Moroni's Retro Review of Love and Rockets

I grew up in the small town of Casa Grande, Arizona - located smack dab between Phoenix and Tucson.  It was a town that survived mainly on the work of cotton farmers.  On a good day, starting from 1986, we could pick up the airwaves in our dusty town from Phoenix - new alternative stations, the KEY 100.3, and later, KUKQ where radio personalities like Jonathan L and the Bone Mama introduced us to alternative music.

Alternative music was welcome relief to the musical wasteland that was the '80s - like the summer rains that occasionally settled the dust of Casa Grande.  Back then, alternative music was just that - an alternative to what the radio stations were playing then.  It wasn't particularly a genre.  It was a melange of styles and sounds.  It wasn't until the early '90s that it burgeoned into a solid movement (and many argue that it ended when it went commercial).

During the '80s, many of us who embraced the alternative movement were laughed at and scorned by our peers for our tastes.  This was especially true in high school.  There was a moment of vindication my freshman year at Central Arizona College in 1988.  In our philosophy class, Dr. Buys played us a couple of song selections and asked us to interpret the philosophical meanings behind the lyrics.  The songs were "I Do" by Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians.  The second song was "No New Tale To Tell" by Love & Rockets.  I was so happy that a teacher was playing "my music", I remember grooving while seated at my desk.

Since I recently reviewed Bauhaus and Tones On Tails, I decided that it would be fitting to review Love & Rockets.  So Bauhaus broke up, and Tones On Tail ended, and Daniel Ash, Kevin Haskins, and David J decided to form a new band called Love & Rockets, which was basically the same lineup as Bauhas, minus Peter Murphy (who was having a prolific solo career.)

Their first album was "Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven", which was released in 1985.  With this new album, they departed from the gloomy, gothic sound of their previous bands and embraced a more '60s psychedelic sound like many of the bands of that era, like the Church or Dream Syndicate.  This sound seemed prevalent on most of their other albums.  The most prevalent song on this album is "If There's A Heaven Above", which was an anthem of sorts on alternative radio.

But it wasn't really until their next album, "Express" (1986) that I started to get to know them.  "Ball of Confusion"  - a remake of a Temptations song - dominated the airwaves on the alternative stations.  On my laptop, I have other Love & Rockets albums, but I noticed that I did not have this album, which is my favorite of all their albums.  So I recently downloaded it.  The album starts out with "It Could Be Sunshine" with it's sax intro and 80s pop that could be Tears For Fears, but then it corrodes into smashing finish.  "Kundalini Express" was always a favorite with its train motif.  It always was reminiscent of the '60s, a feeling also found in "Life in Laralay".  "All In My Mind" is good jangle pop, and "Ying and Yang (the Flowerpot Man)" with its driving acoustic guitar is a good example of what good songwriters they are.  "An American Dream" is my favorite song, an acoustic gem played with a Pink Floyd-esque charm.

Their next album, 1987's "Earth, Sun, Moon" never moved me as much as "Express" did, but it is still a good album.  By now, they were well-establlished icons of the growing alternative music, as well as darlings on MTV's "120 Minutes".  This album contains "No New Tales To Tell", as well as my favorite song, "Waiting For the Flood".

By the time their self-titled album came out in 1989, I was kind of over Love & Rockets.  It was 1990, and I was living in Salt Lake City, working at an AutoZone on State Street.  We used blast a Top 40 station on the car stereos.  It seemed like every hour, they were playing "So Alive".  Instead of saying, "Oh, wow, Love & Rockets...  On the radio!"  I was mildly annoyed by the song.  It seemed as if they had become parodies of themselves.  I don't know; I might like it now.  But I never followed up with any of their albums afterwards.

But I do recommend the first three albums - especially "Express" - for any who are wondering what '80s alternative was all about.

Moroni's Review of Tones on Tail's "Weird Pop"

The thing about punk in the 1970s - it was a reaction to all of the artsy rock around at the time.  Rock had become grandiose with feathered hair, silk leotards, rock operas, songs that lasted ten minutes, drum solos that showcased skill.  Punk was a reaction to this - a remembrance that rock was supposed to be rebellious and fun.  The "one-two-three-four" songs of the Ramones that lasted two minutes, songs stripped down to the bare minimum, and played sloppily.

So it is ironic that many of the post-punk bands of the 80's, bands that came right out of the British punk scene of the 70s, bands like PiL and Tones on Tail took upon an arsty quality.  Listening to Tones on Tail's only album, "Pop", released in 1984, I could very well believe that it is Pink Floyd.

Tones on Tail was a side project belonging to Daniel Ash of Bauhaus (whom I retro-reviewed here).  In his spare time, he would record singles and EPs along with one of Bauhaus' roadies.  When Bauhaus broke up in 1983, Tones on Tail became Daniel Ash and Kevin Haskin's full-time project.  They released only one album and then morphed into Love & Rockets.

Clubbing in the mid-80s was an interesting experience.  In the late 80's, it was all about house music, techno, and New Beat.  But in the mid-80s, the clubs played things like the ubiquitous "Blue Monday" by New Order, anything by the Cure, "Bela Lugosi's Dead" by Bauhaus, as well as "Go!" and "Christian Says" by Tones on Tail.  Any song with the word "vampire" in it was going to appeal to the gothic crowd.  I heard these songs pretty much every night.

As a teen, I had a beat-up cassette recording of Tones on Tail's only album, "Pop".  I listened to it all the time.  The lamentful "Lions", the heavy percussion of "War", the psychedelic chants of "Slender Fungus", the surrealistic jazz of "Movement of Fear", the acoustic "Real Life", the ambient electronica of "Rain", and (my favorite) the infectious yet discordant rhythm guitar of "The Never Never (Is Forever).  And the lyrics:  "Down for you is up."  All of these songs were an important part of my youth, and I can still sing along with every song.  After having listened to these songs as an adult, I can honestly say that "Pop" is one of the best yet sadly forgotten rock records of all time.

I had not owned any music by Tones on Tail since my cassette tape disintegrated in some box in storage.  So I thought that I would download their 2011 compilation, "Weird Pop".  It has the whole "Pop" album, minus two songs.  It also has a collection of their singles like "Go!", "Christian Says", "Burning Skies", and an awesome gothic version of Elvis's "Heartbreak Hotel".

So where does this music sit with me?  I have downloaded quite a bit of music lately, and the only album that I keep listening to over and over right now is "Weird Pop" by Tones on Tail.  As my ex-wife would say, "It is genius."  Enough said.