Urban Looks At Melody Makers End Of Year Album Lists 1979-2000

[Urban Hat€monger ?]

Back in the early 90s I was bored, I was a fan of metal but metal was beginning to bore me, I branched out to buying other rock albums but these were old albums from 20 or 30 years earlier. I knew of the grunge scene and I saw the beginning of the industrial revival around that time and I remember hearing somewhere about how a band called Suede were about to become the next big thing. Other than that I knew very little.

The solution to my problem came in the form of two weekly newspapers. The NME & The Melody Maker., but which was the right one to buy?
I bought the NME first. I wasn't a fan. I found it garish, they were more interested in telling you what was 'cool' they had obsessions with 'cool lists' I found the writers egomaniacs who seemed to think I wanted to read about them rather than the music. In short it was crap.
The following week I bought an issue of the Melody Maker. I saw an in depth article about Nick Drake. I had no idea who Nick Drake was but the way they wrote about him and his music made it sound magical. Not long after that I went out & bought Bryter Layter and it sounded exactly like how I imagined it to sound from reading that article. They were the first magazine I had ever read that called the Smashing Pumpkins utter shit. Their album of the week was Tindersticks debut album which I bought & loved..... I had found my brand.

Over the years I kept on getting Melody Maker throughout the britpop explosion. There was your usual Blur vs Oasis coverage & hyping of piss poor britpop bands but unlike the NME Melody Maker were still introducing me to tons of cool stuff. Stuff on the Trance Syndicate, Touch & Go, 4AD, Matador, Merge, K Records, Drag City, Creation, Wax Trax & Domino labels, avant garde bands that would go on to influence the post rock movement like Tortoise, Slint, Flying Saucer Attack & Mogwai, singer songwriters like Mark Linkous, Nick Cave, Will Oldham, Kurt Wagner & Bill Callahan. Hip Hop such as Wu Tang Clan, Jurrassic 5, De La Soul & Tribe Called Quest, the electronic scene that was taking over the UK in the 90s, The Chemical Brothers, Death In Vegas, Fatboy Slim, Underworld, and not to mention shedloads of other bands like Jon Spencer, Urge Overkill, The Breeders, Mercury Rev, The Auteurs and thousands of others.

Sadly it came to an end. The arrival of the internet (Which I first read about in an article in Melody Maker in 1993) meant that sales were dropping. Pop bands like Take That & The Spice Girls filled more & more pages to make it more populist until sometime in 1998 when I stopped buying it altogether. It limped on for another 2 years finally ending in 2000 having been turned into a monthly glossy magazine concentrating on hard rock & metal to compete with Kerrang & Metal Hammer, It didn't.
It hit the stands for the very last time Christmas 2000 with it's final issue with the added indignity of Fred Durst being on the cover. What started off in 1926 as a paper for jazz musicians to get in touch with one another ended being 'merged' with it's long time rival the NME as a bunch of classified ads.



Melody Maker 1926 - 2000 R.I.P.

With that in mind I have decided to attempt to listen to every single Melody Maker 'Album Chart Of The Year' from 1979 to the final one in 2000 and document it here. It won't be easy, what started off as a list of 20 albums in 1979 grew and grew through the years until by the 90s 40 or 50 albums a year were being chosen. I probably won't find all of them (If you can find a copy of Music Of Quality & Distinction Volumes 1 & 2 by The British Electric Foundation from 1982's list you're a better man or woman than me) but I aim to try to hear as many as I can.

I start with the 20 albums from 1979.....

[Urban Hat€monger ?]

1979

1. Talking Heads - Fear Of Music

OK I'm not going to go into too much detail here, I've already said this is one of my favourite albums ever.

This for me is Talking Heads at their peak, you get all the post punk attitude of their early stuff, but not only that the songwriting is razor sharp (Life During Wartime, Cities, Air, Animals, Mind). A fantastic balled (Heaven) and there's just a tiny hint of the world music direction they would explore more with later albums (I Zimbra). That's not to say the album is without fault, what really lets this album down is the final 2 tracks (Electric Guitar & Drugs) that are slow & ponderous & seem to go on forever. Overall if you've not heard this album & want to hear one of the most intelligent pop albums that helped define the best of 80s music you can't go far wrong with this.



2. Ry Cooder - Bop Till You Drop

I'll be honest I know very little about Ry Cooder, I know of him and have done for many years but he's never been an artist I've ever been in any great hurry to check out. Reading up on this album I find out that Ry had been playing lots of jazz up till this point of his career and this is a bit of a departure from that as he gives us his take on R&B. It's also the first ever album to be recorded in it's entirety in digital. The album is also made up entirely of covers with the exception of one song.
This is the first time I have ever listened to a Ry Cooder album so lets see how it goes....

My first impression of this is that it's not the fast paced R&B that swept mid 60s Britian with the likes of the early Stones, The Who and The Yardbirds that I know & love. It's a very much more cleaner, more laid back sound with a very generous nod to country music.

The album starts off with an Elvis Presley cover (Little Sister), but it's one of those muso covers where all the drive & excitement of the original is sucked out of the song to play it note perfect & cleanly. Things pick up a bit after a very slow start with the third song 'The Very Thing That Makes You Rich (Makes Me Poor)' which has a nice groove to it, but even then this all still feels too clean and a bit safe & bland. In fact by this point the best comparison I can make is if Dire Straits ever covered the Rolling Stones, and I loathe Dire Straits.

It really doesn't help that after this comes a slow, rather dull country ballad.
Side 2 of the album (If I had bought it in 1979) starts with the highlight of the whole album 'Down In Hollywood' which is a total rip off of Stevie Wonder's Livin' For The City. When I say highlight what I actually mean is the bassline is cool and it's so cheesy that you're just grateful for something different to break up the slickness of this album at this point. and it has Chaka Khan doing backing vocals who brings it to life a bit.

'Look at Granny Run Run' is OK but it just made me want to go listen to Howard Tate's version (If you don't know who Howard Tate is and you like a bit of late 60s early 70s soul/funk go get his S/T album ... NOW. One of the most underrated soul singers ever). 'Trouble, You Can't Fool Me' is another early 70s soul cover, this time by one hit wonder Frederick Knight, and if you're wondering, no this song wasn't that hit.
Next we have 'Don't Mess Up A Good Thing' originally a duet by Fontella Bass and Bobby McClure. This version has Chaka Khan doing the duet with Ry and to be honest I thought it was OK, best song on the album by a mile........
Then I went & checked out the original and it was 10 times better.

The album finishes with a slow soul balled called 'I Can't Win'. It's passable but I'd still rather hear the original by The Invincibles.
So to sum up, if you find that Exile On Main Street is too dirty or too raucous for you or you find The Who too scary, or you just like hearing muso white men sucking the soul out of soul music this album is for you. I came out of this wanting to hear the original songs more than another Ry Cooder album.
Which is the point of cover albums.... Isn't it?

[duga]

Very cool idea for a thread. If you find links to some of the more obscure releases you find, I'd be happy to listen along. I'm sure people will help you find the ones you can't find as well.

Speaking of which...I haven't downloaded it so I can't tell you if it's legit but I found Music of Quality & Distinction Volume 1 bundled with 4 other rare 80's albums without too much effort. If you want the link, I would be happy to PM it to you.

[LoathsomePete]

"Memories Can't Wait" has always been my favorite song off Fear of Music (1979) and my liking that album over Remain in Light (1980). Anyways I'm looking forward to this series, you always have interesting listening habits and are always posting obscure older albums so I may learn a thing or two.

[duga]

I know Fear of Music is probably not the album you prefer to discuss, but since that's probable the one most here have heard, I'll just say Remain In Light still edges it out...but just barely. Both albums are amazing, in my opinion.

I don't know if I'm too inspired to listen to that Ry Cooder album after your review...

[Urban Hat€monger ?]

If you get one thing out of that review then get Howard Tate's 1972 S/T album. I love that record.
Remain in Light is actually top of the 1980 chart.

Oh and...

Originally Posted by duga

Speaking of which...I haven't downloaded it so I can't tell you if it's legit but I found Music of Quality & Distinction Volume 1 bundled with 4 other rare 80's albums without too much effort. If you want the link, I would be happy to PM it to you.

Yes please

[Urban Hat€monger ?]

3. Gang Of Four - Entertainment

Oh dear, it wasn't that long ago that I called Gang Of Four the most overrated post punk band on this very forum and here I am faced with having to listen to Entertainment in it's entirety. The last time I listened to this album I said it was like being beaten over the head with a flagpole with a red flag on it while someone repeatedly shouts 'We're socialists you know' right into your ear for over an hour.
Still, look on the bright side. At least I don't have to review a Chumbawumba album like being beaten over the head with a flagpole with a red flag on it while someone repeatedly shouts 'We're socialists you know' right into your ear for over an hour while standing in dog shit.

I have slightly mellowed my stance on the band since then. Helped by seeing them play an awesome version of 'At Home He's a Tourist' on the Old Grey Whistle Test in a 'Post Punk at the BBC' thing late one night on BBC4. Let's focus on the positives then.

Before I do this I should point out I'm only going to listen to the 12 songs that the album was originally released with and not the CD or downloadable versions which include 20 songs.

The first thing you'll notice hearing this album is you'll hear exactly where Franz Ferdinand stole both their guitar sound and every single idea they ever had for that matter. After a so so start the groove of 'Not Great Men' is the first real highlight of the album. The downside is I'm not confident they can sustain that for another 7 songs until I get to the one I want to hear.
Sadly it is all rather predictable, lots of uptempo drumming, angular jerky guitars, that thing English punk singers do when they sing like they have their tongues pushing their bottom lip out & doing an impression of talking like a spastic (See Paul Simonen for further details).

It's all very energetic, grooves along great but after a while it just becomes samey. the beat doesn't really slow down or speed up, every guitar riff sounds the same as the last save for a tiny variation. And as for the vocals, they give the word monotone a whole new meaning. I know monotone vocals were the 'in' thing in during the era this was released in but get angry, get upset, get emotional over something for God sake, if only to give it some variety.

At least when I get to the 6th song (which was back then would be the first song on Side 2) things pick up slightly with 'I Found That Essence Rare' which has less of the jerky guitar & funk bass & drums and more melody & almost a singable chorus. Even the next song 'Glass' owes more to 1976 style punk than it's post variety and is all the better for it. Sadly after that 'Contact' carries on as if those 2 songs never happened and we get much the same as before.

Next up is 'At Home He's a Tourist' so I'm just going to turn this up really loud and enjoy it....

That's better, what's next.

Oh this is interesting '5.45' seems to have a melodica in it or some sort of instrument, you know .. one of those blowly pianos. the song isn't bad either as it's a little slower than all the others, not much but enough to notice. The start of 'Anthrax' is so chaotic & noisy I expect Mark E Smith to walk out at any moment & start singing something off Fall Heads Roll. I was rather enjoying this sonic cacophony of guitar feedback until it stops suddenly when the vocals kick in a making it sound like most of the other songs. the final song does nothing really to persuade me to change my mind much more than it already had.

On the whole I still don't think it's the amazing album it's supposed to be. I can listen to Gang of Four at sporadic times but a whole album is too much and by the end I'm kind of glad I can put something else on instead.
This would have made a great E.P. but at 53 mins it's just far too long.

[Urban Hat€monger ?]

4. Linton Kwesi Johnson - Forces of Victory

I've never been anything of a reggae person. God knows I've tried to get into it on many occasions but the problem is once I've heard an album I've never been in any great hurry to listen to it again, to be honest if I want to listen to any reggae I'll just listen to the odd Bad Brains or Clash song, which I guess is totally missing the point of it. If only I had heard this album a lot sooner, things might have been very different.

Linton Kwesi Johnson is someone I've seen mentioned on a couple of album lists but nothing much more than that. On further investigation I discover that Linton is a 'Dub Poet' and at the time of this albums release (his first) was being called Britain's answer to Gil Scott Heron, and I can see where that comparison comes from because his I get a very similar vibe hearing this album as I did when I heard Gill's 'Pictures Of a Man' album. I also love it that the song titles on the album are named as having a prominent Jamaican accent (Fite Dem Back, Independent Intavenshan).

The first thing that strikes me about this album is Linton's rich expressive voice. I could listen to the guy talk all day. The music itself arranged by Dennis Bovell is just as good and is the perfect platform for Linton to express himself over, It just flows along nicely not getting in the way gliding you along from one line to the next. In fact it also gets me interested to go hunt for Bovell's own albums.

In fact I find myself enjoying this album so much that I find I'm three quarters of the way through the album after seemingly just listening to it for a few minutes. The album is 34 minutes long and gets it's point across in half the time that it takes in G.O.F's Entertainment album in a much more palatable way. I get much more of a clearer picture of what life was like in the UK in 1979 listening to this album, whether that be about police brutality in a letter back to his mother in Jamaica (Sonny's Lettah) or the rise of the National Front & racism (Fite Dem Back) than I ever did listening to the former. By the time I get to the end of the final track 'Time Come' it leaves me wanting more. The first time that's ever happened to me listening to a reggae album.

I enjoyed this album a hell of a lot and if I find just a few albums as good as this while attempting this whole marathon I would consider it time well spent. I see this album is rated No. 46 for 1979 on Rateyourmusic.
That's not nearly high enough, and 79 was a damn good year for music.

[Screen13]

Stopping by to say that this is an enjoyable read.

I think I first caught MM in1984 and found it a great read - I still have a number of issues today including the one with the Kevin Roland interview that was supposed to promote Don't Stand Me Down that instead turned into a heated argument (although the album had a rave review some pages later). Although I was more into Sounds, it was a pretty hard find, so I mostly chose MM when I wanted on of "The Three", although budget reasons settled me down to getting a monthly in Select and the occasional MM - This was before I settled in my "Old Music Listener Slippers" and settled for Q and the many "Remember When" "Collector's Edition" publications of the last decade. In The US for me, it was mainly a 40 Mile Drive to get any one of them, so I had to choose carefully.

Damn, this is taking me back to many memories, especially the Gang of Four review. Listening to the "Alternative Music" shows from Detroit in the Early 80's, they were one of the first bands for me.

[The Batlord]

Damn it. Of course Urban is going to make my High Fidelity journal look like balls.