Frida - Something's Going On

Released in the fall of 1982, it was probably in the summer of '83 that I first heard the title track. Phil Collins mania hadn't gripped the world ... but he was just on the horizon. His distinctive drums were the reason the song grabbed me initially, but it was a killer toon, and Daryl Stuermer's guitar solo was the icing on the cake.

Yes, this was the same Frida who was in ABBA, and although at the time she seemed to be old as dirt she was probably only 36 or 37 years old. Of course considering I was still in my teens (okay, as late into my teens as you can get) that's a big gap.

I bought the album mainly for the title track, but I found there was a lot to like and as a bonus (at least to me) was Jim Rafferty's (brother to Gerry) "I See Red" a song I always really liked. Both Russ Ballard, and Rod Argent contributed a song each, with Russ Ballard's "I Know There's Something Going On" being the big song here. There were a lot of really good songs here, more than I remembered to be honest.

The album has been a pleasant surprise revisiting. Aside from the duet with Phil Collin's, the insipid "Here We'll Stay" these are really strong songs. Although to be fair, the duet would have likely been a single except that Genesis was just taking off, and Phil apparently objected to having it released ... although I'm pretty sure that if this had come in '85 after the barrage of duets Phil seemed to be involved with this surely would have been huge ... even if I thought it sucked.

Timing is everything.

The album was just a smidge ahead of its time ... there's something really crisp and clean about the songs and the arrangements that just fitted perfectly with the '80s, or more specifically what would be remembered as the '80s. The album had all the ingredients to be a big deal, but somehow never caught on. Maybe it wasn't ABBA enough, and people weren't ready for a Phil Collin's produced collection of brooding pop songs. Too bad, "To Turn to Stone" written by Peter Belotte and Giorgio Moroder felt like a familiar friend, and should have given her old fans a big case of the feels. Perhaps it did for all that, as the album would hit number one is Sweden and chart as high as number two in Norway.

Maybe the rest of the world missed out.

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...

Old Enough to Forget

Search This Blog