Who's on the seventh floor, brewing alternatives?

Continuing my trip back in time through the album charts

13/02/83 : Porcupine - Echo & The Bunnymen

I always thought I should like Echo & his bunny mates more than I ever actually did - I liked the singles enough and I think I checked out their other album (and yes, I'm sure there have been plenty others, but I mean that one I can't remember the name of) and thought it was "fine" but never bothered going back to it.  So I'm interested to see what I think of this...

...but before we do that, we have to consider where we should be listening to this or to The John Lennon Collection which is one place above it.  The argument I usually consider is cultural relevance at the time which is a tricky one here - yes, he'd been dead for a couple of years but this was the official posthumous tribute collection which had taken that long to get out because of legal issues around licensing.  But anyway - Lennon is always going to be culturally relevant, isn't he?  Except for the vast majority of his solo stuff that is - and guess what's on this album?  So I'm going to give it a swerve, partially because I don't think the argument holds for his solo work but mostly because I can't face listening to it.  One heartbreaking fact for you though - the album cover picture was taken from a session he had with Annie Leibovitz on the very day he was murdered.  But on we go with Echo...

...and, to start with I like it, but it's always a concern when an album starts with the two singles - you get the feeling they were just trying to draw in the dads who liked to listen to a couple of tracks in the record shop (my dad used to do this, but I can assure you I never have!).  But the good news is that it continues in the same vein - they're a slightly happier Joy Division.  I'd say it was more complex musically than I was expecting - I very much doubt you're going to be surprised by it, but if you think you might like it, then you probably will.  I never owned this one, but it seemed like the sort of thing the teenage Mrs Reed would have owned - and she did, bringing us up to 13/47.

We're at #3 in the charts this week in their second week of a twelve week run (having peaked at #2 in its debut week).  It then disappeared for 4 months, came back for 4 weeks, disappeared for another 4 months and managed one more week before disappearing in February '84 - it's weird what drives/drove the record-buying public on some albums.  Above it in the chart this week were Men At Work and John Lennon (as discussed above) and we have a couple of new entries in the top ten this week - Christopher Cross (#4) and Journey (#6) giving things an American flavor.  

But a much more interesting new entry is down at #90 - We Are The Minipops.  Who remembers them?  For those that don't, I'll leave you with this quote from their Wikipedia page - "the show sat uneasily with some adults; this was capped by a performance from 7-year-old Joanna Fisher, who covered the Sheena Easton song "9 to 5" in nightclothes and included the lyrics "night time is the right time, we make love"".  OK, I know I said I'd leave it there, but there's one more Minipop fact I have to tell you - they had a #1 in France.  WHAT?!?

Back to Echo, Wikipedia tells me something I never knew - this album was produced by Ian Broudie (who went on to become The Lightning Seeds).  Which lead me down a very pleasant side alley where I learned that he produced the debut albums by The Zutons, The Coral and The Subways - all of which are fine albums and worth checking out if you've not heard them.  Anyways, back to this album, there's more here than I was expecting but very little content of interest - the best I can give you is that the album cover was shot in Iceland and it all sounds like an experience that no-one enjoyed.  And talking of not enjoying things, the critics didn't really like the album - but fortunately the public liked it enough, if not exactly going mad for it.

"Customers also listened to" The Psychedelic Furs, Siouxsie And The Banshees, New Order and The Icicle Works - all fine names from the slightly darker sjde of indie.  As are Echo & The Bunnymen and I liked this and probably would got into it big time if I'd given it a chance back in the day - but nowadays it just gets added to the list of stuff I wouldn't turn off, I'm afraid.

06/02/83 - Yet another one I'd never heard
20/02/83 - One I'd completely avoided