Tonight

Whoops! I spaced on the date again. This album celebrated its 37th anniversary on the 1st of September, one of a handful of maligned releases Bowie issued in the eighties. But, is it really all that bad? Let's take a look. It's been a while...

The follow-up to Bowie's hugely successful Let's Dance features the return of bassist Carmine Rojas and drummer Omar Hakim, who both played on that record. Gone are Stevie Ray Vaughan and Niles Rogers unfortunately; but old friends Carlos Alomar and Robin Clark are back on guitar and backing vocals respectively. Another big presence is multi-instrumentalist, and the album's co-producer Derek Bramble. Hugh Padgham also earns a production credit, also acting as the record's engineer and mixer.

I did get this on CD in the leadup to seeing Bowie live in Melbourne in February 2004, but I don't think I've listened to it from start to finish since then. Now seems like a good time to rectify that. Let's go track by track, yeah?

1. LOVING THE ALIEN
For me, this is the album's absolute highlight. I think I was aware of this song before I ever heard it in full, which must have been around the early '00s, but my first impression was 'Ooooh, that's the bit from the Red Dwarf feem toon!'. It's a great track, and I think I became a little more enamoured with it when Bowie and Gerry Leonard stripped the arrangement back to basics on the A Reality Tour DVD. The full album version breaches the seven minute mark, which is basically the outgoing guitar solo, courtesy of Alomar. The single edit certainly works for brevity, but it's nice to hear the whole thing. One of only two songs wholly written by Bowie on this album. The themes of alienation and isolation that was present in a lot of his early work returns here, with the hope that the rest of the record will follow suit. 

2. DON'T LOOK DOWN
Unfortunately, not. A faux reggae feel permeates this track, and while it's not a terrible song, it feels a little half-baked. It's actually a cover of an Iggy Pop song, which I would not have picked. Bizarrely, it's the first of five tracks here that were co-written by Iggy. Maybe the success of China Girl prompted Bowie to look at some other songs of his..?

3. GOD ONLY KNOWS
Bowie covers The Beach Boys? Yes, indeed. This feels like a big swing and a miss, which is a shame. I don't know if it's the arrangement, which is full of pulsing horns, or a badly picked key to perform it in but it doesn't really land. I guess this is just one of those songs with a 'Cover at Your Own Risk' clause. Missed opportunity, I think.

4. TONIGHT
Enter Tina Turner! And more eighties poppy reggae vibes; complete with key change at the end! This is another Iggy Pop cover, which was co-written by Bowie, and originally featured on the 1977 album Lust For Life, which Bowie also co-produced. Again, I've not heard the source material, but it feels a little lacklustre. Even Tina's vocal is relegated to back-up duties, rather than this becoming a true duet. 

5. NEIGHBOURHOOD THREAT
Again, another Iggy Pop cover, and also taken from Lust For Life. This has a little more punch and presence than the other two though. Some nice quiet menace in Bowie's vocal delivery and the stabby horns are great, particularly at the end, which is the perfect lead-in for...

6. BLUE JEAN
The album's first single, which was issued as part of a 21min short video directed by Julien Temple called Jazzin' for Blue Jean. I first heard this track as the final song on the Changesbowie tape I bought in Bali when I was 14. It took a while to really enjoy the track. It came on after Modern Love, which let's face it, is a much better song, and probably a better way to end the compilation. So, for years Blue Jean felt like an interruption or a final thought better left 'unthunk', for want of a better word. Thankfully, I've garnered more affection for it over the years. I think the turning point might have been seeing Kate Ceberano live and she belted out a ripping cover version. Anyway, it's easily one of the album's few highlights.

7. TUMBLE AND TWIRL
Another song co-written by Bowie and Iggy Pop. This hadn't turned up on either singer's album, and again comes across as a bit of pleasant filler. There are some nice bits of horn, and cool octave harmonies from Bowie. There's some nice slap bass guitar work here courtesy of Mark King (Level 42), who was uncredited for some reason. 

8.  I KEEP FORGETTIN'
Now, here is another cover from the sixties, very much in vogue during the eighties. Not heard the original, which apparently was done by Chuck Jackson, who enjoyed a hit with the Bacharach/David penned Any Day Now. Not an unpleasant listen, but a little tepid. 

9. DANCING WITH THE BIG BOYS
The final song of the album was a lot of eighties bombast, and was co-written by Iggy Pop and Carlos Alomar. Iggy actually appears on the track, although you wouldn't really know it. His vocal is buried behind Bowie and the three background singers. It doesn't take long for this one to lose its charm as well, as the lyrics are quite repetitive. Thankfully, it ends quickly, as does the album. It barely breaks thirty five minutes, which isn't a bad thing, I guess. Wait, that means that Loving the Alien takes up a fifth of the album? Far out.

Yeah, not great, but not terrible. I'd almost give it three stars just for Loving the Alien and Blue Jean. But I won't. 2/5 from me. Can't see me revisiting it for a while, he he he...

NEXT UP: Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) - Sep 12th

Album of the Week - Vol.14

Hello, I Must Be Going! PHIL COLLINS (1982)
Week: Tue 8th to Mon 14th October 2019
Format: CD/iPod
Producer(s): Phil Collins and Hugh Padgham
Track listing:
1. I Don't Care Anymore *
2. I Cannot Believe That It's True
3. Like China *
4. Do You Know, Do You Care?
5. You Can't Hurry Love
6. It Don't Matter To Me
7. Thru These Walls *
8. Don't Let Him Steal Your Heart Away *
9. The West Side
10. Why Can't It Wait Til Morning
TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 45:03

This is Phil Collins' second solo album, and one that I wasn't overly familiar with until recently. To prepare for attending his concert at Perth Arena in January this year, I chose to listen to The Singles, a compilation of his solo work that came out in 2016. He even suggested it himself on one of his promo vids for the tour. Being me, I sourced the 3CD, 45-song strong edition. As I only owned But Seriously... and the concert album Serious Hits... Live! on CD, I felt that I needed to bone up some.

I'd lost touch with Phil's output after Dance Into The Light, and wasn't overly interested in his work for Disney, but I thought I was a pretty full bottle until 1993 or so. I was surprised that six songs from Hello, I Must Be Going! were included on The Singles, and I only knew one of them, which was his cover of You Can't Hurry Love. That song was the only track from H,IMBG! that appeared on Serious Hits... Live! as well.

Anyway, fast forward past the concert (which was awesome), and I decided to use some JB Hi-Fi vouchers which I had accrued to acquire more Phil. I managed to grab the limited edition 8CD Take a look at me now... boxset which housed all of Phil's solo studio albums. Each one had been remastered and reissued in 2015, complete with newly recreated covers featuring Phil at his current age. I was stoked to finally have a decent copy of Face Value, after nearly wearing out my dad's vinyl and I had Both Sides on cassette once upon a time, so I felt it was worth having the lot. As of writing this, I've had the set for nearly eight months, and I still haven't listened to the last three albums.

I've been spending a lot of time with H,IMBG! recently as I've really started to appreciate the album that it is. A few months back, a friend of mine told me that his three-year-old son had been drumming along perfectly to the track Thru These Walls, and I couldn't place it. It wasn't sounding familiar to me, so I made a note back then to give Phil's difficult second album a decent spin. I think it was a fairly staggered affair though, as I seemed to latch on to some songs and keep listening to them, in essence ignoring over half the record. 

The aforementioned Thru These Walls has become a big favourite of mine now, and although it has been unfairly labelled as simply retreading In The Air Tonight, it is quite different as far as melody, structure and theme go. Sure the intro, is similar, but the chords are different! And yes, the repeated drum fill is almost identical to ITAT (right down to the replicated gated reverb), but the song's narrative about a guy listening to the amorous couple in the room next door is far from the anger and rage in the former. Anyway, I dig it. I wish I wasn't so late to the party.

The first time I heard the opening track I Don't Care Anymore, was on the rock radio station of Grand Theft Auto V. I was struck by Phil Collins' voice and the realisation that I didn't know the song. I wasn't even sure if it was Collins solo or Genesis. Now it's become another highlight of this album for me. Although it feels like the climax never really arrives, I love the venom in Collins' vocal performance. Looking past the clichéd lyrics, the drums sound great (very 80's) and each listen seems to improve the song. As if knowing the build peaks with Phil's vocal compensates for a big musical pay-off. The record's second song I Cannot Believe That It's True and It Don't Matter To Me fit nicely into his blue-eyed soul work, complete with brass lines by The Phenix Horns. Indeed, the album swings from jaunty pop numbers to menacing, moody pieces which is typified by the transition from the dark Do You Know, Do You Care? to You Can't Hurry Love. Juxtapose much? Big fan, me.

One of my go-to tracks on this album is Like China, which sees Phil adopt the persona of a teenage boy trying to woo a girl he's become infatuated with. There's hooks-aplenty here, and I love the emphasis on the guitar. Phil puts on a Cockney accent to add to the fun too. Although, on first listen, you're questioning (excuse me?) what the actual lyrics in the chorus are. They go like this:

"I'll be so careful I'll hold you like china/

I'll promise not to hurt you I'll hold you like china..."

Don't Let Him Steal Your Heart Away was a song that had to grow on me a little, but I love it now. As the title suggests, it deals with someone pleading with their ex-lover not to give up on their relationship and ditch Mr Right Time (with the Right Smile) who swooped in to pick up the pieces. When the drums kick in, it seems to lift from a soppy ballad into something a bit poppier, with a little swing. The piano in the refrain helps the song shuffle along nicely too.

I feel that the album does fizzle a little towards the end. The (mostly) instrumental track The West Side has some nice moments, but seems to outstay its welcome a bit. An issue rectified on Saturday Night and Sunday Morning from 1989's But Seriously... which doesn't even break the one and a half minute mark. The record closes with Why Can't It Wait Til Morning, which hasn't endeared itself to me yet. It was released as single in the UK (his fifth from this album) but it just doesn't move me. Such a shame, because the rest of H,IMBG! is quite strong.

While not the masterpiece that Face Value is, Phil's difficult second album is certainly a more-than-worthy addition to his catalog. Some of the turmoil he had experienced during the breakdown of his first marriage seeps into this record, but not to the same degree as Face Value. Some songs are a bit more fun, and obviously his love of Motown and old R&B/soul fueled his decision to cover The Supremes. To great chart success, at that. 

Now, should I give Dance Into The Light a spin..?