The Adventures popped up on my radar back in 1988 when I heard "Broken Land" on the radio ... once. I was at work at the time and the some caught my attention. I waited patiently in the hopes the song would be identified, and thankfully when it was over I got to hear a mumbled titled by The Adventures. I found the album, and got more than just the one song. It was so good and so different than most of what was in my CD player at the time. A year later they dropped
Trading Secrets with the Moon, and while I never heard any songs on the radio, my mix tapes pulled a few songs and then I lost track of them.
During the dying days of Krazy Bob's I popped in more than usual, often dropping more cash than usual because it was the end of an era and there were still treasures to be had while they could be had. This particular trip was only to mine his discount bins, which he would often seed with hidden gems. He was never shy about pointing out stuff I missed. On this particular visit I found The Adventures 1985 release, I assumed it was the same band, but the cover sort of confused me. Was this a nod to Devo? What was going on. Was it even the same band? I was pretty sure it was ... so I put it in the pile and brought it home.
I still got close to a hundred records in the backlog (first world problems) and today I felt like seeing what this was all about. Right out of the gate with "Send my Heart" this was exactly what I needed. This was indeed the same band. The new romantic voice, the blend of organic and traditional meshed with '80s pop. It sounded very modern while being grounded at the same time. It's funny, I like this kind of pop more now than I did back in the day.
Since I have your attention, may as well talk about this particular release. I've bitched about this is the past, but why do labels feel albums from other territories have to be re-sequenced, remixed and changed for North American audiences? Apparently when The Adventures dropped their debut on Chrysalis records, the folks over here figured a cool cover and an album title, in this case Theodore and Friends, wasn't going to work over here. So they just made it a self titled release because anyone who could read would be upset when they realized there was no Theo in the band, and if there was no Theo did he really have any friends? To be safe they just scrapped the cover and we go the one we got ... which was still confusing. There are five figures but on the back there are seven musicians. I suppose having them all on the back cover makes up for it ...
The Adventures were:
- Terry Sharpe - lead vocals
- Eileen Gribben - vocals
- Spud Murphy - vocals and percussion
- Pat Gribben- guitars
- Tony Ayre - bass
- Paul Crowder - drums
- Jonathan Whitehead - keyboards
The Adventures were from Northern Ireland, and while the traditional elements that were more prevalent on later releases weren't on full display here, there was still something about the arrangements that brought to mind The Silencers ... although they were Scottish they seemed to share similar DNA. Recently I've discovered Horslips who seem to be the grandfathers of mixing celtic influences with rock and roll.
My ears aren't the reliable witness they once were. I'm inclined to proclaim this is timeless music, but the reality is probably different. This is definitely from the '80s, but boy howdy this was the best of the '80s for me.
I may be late to the party, and finding this was pure chance, but it was my lucky day.
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