Popdose - Latest Comments in Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 19

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 19

AJH — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 00:54:03 -0000

well, my dad is the guitar player from the 1982 band Conductor. Wanna know more?

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 19

scrumble — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 23:30:23 -0000

And now I stand corrected as the daddy-daughter duet remake was from 1996, repeating a formula five years after they first did it on "Unforgettable." Kinda tacky...

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 19

steed — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 22:48:34 -0000

Yeah, I own Walkin' on the Water and just pulled it out to listen to it. Both of you are absolutely correct - that version is much better than the single version in '88. Great call! If nothing else, I think his vocals are so much better on the original version.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 19

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:34:10 -0000

I seem to remember MTV played the living hell out of it, too.

I was initially surprised Lovers in a Dangerous Time didn't make it, but no such luck.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 19

steve — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:14:49 -0000

That first album was called "Walkin' On The Water" and came out in late 1986. Yep, the verison of "I'm not your man" on that album was better. I still have it on cassette!! Like most others they succumbed to being gussied up to get on the radio. It worked.

His best work was his blues album when he was called "Tommy Conwell and The Little Kings". They have an album called "Sho' Gone Crazy" that was recorded live in the studio and is some of the best good-time blues out there. He would come to he 8X10 club in Baltimore and I spent many a drunken night dancing to their shows....

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 19

D.I.G. — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:44:00 -0000

I love this series, and I'm sad that you don't appreciate the awesomeness that is "I'm Not Your Man." I think the problem is that the version you posted, from 1988, is not the original version of the song. The first one was better.

It appeared, without the (stupid) introductory list and some other (lame) basically spoken bits, on an indie album they released before I graduated college in May 1987. I think it probably came out 18 months or so earlier. It's the first non-major-label record I ever bought. I went to college in New Jersey, but I'm from Florida, and the only reason I'd ever heard the band was that MMR in Philadelphia used to play them. (That radio station in the mid-80s may be the thing I've missed most from NJ.)

Listening to this version now, I can see why you don't like the song. This version is just not as good -- the first one was not so mean-spirited and insulting. Too bad. I loved that album, and was not very impressed with the (two?) major label discs they released.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 19

steve — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:05:25 -0000

Tommy Conwell rocks!! And to get really obscure, check out Buzz Zeemer - a Philly band that he played lead guitar in. Two albums of pure power pop genius.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 19

Jeff — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:24:09 -0000

Amazing that the Bruce Cockburn tune got as far as it did on the charts. Perhaps it got a boost from the indie radio station I listened to in Madison, Wisconsin, at the time. They played the shit out of it. Had to be in the top 10 on their playlist.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 19

scrumble — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:29:11 -0000

You've saved me a trip to the supermarket, where I'm pretty sure the '88 version has been topping the P.A. playlists across America for 20 years and counting.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 19

steed — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 11:29:49 -0000

As always, thanks. I appreciate the comments!

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 19

steed — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 11:28:51 -0000

Thanks. I've seen a copy or two on Ebay - and I should probably pick it up at some point just to see what they sound like outside of this song. I kind of like the track.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 19

Dru — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 10:44:45 -0000

I did find a copy of this mini-LP available online: http://www.motorcitynorth.c...
It was released on Montage Records, a label I'm not familiar with.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 19

David_E — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 10:28:08 -0000

Here, here. This is as close to learning as I get any given morning.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 19

bama — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 10:23:28 -0000

This is consistently a fantastic series, and I applaud the work that you've put in to it.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 19

steed — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 10:01:02 -0000

Not sure what you're talking about Scrumble. Listen to it again - it's the right version. I didn't change it or anything *cough cough*. Thanks.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 19

steed — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 09:38:19 -0000

I'm listening to it right now - it definitely is not the same song.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 19

WHarrisBullzEye — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 09:36:36 -0000

I love that Communards track. I'd never even heard the original version when I first heard it, but now that I have, I think I STILL prefer the cover.

I'm not a HUGE fan of that Tommy Conwell album, but it got spun enough during my record store days for me to at least have fond memories of it. That said, however, the Reckless Sleepers' recording of "If We Never Meet Again" is decidedly superior to Conwell's.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 19

Dru — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 09:02:17 -0000

Is the Conductor "Voice on the Radio" the same song as Sheena Easton's "Voice on the Radio" from 1981? I couldn't tell from AllMusic's 30-second clip of the Easton.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 19

scrumble — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 08:52:14 -0000

If the Phil Collins song wasn't too sophisticated to be a bigger hit, I think they limited the push on it while knowing the next Genesis album was around the corner.

Tommy Conwell's "If We Never Meet Again" was written by Jules Shear a la Bangles and Cyndi Lauper songs so it definitely stood out, even if that lightening didn't strike thrice as intended.

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 19

scrumble — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 08:48:07 -0000

Firstly, that's not the right version of "When I Fall in Love" (although it's the better one, from the Unforgettable album in 1991).

You'd be looking for this one: http://www.youtube.com/watc...