Gary Steel is slowly compiling all his album reviews in one place. This is a work in progress, or what we call a “live document”. Today is the letter ‘M’.

 

M

Madhouse 8 – Madhouse 8 (Paisley Park)

1987/Evening Post

Prince proteges on an album of almost edibly fresh instrumental jazz, with some honking good sax playing. 7/10

Madonna – True Blue (Sire)

1986/Wellington City

Who, or what, is Madonna? Is there anything beyond the corporate image to suggest that Madonna actually exists. No, of course not. It’s the reality-illusion of stardom, and a good deal more honest than the portrayal of Bruce Springsteen as Mr Approachable. You’re supposed to find Springbeanbag down at the car plant, slaving away like a good ol’ Working Class Man. Now that’s a lie. That Madonna is more image than reality is no bad thing. Madonna the Immaculate Concept has been through the Material Girl phase, the Wicked Girl phase, and now here comes the Complete Modern Woman phase. Madonna was first a perfect teen dream; a rebel, selfish, sexual. The absolute anti-liberal statement, Madonna was no Mother Earth, and wasn’t gonna get caught without a face full of paint. True Blue could signal the seeds for the dispersion of the corporate seduction, but it mostly makes for entertaining listening. In fact, it’s quite good, for the most part. Danceable rhythms, singable melodies; what more could you want out of music, life, the Universe? ‘Live To Tell’ however, just about blows her cover: the next Laura Branigan, anyone? 5/10

Madonna – I’m Breathless (Sire)

1990, NZ Listener

The release of a major product has record company accountants scurrying for their calculators while promotions staff nut out inventive gimmicks for the goons from the media. At the very least we can count on: a party in an unusual location, an endless reservoir of alcoholic beverages, an inaudible product demonstration (people talk at parties, and drunk people talk loudly at parties), and a doggie bag at the end of the night containing t-shirt, assorted souvenir items and the product itself.

Having spent the moolah, the record company execs expect their good friends and allies in the media to take their message to their hearts and the world. The message? Buy this record! And by and large, they do and they do.

Unfortunately, it’s the poor consumer who gets shoddy treatment in this corporate conspiratorial triangle. The predictable superstar product-push is seldom matched with artistically meritorious musicmaking. This isn’t news in a culture that breathes on the dullard language of the lowest common denominator, but it’s disturbing to recognise how little room business practice leaves for the music. In today’s record companies it’s a case of all or nothing. And in this environment, exciting and unknown artists are destined for continued obscurity.

A big bash always marks the occasion of a new Madonna record. After all, she’s the biggest female singing superstar of her generation, and when she releases a new album there’s reason to celebrate.

Disco diva Madonna became one of the symbols of the ‘80s; in image and music she proudly incorporated everything that was self-determining, narcissistic and materialistic about that decade, convincing young women stuck in the rut of post-feminism that it was cool to be sexy, as long as it meant taking control of those nasty men. And it was no accident that ‘Material Girl’ and ‘Like A Virgin’ were successful at the beginning of video’s domination; at least half her appeal was visual.

Like Michael Jackson and Prince, Madonna is an all-round entertainer, with a reputation for riveting, athletic live shows and pretensions towards the big screen. Her acting career began with a promising cameo in Desperately Seeking Susan, but that evaporated with the abysmal flops Shanghai Surprise and Who’s That Girl?

There was much ballyhoo surrounding the release of last year’s album Like A Prayer – in Auckland it was premiered in a church – but it clearly showed that Madonna was losing the plot. Sure, there were some strong songs and ambitious arrangements, but it was no longer sticking its tentacles onto the stethoscope of pop’s common pulse.

I’m Breathless – launched in style at a secret city warehouse – was supposed to be very different, very special. It’s different, but not special. It is with regret I have to inform you that Madonna has goofed.

Subtitled ‘Music from and Inspired by the film Dick Tracy’, the blockbuster movie in which Madonna co-stars with Warren Beatty, the record actually features only three songs from the movie, ‘Sooner Or Later’, ‘More’ and ‘What Can You Lose’. These are trad-style Stephen Sondheim cabaret numbers and they’re sung so badly I blushed bright crimson.

While Liza Minnelli – the woman whose forte is this kind of sentimental swill – has successfully negotiated the pop world with her latest album, Madonna has tried the reverse trick, without realising that some vocal talent is required.

‘Vogue’, the best thing on the record and the only dance tune, is number one as I write. Even here, her characteristic trend-hopping astuteness has been replaced with outright plagiarism. She’s grabbed former Sex Pistols entrepreneur Malcolm McLaren’s stillborn ’89 dance craze and added machine-driven house music that bears more than a passing resemblance to Inner City. The vogue itself is despicable designer dance for upwardly mobile twerps, based on early Vogue magazine model posings.

The majority of I’m Breathless features ‘40s jazz backing, some of it quite fetching, and songs which are pale pastiches of that era. ‘Back In Business’ is the best of these, a smokey, slightly sinister b allad with a big-city crime theme which works because she miraculously manages to still sound like the Madonna we know so well. Elsewhere, however, she sounds like Betty Boop on helium, and it’s an experience to savour. Songs like ‘Hanky Panky’ (yes, she likes some spanky), ‘Cry Baby’ and ‘I’m Going Bananas’ are the worst kind of kinky music-hall relics; Benny Hill meets the church social club.

Madonna wants to be a female Prince; outrageous, ambitious. But she lacks the musical invention and gonzo weirdness to get away with being hit-and-miss. Prince’s Batman album worked independently of the movie project, but I’m Breathless doesn’t even stoke our interest in what could be the movie blockbuster of the year. 5/10

Mantronix – This Should Move Ya (Capitol)

1990/RTR Countdown

There’s no denying Curtis Mantronik’s sound-manipulation abilities, but here the raps are hedonistic-to-meaningless and it seems the man’s trying to make some quick cash, cos his creativity is pressed firmly on the pause button. 5/10

Marching Girls – Marching Girls (RTC)

1983/TOM

Marching Girls were The Scavengers, one of NZ’s earliest punk groups. They moved to Australia in 1979, changed their name and now two of the original members remain. ‘My Friends’ is good but not great pop: her friends are really not friends at all, but the lyrics ain’t caustic enough by half. ‘The Introduction’ is a heavier side to the group, one that fails to leap positively out of a world which includes New Order and The Bunnymen. The ascending chord line of ‘Plain Jane’ makes it a deadringer for many other similar tunes. ‘Flesh Lies’ is the best thing here. It has momentum, it sounds unfamiliar, it dares to be serious. On the strength of this EP the Marching Girls are not astoundingly different, nor marvellous. Interesting they are, though. Like fingernails, they grow on you, and you don’t take any notice of them until they need cutting. 5/10

Marillion – Fugazi (EMI)

1984/TOM

Comfortable middle-class angst from Centreville City; incredibly undynamic British ‘progressive’ rock stuck indelibly in ’73 aping obvious heroes like Genesis and Co but unable to emulate even Peter Gabriel’s genuine if detached guilty conscience. If Fish’s bloated voice and pompous lyrics weren’t repellent enough, we’d still have the endless cream cheese guitar and keyboard washes to test our troubled countenance. 3/10

Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch – Yo Gotta Believe (Atlantic/Warners)

1993/RTR Countdown

Marky Mark’s attempt to win serious hip-hop cred, but face it: the guy can’t rap. It’s Marky’s bro, sot-so New Kid Donnie Wahlberg, who wins all the cred with his tough and funky production. Impressive.  6/10

Midge Marsden – Live (Peak mini-album)

1983/TOM

There’s something not quite right about NZ blues. Why listen to Midge when you can play Howlin’ Wolf records any time ya want?

Well, you got your reasons. Midge and crew are real enough for those into the feel enough to want to weave de blooze into the very social fabric of their humble antipodean existences, hence the pub popularity of the Midge and his ilk.

I find this kind of stuff so damn predictable. But then again, I’m the kind of guy that’ll pass up a free ticket to a Sunday ngiht Midge/Sonny Day/Hammond Gamble part at Cricketers just to see the Sunday Horror. What a weirdo, eh?

You? You might find that this here 5-track LP (recorded at the Gluepot) captures just enough live Midge magic to bring back memories of wonderful drunken nights of raging revelry you’ve spent at his gigs.

Token quirk: a certain Johnny Winter album from the early ‘70s contained at least two of these songs, in remarkably similar versions.

John Martyn – Piece By Piece (Island)

1985/Wellington City

Looks like it’s tie for all English eccentrics to revive and survive. Martyn’s fans may have trouble with this essentially accessible record; the innovative folk/jazz guitar hybrid is gone, but he’s still esoteric, and still boasts that distinctive mumbling, mentol murmur. Despite – or perhaps because of – his synthetic preoccupations on Piece By Piece, there is a fresh, late-night sweetness at work. Pliable fretless bass work and mellow but lush vibe and Kyoto emulations make half a great record. The other half gets a little upmarket yuppy for easy digestion, but half a great record is better than a complete piece of plastic. 6/10

Hugh Masekela – Tomorrow (WEA)

1987/Evening Post

Hugh Masekela’s Tomorrow was largely recorded in England. It features South African expatriate group Kalahari with trumpeter Masekela, another who lent his talents to the Paul Simon Graceland project.

In 20 years of exile, Masekela’s music has changed markedly: from frenetic Afro-jazz to sophisto-jazz with African-based rhythms. The message hasn’t.

On the opening track, ‘Bring Him Back’, Masekala makes clear his intentions: “Bring back Nelson Mandela/Bring him back home to Soweto/I want to see him walking hand-in-hand/With Winnie Mandela.”

The lyrics flow naturally from and with the music, which is, despite the political emphasis, bright and positive.

Masekela’s own playing has a modern jazz bent, leaving the vocals and rhythms to add the African element. Halfway through, the album heads towards disco territory on ‘Everybody’s Standing Up’. City-style rap ‘Something For Nothing’ follows, and the album bows out to the muzak of ‘Serengeti’.

But even the African-based side doesn’t quite gel. Along the way, the multitracking recording process itself seems to have robbed this music of its warmth. Adding to the problem is a lack of real hooks: the music tends to ramble where it could be grooving, sounding tepid when it could be juicy and larger than life. 5/10

Matt Bianco – Matt Bianco (WEA)

Who he, eh? Like Jethro Tull and Led Zeppelin before them, Matt Bianco have a name which is easily interpreted as a singular description. They are a group, though, as is the current fashion, Matt Bianco are essentially duo by nature if not by name. English people Marks Reilly and Fisher (vocals and keyboards respectively) are responsible for upwardly mobile yuppy dance muzak which steadfastly refuses to leave any kind of Mark at all. In fact, these Marks are so clean that they never have to scrub their bathtub. And they’ve got a maid to clean the reptile scales off the shower floor. The record is rococo jazz-pop, synthetic and guaranteed bloodless. Their own, undistinguished song, ‘Dancing In The Street’, is included. They released it, for some reason. 1/10

Max Romeo – Holding Out My Love To You (Serengeti)

1987/Evening Post

Featuring “special guest” Keith Richards, whose guitar work is almost invisible, this is a soulful recording with more than a hint of gospel in the singing and melodies-a-plenty. Cassette only. 7/10

Lyle Mays – Lyle Mays (Geffen)

1986/Evening Post

Music for yuppies and hush puppies perhaps, keyboardist Lyle Mays’ late-night jazz, commonly associated with Manfred Eicher’s ECM label (several ECM stablemates are involved here) and a Los Angeles cocaine-bleached saxophone dribble. The pieces seldom sustain a good idea or resolve a theme, but there are enough creative contrasts to compel the listener to enjoy, if not convince. 5/10

 

Dave McArtney & the Pink Flamingos – Dave McArtney & the Pink Flamingos (Polygram)

1981/Evening Post

Dave McArtney & the Pink Flamingos, with a lineup of names from such illustrious outfits as Hello Sailor, Dragon, Ticket and Streettalk, appear a supergroup mismatch of the first degree.

On their first, self-titled Polygram album though, the Flamingos prove the perfect anonymous pro foil for McArtney’s songwriting sass.

Dave McArtney was responsible for some of Hello Sailor’s more distinguished fare, and it’s his craftsmanlike MOR rock songwriting which this essentially solid but undistinctive group is here employed to display.

Many will already be familiar with the two singles lifted from this album, ‘Infatuation’ and ‘Virginia’, with its risqué lyrics.

Most of the songs are up to the same standard, if of a generally slower nature. Personal faves are ‘The Party’ (self-explanatory) and ‘Sometimes’, which vocally echoes both John Lennon and Bob Dylan and musically bathes in that sickly morning after feeling.

Dave McArtney & the Pink Flamingos is no masterwork, but if not for the over-crisp and clean production, it would easily measure up to the majority of overseas commercial releases. 6

 

 

Paul McCartney – McCartney II (Parlophone)

1980/Evening Post

Paul McCartney probably wishes he had no name to live up to. Over a decade has passed since The Beatles called it a day, and McCartney has played with Wings for most of the ‘70s, yet he has only now released his second solo album.

McCartney II spotlights Paul playing all instruments and composing all the tunes, and the results quash rumours of his larger-than-life part in The Beatles and Wings. The album was, as is stated on the cover, recorded at home on a 16-track tape machine, bypassing the recording console. And it sounds as much.

‘Coming Up’, the single, matches an almost new wave sound to a theme of naïve idealistic optimism. For example, stick around and the world will be better tomorrow. Throughout the album similar sentiments are repeated.

On mawkish ballads ‘Waterfalls’ and ‘One Of These Days’, he pleads for love and fresh air respectively, while the complete lyrics of ‘Summer’s Day Song’ run as follows: “Someone’s sleeping through a bad dream/Tomorrow it will be over/For the world will soon be waking/To a summer’s day.”

Sly synthesiser-driven rockers ‘Temporary Secretary’ and ‘Darkroom’ have trivial lyrics but along with ‘Coming Up’, they are the most memorable tracks. The blues of ‘On The Way’, the conventional rock of ‘Nobody Knows’, the satirical rockabilly-boogie of ‘Bogey Music’ and the easy listening synth fodder of instrumentals ‘Frozen Jap’ and ‘Front Parlour’ combine to make a slight, craftsman-like, unchallenging album.

On McCartney II, McCartney is a talented but under-inspired tunesmith making the recorded equivalent to a home movie doodling around, making friendly sounds and enjoying himself. 6/10

 

McFadden & Whitehead – McFadden & Whitehead (PDR)

1979/Evening Post

Distinguished soul duo churns out an album full of substandard disco and ballads. Hit single: ‘Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now’. 5/10

 

Freddie McGregor – Across The Border (Jayrem)

1986/Wellington City

Recorded in Jamaica and mixed in Florida, Across The Border amounts to nothing but a flaccid token gesture. Predictable, political preaching (the title tune, ‘Out Of The Valley’, ‘War Mongers’, ‘Freedom Justice & Equality’), pallid platitudes (‘Love Will Solve The Problems’, ‘High Tension’), crossover compromises (‘Freddie’, ‘Work To Do Today’, ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Mind’) and careless cover versions (‘Guantanamera’) all get mulched onto the one album. Instead of grooving, the rhythms groan to a music mix that’s been left in the blender too long. If that wasn’t enough, this cassette-only release sounds as murky as if it had been recorded directly from a copy of the album instead of a master tape. 3/10

MC Hammer – Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em (Capital)

1990/RTR Countdown

We can’t not have a rap album in our top five, so this month’s token rap attack comes courtesy of MC Hammer’s Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em. His ballad ‘Help The Children’, with its wet social conscience, clearly seals his sad fate: that’s right, Hammer’s the U2 of hip hop! (Well maybe…) But don’t write him off yet, coz there’s some funky stuff going on here and a minimum of sampling, so what we really get is the Bobby Brown of hip hop! Actually, forget the U2 bit: ‘On Your Face’ isn’t what you could describe as ‘politically correct’, which puts a smile on my face! 5/10

 

Malcolm McNeill – The Four Seasons (Tartar)

1986/Evening Post

An overblown seasonal theme, but one that works with luscious interpretations of time-honoured pop songs sandwiched seamlessly by bits of Vivaldi. Silly, like satin sheets in summer, The Four Seasons is smooth, smoochy cocktail jazz with crystal-clear orchestral arrangements which suit McNeill’s limited voice. We ponder the point of yet more versions of ‘Summertime’, ‘September Song’, et al. But at least it’s all (yawn) organically flowing. Man. 5/10

Meatloaf – Prime Cuts (Arista)

1990/RTR Countdown

Health Department Warning: This Meatloaf collection is past its sell-by date. It is not safe for human consumption. 2/10

Metal Church – The Dark (Elektra)

1987/Evening Post

Heavy metal fans are among the most discerning of all music consumers. Not only do they know what they like, but they know why. This is a quality the average fan of heavy metal has above the average Simple Minds or Dire Straits fan. There is a degree of participation between the cardboard guitar slammers and their onstage counterparts that you wouldn’t find in the fickle contemporary crowd.

While the Dire Straits set finds solace in the relationship between their compact lives and their compact discs, heavy metal fans are out on the streets, running with the pack. The heavy metal fan is party to a kind of modern tribal society, a special cult that still sees credence in enthusiasm, loyalty, civil disobedience and, more importantly, noise.

It is, of course, fashionable to laugh at the heavy metal fan. I’ve done my share of laughing. But those who consign anything vaguely noisy to one smelly bag could just be missing out on something more genuinely exhilarating than any number of Simply Red records.

The range of sounds available in this genre varies more than any other category in the rock world. Naturally, there are formulas, but these are made to be broken.

The new Metal Church album begins with a song called ‘Ton Of Bricks’, and they not kidding. Now the benefits of subjecting oneself to heavy metal on the home stereo system are immense: you can hear it clearly, you’re not likely to suffer prolonged or permanent eardrum damage, and the results can be genuinely powerful.

I can’t believe that there’s not a degree of mimicry and self-deprecation at work here. The vocalist (David Wayne) screams like a strangulated psychotic chipmunk – which immediately lowers one’s ability to take the whole thing seriously. But the music itself has its merits. It is like an aural ton of bricks. Surround-sound bricks.

Producer/mixer Mark Dodson has done a sterling job on The Dark. He has taken their predominantly frenetically-paced HM and turned it into a monstrous staccato throb with great stereo drum effects and excellent imaging. Metal Church have also mastered the minor chord knack. They really know how to make menacing riffs, and that’s refreshing in the face of today’s plethora of stale static positivism.

Metal Church also vary the formula on another front: the lyrics. There are some classically hilarious HM lines, as in this couplet from ‘Ton Of Bricks’: “Sacrificed, everything/I’m the grinding stone/Ripping flesh, drawing blood/I live to eat your bones.”

But the album’s actually full of anti-war songs, most forcefully put on ‘Method To Your Madness’. Elsewhere, the ambiguity of ‘Line Of Death’ and ‘Western Alliance’ makes it unclear whether they support or oppose Reagan-type tactics. 6/10

Pat Metheny/Ornette Coleman – Song X (Geffen)

1986/Evening Post

WEA subsidiary Geffen is taking some laudable gambles on some adventurous releases, and this is one of the most extreme yet.

Guitarist Pat Metheny is inevitably associated with the cruisy modern jazz for which he is famed, but on Song X he teams with and is submerged by the innovative saxophonist Ornette Coleman. Aided and abetted by bassist Charlie Haden, and drummers Jack De Johnette and Denardo Coleman, there is one thing for certain: free jazz is on the menu.

There is little to suggest that this is anything but an interlude for Coleman who, having invented a musical language called harmolodics, seems content to let rip with any free improvisations he feels coming on. Without being pinned to a melodic base, this busy music doesn’t function so much within one’s usual perception of music, but in an environmental mode. In a sense, Coleman and co are communicating to the listener through their instruments in the same way the sound of birds singing together and ground scrunching under boots adds to a forest walk.

That said, Metheny’s muted contributions do add a semblance of conventional melody of tone and colouration. 7/10

Mice In A Radiogram (Ima Hitt) cassette

1983/TOM

Describing themselves as a ‘non-profit band concerned about other species in the gutter’, Mice In A Radiogram release an album-length tape with loads of promise. Fairly experimental in approach, their songs generally, however, have form and (usually) melody. While the band is obviously striving for originality, the music is still essentially the sum of its influences, never finding a continuous thread or distinct voice of its own. But it is interesting.

Some songs shine through the murky recording quality better than others. In fact, the first three songs on the tape are the best. ‘Copy IV’, ‘After The Funeral’ and ‘French Testing’ show a punk side to the band that occasionally echoes Public Image heard down a long corridor with added slabs of synth. ‘Disaster At McKechnies’ and ‘A Music’, however, explore the ‘assorted instruments’ and ‘fun with voices’ aspect of music which Zappa and a few others made definitive music with in the ‘60s. That’s not to say that there isn’t potential in these areas, just that I get déjà vu and wish I was listening to those artists when I hear this.

The music gets more primitive as it continues onto Side 2, and it becomes meandering in the process. Nevertheless, this music deserves to be heard. I didn’t appreciate the condom packaging. A rather tasteless ‘novelty’. Mice In A Radiogram’s cassette is available from Ima Hitt, Box 407, New Plymouth. 6/10

Midnight Oil – Blue Sky Mining (CBS)

1990/RTR Countdown

Midnight Oil’s popularity hasn’t got anything to do with their political convictions. The big ace up their collective sleeve is a knack for creating instantly singable, anthemic choruses which become rousing after a drink or two with the lads. You really haven’t got a clue what they’re on about unless you read the lyric sheet, but hey, they’re great guys, they care, the world is safe in their hands! Well, maybe. I’m a little suspicious of these do-gooding types, but face the music, baby: the Oils know how to tie the laces of classic pop to a bedrock of Aussie hard rock, and that’s no mean achievement. Which brings us to Blue Sky Mining, which is in every way an equal to Diesel & Dust, and possibly even more catchy. 6/10

The Mighty Diamonds – Reggae Street (Serengeti)

1987/Evening Post

Smooth, free-flowing but organic reggae in the style favoured by our own Dread, Beat and Blood. Vocalists uncredited, natty rhythms handled by the prolific Sly and Robbie, original year of release uncertain. Cassette-only release. 6/10

Mink De Ville – Coup De Grace (WEA)

Nov 1981/In Touch

This whole semi-credible West Side Story dramatic pose/trip must be dangerous to gullible romantics like me. That said, this street-level sentimentalism is simple and unpretentious and has the upper hand on Springsteen, who forgets that girls are more important than cars, and simple soul songs more effective than brassy cluttered anthems. MDV’s career seemed doomed from the start, but from this unambitious base they may yet make a comfy niche for themselves. The songs here are pleasant and memorable, with the exception of the misconceived mush of ‘End Of The Line’. 6/10

 

Mi-Sex – Space Race (CBS)

1980/Evening Post

In trying to mirror current futuristic trends in popular music, Mi-Sex have become tiresome and predictable. The contrivances which initially inspired them to create powerful modern rock are now limiting the band’s scope, trapping them in a pose of laughable shallowness.

But of course, Space Race is a chart cert, calculated as it may be.

There is something desperate about this album. The songs themselves are simplistic, superficially grand rockers with the shiny cold glean of the ‘new age’ played to a level of embarrassment by the boys in the band. There’s nothing wrong with simple riffs where memorable, but on songs such as ‘People’, that horrendous single, they could to all intents and purposes be updated Village People singing updated disco nursery rhymes, for all it means.

The sound, where it could be inventive or powerful, is merely ugly, uselessly dominated by Murray Burns’ keyboards, which more often than not sound totally out of line with what the group is trying to express. They are a horrible wash of synthesised cowboy strings.

The rest of the playing is uninspired. Hodgkinson’s drumming plods away uneventfully, with Kevin Stanton playing a muted guitar. Steve Gilpin is the only member who really excels, his vocals lending new meaning to the word ‘macho’. But here, more often than not, the voice is inadequately recorded, sounding a million miles from the power of ‘Computer Games’.

‘Space Race’ itself is indicative of what’s to come, while ‘Pages And Matches’, in its schizo freneticism, emerges as one of the better tracks. The only other noteworthy song is ‘It Only Hurts When I’m Laughing’, which begins like a ballad (winsome synthesised strings) and gallops into overdrive to accommodate Gilpin’s maniacal vocal delivery.

The doom-laden ‘Living In September’, the instantly memorable ‘Good Guys Always Win (Satire)’, and raging rocker ‘Burning Up’ keep up the standard set by Graffiti Crimes, but ‘I Don’t Know’, ‘Slippin’ Out’ and ‘Ice Cold Dead’ are definitely substandard fare, though impressive in the bad taste stakes.

If Mi-Sex are New Zealand’s best bet for overseas success, then we’ve got much to worry about. 5/10

The Mission – Carved In Sand (Mercury)

1990/RTR Countdown

Sub-operatic, dramatic, bombastic gothic-rock. Probably their finest hour. 6/10

 

Mole Manne – DR55 (Self-released)

December 1982/IT Magazine

Zed’s little effort grows on you, but it’s nothing new, nothing to shake the earth. The A-side is very 1960s: an off-key semi-steal of bits and pieces from tunes like ‘Things We Said Today’. Complete with drum machine. ‘Family’ has a more contemporary theme, but ‘What Do You See’ is unnecessarily amateurish. Winner of the first Inside Out Richard Eriwata Record Sleeve Award. 5/10

 

Mole Manne – Mole Manne (Jayrem)

1983/TOM

A more than considerable improvement on the first single, this disc at once shows potential and clarifies certain deficiencies. Mole Manne pack a gritty, well-defined punch at times, here on ‘Search’, ‘Raid’ and ‘Cot Death’. On the other hand, the best song as such is ‘Now You’ve Found Me’.

Enthusiasm for the sound and one’s ability to relate with the earnest tones, however, is hampered. The problem lies in the area of lyrics and vocals. The singing is consistently off-key, but in a grating rather than a novel way. The lyrics are embarrassing, but then again reading the words, explicitly displayed on the back of the cover, is not obligatory.

The final impression this Wellington group leaves is one of people wanting to make extreme, meaningful music, and not being quite brave enough, or maybe not having enough to say, to quite bring it off. Maybe next time? 6/10

 

Mondo Rock – Mondo Rock Chemistry (WEA)

Dec 1981/In Touch

Middle-of-the-wave Mondo Rock from Oarstraylia come up with palatable dish of, if not instantly memorable, then at least clever, tasteful rock music. The sounds are standard fodder, but the lyrics are worth a read. Recommended for those who want some Oz-rock minus the sado-machismo of yer Cold Chisels or the reptilian extremity of those Birthday Party people. A less MOR LRB? 5/10

 

 

The Monochrome Set – Love Zombies (Din Disc)

1981/Evening Post

“An unashamed look at their weird lives… their wild loves… in a jazz-haunted, desire-tormented world.”

So reads a statement on the front cover of The Monochrome Set’s second album, Love Zombies. It’s typical of the satirical, cryptic nature of the British group: Lester Square, guitar, Andrew Warren, bass guitar (both former members of Adam And The Ants), John Haney, drums, Bid, vocals, Alvin Clark, keyboards.

Also part of the lineup is filmmaker Tony Potts because the group’s shows incorporate his film visuals.

Love Zombies is a varied, unusual and underrated album. Despite a new wave background on the title track, the set shows no relation to this genre. The group has been harshly criticised for this seeming betrayal. The music on this album is, however, both creative and entrancing, if not a part of the rock or new wave mainstream.

Electrified, celtic influenced folk jigs, which are reminiscent of early 1970s group Gryphon, comprise the substantial part of ‘405 Line’, ‘B.I.D. Spells Bid’ and the title track. ‘Adeste Fidels’ combines pop riffs and religious phraseology, and ‘Apocalypso’ bounces happily along – marimba and all – as Bid sings lines such as: “Sing ho for a-bomb melody/It merrily whistles down on me.”

The tone of the set is far from serious, but the group’s satire contains its share of well-aimed barbs. What, after all, can one say about song titles such as ‘In Love, Cancer?’

Often, otherwise inconsequential songs are fully justified by the group’s intelligent ideas and combinations of sound.

This musically accomplished group has fully utilised the technological capabilities of the modern recording studio to artistic ends. Love Zombies is not for dancing but for listening to. Definitely one for audio buffs. 8/10

Michael Monroe – Not Fakin’ It (Polygram)

1990/RTR Countdown

Ex-Hanoi Rocks flash-metaller makes all-grown-up bad boy rock album for middle-aged adolescents everywhere. 5/10

The Moody Blues – Collection (Castle)

Motley compilation of forgettable and inane pre-‘Nights In White Satin’ material on four sides and without any liner information. 3/10

Christy Moore – Ordinary Man (WEA)

1986/Evening Post

I wouldn’t disagree with Mr Moore’s proclamation, but this innocuous, soothing little number doesn’t float happily in the same bucket of slop as Roger Whittaker. In his quiet way, Christy Moore’s doing the same thing for Scottish working man’s folk as Bruce Springsteen for his industrial equivalent. It’s all a bit simple-minded, cosy and cornball, but is nothing if not totally tasteful. You won’t find any sickly strings on this record; it’s a gentle palette of plucked guitars and low-key synthesiser with Moore’s thick stew sung softly on top. And, in small doses, it’s rather nice. 6/10

Jenny Morris – Body & Soul (WEA)

1987/Evening Post

Remember the Wide Mouthed Frogs, that late-‘70s Wellington all-woman band? Or The Crocodiles? Jenny Morris has come a long way since then, and courtesy of her association with INXS she’s all the rage in Australia right now.

Anyone who remembers the quirkiness of The Crocodiles with a little fondness will be disappointed in her first solo album. The only faintly reminiscent moment is the funny Fane Flaws co-written ‘Tested Sentences’, which is all about marketing oneself.

Those fond of a more straight-ahead approach, however, may be pleasantly surprised.

Her unique vocals – a mixture of ‘60s dollybird style and outright belting pop and roll – are here in all their glory on a collection of solid if not madly inspired material. There are songs by Morris herself, which take a wilful and lyrically direct line if a musically standard route. Then there are songs by both Neil and Tim Finn, both in their recognisable styles.

She’s tried to forge an honest, performance-style album without electronic gimmickry, and unconditionally succeeded. For me, it’s a little heavy on the drums and a little light on inventiveness. In other words, it sounds Australian. 6/10

Motley Crue – Girls, Girls, Girls (Elektra)

1987/Evening Post

When Motley Crue’s awful debut chanced upon worldwide distribution back in 1984 they were a good joke. Easily the worst HM band to crawl out of LA’s gutters, the joke quickly turned sour when the quartet became massively successful on account of their bad taste chic/cheek and total disrespect for anything decent.

In 1987 they no longer sleep upside-down to get the most unusual HM haircuts around. In fact, they look just like any other bunch of retard poseurs. On Girls, Girls, Girls they get yet another chance to prove to the world that yes, maybe they have got some talent after all.

Unfortunately, even Tom Werman’s commercially-tinged production job can’t (and doesn’t even seriously attempt to) disguise the fact that not only have these guys not got any imagination, but they can’t actually play their instruments very well.

There are songs celebrating drugs, death, sluts, male prostitution, sex with underaged girls, killing over jealousy, dangerous living, and even one which promises that the boys in the band are coming for your daughters. I guess some might find it risqué. I find it slightly sick, not to mention boring. 3/10

Motley Crue – Red, White & Crue (Motley/Universal)

2005/Metro

Motley Crue is one of those great, larger-than-life bands whose image is pure cartoon, and whose music is gloriously stupid. With their arrival in 1981 came press coverage about their unfeasibly tall hair-do’s. How did they get them up so high? Well, sleep upside down like bats, of course. Their debut, meanwhile, ended up in that rarefied part of my LP collection reserved for ‘worst records of all time’. ‘World’s Most Infamous Rock Band’ reads the sticker on this double CD compilation, which gives a nice thumping bottom end to its remastering of the LA group’s brattish raunch rock. Like other so-crap-they’re-great legends (the Ramones, Motorhead) the Crue insisted on spinning their slim talents out over several decades of patchy work, but Red, White & Crue brings the best of it (including a few b-sides, unreleased cuts and entertaining cover versions) to the table. We should be worried: they’re back together, and three recent tunes are included. Could this signal the return of Big Hair Rock? 6/10

Motorhead – On Parole (UA)

1980/In Touch

Everybody’s gotta have a hero, and to me, Lemmy fits the credentials more than most. Way back when in England’s green and pleasant past, Lemmy was a minor-league rebel hanging out with before-their-time punkies The Rockin’ Vicars, acid-heads The Pink Fairies and Mick Farren’s Deviants. His major appearance in the rock’n’roll history books to date is his five-year sojourn in squiggly heavy-metal space-rock one-riff bread-brains Hawkwind.

When this whacked-out straggle-haired and acknowledged speed-freak bassist got the push from those silver machines in ’75, he went right ahead and formed his own brand of heavy metal heaven – Motorhead. The three-piece would go on to create three or even four more riffs as songs than that previous group could never quite rise to.

Motorhead was the monster riff, the total lack of subtlety in any shape, form or size. And if you didn’t like the sound of that, chum, you might as well have cleared off before these destructive louts shaved every hair from your poor tortured ear-drum without so much as a “sorry”.

Where they differ from every other so-called metal act is that they do not try to refine or define their sound. Where they differ from the status quo (or Status Quo for that matter) of heavy bands is that they don’t just tell us to get “down, down”, or “bang your head against another brick in the wall”. They don’t preach phallic worship or stuff things down their pants to make their knobs seem super-sized. Although you don’t hear the words (necessarily), they’re preaching rebellion, however misguided their wrath may be. At least they’re fighting something, not doing the Judas Priest misogynist glorification bit.

We need heavy metal rebels to wipe away the snail trails left by whorey old Led Bombast. Motorhead has more in common with early Sex Pistols than with early Purple. Don’t believe me and it’s nobody’s funeral, but in attitude at least, that’s fact.

Motorhead was formed early on in the punk piece, and while dime-a-dozen renta-punk combos were signing to ludicrous sell-your-soul deals, Motorhead was suffering record company diffidence. They cut an album at Dave Edmund’s Rockfield studios in Wales which was assigned to the vaults. Their second, Motorhead, was the victim of a terrible sound mix that reduced all the venom to a blurred whirr. Their third, Bomber, is by all accounts the classic nobody’s been waiting for.

So they’re now quite big in Britain, and UA’s Rockfile department has dug out the earliest material and put it out, demo-like sound quality and all, as On Parole. And that’s where we come in. On Parole is now on general release at a budget price.

Real Motorhead can be sampled on ‘Motorhead’, ‘Iron Horse – Born To Lose’, ‘Fools’ and ‘Lost Johnny’. At their best, they’re an aural equivalent to monster sonic toothache or, in Lemmy’s head, the rush of speed and a big British bike.

The more ponderous tracks are the most successful, as they can build on the threatening atmosphere. As the edges of the sound are fuzz, thanks to the dismal sound quality, and the band are hardly virtuosi, the faster songs tend to lack punch, tightness and distinction. This is true of ‘City Kids’ and ‘Leaving Here’, a tribute to the first and best 1965 heavy metal, The Birds’ (no, not The Byrds).

On Parole is generally for those fools enough (me included) to be addicted to their real albums. Here they still have the basic Motorhead barrage of sound, but with Larry Wallis’s guitar, the all-out assault of later outings is slightly depleted.

If you want to try ’em out, get one of the later records, but this is recommended to fans. Lemmy, your raw-throated Burl Ives on mentholated spirits vocals have gotta be the most! 6/10

 

Motorhead – Ace Of Spades (Bronze)

1981/Evening Post

Heavy metal is a base, distasteful form of rock music. Its practitioners generally live a lifestyle that eschews human responsibility. Its predominantly adolescent audience is actively encouraged to unleash their energy and frustrations to this violent, masochistic music.

Most heavy metal groups foster complete disregard for half the human race – women – except as objects of male sexual conquest. Quite apart from the dangerous attitude-mongering these groups perpetrate upon the naïve, their noise seldom lives up to expectations, most often dredging up the same slow, ponderous riffs time and time again.

Rock music can be and is a valid method by which we can rid ourselves of frustrations of various kinds without taking them out on others: a kind of exorcism. Most heavy metal bands though, with a few exceptions such as that of forerunners The Who, forget that frustration can be caused by political, social, sexual and many other circumstances.

Motorhead is the stronger medicine of today. The group plays music that is within the structural framework of heavy metal, but this trio makes more noise than all the others combined. They are a totally over-the-top, ear bleed-inducing blitzkrieg of sound.

Motorhead is an excellent energy-release holocaust and a vivid but affectionate parody of the heavy metal genre. It takes itself seriously but the whole concept is firmly tongue in cheek: check out titles like ‘Love Me Like A Reptile’ and the album cover, which pictures the band dressed as outlaws in a desert setting.

The band has no message to impart to the listener, save affirmation of outlaw chic (‘Live To Win’ and ‘Bite The Bullet’). Its sledgehammer strength and pneumatic drill attack is further emphasised on this, the group’s fifth album. The songs are short and fast – quite alien to heavy metal – and sound as similar to each other as one would expect of material that was all created while actually recording the album.

A large part of the credit must go to Lemmy, otherwise known as Mr Kilmister. His history stretches back as far as outrageous mid-‘60s band The Rockin’ Vicars and runs on through to the ‘70s when he was resident in space-rock group Hawkwind. He created Motorhead after leaving that group.

Lemmy is a biker, a greaser and a self-confessed speed-freak, not to mention great bass guitarist and bull-moose roar vocalist. The other members are Eddie Clarke (guitar) and Philthy Animal Taylor (drums).

Motorhead are all excess and overkill (the title of one of their albums). Surely appropriate themes for the 1980s? The only groups comparable to Motorhead are (within their self-created genres) Christchurch band The Gordons and San Francisco’s Chrome.

Good for a laugh, a headache and wonderful for waking the neighbours on Sunday mornings. 8/10

 

The Motors – Tenement Steps (Virgin)

1980/Evening Post

British pub-turned punk group The Motors go for something completely different on their third LP. Now down to a duo – Andy McMasters and Nick Garvey – they flourish with a studio style to beat all-comers on Tenement Steps. The album is, if nothing else, a triumph of sheer sound: majestic panoramic sound spectrum. The wall-of-sound is seemingly achieved by regal-sounding keyboard patterns and powerful orchestrations which, for once, actually work in the rock setting. 6/10

Judy Mowatt – Black Woman (Serengeti)

1987/Evening Post

Probably the all-round winner this week is Judy Mowatt’s long-awaited Black Woman. If you’re still of the inclination that all reggae sounds the same, check this out. It has a distinctive, warm sound that can only be attributed to the fact that Mowatt is firmly in control. As a vocalist, Mowatt can sound sorrowful one minute, playful the next. It’s to her credit that she can avoid the obvious catchphrases on a record that reeks so highly of Rasta chic, and that she can write songs that keep cosy company with those of Bob Marley. 7/10

Mr Partridge – Take Away/The Lure Of Salvage (Virgin)

1980/Evening Post

Mr Partridge’s Take Away/The Lure Of Salvage is a veritable goldmine for those seeking to broaden their musical horizons, or simply soak up some really new sounds. ‘Mr Partridge’ (Andy Partridge of XTC) has taken much of the group’s latest LP Drums & Wires and, as he states on the cover, electronically processed/shattered and layered the tracks with other sounds or lyrical pieces. An accessible experimental record thankfully bereft of the usual earnestness of such ventures. 10/10

Mudhoney – Piece Of Cake (Reprise/Warners)

1993/RTR Countdown

Seattle grungers Mudhoney were around before Nirvana, and they’ll probably be around after, but they’ll never amount to anything more than dreary noise merchants. Ho hum! 5/10

Alannah Myles – Alannah Myles (Atlantic)

1990/RTR Countdown

Cretinous Canadian one-of-the-boys touch bitch heavyish rock. 3/10