Sweeney Todd - Sweeney Todd

Sweeney Todd will forever be known as the band who released "Roxy Roller," a song that was everywhere when I was a kid. The song was pure glam, and Gilder's sultry vocals enhanced the song and despite his high-pitched delivery there was a cockiness to the song that made you want to strut - or at the very least put on a pair of roller skates and be a rebel and skate counter-clockwise.

After the debut, Nick Gilder would leave the band, along with guitarist James McCulloch, and collaborate on Gilder's "Hot Child in the City." For a short time, Bryan Adams would join Dan Gaudin, Budd Marr and John Booth and release one more album and even re-record their seminal hit.

I have a few collections that include "Roxy Roller," so it was a jarring surprise to hear the album cut as the guitar solo is vastly different, and the run time is about a minute longer. I've actually gone back and played the song a couple of times just to be sure. This is about as weird as hearing The Sweet's album version of "Love is Like Oxygen" when you think you know the song, but it turns out you know the radio edit, and the album version feels - well, weird. In the case of The Sweet, the album cut is amazing. For Sweeney Todd, I'm still processing. What I do like though is after all this time being surprised and presented with something new to something so familiar.

Listening to this for the first time, it's very glam, which I guess was the pop version of prog, but with shorter songs and more attitude. The songs are good, and while the album starts off with their killer signature song, the rest of the songs aren't relegated to filler status. Heck, the first side ends with a rather strange instrumental titled "The Kilt" that leaves you wondering, where will side two pick up?

Well, it picks up with "Rock 'n' Roll Story" which musically pairs pretty well with "Roxy Roller" although the guitar riff reminds me a little of Elton John's "Bitch is Back" and Nick's voice is so high it's hard to imagine this was the height of cool back in 1975. The album closes out with "Let's All Do It Again" and is a fitting end to an enjoyable trip down memory lane. Oddly enough, it's a song I can picture fitting right in with The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Go figure. Maybe I am stuck in a time warp.

Sadly, the copy I managed to find was a little worse for wear, and there's some rash and distortion on a couple of tracks, but this was a great find, along with the BTO and The Kings albums.

That was a good day.

Comments

6 Cylinder

As a kid we had one radio station, not counting CBC, and generally there was very little that was worth listening to, although there were times something would come on that would make you pay attention. It was 1979 and on a couple of occasions I heard "There Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens" and it cracked me up, and I always wanted to get a copy for myself. A few years ago when my niece was dancing, they did a performance to this song, and now I can't separate my niece from a bunch of dancing chicks in chicken suits. Such is life. When I found this in the dollar bin I actually let out a little chirp, my goodness could it be? It was, and it was in great shape - including the inner sleeve. Score. I had no idea what to expect, for all I knew there was only one song worth listening to, and if that was the case it was still a dollar well spent. If I could buy an album by Showdown and enjoy it, odds are I'll find something to enjoy here to. Before I put this on I...

Garfield - Strange Streets

I'd seen this before in the bin, but kept flipping through the stacks. I'd see it a few more times, each time stopping to look at it a little more. There was something kind of cool about the cover where the stylized Celtic knot had the dotted yellow line - it was a strange street for sure. I pulled the record out of the jacket and I was struck by the centre image. There was the familiar Mercury label, the same one I'd seen a thousand times on BTOs Head On album. Well, I'd bought things based on odd associations before - like when I had to buy anything that Solid Rock Records released (this was generally a good thing) who knows maybe this was a hidden gem. There weren't any real scratches or rash, just a lot of dirt and dust - it seemed to clean up okay, but we'll see how it goes. The album opens with the title track, and this wasn't straight ahead pop, or rock. It was leaning to the progressive, but with a pop bent. Oddly enough the vocals reminded me of Mi...

Hoodoo Gurus - Mars Needs Guitars!

The first time I got this album it was a gift from my old roommate Otto. For a goofy little nebbish he would occasionally surprise me with some left of field musical treasures. Although, I still think he was reaching a little when he brought home the new "Led Zeppelin" album by Kingdom Come and forced me to listen to "Get it On" over and over again. I'd not listened to Mars Needs Guitars in a long, long, long time. The first thing that I jumped out at me was how David Faulkner's vocals reminded me of his fellow countryman Peter Garrett from Midnight Oil. I think the reason this never occurred to me was at the time I didn't have any Midnight Oil until Diesel and Dust in 1987. I'm not saying it was all the time, but there were a couple of songs where it stood out. Not a bad thing, just a thing. Even at the time this felt slightly out of step with what was going on in 1985. It seemed like everyone was using drum machines and synthesizers and having t...

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