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Sadly, Steeltown, Big Country's fine follow-up only went to #70 in the US and The Seer was #59, both quick rise and fall appearances. Still, not a bad run for three albums in The US by a band that was one of the best known of 1983, a time that generated a lot of bands that went straight to the cut outs by 1984. In a way, there was a strong following, but the success from their debut did not carry through after that in the States.

I think that the major drop off was with Peace In Our Time, what I think was their LA album that actually turned into a C/O, especially with the cassette appearing in those bins by 1990. It had a few great songs ("Broken Heart" especially), but the production was overdone in my opinion. After that, it was trying to keep the band moving along.

I agree, Bruce Watson is a great guitarist!

The Crossing did very well in The US for a while, and at least "In a Big Country" did great as well, but after 1983, it was tough (I'm sure in other areas as well). They deserved a better reception in The US after their first album.

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SINGLES CLUB #3
ARCADIA - ELECTION DAY





SPECIAL IMPORT EDITION!
Parlophone, 1985 (Odeon Series, as it said on the label)
In The US, it was on plain 'ol Capitol
US #6 single, UK #7
Gatefold sleeve
Non Album B Side? Yes, but an instrumental of the A

While Duran Duran went off into two separate directions with their spinoff projects, Simon LeBon, Nick Rhodes, and Roger Taylor (the later soon to leave the Duran World) decided to pile up all of their Cocteau influences and tie them up in a nice Roxy meets Japan style music with a touch of Gothic style and turn it into Arcadia. When "Election Day" was released, it actually gained some positive notice by the writers who were seriously dismissing the main band and possibly surprised a few who already got the big gust of Aqua Net Miami Vice Rock that was The Powerstation and were expecting something less but instead getting a slightly slick Gothic version of the hit making band which was fitting for that time considering the Post-New Pop interest in the real thing. Thankfully, with a lot of help from some great musicians, this project at least had ambition although it was still Duran partying like it was never going to end, but in an slightly artistic style.

Pretentious? Hell yeah!

Wrapped in a nice gatefold sleeve with credits for the hairdresser, photographer, and wardrobe (the later was Actress Emma Sutton, who was in a few films in the 80's and Early 90's including Lucifer and something about Merlin the Magician) - stuff usually saved for the album - this was possibly the last single event for the New Pop before the stroke of Midnight ushering in 1986. "Election Day" sounded political, but it night not have been, but either way you look at it the lyrics that Simon sings were a mess about maximum big surprises, taking a shirt off to pray, wild kinds of looks to the day and all that while Grace Jones gives it her all talking about stuff like "cut open murmurs" and the like. I'm a sober person, so I can't really think of what they were getting at, although I'm sure that the critics were maybe trying to detect some Tory kind of message when it hit the words "Re-Election Day" knowing what they were calling the band in their heyday, but it might have been just about going for the one in bed yet again...yes, it's that kind of song.

You might think that this is all leading up to a major dis of this song...no, not at all.

"Election Day", with it's Nick Rhodes Fairlight stabs that resemble "A View to a Kill", Duran's only 1985 single, making sure you knew who you were listening to, had some class help from musicians like Andy Mackay (Sax, Roxy Music and the Explorers, the band who he was with at that time), David Van Tieghem (Percussion), Carlos Alomar (David Bowie, Guitar), Masami Tsuchiya (Ippu-Do and Collaborations with bands like Japan, Guitar), Rafael de Jesus (Percussion), and Mark Egan (Bass). The So Red the Rose album would feature further star help, but this single already set the stage from the starting gate. In a way, this was everything Duran's very disappointing Seven and the Ragged Tiger was not - the clumsy surrealism actually working instead of being the perfect point for parody, and the New Pop Funk actually having a serious feeling to it thanks to their band, all a choice of people they respected.

Sadly, the single had a mainly instrumental B Side of the A, which meant that there was very little value for money here. There must have been some outtakes that were begging for that Non Album B side status, but no. They knew the fans would be buying it, but when the album came out, it was only their US fans and those from a few other parts of the world that would buy it - In the UK, So Red the Rose only made it to #30 and a quick drop off.

Those fanatical collectors in the States who found this on import must have been serious Duran fans because with the exception of the gatefold sleeve that featured the credits and lyrics with the dropped verse as well as a nice bag for the singles, this was very much the same. No changes. It was a mix that was exclusive to the single, but there's not that much in the difference, though.

Certainly not a "Value for Money" band. It was the excess of The 80's defined, although in this case with a pretty good tune.

Now many years after the fact and finding the single used and cheap in great condition anyways, it's not that bad to have around as a reminder as the song itself is a good groove without the vocals on the B. It's also solid proof that UK singles did sound better than the US 7 inch discs of the day as the Bass kicks in well and the sound is crisp.

The final nails in the New Pop coffin will be those Synth hits that go DAH DAH DAH!!! From this song. What a way for an era to go!

Maximum big surprise time! Here's the long version of the video!!!



Now to get that code used for the numbers used on the cover to the album...onto the Internet Wayback Machine for that to look at some tribute sites that are now long gone away from being updated.

Maybe I might find some more hints to the meaning of this song while I'm at it...maybe not.

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Update time: I just found out what those numbers were on the Arcadia album jacket: The last names of the three Duran members involved on the front and the title of the album on the back. Some "weird" stuff wrapped up in a slick cover and not so mysterious after all! To the cynics, this would possibly be another case of "not surprised", I'm sure.

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THE SINGLES CLUB #4
ELVIS COSTELLO AND THE ATTRACTIONS - I CAN'T STAND UP FOR FALLING DOWN (US 4 track EP)



Columbia, 1980
"Girls Talk" single only until the Ten Bloody Marys and Ten How's Your Fathers and Taking Liberties collections



Starting off with the promo mainly to bring back the memories of catching this on one of the many little known video based shows that were usually shown on UHF stations (That's channels 14 on up in The Pre-Cable US for those asking). Yeah, that's how a number of people, not saying a lot, caught these better songs on television if they were not watching Saturday Night Live before MTV got into the game big time. Like little pretenders to the Don Kirshner's Rock Concert throne, shows like Rockworld would appear from time to time, attracting those looking for a little Rock and Roll on the TV, possibly like letting the viewer know that they were into music big time.

That's how I got into this song.

With this 1980 released single to promote the Get Happy album, Columbia decided offer a little extra on this single - 4 songs instead of 2. Possibly trying to create a collector's edition out of releasing a great single that was already collectable, this was like a nice sampler of what he has been up to. Sadly, the choice songs for the B were already on the album, showing a little laziness as there was a mountain of Bs to choose from, but that's a minor complaint as I'm the type who loves the singles exclusives.

Knowing that Elvis Costello had a strong audience in The US with a body of work that was already a critics favorite, this was a neat way of bringing in more, but one that found few buyers. He was not one for the American Top 40 in 1980, and the resistance by Pop stations with the Rock ones that were not interested in playing a good Soul cover (The original was best known through it's version by the legendary Sam and Dave) made this go unnoticed in many areas of the country beyond devoted fans and those lucky enough to be near a store that sold singles beyond the chart makers. This partially resulted in a lot of copies resting on the shelves for years - in fact I remember seeing this single still being sold in a local record store two years after the fact plus buying this recently in a box at another store that had two other copies which might have been from that same batch (the old store went RIP circa 2007).

Three of the songs were on Get Happy!, which at least did very well, and "Girls Talk" was about to be on a couple of collections later that year, so it was not that these were overlooked songs, it's that I was not too happy of seeing yet another great single do next to nothing in The US. Onto the record itself!

Side One of this disc is the lead off song along with "Girls Talk", a song already known in The UK with a cult following in The US through Dave Edmunds' classic version, both already on a single that's one of the Costello Collectables through a release on 2 Tone in The UK as a quality-based one off single and stop gap while he was looking for another label to sign up with after Radar closed shop (Resulting in Jake Riviera setting up the F Beat label). WEA, who handled Radar, put a stop to the release, resulting in a number of unsold singles that were given away at concerts and a second pressing that had some copies sold at a New York concert in 1981 after others were also given away.



The performance on Costello's own version of "Girls Talk" is not as exciting as Edmunds', but there is a tenseness that works in it's own way if not perfectly. In a busy year for Costello watchers, there was also a version released in 1980 by Linda Ronstadt on the Mad Love album based on Edmunds' classic version, already showing some mainstream acceptance for his songs, although not really getting it right to many ears. By the end of 1980, the song got around to a lot of people deservedly.

On the B were two songs from Get Happy - Secondary Modern and King Horse. Both good and a nice closer to a 4 song EP.



In the end, the low sales of this single in The States was further proof that before the 12 Inch Single was EP was popular with the New Pop crowd in 1982, the 7 Inch EP was never a big thing in The US even if all the songs were good - just ask Beatles collectors who still remember those Capitol released in the height of Beatlemania.

Trivia: In 1982, Costello would also be a part of another Columbia singles sales hype, although it was the very ill fated one-sided single concept when they released "Man Out of Time" in it's series. A great song, but sadly promoted through a tacky way that was ill fitting for the song and his fans.

This leads to...BONUS TRACK TIME! Enjoy!

Gavin B.

Get Happy! is still my all time favorite Elvis Costello record. Over the years I've played it thousands of times and I'm still not sick of it. My most beloved cuts on the album are Opportunity, Secondary Modern, New Amsterdam, & Riot Act...which are the songs that don't fit into the soul music theme of the album. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy the Stax/Motown themed songs on Get Happy!. There isn't a single throwaway song on the entire album.

I really like the rougher sound of Nick Lowe's production on Get Happy!, which makes the Attractions sound more like a bar band than a "new wave" band. Lowe's production on the Attraction's previous album Armed Forces was almost too slick.

I own the Rhino issued edition of Get Happy! which includes Girls Talk as the 21st song on the album. The UK edition of Get Happy! always had Girls Talk as the 21st song, if I'm not mistaken.

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There are two types of music: the first type is the blues and the second type is all the other stuff.
Townes Van Zandt

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Checked Discogs for the original F-Beat listing for the 1980 release, and there were only 20 songs, even on the cassette and 2 Vinyl Promo.

The first time that "Girl's Talk" was on Get Happy! was when Demon released the CD with that song starting off the Extended Play section of the disc, at song #21.

Ten Bloody Marys and Ten How's Your Fathers was the great UK 1984 collection of songs from 1979-80 on Imp which put the song on #2.

http://www.discogs.com/Elvis-Costell...elease/2369611

Gavin B.

You're right about Girls Talk. The first American appearance of Girls Talk was on 1980 collection Taking Liberties. Ten Bloody Marys & Ten How's Your Fathers was the UK equivalent of Taking Liberties.


According to Rhino Records:

The Ryko edition is the 21 song version of Get Happy with Girls Talk on it, that I own.

Then Rhino records entered the picture 2001 and issued an even more ambitious version of Get Happy.

GET HAPPY!!

ORIGINAL ALBUM (48:21)

1.Love For Tender (1:57)
2.Opportunity (3:11)
3.The Imposter (1:57)
4.Secondary Modern (1:56)
5.King Horse (2:59)
6.Possession (2:02)
7.Men Called Uncle (2:16)
8.Clowntime Is Over (2:57)
9.New Amsterdam (2:10)
10.High Fidelity (2:26)
11.I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down (2:05)
12.Black & White World (1:55)
13.5ive Gears In Reverse (2:37)
14.B Movie (2:01)
15.Motel Matches (2:28)
16.Human Touch (2:27)
17.Beaten To The Punch (1:47)
18.Temptation (2:31)
19.I Stand Accused (2:18)
20.Riot Act (3:35)

BONUS DISC (79:35)

1.I Stand Accused (alternate version) (3:09)
2.So Young (3:26)
3.Girls Talk (1:55)
4.Human Touch (alternate version) (2:19)
5.Temptation (alternate version) (2:27)
6.Motel Matches (alternate take) (2:26)
7.Clowntime Is Over No. 2 (3:43)
8.B Movie (alternate version) (2:26)
9.Girls Talk (alternate version) (2:03)
10.Getting Mighty Crowded (2:07)
11.From A Whisper To A Scream (alternate version) (2:29)
12.Watch Your Step (alternate version) (2:01)
13.Dr. Luther's Assistant (3:26)
14.Ghost Train (3:05)
15.New Lace Sleeves (alternate version) (3:45)
16.Hoover Factory (1:44)
17.Just A Memory (2:15)
18.I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down (alternate version) (2:43)
19.New Amsterdam (alternate version) (2:29)
20.Black & White World (demo) (1:49)
21.Riot Act (demo) (2:48)
22.5ive Gears In Reverse (demo) (2:31)
23.Love For Tender (demo) (2:05)
24.Men Called Uncle (demo) (2:04)
25.King Horse (demo) (2:43)
26.Seven O'Clock (demo) (1:58)
27.High Fidelity (live) (3:17)
28.Opportunity (live) (2:33)
29.The Imposter (live) (2:11)
30.Don't Look Back (live) (3:01) / CBS Radio Commercial (1:30)

I'd think you'd have to be a real fanatic to buy the Rhino version. The second album is mostly demos, alternative versions and live performances that are almost a distraction from the

__________________
There are two types of music: the first type is the blues and the second type is all the other stuff.
Townes Van Zandt

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THOMAS DOLBY - THE FLAT EARTH

Released, 1984
US Cut Out - Saw dot on lower left hand side
US #35



Thomas Dolby (Thomas Morgan Robertson) was always around the music scene in one way or another, making his brief time in the Pop spotlight a small chapter in a very interesting career, and you may have heard his work without even knowing it. Although having to change his name due to being on a different label, his work on Def Leppard's mega-selling Pyromania album was clearly detected shortly after it's release under the name Booker T. Boffin, and of course he used his monies earned from appearing on Foreigner 4 for his studio. Then he went into a very interesting career with his own music leading up to the US MTV One Hit Wonder that it "She Blinded Me With Science" leading the line of bands and singers that were more popular in the States while being slightly known in the UK, although time would reverse that quick (Still, there's a very happy ending later on...Back in The 80's, you know the tale, but this is a special story).

Not to make this a mountain of words...here's a bonus track in The Golden Age of Wireless' first single that was later released in The US as a follow-up to "She Blinded Me With Science" to set the tone of the tale.



The saddest fall from popularity in the "New Wave" era in The US was looking at Dolby's popularity in The States between the years of '83 and '84 from being seen as that quirky scientist singing "She Blinded Me With Science" that was gimmicky enough for the Top 40 but still containing a lot of quality in his Synth Pop to stand out, to hardly being noticed when this more introspective album was unleashed to a public already having it's MTV superstars while throwing out what happened before..."Oh, he's that SCIENCE! guy, right?" (Yes...and No, actually it was Mangus Pike shouting it on Dolby's song). When the more defining "Europa and the Pirate Twins" with a little assistance by XTC's Andy Partridge was released in The US as the follow-up to that mega hit single, it was already a quick downhill slide when the single peaked at #67 - although by the next year that slide was not eclusive.

Still, leave it to Dolby to seriously move on to further adventures, which led to an unexpected move into going more into Funk influenced music with Dolby's Cube with some participation from George Clinton ("Get Out of My Mix", "May the Cube be With You") and also generating a very interesting second album in The Flat Earth. In The UK, this was his turn at the Top 20 ring there after seeing his first album singles crawl into the lower reaches of it's chart - "Windpower" was the Top 40 there (#31) before "Hyperactive" - while "Science" was a non-album single that crept to the 40's there. Whatever the cause was that led to this turnaround in fortune in The UK, it was the start of a long standing cult that saw some of releases do slightly well - not Pop chart-beaters, but the kind that sees a few weeks here and there - while in The US, it was all just a trivia memory of the Pre-1984 MTV days, and the most of the rest of the world it was mainly down to being a One-Hit Wonder (The conquest of MTV took a long time), but in the end he was one that took his earnings to very good use.

To promote The Flat Earth, "Hyperactive" may have been a wise choice for a single, but in The US it was only a Dance Hit compared to it's lowly #62 although it was a Top 20 in Canada, plus it's appearance as the last track on The Flat Earth only gave some FM Radio DJ's with New Wave Shows who might not have gotten the promo single and fair weather "looking for the hit" fans headaches in a time when the hit was usually the first track. Still, In The UK, it did very well, breaking that "Bigger in The US" stigma many others had (Hello Fixx, Flock of Seagulls, and a host of others!). A very innovative video also helped as well...



"Dissidents" was a popular US New Wave Radio hit at least despite it being the final single from the album in The UK that bubbled under (#90), but the album itself fell a little short of selling expectations after a strong startup in the Top 40, but quickly falling down in an increasingly Mega-Selling US Pop Scene ready to throw off it's New Wave Days. With interesting songs like the title track, this album filled with some Jazz influence and excellent musicianship from Mathew Sliegman (Bass), Kevin Armstrong (Guitar, Trumpet), and Clif Brigden (Computer Drums, assorted Percussion) was certainly not the all out party album, and it faded very quick from the US album charts where only a year ago you could not escape his name.

Good friend Robyn Hitchcock (Soft Boys) appears as "Kevin" on "White City", by the way, credit readers!

A cover of Dan Hicks' "I Scare Myself" also added to the sophistication and was released as a single.





Always one step forward, he knew the fleeting nature of Pop Stardom and returned to his Production work with the occasional release now and then...plus that Howard the Duck Soundtrack Bad 80's Film fans remember him for as well. Music with Ryuichi Sakamoto and Producing Joni Mitchell and Prefab Sprout was just the tip of the iceberg while his future in establishing Headspace, being a CEO in Beatnik, Inc., sound development, and Computer Game music was only a small time away.



SCIENCE! seemed to be the magic word after all!
Two more bonus tracks to update the story...

[YOUTUBE]b6_Fu6Wa_xo[YOUTUBE]

Isbjørn

When I saw the title of your journal, I immediately thought of Slipknot. They play mall music for ghosts.

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Taxman

This Journal section is becoming very doomy. Graves, caves, bats, coffins and ghosts...

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