Sunday, November 29, 2009

Foot Lucy - Heartbeep (1983)


Foot Lucy's followup to their early single. The band adds some new wave elements to their earlier rock sound, especially noticable on the title track. I don't know a whole lot more about this EP, but perhaps some of you can lend some additional information. Enjoy!

Tracks:
A1 Heartbeep
A2 Love Can't Wait
A3 All My Love
B1 Goin' Down
B2 Don't Bite (The Hand that Feeds You)

Listen to Heartbeep EP

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Alfalpha - Alfalpha (1977) (featuring Nick Laird-Clowes)


This one is a real rarity. You might remember The Dream Academy for their timeless pastoral eighties pop song "Life in a Northern Town". While it's true that "Life..." was by far their biggest charting song, The Dream Academy actually had some other lesser success with "The Love Parade" and an instrumental cover of The Smiths' "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want", which played prominently during the the museum scene in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off". The Dream Academy released three albums, each of which had numerous memorable songs rewarding multiple listens.

But Nick Laird-Clowes, the voice behind the band, had a life on vinyl before The Dream Academy. In the mid-seventies, a very youthful Nick got together with brothers Andy and Sam Harley, and formed the group Alfalpha. The band's music was decidedly out-of-step with the emerging punk scene, instead focusing on multi-part harmonies, and a rural folk/pop aesthetic. The result bears more than a passing resemblance to Crosby, Stills and Nash. The songs themselves are well-produced and sung, and I would think that fans of CSN and Nick's later work with The Dream Academy would find much to like about this album. Standout tracks in my mind are "Work", "Sky Turned Red", and "Spinning Around", the latter two featuring Nick on lead vocals. Track list:


  1. Nothing To Keep Me Here

  2. Hung Up On A Line

  3. About You

  4. Work

  5. Sky Turned Red

  6. Moonshine

  7. (interlude)

  8. If I Can Just Get Through Tonight

  9. Spinning Around

  10. Lucky Go By

  11. Love Is An Island

  12. Railroad

  13. Driving Me Mad

  14. Ukelele

  15. Sofa Loafer

  16. Blue


The last two tracks are actually from a single released around the same time. Check out a live performance of "If I Can Just Get Through the Night" from the Marc Bolan show:



Alfalpha - Alfalpha (1977)

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Foot Lucy - Nice Guys Finish Last (1981)


I was 14 years old in 1981. Although I lived in Seattle, I found myself often listening to KISM, a station out of Bellingham, about 2 hours north. KISM played a broad mix of music, from melodic hard rock to new wave. They also frequently played local Bellingham bands, and one of the bands I took notice of at the time was Foot Lucy. I frequently heard their song "Nice Guys Finish Last", a melodic rock song with a prominent guitar hook and vocals reminiscent of Heart's Ann Wilson. The song was locked in my musical memory, and would playback in my head periodically for years to come. A few years back, I started doing internet searches every so often to see if I could track down the song. For years, I found nothing. But a few months back, I saved an auto-notify search on eBay for "Foot Lucy". About a month back, my search paid off. The single "Airplane b/w Nice Guys" was being offered for $7. A week later, the single arrived in the mail. I was thrilled to be able to hear "Nice Guys" again, as much for nostalgia's sake, as anything else. That opening guitar riff really brought me back.

I don't know much about "Foot Lucy", other than what the single tells me. The lead vocalist was Christy Wilkins, and the songs were co-written by her and bassist Doug Ash. Other members were Rich Samore, Brian Brown, and Alex Sheldon (lead guitar, rhythm guitar, and drums, respectively). The single was recorded at Mushroom Studios, Vancouver BC and released in 1981.

Listen to Airplane b/w Nice Guys