the increasing beer gut. Or how about going to a 50's theme Hamburger restaurant and instead of the classics playing on the music system the customer gets a tame Bar Band instead. That's the feeling I got listening to it.

The epic ballad "Try a Little Harder" may be better than Barry Manilow (only slightly...still is crap), but it's only just due to the fact that the instrumentation is a little sharper.

A cheesy song about hosting a "Basement Party"? No thanks.

LAME covers of classics like "Runaway," "Party Lights," and "(Just Like) Romero and Juliet" that really want the listener to throw the record right out the window. A cover of "Braking Up is Hard to Do" that's soft enough that it makes Neal Sedaka's version sound Punk (There have been worse, but...).

Crap outsider or Producer-written originals like "Circles of Love" which employ light Disco beats.

A Disco-Lite Instrumental co-written by the Producer (Tony Camillo) called "Sha-Bumpin" that's actually the best moment on there as it has no vocals and is not a crap cover. It STILL is crap, anyways.

It's understandable. It tried to bring what's essentially a live attraction up to date with the times, that being the very crap Mid-70's. Still, with a cover of them still wearing that camp 50's style stage image, you would expect them to at least Rock out a little, but damn did they get mellow here.

The spirit that dissed the Hippies at the end of Side One of their debut was no longer there. At least their Best Of featured little from this album.

This actually charted in The US, #162. It was possibly thanks to those said Middle Age Car Collectors then.

I wonder if Jocko's album released around the time was the Rock and Roll that went missing from Sha Na Now.

08-05-2012, 05:21 PM	#15 (permalink)
Screen13 Music Addict Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 1,388	I think I found the one that I actually kept in my collection... Sha Na Na - Sha Na Now. I never had an album by a group that had a cheesy but still memorable show, and now I actually have two, and both are strong disappointments that killed off my slight like of the show (Hey, it had The Ramones on one episode! You don't let go of childhood memories like that.). Their debut had a first side that had their live show, all energetic and fun, but a second that seriously dragged them into MOR. Imagine now that second side dragged on to a whole album. That's the anti-world of Sha Na Now. Imagine traveling back to the Mid 70's (as this was 1975), meeting a car collector that once was cool, but then hit his Late 30's and went all Mellow on us while still keeping his cars and collector's group jacket while trying to hide the increasing beer gut. Or how about going to a 50's theme Hamburger restaurant and instead of the classics playing on the music system the customer gets a tame Bar Band instead. That's the feeling I got listening to it. The epic ballad "Try a Little Harder" may be better than Barry Manilow (only slightly...still is crap), but it's only just due to the fact that the instrumentation is a little sharper. A cheesy song about hosting a "Basement Party"? No thanks. LAME covers of classics like "Runaway," "Party Lights," and "(Just Like) Romero and Juliet" that really want the listener to throw the record right out the window. A cover of "Braking Up is Hard to Do" that's soft enough that it makes Neal Sedaka's version sound Punk (There have been worse, but...). Crap outsider or Producer-written originals like "Circles of Love" which employ light Disco beats. A Disco-Lite Instrumental co-written by the Producer (Tony Camillo) called "Sha-Bumpin" that's actually the best moment on there as it has no vocals and is not a crap cover. It STILL is crap, anyways. It's understandable. It tried to bring what's essentially a live attraction up to date with the times, that being the very crap Mid-70's. Still, with a cover of them still wearing that camp 50's style stage image, you would expect them to at least Rock out a little, but damn did they get mellow here. The spirit that dissed the Hippies at the end of Side One of their debut was no longer there. At least their Best Of featured little from this album. This actually charted in The US, #162. It was possibly thanks to those said Middle Age Car Collectors then. I wonder if Jocko's album released around the time was the Rock and Roll that went missing from Sha Na Now. Last edited by Screen13; 08-05-2012 at 06:25 PM.