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Old 04-12-2013, 05:17 AM   #3 (permalink)
Screen13
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Join Date: Jan 2010
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Default Time for a system!

THE SCREEN 13 CUT-OUT RATING SYSTEM




After the usual name and date stuff...

C/O, C/O MEMORY, I'M SURE IT WAS C/O, ARCADIA FILE, CRAZY LOUIE'S HIT MAN WAREHOUSE ARCHIVE FIND? - C/O MEMORIES are the usual claims you read, although I will try to provide links to pages that mention it and then there will be (possibly correct) guesses that it went C/O highlighting albums that just just stopped somewhere in the 150's in the US. THE ARCADIA FILES is destined for those albums that fit the scene, but for some reason they never really went C/O but just lingered around in Music Limbo. But that will be pretty much a rare thing considering this journal and it's focus on the works that got the cut. LOUIE'S is a made up name for the type of business that tried to distribute and sell off a bunch of older records and possibly were the type of people like those in the infamous book Hit Men or Tommy James' classic book Me, The Mob, and the Music (Hey, Morris Levy sparked the whole world made famous by K-Tel), and they might have specialized in a different kind of "Bullet Hole" than the ones you see on some covers.

Actually, I read that CBS did not send much to the C/O, and my memories back that up. Still, I'm sure there were a few around.




GENRE: The "end of an era" it could represent. In almost chronological order...
The Last Days of Disco - Obvious, but hilarious all the same. (Recordings from 1979 will appear)

70's Idols in 80's Facelifts - All through the decade, there were a number of stars who were getting into the new realities. Again, a number of these albums sold, but still for some reason wound up in the Dollar Bin (over-production).

Ran Down the MOR - Those hyped singers that had their moment in the sun, but were shoved out of the picture by the next year.

Punked and Popped Out - Those from the Late 70's Power Pop and Punk worlds that were lucky to get a chance. (recordings from 1979 will appear)

Weak Waves, or Jokers for the Chess King - In a way, this would usually be the Attack of the Neon Kids. Dressed in loud clothes, with stupid hair styles that would get them laughed at a proper New Romantic club. They thought they were Bowie, but they were not even Sal Solo!

Their House is On Fire, and We Don't Care! - Or, those New Pop Performers who's final days in their pre-reunion line-ups ended around 1984-5, right around the time that Culture Club's Waking Up With the House on Fire let out a big stench. Hardly had a chance to compete with the Late 80's (Men Without Hats actually had a very short comeback, though, but their 1984 album is too bad to miss).

Mid 80's Mullet Rock/Viced Out - That strange era when the industry went for bands who were serious non-entities that just had what it too to get through the door, namely a video, MULLETS, leather jackets with stupid stuff all over them, guitars that seriously don't sound like guitars, and the cheesy 80's Synths that go straight to your brain (Note how I did not focus on the music). Not exactly Hair Metal, but sounds that would have fitted the Miami Vice TV show perfectly.

This is For Suckers! - Mid 80's Hair Metal bands, pre-Big Ballad Bands. Although a number of these albums sold OK, many of these bands suffered a bit once Twisted Sister's COME OUT TO PLAY failed to do anything in 1985, but I figured that a twist on their next album would play better. Usually, there would be mega guilty pleasures once you get past the hair.

Now Playing at the Dollar Theater! - A number of these appeared through the Late 80's on the assumed thought that if Pretty in Pink could spawn a hit soundtrack, then others could follow in it's place...er, no! Usually the films would wind up playing at the Dollar Theater after a lukewarm reception at the Showcase Cinemas for about a week or two.

Top Goons - Simply, Generic very Late 80's music that aimed for the "Danger Zone", but instead wound up in the Dollar bin.

Out-Dated Cheese or the EmpTV Playlist - New Pop-style bands who jumped on the bandwagon too late. I could call this the Rialto Syndrome, but I feel that only three of you may get the reference to the ill-fated band.

Big New Waves That Fell Hard - A common sight through 1987-88, although some examples were made even as far back as 1986. This is possibly going to be the strongest case.

Alternative Mega-Fail: By the The Mid 80's, a few Alternative bands who were not Pro in the New Wave Era (ie, those who were not part of the Music Industry Monster) and were a part of the early College Hype scene once they started to get their business happening tried, and usually failed with their Major Label or Faux-Major releases. This goes for a number of bands who changed their tune and lost their audience in one swoop (Hello Anything-era Damned! Yeah, you recovered, but I still remember...). Not to blame of REM (Who's early music I like a lot), but their success seriously made the industry think of this Alternative/College thing as something of a Career for a few years. Dose not have the star value of the Big Waves, but the quality (or lack of quality, actually) is about the same amount of pain as going to the bathroom after drinking a Orange Julius that was sold past the formula's expiration date.

U2 Can Be Bono (Not!): For U2 Clones, which were dime a dozen back then. They certainly did NOT find what they were looking for!

Bought Imported for $20, sold for $1 - Many US fans of the New Pop actually thought of getting a lot of albums from the Import Bin thinking that they were a part of some "Revolution" or another. Of course, a lot of them were pretty good, but there were a few that would have joined the ranks of the Ghost Mall Bands if they were released in The US, although these have the special "WTF was I drinking that made me bought THIS?!!!" flavor.





Of course, just like going to a mall to find a real deal there will be THE RARE GEM: Of course, there will be those cut-outs which don't deserve criticism, bought by those who knew that it was going to be raved about years down the line. Don't expect many of these to pop up here, but there will be some. These records will be highlighted (Get ready, Mink DeVille fans, this under-rated band will get some salutes for being themselves going against the grain with the US branch of Capitol). You know what these albums are: The ones every new music fan wishes they had the chance to get new. In The 70's, there were quite a few that fell by the side of the road and into the cut outs only to be rescued by some listener. In LA, Iggy and The Stooges' RAW POWER actually helped spark a scene after a few kids going through the cheap bins and wanting to know if the music was as lean as Iggy's body and as crazy as the font on the cover.

Then again...this is The 80's I'm talking about, and things like that hardly happened, but sometimes they did.


Then there are the GOOD FINDS that are still under some scrutiny, but will be recommended to those who are interested in the album.



OTHER RATING SYSTEMS:

Where's the cut?: Usually these cut-out blogs fail due to the fact that many people fail to mention that they got it as a c/o personally. I will say and detail these things to possibly the point of what store I got it at if it was back in the day. I will possibly clutter this blog with my ugly mug with said example.

Is It Worth It for casual listeners?: Usually it will be "No! Stick With the Hits!", but there will be a few that will be "You Might be Interested" or "For Those Who Want to Hear the Death of Pop Music, 80's Style".





More Late 80's and Early 1990's additions later on, although one is "Turned into a Pumpkin" which is dedicated to those Hair Bands who just plain dead crapped out a generic ballad hit and then went off into the trailer park club in Music Hell.

Last edited by Screen13; 04-14-2013 at 07:25 AM.
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