WAS's Awesome New Wave Song Of The Week #5: Freur - Doot Doot

Freur was a Welsh band in the early 80s that started it’s career as a squiggle!  Yes, unlike the guy from Minnesota who went from “Prince" to a sign, Freur started as symbol and only named itself after they got a record deal and had to have a name.  An art school synthpop duo of Karl Hyde and Rick Smith - that expanded to five to make the record - Freur didn’t release much material.  Their first album got a global release and their second very limited. It was their very first single in 1982 that was their one & only hit.  

The soaring, ethereal Doot Doot is their masterpiece.  It’s a timeless song that incorporates all kinds of sounds into an atmospheric wonder.  Layered vocals, odd drum rhythms, synthesized sounds, birds chirping, laughter …and do I hear dogs barking?  Yet it comes together wonderfully, evoking a feeling of rising above everything else.  If there is anything to criticize about Doot Doot,it is that it is only 3:45 long - it ends just as you’re really getting into it.  Thankfully this is the 1980s we’re talking about here, so an extended mix is available, which clocks in at a more appropriate 6 minutes.  I would actually suggest listening to it on repeat for an hour (or more) to best appreciate it’s subtle sounds & complexities!

So join Freur, Marc D & I … as we go DOOT!   DOOT DOOT !

-WAS

Just Missed My Top 200: The Cult - She Sells Sanctuary

Ian Astbury and The Cult had several huge hits in the 80s, including "Love Removal Machine", "Fire Woman", and my favorite song of theirs, "She Sells Sanctuary". An eclectic mixture of new wave, rock, and gothic influences, The Cult released awesome albums and blew the roof off live venues all throughout the decade. "She Sells Sanctuary" (from their 1985 LP Love) hit #15 in England and #11 in Canada, though strangely it didn't chart at all in the USA. It also just missed making my Top 200.

Here's a live performance of the song in Finland during their '86 world tour:

See you next Saturday with another tune that almost made it onto my list.

WAS's Awesome New Wave Song Of The Week #4: Sigue Sigue Sputnik - Love Missile F1-11

Sigue Sigue Sputnik … what the heck were they?  Wrong question!  It’s more appropriate to ask “What WEREN’T they??!”
 
Cyberpunk outlaws … Post punk drag queens ... Synthpop swingers … Hi-tech new wavers … Aural assaulters … Sci Fi samplers … Ultra-violence practitioners… Marketing hustlers  ... Video pioneers … Fashion renegades ... Sex bomb boogiers !
 
Produced by Giorgio Moroder.  On the Soundtrack of a John Hughes film. Sigue Sigue Sputnik were everywhere yet nowhere, in your face, yet hiding in plain sight.
Started in London in 1982 by ex-Gen-Xer Tony James, SSS were (at least) 25 years ahead of their time.  Their blend of musical saturation, pop culture references, sexual elasticity, style over substance, relentless self-promotion and multi-media shock & awe was never seen before and has rarely been pulled together so well in such a succinct package since.  

Like an out-of control heat-seeking moisture missile, SSS spewed forth a load of 12” singles during their brief hurtle through the pop culture universe.  Albums collected them in various forms … remixes, singles, dance versions, dubs, edits, extended mixes - almost every release had multiple variants.  Fake advertisements were slotted between songs, a la RoboCop 5 years later.  Dystopian sci-fi movies like A Clockwork Orange, Mad Max & Blade Runner were sampled relentlessly.  Videos featuring the band and their over-the-top look were slick and entertaining.  Neither BPM - nor hair - could ever be too high.
 
Their biggest hit “Love Missile F1-11” was produced by the golden hand of Giorgio Moroder in 1986, and an extended mix of it was used in the shower scene of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.  It charted in various countries and even made #1 in Spain.  The video of 'Love Missile' is a mini-movie unto itself, with SSS strutting about like a mega-rich, hyper-sexualized version of Buckaroo Banzai and the Hong Kong Cavaliers, well-armed with weapons … and hairspray.
 
SSS were a band that proved right the Blade Runner line that "the candle that burns twice as bright, burns half as long."  And for a brief period in the mid 80s … SSS burned oh so brightly.

-WAS

Just Missed My Top 200: Baltimora - Juke Box Boy

Jimmy McShane and Baltimora had a huge hit with "Tarzan Boy" (#96 on my Top 200) and a lesser hit with "Living In The Background" (#200). By the time "Juke Box Boy" was released, however, the group's star had begun to dim. A hit only in their native Italy and some surrounding European countries, "Juke Box Boy" was the beginning of the end for the new wave/eurodance band. While they would soldier on for another year or two, until the abject failure of "Key Key Karimba" and the second Baltimora album from which it came (1987's Survivor In Love), it was only a matter of time.

Here's "Key Key Karimba"...

...and here's "Woody Boogie" as well. After this I promise, no more Baltimora.

 See you next Saturday with another song that just missed my Top 200.

WAS's Awesome New Wave Song Of The Week #3: Near Paris - Ceiling

This week’s Awesome Song is a wondrous synthpop nugget from Near Paris, a band from Columbus Ohio.  Near Paris was only a duo, Dana and Gerald, but what a sound they made.  Strong synth, infectious grooves and Dana’s absolutely mesmerizing vocal can be found in all of their work, which unfortunately was only one EP.  I remember hearing NP at new wave clubs in NYC in the mid-eighties but that was the days before Shazam and Soundhound .. so their band name was unknown to me . You can imagine my delight when I heard the same song thirty years later on SOMA-FM’s Underground 80s and finally discovered it was Near Paris. And even better - like their modern-day labelmates, the phenomenal Play - their entire catalog, of everything they made in 1985, has been re-released digitally in the new century by Medical Records!  Enjoy “Ceiling” in 2017.  And we’ll hear from Near Paris again on a future Awesome Song.

-WAS

Just Missed My Top 200: Midge Ure - Call Of The Wild

After Ultravox broke up, Midge Ure's solo career got off to a flying start with his 1985 LP The Gift and its #1 hit "If I Was". While I don't really care for that song, his between-albums single release, 1986's "Call Of The Wild" is a great tune. Reaching #27 on the UK chart, the track has been retroactively added to some later pressings of The Gift. It was accompanied by a very odd video, showing the events of Ure's typical day in great detail:

-Wake up.

-Wear atrociously ugly sweater outside to collect firewood.

-Begin drinking (you know there's a slug of whiskey in that glass!).

-Settle in to work on disturbingly-exact clay sculpture of own face, tickling it affectionately from time to time.

-Stand in windswept fields, singing.

Aside from the bizarre video, the song is Ure's best solo work in my opinion. I was lucky enough to see the man himself perform in Halifax back in 2015 (see link below), and I can attest that he was in top form during that sold-out show. And yes, he brought the standing-room-only crowd to its feet with "Call Of The Wild".

Ad for Midge Ure Halifax performance:

See you next Saturday with another song that just missed making my Top 200.

WAS's Awesome New Wave Song Of The Week #2: INXS - Don't Change

Before the reality TV show … before a rotating cast of lead singers… before international fame … before a bunch of hit singles that all sounded the same … before the sad & weird demise of their front man  … there was a new wave band from Oz named INXS.  They took a while to hit their stride, releasing two unremarkable sorta-synthpopy albums as the 80s dawned.  They finally found some success in 1982 with the single “The One Thing” from their third album, Shabooh Shoobah. But buried on that album was the final track on side 2 which was also their one and only masterpiece: “Don’t Change”.  From the opening synth notes to the guitars ringing in … the urgent singing … the quiet part in the middle… the outro with the the soaring backing vocals, this song never fails to send a chill up my spine and make me think of great times gone by … in the greatest decade.  If you love 80s synthpop and you love New Wave … Don’t Change A Thing !

-WAS

Just Missed My Top 200: Blancmange - Blind Vision

Every Saturday I will post a new wave/synthpop song that just missed making my Top 200 list. Let's get going with the first song!

Blancmange is a band I'm not a huge fan of, as their biggest hits ("That's Love That It Is", "Living On The Ceiling", etc.) don't really appeal to me. The only tune from them that made my Top 200 was "Lose Your Love" which got the #14 spot because it's awesome. I revisited "Blind Vision" after reading a comment Was made on my writeup for "Lose Your Love", and realized it was a great song. A great song with a great video. A great song that just missed the Top 200.

 

WAS's Awesome New Wave Song Of The Week #1: Red Rockers - China

Long-time reader and comment contributor WAS has volunteered to keep this thing going by showcasing an Awesome New Wave Song of the Week in this space. Check back each week for a regular dose of auditory goodness from the greatest era in music history. I'm pumped and looking forward to reading and listening to his picks. let's get this party started!
                                                         -Marc D.
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And now, a note from WAS and his first entry:

Like Marc D, I am also a firm believer that some the greatest music of all time can be found at the nexus of new wave and synthpop in the early to mid 1980s.  It was a time of amazing developments on the music scene - punk rock was over, but all of the elements that caused it were searching for a new post-punk outlet.  They coalesced into a new movement that evolved into something altogether more exploratory … more listenable… and more interesting.  It wasn’t just a new kind of music … and it was more than just the “DIY" trend that punk introduced (which was rebellious in a conformist sort of way as Bart Simpson says) with the poor playing, mohawks and safety pins.  No this kind of new music was an onslaught of everything - new sounds … instruments .. fashion … clubs … music … video … movies … and yes … even haircuts.

Being fortunate enough to have grown up in NYC, I spun records for my college radio station in the early 80s and visited all the legendary local clubs of the era.  It was a time where pioneering new wave radio station WLIR became WDRE and Dared to be Different.  A time when independent record sellers were everywhere and would spin the latest innovative sounds from around the world the moment they came out.  In short - it was a great time to be alive.

So if you are like me and having withdrawal pains now that Marc D’s amazing Top 200 is done, fear not.  Marc has graciously allowed the blog to live on so we can present …. Awesome New Wave Songs Of The Week !

- Your DJ, WAS

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Red Rockers started out as a punk band from New Orleans Louisiana.  Their punk leanings were broad and deep; once billed as “America’s Clash” they were hardcore to the core and even teamed up with Dead Kennedy’s lead singer Jello Biafra on a Johnny Cash cover.  As they matured, however, their sound changed ... to the point that by 1982, their second album “Good as Gold” had a much more melodious new wave guitar-driven synthy sound and it delivered the one hit wonder song of their career “China”.   It’s a great song that has aged well and still sounds fresh today.  Sadly their success did not continue ... their next album was the Spinal-Tap-esque “Schizophrenic Circus”, complete with a cover featuring the band in cheesy circus costumes.  It garnered similar reviews to Tap’s “Shark Sandwich” (shit sandwich) and that was it for the Red Rockers.  But we’ll always have “China” ... it lives on as their shining contribution to early 80s new wave.

Video: