Coming of age during the 1980's was kind of like the opening lines of A Tale of Two Cities - that whole "best of times, worst of times" thing - when it came to the music. Some of the music from my wayward youth and young adulthood has not only stood up well, but actually grown in my esteem. England, for some reason, provided some of the most interesting, inventive takes on American styles, as a new generation, weaned on Motown, Stax/Volt, and the Philly sound of the early '70's moved on from the punk of their own youth, drank in reggae, ska, and dub, and came out the other side. Some of these performers, like Paul Young, were abysmal. Others, like Alyson Moyet, were interesting (I think she has a great, if undisciplined, voice). The Style Council, emerging from Paul Weller's break-up of The Jam, started moving in interesting, R&B-tinged directions almost immediately. This is a pretty little love song of theirs, "You're the Best Thing". If you close your eyes, and tilt your head, you can almost hear Smokey Robinson singing this song, the Miracles moving in sync behind him:
For those who might be wondering, "What happened to Uriah Heep?", I have two answers, the first short, the second a bit longer. The shorter answer is, "God, they're awful." The second is, I had planned to do Heep without actually checking them out. I haven't actually listened to them in years, although I once had their three biggest-selling, and arguably artistically best albums. After giving them a listen, though, after all these years, I thought, "I just can't do this." I like putting up music I really like, or at least like to make fun of. In this case, I just couldn't do it. Also, from the vintage clips from the early '70's over at YouTube, half the band look like contestants in a Harry Reems look-a-like contest.
Hint for Monday, and I will stick with it this time: Lady singers I like.
Virtual Tin Cup
