Looking Back: SPAZ Reviews Cherry Red's CAPTAIN SENSIBLE Reissues!

Looking Back:

CAPTAIN SENSIBLE

CAPTAIN SENSIBLE

Women And Captains First (Expanded)

When Captain Sensible briefly stepped away from his duties as bassist/guitarist in Punk legends The Damned and decided to record a solo album, the last producer anyone expected him to work with was Tony Mansfield. Not that there was anything wrong with Mansfield: he was an enormously talented songwriter, guitarist, producer and musical visionary. The real issue was that the good Captain was in a PUNK band and Mansfield was best known at that time for fronting Synthpop band New Musik. (Note: you can read my appreciation for New Musik HERE). 

What people didn't take in to account at the time was that the Captain was a superb Pop songwriter and whether his tunes were fuelled by slashing guitars or bleeping synths, it was the song that mattered. And judging by his 1982 debut solo album Women And Captains First, Mr. Sensible's gamble paid off... in spades!

The album's big UK hit out of the box was a cover of "Happy Talk", originally from the soundtrack of South Pacific. An odd choice, but a brilliant single. Captain is in fine form, vocally and Mansfield's production lets the synths do the talking... but without taking it to Human League/Soft Cell territory. It's jolly, it's happy and it still sounds wonderful, overblown and fun.

The album's opener, the funky rappy "Wot", managed to creep into U.S. radio (including L.A.'s KROQ) and helped build the Captain a fanbase who probably had never heard a single note from The Damned. The song was also a decent sized hit in the UK.

Elsewhere, the album is as eclectic and the Captain is eccentric. There's a healthy dose of great Synth-based pop ("Brenda", "Martha The Mouth" and "Croydon"), some poppy Punk-inspired rave-ups ("Yanks With Guns"), Dixieland swing ("Nobody's Sweetheart") and so much more. This Cherry Red reissue adds bonus tracks from the single b-sides (ranging from experimental to Pop to Psychedelic) plus the previously unreleased instrumental gem "Joe Meek" (why this was never released remains a mystery!). This is a treat from beginning to end. To be honest, it may be TOO eclectic for some listeners, but you'll end up coming back and listening to it over and over eventually...

CAPTAIN SENSIBLE
The Power Of Love (Expanded)

After the success of Women And Captains First, Mr. Sensible bowed out of the Damned and pursued his solo career, heading back into the studio with Mansfield for a second album that would capitalize on the success of his debut. 

The Power Of Love was not as eclectic as Women... but, on many levels, is actually a better album for it. The anti-war hit, "Glad It's All Over" continues in the same Synth vein as the debut, although the song has more depth, musically and lyrically, than any of his solo recordings up to this point. While the album didn't have any singles as popular as "Happy Talk" or "Wot", The Power Of Love is a great, cohesive Pop album filled with delectable little Pop nuggets that demand to be heard. 

"It's Hard To Believe I'm Not", "It Would Be So Nice", "Thanks For The Night" and "The Power Of Love" are guitar pop gems that are hook-filled and instantly hummable. "Stop The World", "I'm A Spider", "Royal Rave-Up" and "Secrets" are synth-dominated slices of pop pleasure that won't leave your head for days afterwards. The Captain even shows his sweet side on "I Love Her" and "I Love You", two songs that are quite pretty and touching... but you're really not quite sure if ol' Cappy is being sincere or taking the piss! Either way, they are classics.

The bonus tracks on this Cherry Red reissue are excellent additions, including the non-album singles "There Are More Snakes Than Ladders", "One Christmas Catalogue", "Come On Down" and "Revolution Now" plus the odd B-sides. Another must-have for any '80s pop collection... or ANY pop collection for that matter!

Peace, love & Captains
Stephen SPAZ Schnee

(Most of this review was originally featured on this blog in December of 2009)

An Appreciation: NEW MUSIK

An Appreciation:

NEW MUSIK

While I love 'new music' as much as any other music geek, that's not what this blog post is about: this is actually about a band called NEW MUSIK! For anyone into semi-obscure '80s bands, New Musik were one of the most over-looked and under-appreciated bands of their era (late '70s and early '80s). While little was written about them at the time, they still have an internet presence (albeit small) and their albums have been reissued on CD several times.

While they may not be one of those bands that you always see listed as 'influential', New Musik were the only band to successfully mix acoustic and electric guitars with Electronica, creating a sound like nobody else before or since. Part Power Pop and part Synthpop, New Musik built a bridge between the two genres and no other band has been able to cross that bridge as successfully as they did.

FROM A TO B (1980)

Led by singer, songwriter and producer Tony Mansfield, the band released their debut album, From A To B, on GTO Records in 1980. Featuring the hit singles "Straight Lines" (from 1979) and "This World Of Water", it seemed that the band actually had a chance at sustaining a career with hit singles galore but, while they were actually deserving of that success, it didn't come easy for the band.  Perhaps it was their lack of image?  Maybe it was the fact that the band members appeared to be a bit older than their contemporaries? Could it have been that the band looked more like college professors than bona-fide pop stars? Whatever the reason, Mansfield, along with keyboardist Clive Gates, bassist Tony Hibbert (sporting a beard 30 years before it became the hipster thing to do) and drummer Phil Towner, recorded some of the finest Pop tunes of their era. Mansfield's imaginative production really made the band sound unique while not interfering with the delicious tunes on display. 

The band inked a deal with Epic Records in the U.S. and while the label tried to figure out whether to release the album in the U.S., they chose instead to release the band's first two singles, "Straight Lines" and "Living By Numbers" (and their respective b-sides) on a 10 inch single as part of the Nu-Disc series.  While the gimmick may have earned the band some attention in the States, it wasn't enough and Epic chose not to release the album in the U.S.

ANYWHERE (1981)

In 1981, the band released their second album, Anywhere, which saw them moving away from guitars and embracing the electronic side of their sound.  While guitars were still a part of New Musik's approach to Pop, it was Mansfield's innovative and atmospheric production that made the album stand out.  The album contains many of the band's greatest musical moments including the lead track "They All Run After The Carving Knife", which earned the band important U.S. airplay although it was not a single. "Luxury" and "While You Wait" were the album's singles, but, because the tracks were far more mature than the usual Synthpop fodder that filled the charts, they didn't earn the band much airplay in the UK.

SANCTUARY (1981)

Again, Epic chose not to release the album in the U.S.  Instead, they compiled the singles and key LP tracks from both of their full lengths and issued Sanctuary. Essentially a 'best of' collection, Sanctuary earned the band more airplay in the States on progressive radio stations like KROQ (Los Angeles), but it wasn't enough to raise their profile and, after pushing a few singles with little to no commercial success, Epic dropped the band.

WARP (1982)

With their commercial momentum gone, Hibbert and Towner left the band and Mansfield and Gates carried on as New Musik, bringing in Cliff Venner as the band's newest member.  With GTO Records out of the picture as well,  the band signed with Epic in the UK and released their third album, Warp, in 1982.   Experimental in nature, the album explored the Electronic side of the band almost exclusively and, while extremely melodic, Warp was far from a commercial musical venture.  The band embraced the most modern technology available and chose to record a set of songs that would challenge and enhance the listener's audio experience.  Interestingly enough, they recorded a cover of The Beatles' "All You Need is Love" and placed it on the album right next to their own original song of the same name. Unfortunately, the album failed to garner much interest and the band split up. 

Mansfield went on to produce the first two Captain Sensible solo albums, which used a lot of the innovative sounds from his New Musik recordings.  From there, he also went on to produce the first two Naked Eyes albums, the debut album from a-Ha (Hunting High & Low) and many other albums that still managed to retain his unique production flourishes.  

New Musik remain one of Rock and Pop's greatest 'lost' bands, but it's never too late to enjoy their music with recent reissues of their output. Lemon Records, a subsidiary of Cherry Red, reissued their first two albums, From A To B and Anywhere as a 2CD set including bonus tracks.  Warp was released individually along with plenty of bonus material as well. Don't hesitate to pick up either release!

Peace, love and Synthpop,

Stephen SPAZ Schnee