jmsellens@watmath.UUCP (John M Sellens) (01/23/85)
I just got the new Tom Robinson LP "Hope and Glory" (Geffen/Warner XGHS 24053 to be exact) and I really like it. I'm not really sure what a good comparison is. The music has a jazzy feel to it, and the sax playing is quite prominent. The tunes are a little laid back i.e. you can dance to them, but calmly, this is not slam-dancing music. The lyrics are generally "socially-relevant", but they don't rub your nose in the fact. They are well-written, a little bit "clever", but not as "clever" as Elvis Costello's. The record is getting quite a lot of airplay on CFNY in Toronto - our regional alternative to metal and mush. The tunes (well some of them anyway): a cover of "Rikki Don't Lose that Number" - maybe that's who this music is similar to: Steely Dan; "War Baby" pretty laid back, but very good; "Atmospherics: Listen to the Radio" - this was covered by The Pukka Orchestra and was a minor hit up here in the Great White North; "Cabin Boy" - faster - could this be suggestive: "I want to be your Cabin Boy, all night ..."? (I never was very good at the Rolling Stone method of record review...) I saw him on the first night of his North American Tour - here at the brand new pub at Waterloo. Very good - a really good show. John Otway opened (and unfortunately I missed a bit of him) and he too was very entertaining. The band was very good and everybody enjoyed themselves. The final song was played by Tom alone with a keyboard "because the band hadn't rehersed it yet" and was his classic "Glad to be Gay", which is a very good song, regardless of your sexual orientation - essentially it says "why do people hate gays, and beat them up. just be proud of yourself no matter who you are". And everybody sang the chorus - more did so after Tom said "you can sing along even if you're not gay" :-) (The chorus is "Sing, if you're glad to be gay, Sing if you're happy that way".) Anyway, Tom Robinson's been around a few years, and he's well worth seeing and hearing. John