Jason Thompson's Reviews: April, 2001

Joe Jackson
Look Sharp!

(A&M)

Oh Joe, what has happened to you? You went off declaring how much you loathed the pop rock song format and have spent a couple of decades exploring your version of jazz and mood music. I was right there with you solidly up through Big World, but then you pretty much lost me. Sure, you had some cool tracks here and there after that, but I can't say that your forays into lounge-lite have been all that exciting. Perhaps you should have taken the hint back in the Eighties when we all didn't really enjoy your orchestral work Will Power. But then again, I realize that you've always had a bug up your ass since Day One, and this is what has kept you going on all this time.

But you're never going to top that debut album of yours, Joe. No, sir. Look Sharp! is easily one of the best albums ever. I understand that you tried to play it out a bit more on I'm The Man. And while that album is indeed a fun listen, there's no comparing it to that wonderful debut. But perhaps I'm putting a lot of personal Importance into the work. Certainly, such songs as "Happy Loving Couples" and "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" (especially when even I had a crush on a girl named Jeanie at the time) got me through a good portion of my high school years. A soundtrack for all those guys like me who were looking for a bit more than make out time under the bleachers, or who had no self-confidence at all when it came to the ladies. Funny, looking back on that now I'm sure I would have done just about anything for that make out time.

That's another story, though. You and I were pals, Joe. We had "Sunday Papers" and "Baby Stick Around". You made me yearn for the skinny tie late Seventies when people were pissing on disco and demanding a bit more. When any sort of thing was being played. I wanted a pair of shoes like the ones you wore on the cover of your album. I wanted to be able to spout off shit like "God, if you're up there/Listen to my prayer/In future man should have a different design/Give him a switch so he can turn off his libido, now/Give him a tranquilizer built into his mind". But I didn't have to, 'cause you were saying it all for me. Not that anyone else was really listening when I was. I believe they were hung up on Rick Astley, Paula Abdul, and Milli Vanilli. Milli fuckin' Vanilli, Joe. People paid for that shit.

I didn't have any of it. I refused to purchase that plan, no matter how many girls were swooning over "Girl, You Know It's True" or "Never Gonna Give You Up." Hell, they were still crying for New Kids On The Block. But you and I were doing the "Instant Mash". I can still do it, too. "Grab can, lift arm, stack can, turn around!" You're right. That one certainly was easy. I guess the ironic thing was everyone was doing the Instant Mash then and just not realizing it. But you were there to back me up with "Fools In Love" ("Are there any creatures more pathetic?") and "Look Sharp!" itself. Hell, I was just me. I never figured in that whole fashion over function formula. We lived through a lot of ridiculous adolescent territory. But I guess you supplied the perfect soundtrack for a lot of kids' teenage dilemmas over the years.

So Joe, if you're listening, why not get angry and do it with style again like you did here? I mean, you could go ahead and throw in another jazzy great like "You Can't Get What You Want", but let's hear that four piece combo rage on for old time's sake. I know it won't happen, but as a long time fan, I figured I would ask. There's a whole new generation of REALLY confused teens out there who are pissing their most important years away with O-Town and Mandy Moore as their soundtrack. If you don't help out, who will, Joe? Elvis Costello? Do you think I could drag him away from Burt Bacharach long enough?

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The Story Of A Boy In Love

Stephen Bishop
Red Cab To Manhattan

(Warner Brothers)

Where's the justice? Why hasn't this album been reissued on CD? Are Stephen Bishop's fans willing to settle for less, scraping up copies of his best of, On And On, Blue Guitars, and Bowling In Paris (if they're lucky)? It's tough to find this man's early output on the digital format, unless you want to pay import prices for albums like Bish. But dammit, I want Red Cab To Manhattan on disc more than any of the others. You see, this record was one those influential LPs I heard as a kid, thanks to both my brother and sister owning a copy. My mom and I scored our own copies in the Woolworth's bargain bin in the mid Eighties for fifty cents each. Man, I miss those days.

But there you go. Fifty cents for a great album. Sure, Stephen Bishop has written some really syrupy stuff, but Red Cab is one great work. Consider it his most lighthearted, if you will. What caught my attention most when I was but a pre-teen were such songs as "Sex Kittens Go To College" and "Thief In The Night", two gloriously smart-assed tunes that quickly had me listening to the rest of the platter. What I found beyond those two songs was a really great record that I still love to this day.

Red Cab To Manhattan is filled with noir-drenched vignettes. From the kooky opener "The Big House" and its tales of jail life and the kind of folks you might meet there ("He sits alone in his cell/With his two parakeets/Named 'em 'Amos' and 'Andy'/Ain't that sweet?/You wind up in the big house/If you've got what it takes/To make another mistake") to "The Story Of A Boy In Love" with its depictions of a jealous love ending in a murder and suicide, this was pretty heady stuff. But it is evenly tempered with such folly as "Living In The Land Of Abe Lincoln", a sweet ode to prostitution, the mob, and disco! And how can you go wrong with "My Clarinet" and a love note to actress Karen Allen, "Little Moon"? Lots of good stuff here.

The hit from the album was "Send A Little Love My Way (Like Always)". It was in the same vein as "On And On", but much better in my opinion. The title track did nicely as well, as Bishop tells us his stories of life in the city ("Gonna take a red cab to Manhattan/See 'It's A Wonderful Life'/Take Jimmy Stewart out to dinner/Buy some postcards for his wife"). One great song after another. And if I recall correctly, this album was filled with such guest stars as Eric Clapton, Art Garfunkel, and Phoebe Snow. Not that it really matters, as this is Bish's show from the get-go.

I really hope Red Cab To Manhattan gets issued on disc someday. If you've never heard it in its entirety and can find yourself a copy, grab it and give it a listen. I recently found a mint copy on eBay for $1.99. Bish is still selling cheaply. Contrary to popular belief, not all bargain bin albums are worthless. This one certainly wasn't, especially if I'm writing about it all these years later. One of those albums that got played a lot in my house yet seldom gets any recognition these days, Red Cab To Manhattan is easily one of the best albums of the Eighties.

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Pure Pop For No People

Oval-Teen
A Million Shades of Oval-Teen

(MOC Records)

Have you ever watched a talent show or a TV program in which you felt so embarrassed for the act you were watching that you had to turn away or change the channel? Well, that's exactly how I felt when I listened to Yorkville, Illinois' very own Oval-Teen and their latest release, A Million Shades of Oval-Teen. Simply put, this is some tough listening.

Their press release points out their "trademarked hand claps and vocal harmonies", but to be honest, a lot of the problems surrounding this album lie within those harmonies themselves. Maybe it's just me, but Mr. Bradley Davis (guitar and vocals), Joseph Chellino (drums and vocals), and Jeremiah Wallis (bass and vocals) are no Beach Boys. Right from the first track "Shooting Sugar At The Stars", one can easily detect something has gone awry as the trio tries to reach for notes that they just cannot grasp together. Unfortunately, their voices aren't the only things out of tune here. The guitar in "Numbered And Few" should have been run through a tuner before the tape started rolling.

The production manages to mar the album even further. I don't mind lo-fi, but this is about as low as it gets. Backing vocals and tambourines are recorded so poorly in parts that you can barely hear them. On top of that, some of the songs' arrangements fall straight through the cracks as well. One listen to the off-kilter "Ooh Baby Baby (It's You Baby Baby), and the fact that these guys can't play or sing that well really hits home.

There are parts to this album which desperately want to work, such as the piano in "Numbered And Few", as well as bits of "Oh, Natalie" and "Lemon Cakes And Chocolate Shakes", but those moments are few and far between. Instead of standing out, these bits are often left in the wake of such bad lyrics as "I would sell my guitar just to see you smile/Break my amp just to hold you close for awhile" (from "Flying Silver Rocket Ships"). They are eventually completely destroyed when a tone-deaf falsetto breaks out in "A Million Shades".

There's really not a lot to suggest here over the course of A Million Shades' fourteen tracks. After listening to the album multiple times to make sure it wasn't just me and give it a better chance, I still came up empty. Having visited the band's website (http://oval-teen.hypermart.net), I got the impression that MOC Records has been delaying the release of the album for a while. Perhaps they got the same impression that I did from listening to it. Whatever the case may be, Oval-Teen certainly has an expansive discography and I would suppose a local fan base to support them. I, however, wasn't won over by the group this time around. Perhaps next time they will record something, if not a bit more professional, then at least a bit more listenable.

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Jason Thompson: April, 2001, March, 2001, February, 2001, January, 2001, December, 2000, November, 2000

Jason Thompson's Reviews: April, 2001, March, 2001 January, 2001, December, 2000

Jason Thompson's Reviews: November, 2000

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