The Beat

Jul. 5th, 2012 06:29 pm
daddytodd: (Default)
[personal profile] daddytodd
The postman brought me my latest order from Amazon.uk: the reissues of The (English) Beat's three albums, in double CD+DVD "Deluxe" editions.

I don't know what Dave Wakeling thought "Save it For Later" was about, but it was about Coming Out for me ("Cry cry but I don't need my mother. Just hold my hand while I come to a decision on it" in particular) (You have to remember that my coming out was basically coming to a decision: come out, or kill myself. There were no longer any other options.)

One of the greatest songs ever recorded. Just amazing. Anyone who makes fun of "80's music" needs to be strapped to a chair and forced to listen to this stuff. The '80's was more than just Duran Duran and Flock of Seagulls.

Date: 2012-07-06 03:45 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fogbear.livejournal.com
"Save It For Later" is one of the Best Songs EVAR! "I Confess" too.

Date: 2012-07-06 04:26 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tbrough.livejournal.com
Oooo. I want theses!!

Date: 2012-07-06 07:16 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] soundbear69.livejournal.com
First off, I'm a huge fan of 80's music and "Save It For Later" is an amazing song. But please don't be dismissive Duran Duran and Flock of Seagulls. "Planet Earth," "Please, Please, Tell Me Now," "Spaced Aged Love Songs," and "Wishing" were not their biggest hits, but I would argue are some very fine songs in their own right. Still I'm right with you on strapping those to a chair that make fun of "80's music."

Date: 2012-07-06 12:00 pm (UTC)
ext_173199: (a-ha!)
From: [identity profile] furr-a-bruin.livejournal.com
This. (I'd also mention "Wild Boys" and "Save a Prayer" for Duran Duran.) Just because a band was popular does not necessarily mean they were bad.

(My usual problem is running into people who have no idea that a-ha released 9 studio albums over their career and were extremely popular almost everywhere but North America; generally all they know is "Take on Me" and maybe "The Living Daylights" or "The Sun Always Shines on TV". AARRG!)

Date: 2012-07-06 05:30 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] soundbear69.livejournal.com
a-ha has been sadly overlooked, but so have a lot of bands from across the pond. The Beat should have been bigger here than they were.

Date: 2012-07-06 02:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] daddytodd.livejournal.com
Well, I could've used Culture Club and Adam and the Ants as examples -- or Bow Wow Wow and Men at Work -- but whoever I selected would've been controversial with someone.

I picked Duran Duran and Flock of Seagulls because they are both remembered (if remembered at all) for some pretty silly songs, and for their "look" rather than for the overall quality of their music.

OK, how about Journey and REO Speedwagon? I'd be surprised to find many partisans of those bands around here. In my mind, they might as well have been the same band -- along with Styx and Toto -- utterly generic arena-rock, utterly devoid of soul or passion or anything even vaguely interesting.

Date: 2012-07-06 05:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] soundbear69.livejournal.com
Yes, someone would have been upset, even with the arena rock. It is very interesting to listen to stuff now and see what holds up. So much from The Beat holds up, because you still have the fusion of ska/reggae and pop in music today. A lot of the bands that are out now, that I like, have a certain "80's" sound to them. I have to ask myself constantly, "Do I like them for what they are, or because they remind me of Band X, Y or Z?" Enjoy the box set!

Date: 2012-07-08 08:36 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fingertrouble.livejournal.com
Oh I love The Beat...love that Mirror in the Bathroom is about narcissism, consumer culture and probably coke addiction.

I know what you mean about '80's music' but that's usually said by those who weren't there or weren't interested in music then.

There's a lot of dark, uncheery, non-poppy, serious, non-fluffy 80's music, but the popular opinion is it's was all 99 Red Balloons and Katrina and the Waves *sigh*

I usually chafe against those <30 who actually like that poppy side and think the 80's were 'fun' and 'cool' - the era through an unremembered nostalgic filter of childhood or even no experience at all. I remember it as a serious, scary, shitty time growing up and far from cuddly or cute, and the better music also reflected the cold war, the class/yuppie divide, the alienation (no, indie wasn't pop music as it is now), the miners strike etc.

Don't get me wrong I LOVE the cheesy fluffy 80's pop - but annoys me those we say on a Rick Astley track 'I <3 the 1980's!' as if that is the be-all and end-all of the whole decade.

/rant over

Date: 2012-07-08 09:00 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] daddytodd.livejournal.com
Yeah, Walking on Sunshine was fine for what it was, but to use it to sum up an entire decade of music doesn't really work.

Profile

daddytodd: (Default)
daddytodd

November 2012

S M T W T F S
    1 23
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
252627282930 

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jun. 6th, 2025 12:34 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios