Fingerprintz - Fingerprintz

Fingerprintz was released in 1979, and it was mining the raw energy of punk but was infused with the emerging new wave elements and a ska beat. The album was released everywhere except North America as The Very Dab. Back in '79 I'd have had no idea what that meant, and I guess the folks at Virgin / PolyGram didn't either, so they just blacked it out and voila, a self-titled record. Although I suspect the version we got in Canada wasn't the same. For those who don't know, like me, The Very Dab, according to Google, is a traditional Scots dialect phrase meaning "the exact thing required" or "absolutely perfect."

I picked this up because of Jimme O'Neill and Cha Burns, who I knew from The Silencers. Cha Burns is one of the greatest guitar players you've likely never heard of. There was something about how he played and the way he added texture and feel to the songs he played on. It's hard to describe. It's sort of like trying to describe the taste of cotton candy.

I'd found this one a few months ago, and I was looking forward to giving it a listen. The first time I played it, I was distracted and puttering about, and as the first side played through, it didn't feel like anything. I was disappointed and didn't even bother playing the second side. Oh well, it happens. I filed it away as late '70s punk where the goal was to achieve credibility by showcasing a lack of musical ability and knowledge of musical structure.

The album sat on top of a pile of records for a long time. Rather than file it away, I just kept looking at it. I'd just come in from walking the dog and was feeling clear-headed and relaxed. Why not play the record? So on it went, and I dropped the needle, and from the opening salvo, "Close Circuit Connection," this didn't sound like a cacophonous racket produced by Luddites with access to a studio. The band would hop stylistically from power pop to ska and new wave.

It didn't hurt at all that I was playing this with a little more volume than normal. The songs were popping. Now, to be completely forthcoming, I was never really a big fan of the punk stuff. The Clash and Buzzcocks were lost on me. I did lean a little more into some of the new wave stuff, but my tastes were pretty white bread, and over the years I've expanded my tastes, but at my core I'm not all that sophisticated.

Fingerprintz worked best for me when they were in their power pop/new wave lane. "Close Circuit Connection" is one of the highlights, as is the opening track on side two, "Dancing With Myself." No, it wasn't a cover ... Generation X didn't come out with their similarly titled song until 1981. Apparently this was originally a non-album single. So yes, the Canadian version of the album is indeed different from The Very Dab. Glad they added it. It's a highlight. Man, when Jimme and Cha were on, they were so good. You can hear the early elements they'd later bring to The Silencers sprinkled throughout the album.

On balance, this was an interesting time capsule that was more interesting for what it hinted at in the future. I'm not dismissing this; it's just that musically it sort of skirts on the periphery of what I really enjoy listening to. There are a few songs here I really enjoyed, and frankly, my initial experience didn't end up being a first impression that stuck. I don't know what I think I heard that first time through side one, but what I listened to a few times was entertaining and more fun than I expected.

I'm glad I didn't file this one away without giving it a chance. It wasn't absolutely perfect, but it was the exact thing required.

Styx - Paradise Theater

Styx was hands down one of my favourite bands as a kid. They were a strange band, even back then. They were a hard rock band, almost progressive at times, who had a penchant for sucky ballads. I know there's a tendency for people to zero in on "Babe" as the song that killed the band's credibility. The roots go way back to almost the beginning when Styx released "Lady" on their second album. It showed a side to the band that needed to be kept in check, and for the most part the band kept things on a pretty tight leash. The band had been setting a gruelling pace, releasing an album a year (two in 1972) and by the time they released Paradise Theater (if I end up writing theatre later it's because that's how we spell it here) in 1981 they'd dropped ten albums in less than a decade. I snapped this up as soon as I saw it, and it became a fixture on my turntable. Like the band had announced on "Borrowed Time" from 1979's Cornerstone , ...

David Baerwald - Bedtime Stories

The little sticker on the shrinkwrap says, "You may remember David Baerwald from David & David's Boomtown ..." You bet, I remembered David Baerwald. Back in 1986 Boomtown was an album with moments of sheer brilliance. The whole album may not have been as top shelf as the first few tracks, but that didn't matter - it is an excellent album. I waited for a follow-up ... and waited, and then in 1990 it was a solo David, David Baerwald, who dropped Bedtime Stories . I snapped it up. "All For You," the opening cut, is still my favourite song on the album. It was mesmerizing. I'm not sure if the song got any airplay, it may have, but that may have been wishful thinking on my part as it was on a lot of mix tapes at the time and I heard it a lot in the car. The CD had a great booklet with all of the musician credits and lyrics. Oddly, when I found a sealed copy of the record (a great score), it just had a plain paper insert - the picture of David walking wit...

Gary Numan - The Pleasure Principle

"Cars" was really the only song I knew by Gary Numan. I knew the name of the album the song came from. Over the years bits and pieces of trivia are accumulated, but in terms of his music it was still distilled down to one song ... It would be too easy to write Mr. Numan off as a one hit wonder, and I suppose in terms of actual chart hits this was his defining moment as a solo artist. Of course this really means nothing, as Gary Numan would drop an album a year pretty much through to the end of the '80s. He'd then slow down a little but continued to make music. While The Pleasure Principle was Gary Numan's debut solo release in '79, he actually cut his teeth on a couple of albums in a band called Tubeway Army, first with the band's self-titled release in 1978, and then on Replicas that came out in April of '79. By the end of Tubeway Army's run most of the band would follow Gary into his solo career. Paul Gardiner, who had been with Gary from the b...

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