TOM TOM CLUB @ 40

 

Released 40 years ago this month, the Tom Tom Club’s eponymous debut set the world’s toes tapping in October of 1981. Conceived as a pressure release value by married Talking Heads rhythm section, Tina Weymouth (bass) and Chris Franz (drums), Tom Tom Club was concocted while on holiday in the Bahamas. With work on Talking Heads being so intense and demanding, the need for a lighter side project put the focus on the fun and joy of making music. Aside from Tina & Chris forming the rhythmic core of the group, the rest was filled out with a loose association of players and studio techs. Featured among these were guitarists Adrian Belew & Monte Brown, keyboardist Tyrone Downie, percussionist Uziah "Sticky" Thompson and Weymouth sisters Lani, Laura & Loric filling in the backing vocals.

The album doesn’t stray too far away from the funky dance territory staked out by Talking Heads, but goes for a much more playful, less academic disposition, something which caused Heads’ main man, David Byrne, to be somewhat dismissive of the project. While there are times when its “cuteness” verges on cloying, the album boasts one of the most infectious funk grooves ever committed to vinyl in the form of Genius of Love. Not only is the groove unstoppable, but Adrian Belew’s warped guitar solo is one of the strangest mutations of the instrument I’ve ever heard. The extended mix also served to bring some dub production to the radio top 40 charts! The single was extremely popular in both the US and UK, though it didn’t quite hit the top slot, but its impact would end up going far beyond its original form as its groove would be sampled and recreated over and over by rap, soul & R&B artists for generations after its release.

PATTI SMITH GROUP - RADIO ETHIOPIA @ 45

 

Released in October of 1976, Patti Smith Group’s sophomore studio album, Radio Ethiopia, is celebrating its 45th anniversary this month. Caught on the horns of the dilemma of the desire for commercial success vs the drive for raw creative expression, the album landed with a thud, critically, upon its release.

At the time of Smith’s emergence from the NYC CBGB’s scene, the idea of “punk” was nowhere near codified into the cultural cliche it would become within the next couple of years. As such, what was happening in this community and why was still being grappled with. PSG had come out of the gate with a strong debut in Horses the year before, but it had no momentum from the music scene to drive it and Smith was looking for some commercial validation at the time of working on her second album. To this end, she enlisted the help of producer, Jack Douglas, to help give the group some polish and professionalism. They’d been developing their abilities as musicians, but this can be a double-edged sword for artists working on the fringes of an emerging scene. The raw energies of their debut became muted by refined production values and restrained performances. The wild abandon of their premier was softened and clarified and that clarity can sometimes sap the energy out of an artist.

Then there’s the contradiction of putting something like the album’s polarizing title track in the midst of all these efforts at commercialization. It starts off innocent enough, but eventually works into a dizzying vortex of of noise and chaos that many considered too contrived an attempt to annoy. The song’s live presentation during their shows of the time was often considered the “downer” portion of the show. Whether it’s pretense or sincerity is a bit cloudy, but it does raise questions if not eyebrows.

Though the group took some pretty hard knocks for the album when it came out, opinions have softened towards it over time. I find it has some moments worth hearing on it, though it’s probably never gonna be my favorite album by Patti & the gang. It certainly didn’t deserve the pounding it got back then, but those where the days when rock critics made their name by seeing who could be the bigger asshole. Sometimes it was amusing, but they shit on a lot of good stuff while trying to be “cool” back then.