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Romantics Rocking Ric 345
Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 4:35 am
by mfb
Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 4:08 pm
by johnallg
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.
Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 5:03 pm
by wayang
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"...
Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 5:55 pm
by mfb
Wellllll....kind of a doofus band, really
I like the songs, and the 345.
Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 6:22 pm
by johnallg
Ehhh, Dane's just a resident curmudge!
Dane, that left leg should be a tad longer now.
Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 9:24 pm
by wayang
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'...
Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 2:52 am
by randyz
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...
Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 3:23 am
by chronictown
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!
Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 3:44 am
by randyz
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.
Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 4:18 am
by chronictown
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...
Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 4:22 am
by mfb
Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 4:35 am
by chronictown
Styx? Kilroy Was Here??
Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 6:21 am
by randyz
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!
Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 7:29 am
by studiotwosession
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.
