The J. Geils Band - Love Stinks

Happy Valentine's Day.

"Love Stinks" was probably the first time I remember hearing The J. Geils Band Band. There was a video I saw once that was so goofy I wasn't sure how to process what I was seeing - was it terrible or awesome?

It.Was.Awesome.

I was hanging out at buddies house for the weekend around the time the album came out and Gerry says, "Hey check this out." He plays "No Anchovies, Please" and I'm enthralled. Over the last forty plus years, I hadn't heard that song until I put the record for the first time in the basement. But, I'm getting ahead of myself ... I need a preamblemeanderamble first.

The J. Geils Band broke wide open to the masses after a long career as a party band who managed to avoid their big break as they built up their audience - which honestly was unbeknownst to me at the time. Nor did I know that Love Stinks was their tenth album, and they were going to peak a year later with Freeze Frame, and then quietly end their run after Peter Wolf left the band, with the truly underrated You're Gettin' Even While I'm Gettin' Odd from 1984.

So why focus on Love Stinks instead of going for the gold (or platinum) with Freeze Frame? Well, you couldn't have one without the other. Over the years I'd end up with some of their stuff, most notably The Rhino CD release Houseparty: The J. Geils Band Anthology that was a solid overview, and I had a vinyl copy of Freeze Frame, that survived the flood in the '90s. Sadly the album cover didn't make it. I never had a copy of Love Stinks, and when I found one in a clearance bin I snapped it up. The cover was really dirty, so I got my microfiber cloth and a dab of water and cleaned off what I hoped was just dirt. The insert was there and the vinyl was in excellent shape.

The packaging for the album, is right up there with the best I've ever seen. I guess it could be loosely considered a concept album and is hilarious and meticulous in how it is presented. As for the songs themselves they're great (extra points if you read that like Tony the Tiger). Just enough new wave infused R&B with thick guitars, great keyboard arrangements and a lot of tongue in cheek humour to propel the listener (me) from track to track and side to side.

Side one kicks off with "Just Can't Wait" and has a perfect cheesy keyboard sound that hearkens back to the '60s but felt right at home with the new wave crowd. "Come Back" has some great work, and again an almost dance feel to it. I probably won't just keep listing the songs as they pop up as they're all pretty good. Honestly much better than I expected. The first side closes with the anchovy song, and is a funny as I remembered, and after a few times through the album didn't wear as thin as I expected it to.

Side two opens up with the title track, and is a great as ever, if not more so as I'm taking it in as part of the whole album.

The band from what I can tell was a cohesive unit all the way through to Freeze Frame and consisted of Peter Wolf – lead vocals, J. Geils – guitar, Magic Dick – harmonica, Seth Justman – keyboards, backing vocals, Danny Klein – bass and Stephen Jo Bladd – drums. The songs for the most part were written by Peter Wolf and Seth Justman, and the album was produced by Seth as well.

Love Stinks (but the album doesn't) captured a band that after over a decade together still had something to say and were still getting better.

Oh, and if by chance you ever find a small note in the bottom of a can of anchovies with a telephone number - best not to call.

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...

Saturday Night Fever - The Original Movie Soundtrack

It was going to happen sooner or later. Nostalgia is a cruel Mistress...she can dull the sharpest edges and over time can even soften the hardest of opinions. I found this in the dollar bin, and frankly at a dollar I was worried about what this would cost me. Not only from a monetary perspective, but my time, and more important my credibility. Fourteen year old me was screaming "Don't you dare. DON'T DO IT! Put it down. Walk away!" Then there was grey bearded me holding it and looking at it, thinking, "How bad could it be? I actually kind of like "Staying Alive" and me buying this record won't bring disco back, and no one will have to know I bought this." I pulled the album out of the bin, and carefully took out the records. They'd seen better days, and there were a couple of decent scratches that would no doubt make their presence known later. The jacket was in decent condition, and both of the albums had the original sleeves. I dusted the...

Old Enough to Forget

Search This Blog