*This is a companion piece to a similarly-themed article on Karen’s site which, all things being equal, should be published at roughly the same time.*
1. **Left Of The Dial** from Tim (1985) – a fairly decent rock song with a slightly Springsteen feel about it, but the lyrics are largely incomprehensible. It sounds like it has been recorded by a bunch of talentless teenagers in a garage.
2. **We’re Coming Out** from Let It Be (1984) – I understand the whole ethos behind punk music, but I still can’t get my head around the fact that some people enjoy listening to it.
3. **Johnny’s Gonna Die** from Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash (1981) – this is taken from their first album, which is supposedly when they were at their most punk. However, this is surprisingly melodic. And it’s three and a half minutes long, which is way too long to be considered punk.
4. **Go** from Stink! (1982) – very bland rock song. Sounds like it was written in about 5 minutes.
5. **Color Me Impressed** from Hootenanny (1983) – this one has got a few more ideas in it, but I wouldn’t say that I’m in any way impressed.
6. **Little Mascara** from Tim (1985) – I suppose I quite like the song, but I just don’t dig the way that they play. This was their fifth album – by now they should have acquired some basic talent on their instruments, surely?
7. **Unsatisfied** from Let It Be (1984) – the chorus is incredibly catchy but annoyingly repetitive, and the verses are completely nothing. That might be enough for many people, but I’m afraid that it’s not doing much for me.
8. **Within Your Reach** from Hootenanny (1983) – this song nails it. The synth drums are a little cheesy, but bearable. It’s hard to describe – it’s low-key electronic music, quite a spacey sound, phaser effect on the guitar, maybe you get the picture.
9. **Sixteen Blue** from Let It Be (1984) – nice pop song, with pretty chord changes and jangly guitar arpeggios. The whole thing bears a striking resemblance to Deacon Blue.
10. **Can’t Hardly Wait** from Pleased To Meet Me (1987) – another decent pop song. But with horns. I’m not talking figuratively – there’s actually a brass section on it.
So, in conclusion: they are a band that have had an awful lot of sounds. It improved a bit towards the end, but I’m not overflowing with enthusiasm. I’ve listed the years that the albums were produced to demonstrate how they were running in all these different genres concurrently. Maybe I would have enjoyed this playlist more, were I not generally listening to it whilst simultaneously reading The Shadow Of The Wind, which was damn good by comparison.
The next week’s playlist
Random number: 232
There were two playlists on this page, and the randomly chosen winner is – Memphis.
> Named after ancient Egypt’s city of kings, Memphis, Tennessee, turned out to be a 20th century city of musical royalty. Until Dr Martin Luther King’s assassination in Memphis in 1968 musical magic flowed from the Delta’s capital. The city crashed during the 1970s but today musical tourism and gangsta rap are revitalising the Memphis scene.
The other playlist on the page was Meatloaf, so I think we dodged a bullet there.