The Cars - Candy O

I never really thought of The Cars as "new wave" but rather, just a good pop band taking from the popular trends. I felt they wanted to be a band on the radio or TV rather than a band than wanted to change the world, or make big statements.

I liked their early singles "Best Friend's Girl", "Just What I Needed", "Good Times Roll" but never got around to buying the first album. However, when Candy-O, the second album came out I bought it shortly after its release. I presume it might have been on special offer ?

At the time I thought it was a bit dull but thought most of the songs on side one were quite good. I don't think I liked side 2 much though. However, having played again it was alot more interesting than I remember.

The first song, "Let's Go", is the best on the album and for a while was their biggest hit in the US. There's nice guitar and bass riffs and handclaps on the chorus. Upbeat and with a catchy, infectous chorus "I like the nightlife Baby, she says, let's go".

The verse of "Since I Held You" is a bit like "Best Friend's Girl" but without the bass riff but it is quite a pretty song. "It's All I Can Do" has a slower beat, a pretty synthizer line and a catchy chorus. The vocal is pretty good too.

"Double Life" is quite hypnotic with a slow bass intro. There is a hint of Kraftwek in this song, and I also like the backing vocals, and guitar line of the outro fade. It's the best song after "Let's Go".

I think the word to describe "Shoo Be Doo" is experimental. I suppose the electro synth is supposed to be scary, but its not a very good track. It leads into the electro pop of "Candy O" where the vocals sounds to me a lot like David Bowie in his Heroes/Lodger period. There is also a sudden end to the song and side 1.

"Night Spots" opens side 2 and with its repetitive keyboard riff could be by Devo and "You Can't Hold On Too Long" is another song that sounds like David Bowie but with early Talking Heads guitar.

"Lust For Kicks" is probably the best song on side 2 with a tinny synthizer riff, something that might have figured on an early OMD song. The chorus again hints at "Best Friend's Girl". I like it.

"Got A Lot On My Head" is early Blondie meets Sex Pistols meets Gary Numan. Its not as bad as that sounds !

"Dangerous Type" is a magpie of a song with a T-Rex guitar riff intro ( think Get It On ) with Devo style synthizer.

Overall, The Cars have taken a lot different styles and blended them together. The result doesn't sound too deriative, and there are some good moments on this album. It was much better than I thought it was.

Track Listing :

1. Let's Go
2. Since I Held You
3. It's All I Can Do
4. Double Life
5. Shoo Be Doo
6. Candy O
7. Night Spots
8. You Can't Hold On Too Long
9. Lust For Kicks
10.Got A Lot On My Head
11. Dangerous Type


Released 1979
UK Chart Position : 30

Singles :

Let's Go ( No 59 1979 )
It's All I Can Do ( - 1979 )
Double Life ( - 1979 )

Cactus World News - Urban Beaches

I think I stumbled across Cactus World News on a late night music TV programme, possibly the Old Grey Whistle Test, although I can't be sure. I was though immediately taken by the songs I heard, of which "Worlds Apart" was one of them and I found myself frequently humming it days, weeks later. The only thing I new about them was that they came from Ireland although I didn't know which part of Ireland.

When I acquired Urban Beaches I was impressed. It was an album full of swirling guitars, driving bass, thumping drums and passionate vocals. Some great tunes too. At the time I was not very similar with U2's early work apart for a couple of singles, with "The Unforgettable Fire" and "The Joshua Tree" being their content in my record collection around that time. As a result I wasn't aware of the similarity of guitar playing styles, and I might have figured that Cactus World News were from Dublin.

The full album of Urban Beaches has not been uploaded onto YouTube so in order to listen to I had to find each track individually.

The opener "Worlds Apart" remains the highlight, with early U2 style driving bass, urgent guitars and a pleading, emotional vocal with the anthemic chorus "Worlds apart, worlds apart, closer than I've ever been to you". A stunning song, and still good to sing along to.

"Years Later" is the other truly great track here, with more rising fervant vocals, another great riff and anthem like chours.  "Closing the door on the door on the past now its gone, closing the door on the on the past now its disappeared with the time" and "things will never be the same again, well five years on so much has gone close to ruin". Towards the end the pace disappears, some lines are spoken before guitars come exploding back to finish.

The final single from the LP was "The Bridge", which has a toe-tapping beat, another rising chorus, and more U2 style guitar playing.

Elsewhere on the album, "In A Whirlpool" is a mid-temp song with bounding drums, and just the bass playing the middle break. The stacatto guitar riff at times hints at the reggae riff from "Safe European Home" by The Clash, but without sounding like reggae !

The lenghty closing number "Maybe This Time" has a significant change of pace to virtually all of the rest of the album and the quiet instrumental outro is quite beautiful, whilst "Church Of The Cold" has a guitar riff suitable for a 70s spy/fi adventrue series such as The Persuaders or Department S.


"State of Emergency" closes side one and has a menacing, slightly haunting intro with a spaghetti western/spanish feel to the guitar. It goes on too long though, aiming to be a masterpiece but it doesn't quite deliver. "Promise" starts with a slow tempo acoustic intro, has a rising chorus, then swirling guitars before an almost spoken ending. "Jigsaw Street" is unmemorable.

"Pilots of Beka" starts with a blowing wind intro, then acoustic guitar and bass before more The Edge guitar playing. I have no idea what they are singing about and it is perhaps the weakest melody here. The guitar is nice though.

On replaying it hasn't quite stood the test of time, I would no longer rate this as a great album, but it is still overall in the good category, with a couple of stand-out moments. However, if you like early U2 then you will love Urban Beaches.

Track Listing :

1. Worlds Apart
2. In A Whirlpool
3. Promise
4. The Bridge
5. State of Emergency
6. Years Later
7. Church Of The Cold
8. Pilots of Beka
9. Jigsaw Street
10.Maybe This Time


Released 1986
UK Chart Position : 56

Singles :

Years Later ( No 59 - 1986 )
Worlds Apart ( No 58 - 1986 )
The Bridge ( No 74 - 1986 )

Buzzocks - Love Bites

Buzzocks were Manchester's initial contribution to the UK Punk Rock scene, combining pop melodies with the high rapid punk energy singing mostly love songs. Singer and lyricist Pete Shelley was Punk's romantic poet.

I had already gone out and bought two of their early singles, "What Do I Get ?" and "I Don't Mind" and was expecting plenty more classics like them when I bought this, their second LP. However, I remember being disappointed with the album, and after the initial burst of enthusiasm trying to like it, Love Bites was quickly despatched to near the bottom of my pile of records.

It does contain their biggest ever hit, with "Ever Fallen In Love ( With Someone You Shouldn't've )" reaching number 12. Eight years later, the Fine Young Cannibals cover made the UK Top 10. It is possibly unique in having a word with two apostrophes in the title !

From the rest of the songs, before playing again I tcould only recall two, "Sixteen Again" & "Love Is Lies", and although "Late For The Train" is an instrumental I couldn't exactly say how it goes. I also remember thinking side one was better than side two of the LP.

The album starts well with "Real World".  Choppy guitars and a long intro slowly build to the introduction of the distinctive buzz guitars. There is a catchy chorus and a punk guitar solo. It's followed by "Ever Fallen In Love", perhaps now their signature song.

"Sixteen Again" closes side one and sticks to the classic Buzzcocks formula. This could have been the second single from the album.

In between these "Operator's Manual" borrows the guitar riff and vocals style from Jilted John, "Nostalgia" is forgettable noise and "Just Lust" lacks a decent tune and the vocal delivery is annoying.

It goes downhill with side two which opens and closes with instrumentals. "Walking Distance" has some similarities with The Motors "Dancing The Night Away" whilst "Late For the Train" has a false ending before the train like beat of the drums and guitar come back, but unlike, say, The Cure's "Another Journey By Train", this is pretty forgettable.

"Nothing Left" is reasonable but the "at all, at all" chorus is annoying and "E.S.P" has an hypnotic guitar riff but little else to recommend it

"Love Is Lies" is a real oddity compared to everything else around it. Sung by Steve Diggle it's an acoustic ballard which could have been released by any of the MOR acts of the mid-70s ! Its as far from punk as imaginable and I remember it being panned by the music critics at the time. Had it been recorded by Smokie or Kiki Dee I expect the reception would have been fine.

Buzzocks have a bit of a reputation as being a singles band, and with an album like Love Bites that is understandable. An occasional classic surrounded by forgettable dross.

However, as Mark Lamarr observed, without them the long running TV show could have been called "Never Mind Joan Armatrading". And there is no "The" in the name of the band.........


Track Listing :

1. Real World
2. Ever Fallen In Love ( With Someone You Shouldn't've )
3. Operator's Manual
4. Nostalgia
5. Just Lust
6. Sixteen Again
7. Walking Distance
8. Love Is Lies
9. Nothing Left
10.E.S.P
11. Late For The Train


Released 1978
UK Chart Position : 13

Singles :

Ever Fallen In Love ( With Someone You Shouldn't've ) ( No 12 - 1978 )

Kate Bush - The Whole Story

I had always liked Kate Bush but never enough to buy a complete LP of material so I was part of the target market for the Greatest Hits upto 1986 album. I was never fond of the early promotion of Kate Bush and the emphasise on her dance performances and exaggerated wierdness, which also led to a few parodies by comedians of the time. I wished they had just comcentrated on the music.

There are several outstanding songs here. I've always thought "The Hounds Of Love", "Running Up That Hill" and "Army Dreamers" to be amongst some of the most innovative and original songs ever written. The cover of "The Hounds Of Love" by post punk band the Futureheads achieves almost the impossible by being even more innovative !

There is also, of course,"Wuthering Heights", which here has a new vocal, less screechy than the original...... After all, who hasn't murdered "Wuthering Heights" at a Karaoke after a few beers too many ? Probably just me then !

Unfortunately this compliation was released three years before the beautiful "This Women's Work", which is another highlight in the Kate Bush discography, so it's obviously not included. However, "The Man With The Child In His Eyes" and "Breathing" are in a not too disimilar vane. "Babooshka" is perhaps the most straightforward song, but it is great nonetheless.

Even with the songs I don't particularly like, such as "Cloudbursting" and "Wow" and  I can still recognise the uniqueness of the writing, pushing musical boundaries into to new and uncharted areas.

The less good "The Dreaming" is intentionally similar to "Sun Arise" and I believe Rolf Harris actually played on the recording. I've always though "Sat In Your Lap" and "Experiment IV" to be dross though..........

Track Listing :

1. Wurthering Heights ( 1977 - No 1 )
2. Cloudbusting ( 1985 - No 20 )
3. The Man With The Child In His Eyes ( 1978 - No : 6 )
4. Breathing ( 1980 - No 16 )
5. Wow ( 1979 - No : 4 )
6. The Hounds Of Love ( 1985 - No : 18 )
7. Running Up That Hill ( 1985 - No : 3 )
8. Army Dreamers ( 1980 - No 16  )
9. Sat In Your Lap ( 1981 - No 11 )
10. Experiment IV ( 1986 - No 23  )
11. The Dreaming ( 1982 - No 48 )
12. Babooshka ( 1980 - No 5 )


Released : 1986
UK Chart Position : 1