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By Barbara O'Dair
This may really be the Age of Shit but if my prognosis, based on the musical “product” released in 1981, isn’t bleaker, it’s because I went back and looked at last year’s list. I like this one’s better. Somewhere between the fluff of Olivia Newton John (she makes sex sound like a taffy pull, and just about as much fun) and the dead-weight bluster of Journey lies an interesting if inconsistent body of music from over the year that bears listening to. (To the timid: just because you may not have heard it on PLJ or NEW doesn’t mean it’s going to hurt you. Take the plunge.)
1. X: Wild Gift (Slash) (I) –The second LP from this LA-based group scores this year’s best songs, best vocals (Exene and John Doe), best lyrics, best relationship, best guitarist (Billy Zoom), best hair, best cover art. General best ambience. Puts the X back in love.
2.Greatest Rap Hits, Vol II (Sugarhill)— From the streets of the Bronx through the studios of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey (no. not Prentice-Hall, Sugarhill! Sugarhill!) comes this edition of word-hopping, finger-popping bits: the wonderful “That’s the Joint” by Funky Four Plus One; the sexy “Monster Jam” the classic “8th Wonder”; and the exciting quick-cutting of “The Adventures of Grand Master Flash on the Wheels of Steel.” Rap being the most engaging style to emerge in a big way in ‘81, this LP is really a must.
3.Human Switchboard: Who’s Landing in My Hangar? (Faulty Products)— Hooky, messy, powerful. Myrna Marcarian’s tender, husky vocals tussle and trade off with Bob Pfeiffer’s quavering angst-till-proven-cynical delivery amidst bursts and sprays and long slides of Farfisa and guitar.
4.Elvis Costello: Trust (Columbia)- He’s not done yet, he’s just growing up. And in command.
5.Tom Verlaine: Dreamtime (Warner Bros.)— Taut, funky, and almost lush.
6.Joan Jett & the Blackhearts: Bad Reputation and I Love Rock-n-Roll (Boardwalk)— Twice-blessed this year, though BR is better. Jett has a good sense of history and makes a great role model but I wish she’d sung this way ten years ago (though that would put her at about age 13.) The band provides a thuddingly literal rendering of the songs on both LP, many of which include inspirational gems—today’s favorite is Joan singing:
“Ah! Well I don’t hardly know her/ but I thing /I can lover her/Crimson and Clover! My, my such a sweet thing!! I Want to do ev-er-y-thing/What a beautiful feeling.”
7.Ðavid Johansen: Here Comes the Night (CBS)—I don’t care what anybody says, this is Johansen speaking, the one we know and love, and why shouldn’t he make a play for the big time? His personality is so broad even the silly songs are redeemed. Avoid the cover photo.
8. Prince: Controversy (Warner Bros.) – Well, yes, he is rather muddled, but in the heat of the moment it’s hard to say no. You’ll probably figure out what to avoid.
9. Rolling Stones: Tattoo You (Rolling Stones) – Why am I depressed that this comes in before The Clash and PIL? Nevertheless, I admire it (is that the real reason to love a rock ‘n’ roll album and enjoy it more than any Stones LP released in the last few years.
10. The Clash: Sandinista! (Epic)- OK, ambitious, occasionally listless, sonic graffiti. I honestly think the drawn-out quality of so much of the LP is deliberate – part of the method of selling three records in one jacket for ten bucks. I think they might be on the wrong track, but I’ll keep listening. Curiously enough, for an LP that’s supposed to be so politically correct. I find the little personalisms, such as “If Music Could Talk” most effective.
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