mlukfc.com Forums - Celebrity Rate a Record 1982

Meat Loaf says that back home in Connecticut, his collection of albums and tapes runs well into the thousands. He tries to catch as many videos as possible, and tunes in to all the rock radio stations he can get at home and in his car. This man is completely obsessed with music. We asked him to pick out a few singles from a batch of recent releases, and give us his first impressions.

Don't Pay The Ferryman, 
Chris Be Burgh 

I've heard this. I didn't know what to think the first time I heard it, but then I heard him do it live with just a guitar and I thought it was brilliant. I was very impressed. The song must be really good, that's all I can say, because he did it without all the effects and harmonies and it was pretty amazing. It reminds me of Jim Steinman because of some of the visual imagery in the song. At first, I thought he'd heard Bat Out Of Hell a lot.
 
Drop The Pilot 
Joan Armatrading 

I hear this when I drive into New York from Connecticut. I've never really been a Joan Armatrading fan, but I think she's a great writer. Some of her lyrics here are strange, but not as bizarre as some of the others. I really like it.
 
More Than This, 
Roxy Music 

Maybe we should listen to something else. My thing is, we're dealing with 45s, and I'd like to know who picked this as a single. The melody's nice, and the production was good, but I couldn't pick out the lyrics. I like Roxy Music. It's not that it's such a bad song, but I'm dealing with it as a single. Well, usually when I don't like a record, it goes to number one. 

The Shape You're In, 
Eric Clapton 

I like this song, so it probably doesn't have a chance in hell to be a hit. It's a real different sound than his last single. The thing about the producer, Tom Dowd, is that he goes for an authentic production on each record. There's not much echo on the drums, but if you listen to Eddie Money's Shakin, there's tons of echo on the drums. The snare drum hits you right in the face. I liked this whole album.
 
Anytime You Want Me, 
Amy Holland 

The picture on the sleeve doesn't go with the song. Does it look boring? Oh, wait, it's the wrong side. Ah, you see, this sounds more like the picture. This side sounds like someone's attempts to go for a hit single. The flip side was the good song. I listen to things lyrically, especially verses, and I thought they were well written.
 
Whenever You're On My Mind, 
Marshall Crenshaw 

You definitely hear the snare drum here. He's buried in it as opposed to the other record. I'll put money on this; I'll bet it gets a lot of airplay. I'm not crazy about it, There's too much echo on the drums - but that's for Marshall Crenshaw to decide, not me, and if he likes it, that's good.
 
The Woman In You, 
The Bee Gees 

This is from that movie, Stayin'Alive. When it started it sounded like a southern Wilson Pickett,

then it switches to Hall & Oates with a little better drumming, and then a real weird bridge. I wrote a song like this once. Seems to me it sounds like that tape we sent down to them in Miami. I think I'll sue. Let's see if they have a sense of humor.
 
Rio 
Duran Duran 

Well, I hate the video of them in a sailboat. Maybe I have something against sailboats, but doing a video on a sailboat seems more like vacation than work. To make a video, you have to have pain and suffering. I think this is a rerelease. See, it says 1982. In other words, they're pulling your leg. It's not fair. 

Never Say Goodbye, 
Yoko Ono 

Did you read what she said? She thought Sean was the second coming of Christ, because she said it was time for it, and that this time it would come to a rock star because He would get all the media attention? You know what I like, that whip sound. That's difficult to get. The production was nice and I couldn't understand the lyrics, but I don't think Yoko envisions herself as a singer. She's a person with a message, and I believe that somewhere on this record there is a message. Did I get out of that slick or not?
 Roxy Music spent 5 weeks in the UK charts with “More than this”, going straight in, in April 82 at number 7. Duran Duran spent 5 weeks in the UK charts with “Rio” in Nov 82 rising to 9. It also spent 4 weeks in the US charts in May 93 rising to number 14. None of the others reached the top 20 in either the UK or US charts.