New York City 1976-80

New York City 1976-80 Artist: Come On
Label: The Orchard
Category: Music


Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1


UPC: 669910440520
EAN: 0669910440520
ASIN: B00004KD0V


Release Date: 2000-04-08

New York City 1976-80


Related Categories:

New Wave New Wave
Categories | New Wave & Post-Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
General General
Categories | Rock | Styles | Music
Pop Rock Pop Rock
Categories | Pop | Styles | Music

Tracks:

  1. Mona Lisa
  2. Old People
  3. A Kitchen In The Clouds
  4. Don't Walk On The Kitchen Floor
  5. Housewives Play Tennis
  6. See Me
  7. Howard After Six
  8. I'm Five
  9. My Neighbor Makes Noise
  10. Businessmen In Space
  11. Pills And Money
  12. Bad Luck With Parents
  13. Physical ED
  14. Mom And Dad
  15. Salt And Pepper
  16. Disneyland
  17. Untitled

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars A brilliant collection of nonsense pop tracks.......2003-01-25

Some would say this unconventional quintet is truly out to lunch. Others may lay it down to something in the water in Come On's local reservoir. But these people are obviously unfamiliar with the sparse, underground genre of nonsense pop. A dead pan modus operandi, yet brimming with outlandish ridiculousness, seems to be the general hallmark of this genre. As can be seen from the cover photo of "The Come On Story", Come On have taken to it like a fish to water and the same ethos permeates every note of this undeniably outre outing.

It's hard to pin-point the forefathers of this genre, with bands like Talking Heads and They Might Be Giants being substantial contributors of such superlative arrant cobblers over the years. Earlier rock contemporaries, Zappa and Spinal Tap, could also be attributed with such forefather honors. Either way, Come On picked up the baton and carried on this intriguing marriage of music and twaddle.

Come On's music adopts quirky melodies and techniques such as staccato chording to accentuate the eccentric nature of their oddness. Some very amusing social commentaries in "Old People" and "Housewives Play Tennis" completely cracked me up with observations such as "Housewives play tennis/They have weak backhands" -- not when you come home lager'd up and forget to call they don't.

Oh yeah, these guys would have been a hit with the PE department in high school. "Physical Ed", being their tribute to this compulsory fun and fitness institution which musos the world around hold dear to their hearts.

"The Come On Story" concludes with my personal favorite "Disneyland". "I hate Disneyland/Mickey didn't shake my hand" being the general theme of the song, it includes a quality parody of Mickey Mouse casting coital aspersions upon Snow White and Donald (Duck I presume). "Mickey Mouse is a Rat!/Mickey Mouse is a rat!" sees the band dishing out possibly the harshest derogation one could conjure up for a mouse. I'm inclined to cut Mickey some slack here. He was probably far too scared to shake these guys' hands. They weren't snubbed by the mouse, they were fled from.

Whether this band is a going concern today is really neither here nor there in assessing the merits of this album. "The Come On Story" is a brilliant collection of nonsense pop tracks -- give it a burl!

David Rogers

5 out of 5 stars COME ON CD IS REALLY GOOD.......2002-10-10

COME ON CD IS REALLY GOOD

As I write this newsletter I am listening to Come On, who sent us their CD this month. They played in NYC clubs more than 20 years ago, to fans including David Byrne and Brian Eno. As I listen I'm reminded of the Talking Heads, Eno, Devo and other people and bands who played around with stocky rhythms juxtaposed against odd, fast, clipped vocals and lyrics that consist as much of "hah!"s and "ugh!"s as of words and images. Their CD packet reminds me of Bauhaus, all black and white and full of stark circle graphics and such. They are part of the "non-sense" musical genre, and I like their straight yet complex mix of guitars, drums, all the basic instruments but put together in a way that still sounds fresh. Why don't bands today experiment like this, and take up where bands of the late '70s and early '80s left off?

Most of their songs seem to be "concept songs": Mike's mother looks like the Mona Lisa; Where do you keep the silver in a kitchen in the clouds?; Housewives play tennis and drive station wagons; but sung against their jangling, fast guitars and drums the songs seem to hold warnings--"Don't walk on the kitchen floor!!" is sung with as much barely controlled agitation as anyone could sing about love or death or anything else "important," and behind the words the music marches on insistently like an army troop toward its death.

The CD I have is "New York City 1976-80." I don't know if there are others available, or where; I think Come On is pretty rare stuff, but get your hands on it if you can.

RE-SEARCH

5 out of 5 stars

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  2. My Degeneration ~ Flashlight Brown
  3. Vol. 2-Don Cherry's Hockey Hits
  4. Marianne Faithfull ~ Marianne Faithfull
  5. In Dreams/Orbisongs ~ Roy Orbison
  6. Lone Star Shootout ~ Johnny Winter
  7. The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators ~ The 13Th Floor Elevators
  8. Recurring Dream ~ Crowded House
  9. Mankind ~ Factory 81
  10. Legend ~ Henry Cow

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Live at the Musicians Exchange Cafe ~ McCoy Tyner

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Selene ~ David Patterson

The Amiens Concert ~ Eric Watson

Proposta ~ I Giganti

Raico ~ Raico

Il Mio Tempo ~ Massimo Di Cataldo

Best of Brenda & The Big Dudes ~ Brenda Fassie & The Big Dudes