BLOBBY'S BLOG

RECORD OF THE MONTH

I figured I'd do a monthly 'what I'm listening to' kind of thing. This could be viewed as a lame placeholder kind of post. And probably it is. But it's my blog! So there!

These may or may not be newly released disks. They might not even be a good disk - just what is been in heavy rotation in my car (as usually the iPod is playing anywhere else).I love(d) the Eurythmics.

First off, that they were the ones to knock off "Every Breath You Take" from the #1 position in 1983, makes them stars in my book. Most of their disks are pretty good, but overall, I don't think any of them beats Savage.

I really had to struggle whether Savage is better than Touch - but I came to the conclusion that I think it is. It has a bit more depth and cohesiveness. It doesn't hurt that it's a stellar disk that was sandwiched between two of their weakest albums (Revenge and We Too Are One).

For the most part, Savage goes back to the groups beginnings. Sweet Dreams (are made of this), Touch and 1984 were all pretty much just Dave & Annie - no (or few) supporting players. Just them doing their thing - all the writing (save 'Wrap it Up') and most (if not all) the playing and singing.

There really isn't a weak song on the disk (though "I Need You" can get you running for the razor blades and "Put the Blame on Me" can wear thin), which is not to say it was a radio friendly disk. If anything on it hit the commercial airwaves, I missed it. A few of the songs "I Need a Man" and "You Have Placed a Chill in my Heart" made MTV rotation.

Stand-out cuts (for me) are: "Shame", "Beethoven (I Love to Listen To)", "I Need a Man" and "Brand New Day". Overall though, Annie Lennox is in fine vocal form and this is truly an overlooked disk.

And though I've seen some of the video cuts - it was always my understanding that there was a video companion piece (a video for each song on the cd) of this at the same time (1988), but I've never seen it. That is another great thing about the Eurythmics: they were just as effective visually as aurally, and the videos were built around the music - not the other way around (which became typical mid-late '80s MTV).

Discover or rediscover Savage. You'll be glad you did.