#91: Celebrate The Nun / “She’s A Secretary”

- Writer(s): H.P. Baxxter & Britte Maxime
- Year: 1988
- Album: Meanwhile

Another song about sex in the office – but as much as H.P. Baxxter tries to mimic Marc Almond’s lecherous tones (Soft Cell’s “Facility Girls” comes to mind), his stern pronunciation causes whole affair to seem awkward and trifling – making the line “She has to seduce him to be preferred,” as least sexy as possible. He then whispers “She’s a secretary” like it’s a threat. And it sounds like he actually refers to her “charming tits” (An unconfirmed Internet source (with a pop-up offering a ring-tone) quotes, “I’m attencious,” which isn’t even a word. So, I’m skeptical.).

He’s rescued with a chorus from his sister Britte Maxime. Sure, being a German, she’s detached too (or is there a hint of sadness?), but the contrasting perspective pushes the theme, and Baxxter’s little spoken-rap session in the bridge adds further variety.

Celebrate The Nun probably aspired to be Germany’s answer to Depeche Mode (with an even more confusing name), but they failed to reach the status of even the Information Society. In hindsight, however, songs like this are glaring markers of 10 years of electronic music evolution.

In 1978, with “The Model,” possibly the first pop tune of the synth era (well, maybe besides Ultravox’s “Quiet Man”), Kraftwerk waxes lyrical of an unattainable media starlet. In 1988, Celebrate The Nun brings the female down to earth and into the workplace.

Musically, the ignition during the first few seconds reminds me of KITT’s dashboard lights flickering while Michael Knight turns the key before speeding off on a car chase. And the dramatic instrumental break: is that a symphonic orchestra? No, it’s a synthesizer substitute by Rick Jordan – elegant yet powerful.

This dream production strikes an improbable balance between the smooth and the hi-NRG – fitting for reclining or dancing. Such music technology was pioneered, engineered, and later perfected by Germans – an era that began with Kraftwerk and apexed here.

#92: Echo & the Bunnymen / "The Killing Moon"

- Writer(s): Will Sergeant, Ian McCulloch, Les Pattinson & Pete de Freitas
- Year: 1984
- Album: Ocean Rain

The 100 Song Project Halloween Special!

Back in the mid-‘90s, when “alternative” music was mainstream, a goofy voiced stoner named Jed The Fish, hosted Out of Order: a syndicated-radio “alternative” version of American Top 40 – songs with layers of screeching guitars and scratchy vocals – a countdown where bands like Veruca Sault and Stabbing Westward could compete for a top spot.

15 Halloweens ago I heard an Out of Order special that focused on several “alternative” horror-themed rock songs.  That was the first time I heard Morrissey’s epic, “November Spawned a Monster.” Back then, I knew little of him and the Smiths, but that 2 minute interlude of creepy woman-child wailing really caught my attention.

And it was also the first time I heard “The Killing Moon.”  Granted, its overall Halloweeness is questionable, as the ill-omened lyrics and the “Time of the Season”-ish thump-de-thump-thump bass much resemble a western murder ballad.  When Ian McCulloch sings ‘It must be the killing time,” it’s as if I could see an extreme cinematic zoom-in on a revolver or a rattle snake.  The intensely plucked strings in the instrumental bridge conjures visions of an OK Corral-type shoot-out.  It’s like a landlocked cousin of the Bunnymen’s nautical “Ocean Rain.”

To me and, perhaps, to Jed the Fish, however, the notion of vampires also comes to mind.  Lyrically, there’s no blatant mention of bloodsucking.  Though, the central line – that commanding chorus, “Fate up against your will… he will wait until you give yourself to him,” (which is repeated ad-nauseum during the latter half of the song), and the mention of a “cruel kiss,” paints a Dracula hypnosis scene.

Back then vampires morphed into rubber bats, made guest appearances on cheap Hanna-Barbera cartoons, and haunted surfing parties with their misfit monster pals.  Perhaps, at the time, the scene pined for sex and danger, and such insinuations are much the appeal of this song.  This was before the Lost Boys and Buffy, and way before Twilight.

This was the Echo & Bunnymen’s best attempt at simultaneous chart-success and goth-cred.  They received a slight resurrection, 20 years later, with a new crowd of semi-fans, thanks to this song being featured in the opening scene of the hip indie-film Donnie Darko, but interest quickly dissipated – the echo faded once again – lost somewhere between alternative and mainstream.

#93: ABC / "Date Stamp"

- Writer(s): Martin Fry, David Palmer, Stephen Singleton & Mark White
- Year: 1982
- Album: The Lexicon of Love

Romance and Capitalism

Last week’s entry regarded love in the dizzy heights of the business world.  This week is about love in the trenches of retail.

Now that we’re in an “economic downturn” (I would say “recession,” but “they” recently declared that thing ended 15 months ago), societal critics are complaining about how the average-joe can’t get a job, can’t pay the mortgage, etc.

Do we long for the ‘80s?  Of course, I miss the culture, but what about the economy?  Sure, most fiscal indicators show that it was a whiz-bang-boom time, but if you watch any of those scholarly shows like VH-1’s “I Love the ‘80s” or “The Best One-Hit-Wonders Countdown” (with great cultural intellectuals like Henry Rollins and The Donnas) and the History Channel’s “America: The Story of Us,” (with accomplished historians like P. Diddy and Martha Stewart) – you’ll always get that line - “The ‘80s was a decade of excess and greed” – summing up ten years of a multi-million person civilization.

Shame for trying to improve your life.  You’re either losing your house or you’re losing your soul.

Thus, as the expert host of this pop music countdown, it would be easy for me to take the hundreds of retail metaphors that Martin Fry skillfully drops in this pop song and conjecture that it exemplifies the decade’s shallow credit card consumer culture.  Really, though, it’s just about love – love as a redeveloped and repackaged product, without a lifetime guarantee.

Four years later, David Byrne would match advertising slogans (“You get two for one, for a limited time”) for a similar “Love for Sale” theme, but much less cleverly.

“Date Stamp” begins with a solo of three humble guitar chords, strummed four times, only backed by an atmospheric synth, that swells, and then the first explosion: iconic cash register sound effects paired with a commanding bass-line.  Then the 2nd eruption: Fry’s charismatic voice with a catchy disco beat.

I make the sex.

Like other great songs by Stars, The Human League, and the Pet Shop Boys, “Date Stamp” demonstrates the appeal of sparring male and female vocals, and it’s a blast to hear Fry emote in an inclining pitch:

That heart`s on display, yes, that heart`s off the rails

A ship in the harbor with wind in its sails

Chain up love inside the chain-store girl

Chain up love and exchange it

Then Tessa Webb replies:
Is Monsieur a connoisseur or just short-changed?
Off the rack or custom-fit it all seems the same

Fry:

Look but don’t touch in paradise

Don’t let them catch you damaging the merchandise

I once read a posted comment on YouTube: “The ‘80s wasn’t a decade.  It was a party.”  Jam-packed with fun songs like this, that seems to be the most adept description.

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Several years ago, the magazine Lexicon (the best (now defunct) source for ‘80s music news), polled its readers, asking their favorite album from the decade.  ABC’s The Lexicon of Love was #1 - maybe predictable, given the magazine’s name, but it was quite a blow-out, receiving 40% more votes than #2 Duran Duran’s Rio.

This was the Top-20:

1. ABC / Lexicon of Love
2. Duran Duran / Rio
3. Depeche Mode / Black Celebration
4. Yazoo (Yaz) / Upstairs At Eric's
5. Kate Bush / Hounds of Love
6. Human Legaue/ Dare
7. Tears for Fears / Songs From the Big Chair
8. Depeche Mode / Music for the Masses
9. Tears for Fears / The Hurting
10. Frankie Goes to Hollywood / Welcome to the Pleasuredome
11. Pet Shop Boys / Actually
12. Thompson Twins / Quick Step and Sidekick (Sidekicks)
13. Propaganda / Secret Wish
14. Bronski Beat / Age of Conent
15. Talking Heads / Remain In Light
16. ABC / Beauty Stab
17. U2 / War
18. New Order / Power, Corruption & Lies
19. Prince and the Revolution / Purple Rain
20. Blue Nile / Walk Across the Rooftops
No Erasure?

Anyway, Guy, some '80s bands took that party vibe too far.  In three years, ABC went from the highs of Lexicon of Love to this:

So, comparatively, the Talking Heads deserve a bit more credit.