Author: Michael
The Cars – Candy-O (1979)
Released just one year after the self-titled debut, 1979’s Candy-O is another batch of new wave tracks written by Ric Ocasek. Like it’s predecessor, Candy-O is produced by Roy Thomas Baker but this one also features memorable art work by pin-up artist Alberto Vargas as suggested by drummer David Robinson.
The band’s first top 20 hit appears with the first track “Let’s Go”. Destined to be one of their classic singles, bassist Benjamin Orr sings about a teenage girl with a budding interest in the nightlife, the simple keyboard line is punctuated by handclaps and a shouted “Let’s Go!” in the chorus. Second single “It’s All I Can Do” is an understated track that sounds similar to Tom Petty with a nice synth in the chorus. “Double Life” compares driving to life and relationships, it gets pumped up by the drums in the refrain. The title track is harder driving with keyboard squiggles throughout.
For most bands, it would have been nearly impossible following up a debut where virtually every track is now considered a classic. But here, The Cars do a fine job on an album that would peak at #3 on the Billboard albums chart. The singles are the more memorable tracks but songs such as “Since I Held You”, “Night Spots”, and “Lust for Kicks” are all solid. Candy-O is another fine example of 70s power pop from the band that still endures.
9/10
Jessie Ware – What’s Your Pleasure (2020)
In 2012, Jessie Ware was nominated for the Mercury Music Award for her debut album Devotion that featured the hit singles “110%” and “Wildest Moments”. Her next two albums also reached the top 10 in the UK but with diminishing returns. A disaster tour of the US left Ware needing a rethink. After starting a popular podcast with her mom, Table Manners, Ware started work on her fourth album. Co-written and produced with James Ford, so far a staggering six songs have been released as singles.
The beat and bassline on album opener “Spotlight” appear 40 seconds in. A mature and sophisticated disco track, Ware sings that “It’s like you never even left”. The slinky “Save a Kiss” sounds a bit like Robyn with a terrific chorus and on “Adore You”, Ware rides a laid back groove with a sound vocal performance and production from Joseph Mount.
What’s Your Pleasure is one of those rare albums that actually gets better as it goes on and saves three of it’s best tracks for the end. Bananarama get a co-writing credit for “Mirage (Don’t Stop)” that uses parts of their hit “Cruel Summer”. “Mirage” sounds like a dance track from a bygone era. “The Kill” employs a darker synth before album closer “Remember Where You Are” turns the lights down with a good amount of soul. When Jessie Ware decided to let music go, she turned in her best album since her debut.
7.5/10
Q3 Read It 2020
Thus far George RR Martin has released five volumes of his ever popular A Song of Ice and Fire series with two more expected to be released at some point. The first book sees the family of Winterfell torn apart as Ned Stark is chosen as the new hand of the king to his good friend Robert Beratheon as he goes through troubles on the throne. Like the series, the book is chock a block of characters and places so having seen the TV show makes it a bit easier to follow and picture what is happening. Introductions are made to Khaleesi, Jon Snow, the Wall, the Lannisters, the Starks, etc as they venture through Martin’s fantasy world. The thick book is hard to put down as the action moves swiftly from one seen to another in this excellent fantasy novel.
10/10
The Break, the first novel by Winnipegger Katherena Vermette, won the author a boatload of awards and appeared on numerous year end lists in 2016. The novel centres around a brutal assault and how the extended family each deals with that trauma and the other events in their lives. Each chapter is written in the voice of a different narrator to gain insight into what each character is going through. The Break is a memorable story that takes place in Winnipeg’s north end area which shows both it’s grittiness and the loving people who try to carve out a life in Manitoba’s largest city.
8/10
Steven Blush’s 2016 book, New York Rock takes the reader through the NYC rock scene from Lou Reed/Velvet Underground through the Alternative rock scene of the early 2000s. It touches on scenes such glam, punk, hardcore, noise, etc. It is not just the music that Blush writes about but also the bars/clubs that played such an important role in the development of all these scenes. The problem here is that it tries to touch on every band within a scene vs writing about a few of the major player. It ends up just being a list of bands that most rock fans will never have heard of or will ever care about. Oddly, even though it touches the new century Blush does not even mention The Strokes. A similar but far better book is Meet Me in the Bathroom that instead focuses on one particular time period to better effect.
5/10
Jill Jonnes 2010 book Eiffel’s Tower is one of those that sat on my bookshelf for years. The tower acts as the centrepiece of the book that is actually about the 1889 Paris World’s Fair. Notable characters including Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, Thomas Edison, and artist Paul Gauguin all play pivotal roles to create the scene of the fair. It does a very good job of describing the trials and tribulations that Eiffel went through to both have his tower built as well as accepted by Parisian society. Jonnes paints a colourful history of life in 1889.
8/10
Van Halen – Van Halen (1978)
The rock world was saddened when it learned of the passing of guitar legend Eddie Van Halen on October 6, 2020. Eddie formed the band Van Halen back in 1974 along with his drumming brother Alex, bassist Michael Anthony and blonde haired singer David Lee Roth. Their self titled debut came out in early 1978 to mixed reviews but while the album only peaked at #19 in the US, it has kept selling over the years and has now topped over 10 million units sold in the US alone.
At any given time, any of the first four songs can be heard on FM rock radio. “Runnin’ with the Devil” introduced listeners to Diamond Dave’s howl while he sang of a hard living life as a loner. “Eruption” is a nearly two minute guitar instrumental that had teenagers in awe of the heroics of Eddie. The track usually leads into their first single, a cover of The Kinks “You Really Got Me”. “Ain’t Talking ‘Bout Love” has a harder edge sound, more metal with a shouted chorus before a quieter guitar part during the mid song breakdown.
The second half of the album turns in the single “Jamie’s Cryin’” whose intro would later be used by Tone Loc for his 80s rap classic “Wild Thing”. At it’s core, “Jamie’s Cryin'” is a great pop track as is “Feel Your Love Tonight” where Roth turns in a fine vocal performance while singing about trying to get the girl. Two thirds of the way through “I’m the One” the band pauses for a little “shoobedowa” interlude. The album starts to fade over the last three tracks including a cover of blues track “Ice Cream Man” and “On Fire” bringing the album to a decidedly mixed close.
Van Halen’s debut is now rightly considered a hard rock classic with several inescapable tracks. The songs that were originally demoed with the help Gene Simmons’ money tips its hat to the past with a few covers while showing later bands like Motley Crue the way forward. What comes through is the band’s joy of playing with a mix of hard rock, pop and metal that is hard to deny.
9/10
