Fred Schneider & The Shake Society- ST

This was $8 and perhaps the most modern thing I have had on this blog.  That is why I spent the big bucks to buy it. 

This was the first of two solo albums by Fred Schneider of the B-52’s.  It was released in 1984, a year after the success of the group’s Whammy!. Schneider, born in Newark, New Jersey in 1951, was doin’ some schoolin’ down at the U of Georgia,  It was there in Athens in 1976, that the band was formed.  Anyway, 1989 Cosmic Thing‘s massive success no doubt led to the opportunity to re-release this in 1991 and thus we have this.  The key single, which I seem to remember was “Monster”.

 

Decent album.  The fact that it played well both in 1984 and 1991 accounts for something. The  record features P-Funk legend, Bernie Worrell (who also produced) as well as some help from band mates Kate Pierson and the late Ricky Wilson.  R&B legend Patti LaBelle as guest vocalizes on  a track .  Good album.  I mean it sounds like you would expect all the variables to add up to, but those are good variables and the end result is a fine album.

For a sample, I was stuck.  I really liked “Boonga!” as it was probably my favorite song  but I also like “Time To Kiss”, the track with LaBelle and I felt that this is the exact kind of collaboration that this blog celebrates.  What to do.  I flipped a coin about five times.  Then I listened again to both songs.  Well after much thought, we are going with the LaBelle track. Poor “Boonga!”.

It is sad to think that I am calling something from 1984 a foray into modern music, but for this blog, yeah it is.  So enjoy it while it lasts,  Satisfactory record.

John Schneider- Quiet Man

This was $2.40 at a discount.  I used to like getting celebrity records on this site but that was when I was unemployed and had all day to write post.  Those days have past.

John Schneider, born in Mount Kisco, NY in 1960, is best known for his portrayal of Beauregard “Bo” Duke from the Dukes of Hazard.  As a child from the 80’s, this was my favorite TV show.  Like most kids my age, I had a crush on Daisy Duke as well as hated shows when Bo and Luke’s cousins took over during contract disputes (or going on the NASCAR circuit as the show stated). Along with playing Chips, me and my pal used to play Dukes of Hazard but for some reason, I always had to be Luke (since my friend argued that his name was Jon, I was always Paunch in Chips). Back to Schneider, it should be noted that he had a re-occurring role as Superman’s adoptive father in Smallvile.

Not sure of those were simpler times or if we just turned an eye to casual racism.  Well my bet is on the latter but I do not want to turn this into a big debate.  I will say this: Sorrell Booke and James Best, who played Boss Hogg and Roscoe P Coltrane, were good friends and were allowed to ad-lib on set.  Best also taught acting classes later in his career and one of his students was a young Quentin Tarantino.  It was at Best’s classes where Tarantino met collaborators who would work on his films.

Schneider was able to parlay his popularity on Dukes to a successful music career.  He recorded ten albums (including a Christmas album with Dukes’ co-star Tom Wopat) with four Country #1 singles to his credit.  This was Schneider’s third album, released on the Scotti Brothers label in 1983.  It did not chart.

Decent album but I would have probably liked it more if I was a girl in the 80’s.  There are some decent moments.  As a whole, I really do not like much 80’s country so I am a bit biased to start with this. 

For a sample, I went with the old Johnny Burnette classic “Dreamin” which was released as a single.  It charted at #32 on the country chart.

Meh.  As stated above, do not like 80’s country and I am pretty much over the Dukes.  Not 10 anymore. I mean it sounds just as good as anything else from that decade, it is just not my proverbial cup of tea.

Huey Lewis and the News- Sports

DSCN2489This was a dollar. Maybe I am a jerk for posting this but it was a huge album of the 80’s and of the last century for that matter.101374-huey_lewis_and_the_news_617_409

Before the forming the News, Huey Lewis got his start in a Bay area pub-rock band called Clover. Clover is best known for backing Elvis Costello on his first album, minus Huey. The band did open for Thin Lizzy and Huey played harmonica on the track “Baby Drives Me Crazy” from their live album Live and Dangerous. I also tracked this video down from Phil Lynott’s solo period.

Sports was released in 1983. It was the band’s third album. Along with the single “Power of Love from the Back to the Future soundtrack, this catapulted the band to worldwide fame. The album itself would reach #1 on the Billboard charts and would spawn four top ten hits. Going Platinum seven times, it has established itself as one of the bigger albums of the 80’s in what was an era of big albums.DSCN2490

It should be noted that according to Patrick Bateman, this is the album where the band “really come into their own, commercially and artistically”. However, it should be noted that this is coming from a guy who thinks Genesis got better with the departure of Peter Gabriel. What a pyscho.

Which led Huey to make his own take on it complete with Weird Al.

For a sample, I went with “Bad is Bad” mainly because when it came out, I was unaware what it meant to find a strange pair of shoes underneath the bed. At the time, I thought it was an odd expression.Huey-Lewis-And-The-News

Satisfactory record. I know.  Haters got to hate.