Today’s Cool Album of the Day (# 1006 in the Series) is Ministy, With Sympathy This was the debut album by Ministry in 1983. I know the band hated it, but I loved it. Ministry is and always has been, Alain ‘Al’ Jourgensen. He’s used numerous sidemen throughout his career.  With Sympathy was their only release on Arista. They jumped to Warner Brothers for their next release which wouldn’t come for three more years. They did release some EPs to fill the void. Those were very good as well. “(Everyday is) Halloween” being the standout to me. Ministry progressed into a much harder industrial sound. This was more synth-pop, heck it was 1983. If you do know any...

  Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Picture This” by Blondie There was nothing new about punk and new wave. It came about as a reaction to the bloated excesses of progressive rock groups like Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Genesis and Yes and their seemingly obligatory side-long multi-part suites of music.  (Not that there was anything wrong with that…) Groups like Ramones and Blondie brought back the sounds of the early 1960s. They simplified things, kept their songs under three minutes and created sugary-sweet melodic gems that were bashed out on guitars and drums. But being from New York, Blondie were just as inspired by the Broadway scene, and you can feel the presence of Broadway all...

Today’s Cool Album of The Day (#783 in the Series) is The Silencers, A Letter From St. Paul I’m curious as to how many of you are familiar with The Silencers. A show of hands please..one, two , three, four… oh, I see a few more in the back, not bad!  Plus I know a few of our friends from Scotland know of them!  That’s where they call home. This one is a little more obscure here in the States. This album was released in 1987. “Painted Moon” actually did get some play.  To me though, the title cut, “A Letter From St. Paul” was the song not to miss. You can hear most of this one below. If...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#775 in the Series) is Romeo Void, Benefactor. Romeo Void’s Benefactor album is another perfect example of some of the cool post punk/new wave sounds of the early 80s. There was a refreshing blend that mixed a little bit of punk, a little bit of ska, a little bit of the new romantics and maybe even a touch of reggae at times.  It allowed many people to hit the dance floor again that might not have since growing tired quickly of the disco era. Benefactor was released in 1982 and stood up well alongside albums released by bands such as The Psychedelic Furs, Ministry, OMD, Our Daughter’s Wedding, A Flock of Seagulls,...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#569 in the Series) is the self-titled debut from A Flock of Seagulls. A Flock of Seagulls were always one of my favorite “new wave, techno-pop,””what have you” bands of the early eighties.  Why did I like them? I think it was because I always felt a little connection to the progressive rock bands that I was listening to at the time. The biggest difference was the obvious, most of their music was played over a straight up dance rhythm, but I really believe that in the body of a dance band layed the heart of a prog band. Why do I feel this way? The main reason would be guitarist Paul...

  This is a little something different that I’m going to do today. No, this isn’t our Cool Album of the Day, in fact it wasn’t even an album, it was an EP. This is about The Monroes. They were the band that I think may just have had the best, new wave, pop song of the 80s, and how, if you don’t know about it or them, then you need to. The Song that I’m referring to is, “What Do All the People Know.”  A pure classic, a marvelous song, unfortunately, it also was a perfect example of what happens when you fall into bad label, bad contract hell. The Monroes recorded for a label called Alfa.  Alfa...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#566 in the Series) is Modern English, After the Snow. Modern English was given a double-dose of good luck in 1982.  You can’t find a bigger break than having one of your first singles included in a hit picture movie. This was the case when “I Melt With You” was part of the mix of “Valley Girl.” The second piece of good luck, well that’s easy. That piece would be the complete idiotic way that record companies and contract lawyers went about trying to secure deals for an official movie soundtrack.  “I Melt With You” wasn’t the only great song in this movie. You also had The Payola$, “Eyes of a Stanger”,...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#557 in the Series) is The Motels, All Four One There were a ton of acts that were tossed into the catch-all genre of “New Wave” during the decade of the 80s.  Many of them, quite frankly sucked.  Why, because if you had a little hook, you could play a good day’s worth of new wave with-out needing a whole day’s worth of talent.  What that did however, was allow the bands that had superior talent to really climb above the rest. I’m of course referring to bands like Missing Persons, Split Enz, The Cars, Haircut 100, the Furs etc. They had loads of talent. So did The Motels. Martha Davis was...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#498 in the Series) is Todd Rundgren, (Re)Production Todd’s (Re)Production is going to get a ton of bad reviews. Why you say? Well, this album just doesn’t come across that well on first listen. Unfortunately, that’s all most reviewers will give to a new disc. Not here, no no no.  I try to give a new release at least three spins before I take out my crayon and loose leaf paper, ok my laptop actually. One thing that we’ve discussed before is how albums that take a little longer to get into are usually the ones that stay with you longer. I feel that way.  That’s the case here. (Re)Production is all covers,...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#481 in the Series) the debut album from The Cars You’re a new band. You begin by putting pencil to paper as your first tracks take shape. Maybe you get a gig here and there.  You write a few more songs and then the gigs get more frequent and hopefully in a little bit better houses.   You think, maybe if things go well you’ll get noticed.  Heck, if things really go well, maybe a real label will give you a record deal! That’s how it often rolls. I don’t know exactly if this was the scenario of Boston’s The Cars, but I’m guessing it wasn’t all that different. So all that happens and you...