Romantics Rocking Ric 345

mfb · Post by **mfb** » Thu May 18, 2006 4:35 am

Mike Skill on a 345(?) ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czp5TqnnAFQ&search=the%20romantics

and, of course:

http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2727196?pg=latest&htv=12

johnallg · Post by **johnallg** » Thu May 18, 2006 4:08 pm

Great rock. Love the hair piles in "Talking..". Has a simple but effective and driving bass line also.

And then there's "What I Like". Early 60s meets 80s.

Thanks for the links.

wayang · Post by **wayang** » Thu May 18, 2006 5:03 pm

Wellllll....kind of a doofus band, really. That "What I Like" 'hook' (if you will) was done better and ballsier by Chrissie Hind and her band on the cut "Middle Of The Road". I'm pretty sure she could take the Romantics single-handed in a parking lot fight, too...

The most inadvertently hilarious moment the Romantics provided mass culture would have to be the video for their utterly somnambulent tune, "One In A Million", which featured (for no apparent reason) nine-count-'em-nine scantily-clad models drifting around the set in an opiated stupor, while the band intoned the phrase "You're One In A Million" ohhh-ver and ohhh-ver and ohhh-ver like Gregorian monks on Quaaludes...

I've always maintained that song should have been called "Nine In A Million"...

mfb · Post by **mfb** » Thu May 18, 2006 5:55 pm

Wellllll....kind of a doofus band, really

I like the songs, and the 345.

johnallg · Post by **johnallg** » Thu May 18, 2006 6:22 pm

Ehhh, Dane's just a resident curmudge!

Dane, that left leg should be a tad longer now.

wayang · Post by **wayang** » Thu May 18, 2006 9:24 pm

Yeah, you're right John...sorry, Manuel...certainly, the songs are a matter of taste, but the 345's the bomb.

I get a little grouchy without my 'meds'...

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Fri May 19, 2006 2:52 am

Can't say I recall hearing/seeing 'You're One In A Million', but who could forget 'Talking In Your Sleep'. So bad it could have been Hall and Oates...

chronictown · Post by **chronictown** » Fri May 19, 2006 3:23 am

To be fair, plenty of bands looked doofus-ish in those awkward early days of MTV. A lot of videos from back then, even by great bands, look incredibly dorky now - for example, "The Bitterest Pill" by The Jam:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bf8sju35ao&search=style%20council

Wincingly bad video...worst part is, they didn't even haul out their ricks for the shoot!

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Fri May 19, 2006 3:44 am

If you want to see the worst 80's music videos by a great performer, check out Elvis Costello circa 'Get Happy!' in 1980. I've been a fan since 1977, but most of these videos are unwatchable. In one video, "Possession", he is shown playing a 60's Rick 335 FG. It seems that during his early American tours, he bought as many classic guitars as he could find. In the DVD commentary, he says it was horrible guitar that looked great. It isn't seen again until a video from his 'Spike' album in the late 1980's. During a Saturday Night Live performance in support of that album, Costello was backed by GE Smith playing a Rick 360/12 FG.

chronictown · Post by **chronictown** » Fri May 19, 2006 4:18 am

Oh man. I found "I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down" on YouTube.

Best I can say is - they just don't make videos like that anymore...

mfb · Post by **mfb** » Fri May 19, 2006 4:22 am

chronictown · Post by **chronictown** » Fri May 19, 2006 4:35 am

Styx? Kilroy Was Here??

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Fri May 19, 2006 6:21 am

Chris: According to the commentary on the latest Costello video compilation, videos like 'I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down' were filmed while on tour in Spain or Italy. They had no script or choreography worked out in advance. It definitely looks that way!

studiotwosession · Post by **studiotwosession** » Fri May 19, 2006 7:29 am

Compare any band circa 78 to itself (if it was still together) in '83 and you get the same thing, a highly diminished cool factor, diminished production quality, etc.

The Romantics, though, first LP is a power pop classic. "In Heat" is also good.