New Wave for the New Week #130

This coming Sunday night/Monday morning at midnight will mark the 30th anniversary of the launch of MTV.  Over the course of three decades, MTV went from a cable television novelty playing music videos 24 hours a day (in stereo! - remember when they would simulcast on cable FM radio?  Hell, do you remember cable FM radio??) to a pop-culture powerhouse that reshaped the music industry to a sad back-of-the-dial reality-show wasteland bearing little if any resemblance to its original intent, and making the "M" ("Music" in "Music Television") utterly meaningless.

In 1981, though, it was a different world.  The very concept of a music video was often scoffed at, and the technology and production values were embryonic at best.  Additionally, MTV did not have a huge warehouse of clips to show when they started out.  Their early playlists, as a result, were a fascinating mish-mash of the well known and the unknown, as a review of the videos shown on MTV's first broadcast day shows. There was The Who, Styx, and Rod Stewart; but there was also Robin Lane & The Chartbusters, Ph.D., and one still unheralded band whose sole contribution to the music video world remains a personal favorite.  Scan down the list to the 40th video played that first day, and there, tucked between REO Speedwagon and Juice Newton, you'll find Pittsburgh, PA's The Silencers.

The Silencers were wholly a product of the era, from their skinny ties and sharkskin jackets to their wrap-around slit sunglasses to their farfisa-driven power-pop with just enough wackiness to keep them out of mundane bar-band territory.  They began playing live in and around their native Pittsburgh in 1978/79, and were good enough to land a record deal with CBS.  Their debut LP, Rock And Roll Enforcers, was issued through the subsidiary Precision label, and the band made a video clip to promote the album.

Their clip differed from most in that they did not make a video for a specific song.  Instead, their clip was a mini-movie clocking in at almost six minutes, featuring a collage of abbreviated edits of three key tracks: "The Peter Gunn Theme," "Remote Control" and "Illlegal."  Their original purpose in creating the clip was to pitch CBS about turning the entire album into a movie, but CBS dismissed that idea and began sending the existing clip out to any outlet that would play it.

The video stayed in MTV's regular rotation for the balance of 1981 before fading away. The album sold well in and around Pittsburgh, with singles like "Shiver And Shake" and the stunning "Head On Collision" seeing local airplay.  A second album, Romanic, followed soon after.  While both records showed a solidly talented band, there just wasn't enough there to make them stand out on a national or international stage.  Rock And Roll Enforcers is the one to get if you must make a choice between the two; it is more consistent and somewhat easier to track down.

In honor of MTV's upcoming anniversary, here in it's entirety is the three-song clip from The Silencers, including their straightforward take on "The Peter Gunn Theme," the clip-clopping "Remote Control," and the simply fantastic "Illegal," which is one of those songs that I'll never understand why no one has yet covered.  Enjoy!

New Wave for the New Week #9

Image via Wikipedia

Andrew Chinich and Pal Shazar formed Slow Children in the early '80s LA New Wave scene. Together they released two albums, a self-titled debut in 1981 and a follow-up, Mad About Town, a year later. Songs were apparently written and recorded for a third LP that never happened.

Their one great claim to fame was the wonderful single "President Am I", from the debut album, and its accompanying video. Those of you who, like me, religiously watched the early days of MTV will recognize the scene of Pal Shazar submerged in a giant glass of vodka - it was used in several of MTV's station promos during the first year or two the channel was on the air, and the clip itself saw light-to-medium rotation early on as well.

Pal's pouty delivery of highly literate lyrics and her ecclectic phrasing which focused more on the rhythm and sound of the words than on correct grammar or inflection bounced over bubbly keyboard and guitar that had not yet devolved into what would come to be known as synthopop or technopop, creating Slow Children's highly identifiable and enjoyable sound. It's a sound that may seem a bit dated today, but still never fails to put a smile on my face when their songs turn up on my iPod shuffle.

Pal Shazar has gone on to release five solo albums, in addition to being a painter, t-shirt designer, novelist, and blogger, and shows no signs of stopping - thankfully!

I give you this week's New Wave for the New Week, Slow Children's "President Am I":

New Wave for the New Week #3

Lene Lovich (via last.fm)

For this week's NW4NW entry, we're back to 1979 and one of the godmothers of the New Wave scene, Lene Lovich.

For the uninitiated, Trouser Press provides the best description of Lovich's place in New Wave history in her entry on their site:

"Lene Lovich helped pave the way for female vocalists to use as many vocal eccentricities as their male counterparts, to be unafraid to play a solo instrument (Lovich's is sax), and — as important as anything else — to feel free to adopt and project personae that are obviously feminine yet not socially stereotyped."

Vocal eccentricities indeed! Lovich is famous for her occasional yelps, gulps, yodels, chirps and gurgles with which she conveys as much of the feeling of her songs as she does with her lyrics. Her longtime collaboration with husband Les Chappell (he's the bald dude in the clip) has given forth only limited fruit - her records have been few and far between - but what is there is wonderful. Her cover of Dutch band The Meteors' "It's You, Only You (Mein Schmertz)" was a standard in the early days of MTV; songs like "New Toy", "What Will I Do Without You", and "Say When" are bona fide New Wave classics.

Her grand work, though, was her first single, 1979's "Lucky Number". In this one song all the pieces of the Lene Lovich puzzle were strewn out and pieced back together: the vocal hiccups, the driving yet danceable beat, and the very visual aspect of her personality and performance. The clip is not without its humor, both intentional and unintentional. Just take a gander at the hair and clothes of the mall crowd!

So friends, here is your New Wave for the New Week for this week, Lene Lovich's "Lucky Number":