Ray Parker Jr : Ghostbusters

Songs that I loved : The first single I ever bought

Once upon a time, there was a small boy.  He was, as all small boys are, obsessed with mud, things that explode and running away from girls.  He had a passing dalliance with Star Wars (which he would return to with a vengeance in later life) but the first truly awesome thing to swim into his purview was a film about, erm, men who bust ghosts.

I was obsessed with Ghostbusters, after seeing it in a cinema which is now a TK Maxx, and even went so far as to fashion my own unlicensed particle accelerator out of two Robinsons squash bottles, a vacuum cleaner nozzle and a snake belt.  I had the sticker book, the view-master, the computer game on my Commodore 64 (although I never could guide Ray (or it may have been Peter, the sprite was so poorly rendered) through the Stay-puft Marshmallow man's legs) and, in the days before VHS tapes - yes, it was THAT long ago - owning the soundtrack was the closest thing to watching the film again.

So it came to pass that the first ever single young Dan owned was the Ghostbusters Theme by Ray Parker Jr, bought from the record counter at Morrisons supermarket, back when such things were still, erm, things. Indeed, my copy still has a sticker on the sleeve with my name on it, from when I took it to a school disco, although I have long since lost the means to listen to vinyl.

The song itself stands up pretty well, in a sort of cheesy, borderline camp 80's kind of way, and I'm pretty sure it is the strongest song in Ray Parker Jr's back catalogue (pop quiz - can you name another song by him?)

So as first records ever bought go, I'm not at all embarrassed by my choice.  The second song I ever bought was 'Hole In My Shoe' by Neil for the Young Ones which would have been slightly more embarrassing to admit to...

Radical Dads : Universal Coolers

Album Review : A lo-fi pop joy

It feels like all the music I'm listening to at the moment has fallen directly though a timewarp from 1995. Now I'm not a huge fan of musical nostalgia, but it seems to me that there are some pretty good reasons for bands taking musical cues from the grunge/post grunge era right now.  That rough 4 track analogue sound in the prefect antidote to the precision (pro) tooled perfection on a lot of guitar music that's been popular over the last few years. Also, if you're looking for inspiration, there were some pretty good albums kicking around in 1995.

Radical Dads sound like they have been listening to two of 1995's best records - Pavement's Wowee Zowee and Sleater-Kinney's eponymous debut album, with bits of Sonic Youth thrown in, and a lot of their own demented strangeness, on Universal Coolers.  That's not to say its a carbon copy of an album recorded 20 years ago - the whole album has a wonky charm all of its own.

Like the best albums (and yes, I have totally fallen in love with Universal Coolers) this is a grower. It takes a bit of work to get into the first few tracks, which sound a little fuzzy and murky. By the the 3rd track, Slammer, and then In The Water, the hooks start to dig in and not let go.  And whilst Lindsay Baker might not have the strongest voice, theres a sweet cracked charm and vulnerability to her vocals. And as we all know, despite what X-Factor judges might have us believe, beauty lies in imperfection, not stage school theatrics.

And by the time the album closer Cassette Brain rolls around, slowly building to a beautifully timed climax, its hard not to  be a smitten kitten for these tracks.

It's not all grungy guitars and lo-fi production though, theres a shiny pop heart to most of these songs, especially the title track, with some sing-along choruses propped up by fuzzy riffs and squally feedback, if you like that sort of thing (And you'd be a fool not to)

As far as lyrics go, who the flip knows what half of these songs are about? (Possibly a concept album about an air conditioning factory?) And what exactly is a "Desperado Dude Lens"? Much like Pavement or Beck, bands that  took a lot of flak for obtuse lyrics, the heart of these songs is in the mood, not the words and yes, I did dance around the kitchen to the album more than once - the official ATS seal of approval for any great album.




Radical Dads live here on the interwebs, where you can buy a copy of Universal Coolers, if you can't find it elsewhere