"She Drives Me Crazy" vs. "Good Thing"

good thing

Raw & The Cooked was the first CD I ever got (still have it!), but weirdly i've never cared too much about good thing

If I'm in a bad mood, the backing track of 'Good Thing' sounds like a Madness song. 'She Drive Me Crazy' has a more interesting arrangement and Gift's voice comes over better.

Good Thing. It samples this, right?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSehtaY6k1U

the suspicious minds cover tops both tho

I love both but "Good Thing" is slightly less worn.

"Don't Look Back" is my favorite of TR&TC's singles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrBYsPJ0rkA

the video for this (good) non-hit from the album features a young diddy!

I love the guitar chords in She Drives Me Crazy. I've been trying to figure them out (and what makes them sound the way they do) for 25 years.

was just gonna say "I'm Not the Man I Used to Be" is the best single off this album

Kinda hate both these songs tbh, they never bettered Johnny Come Home imo

Secret favorite FYC is def the "Suspicious Minds" cover.

'goo GAH goo'

voted 'she drives me crazy' though

Listening to "The Raw & The Cooked" for the first time in maybe 20 years, sounds pretty good!

Good Thing

89... Were these the last new wave hits?

B-52's.

first albums i ever got by choice were Green, Raw & The Cooked, Cosmic Thing, Full Moon Fever and Addictions, Vol. 1 - i was real "new wave's last gasp" kinda kid

"Kiss Them for Me" was surely new wave's last gasp (I guess it depends on how broadly you want to classify Siouxsie).

well by that logic you could say "good stuff"

Kiss Them For Me was alt imo

It's got very 90s production, that shuffly loopy drum stuff and vaguely world music but not really looped over it

I just meant the latest last gasp by an original new wave artist, regardless of what the song actually sounds like.

But "Good Stuff" came a full year after it (though I'm not sure it's remembered much as a "hit" in the years since).

good thing.

'She Drives Me Crazy', but 'Don't Look Back' would have got my vote immediately if this was an FYC singles poll without any hesitation or doubt.

The 'I'm Not The Man I Used To Be' 7" single had a limited edition version that came in a metal tin on white vinyl, IIRC.

the suspicious minds cover tops both tho

― call all destroyer, Tuesday, July 22, 2014 5:04 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm. The drop-off in quality from the first record to the second was pretty fucking steep. Like, Moby Grape steep.

no fucking way

both records are terrific

Agree w alfred Moby grape is underrated

I'll grant that Roland Gift will always be can-sing-the-phonebook unfuckwithable, but the arrangements on the 2nd record were just so goddamn clunky and stiff.

xp

haha

xp

BEST PIANO SOLO

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HkgFSWtUnNk

Let's not forget "Love for Sale" in this conversation.

never really cared for their 'love for sale' tbh, or at least cared for most of red hot + blue over it. was that the last thing they released? anyhow at the time would've said 'good thing' but now it doesn't really transcend pastiche enough for me so voted 'she drives me crazy', definitely prefer 'don't look back' to either but that may just be due to not hearing 'don't look back' nearly as much (even on the 80s station i listen to i'm more likely to hear 'johnny please come home'). i recall the raw and the cooked being a very inconsistent album so i can totally buy that the debut is much stronger.

"Don't Look Back" is 12-string jangle glory. Almost as good as the Beat's "Best Friend."

Recently revisited raw and the cooked and it really is all over the map but then its padded with soundtrack stuff, like three retro genre exercises from Tin Men mixed with the contemporary shit. Still love a lot of tracks though

Fave FYC single at the mo might be Ever Fallen In Love

I mean talk about Like Punk Never Happened

maybe i just don't know the story (i'm guessing someone here does) but the lack of followup or dramatic breakup or significant conclusion of any kind w/ fyc is still kinda weird to me. so many of the other sounds of summer 1989 that didn't maintain a presence on the pop charts there's at least a story - soul ii soul lost caron wheeler, had a pretty great followup relatively stiff, and then lost nellee hooper, neneh cherry released had a pretty great followup relatively stiff, barely released any music, and then popped up in the past few years to release two pretty great albums, milli vanilli we all know what happened.

have they given any interviews? It's amazing that TR&TC knocked Like a Prayer off #1 and remained for seven weeks.

not that i'm aware of. i know roland gift wanted to focus more on his acting career so i was aware fyc were done, it wasn't like it suddenly dawned on me we were never getting another album when the greatest hits came out in ninety whatever, it's just it was a remarkably not big deal. i remember reading like a small note in people 'hey this dude is gonna act now, fyc are done, see he has a small role in scandal'.

this might seem a little absurd but there's an argument that in a weird way fyc (followed by the cure later that summer and then depeche mode the following year) probably helped make the modern rock format viable enough for nirvana et al to be possible (and then in turn acts like this probably suffered the most displacement by the commercial arrival of nirvana et al). you'd had acts like u2 and rem and inxs come up thru the modrock and college rock ranks but those guys had no problem finding a place on mainstream rock stations ('w/ or w/o you', 'orange crush', and 'suicide blonde' all hit #1 mainstream rock), while the cure would never slot between foreigner and van hagar. when the radio market was more competitive (thx to govt regulation) there were enough station owners and managers who looked at the market and saw the success fyc et al had (which was compounded by sinead o'connor in 1990 - another modrock artist that wasn't gonna get played on mainstream rock stations) and thought 'ok, there is our niche'.

I think "She Drives Me Crazy" is self-reflexive in that the song itself "drives you crazy" - at least the bonkers/irritating extended mix does!

I remember some year in music thing on MTV circa 91/92 suggesting a new FYC album was on the way but obv that wasn't the case

Other bit of trivia from my "FYC where are you?" youth I recall is that their office supposedly got "congrats on the comeback!" faxes when "I've been thinking about you" came out

lol

i seem to recall hints at another record happening at some point in the 90s, maybe later. then the possibility of Roland doing this or that new project wd be mentioned. here's a timely interview, it confirms something i'd suspected which is that largely he just wasn't that bothered:

http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/481937/Fine-Young-Cannibals-singer-Roland-Gift

this might seem a little absurd but there's an argument that in a weird way fyc (followed by the cure later that summer and then depeche mode the following year) probably helped make the modern rock format viable enough for nirvana et al to be possible (and then in turn acts like this probably suffered the most displacement by the commercial arrival of nirvana et al). you'd had acts like u2 and rem and inxs come up thru the modrock and college rock ranks but those guys had no problem finding a place on mainstream rock stations ('w/ or w/o you', 'orange crush', and 'suicide blonde' all hit #1 mainstream rock), while the cure would never slot between foreigner and van hagar. when the radio market was more competitive (thx to govt regulation) there were enough station owners and managers who looked at the market and saw the success fyc et al had (which was compounded by sinead o'connor in 1990 - another modrock artist that wasn't gonna get played on mainstream rock stations) and thought 'ok, there is our niche'.

was just gonna say "I'm Not the Man I Used to Be" is the best single off this album

― Daphnis Celesta, Tuesday, July 22, 2014 10:10 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Kinda hate both these songs tbh, they never bettered Johnny Come Home imo

― john wahey (NickB), Tuesday, July 22, 2014 10:10 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

you are both otm

and i was thinking about 'i'm not the man i used to be' just the other day and wondering how someone with a voice like roland gift could stand to not be singing.

xp

yeah that's my sense also, minus metallica. my point is that the modrock format broke those acts, mainstream rock format generally only begrudgingly played some of those acts (and even w/ the exceptions - aic initially promoted as a serious hair metal act post-g'n'r w/ the first album - they hit their ceiling very quickly, they don't see #1 until after the gold rush), often times w/ some complaint from on-air talent, often times mere months after ad campaigns bragging about how they didn't play those guys. stp are the first post-nevermind alt act to top the mainstream rock chart w/ 'plush', in itself proof the format didn't get in on the ground floor imo, they're knocked off the top by an ac/dc track. pearl jam's first mainstream rock number one 'daughter' is a few months later, it's knocked off the top by an pearl jam track. for these stations 1991 is defined by for unlawful carnal knowledge and 'silent lucidity'. the modern rock format is what promotes lollapalooza and breaks grunge on radio - 'smells like teen spirit' is the #2 track on kroq in 1991, the year before sinead and depeche mode are 1 and 2, the year before that fine young cannibals are at #6. the format was recognizable enough that billboard had a chart but the reason it grew enough that nirvana et al could get a foothold on radio in the first place was due to the success of fyc/cure/sinead/depeche mode in the years immediately prior. i don't have any data but i would be willing to bet there's a concurrent expansion of the format occurring in this modrock->hot 100 window in that period before nirvana (obv it wouldn't compare to the explosion of the format after the year grunge broke etc). basically if 1994/1995 represents modern rock format in its climax community state (which i like both in terms of sales/critical peak by keystone species key artists but also in terms of thinking what happens to the format from 96 onwards, when among other things metallica actually does become part of that et al, as a kind of plagioclimax community) then fyc et al were the pioneer species for that system.

I'm Not The Man I Used To Be is the one

That reading makes sense: modern rock acts create the conditions that kill them. Another 1989 Hot 100 fillip: L&R's "So Alive" hitting the top three.

xpost

To me Roland Gift sounds like no one else (at least 80s-90s)

This was one of the earlier tapes I got, back in fifth grade. but I can't remember a thing about the album other than these two songs though. I think I bought it along with the Escape Club's Wild Wild West.

I always misheard Good Thing's "Then one day she came back/I was so happy that I didn't ask" as "I was so happy I did an act". I was unsure, but pretty confident that this referred to a striptease act. The nude images of Roland Gift wiggling around in my head were not entirely comfortable to me.

snoball otm

both are fine, one doesn't have to be better

I sat near Roland Gift at the movies once and GODDAMN he was fine too

'don't look back' has one of my favorite pre-choruses ever

YES.

And the ease with which the guitar solo goes back to the anchor riff.

Yeah My sense of things modern rock wise is definitely that the college rock crossover to radio was blowing up from 88 to 91 (why else would they create the chart?) and then nirvana managed to strike a nerve with both the modern and mainstream rock youth that basically remade and synergies both formats in their image.

synergized, rather

For all the talk about nirvana killing hair metal there's really should be more acknowledgment of how they also killed off "college rock" over the same time period - that the Our Band Could Be Your Life narrative leaves little room for Midnight Oil.

But just as poison would rise again, indie has certainly reclaimed its late 80s kicks since

I always misheard Good Thing's "Then one day she came back/I was so happy that I didn't ask" as "I was so happy I did an act".

Me too! Though not relating to striptease. Thought he just meant he was putting on an act to hide his emotions.

I agree that the arrangements on TR&TC are clunky and stiff but they work in their clunkiness.

I listened to the Elvis cover and I don't get what people see in it, it's not very good.

It works for me but I'm trying to put myself in the position of hearing the cover for the first time in '86 and wondering what the fuck Gift is trying to do as vocalist.

It sounds like a pretty straight cover but too fast and with a weak arrangement.

i liked "minds" fine when it was the third-to-fouth most played FYC video on VH1, but it feels pretty superfluous as a cover now

especially compared to...THIS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfdIAbHzxmg

can't believe the same guy who directed this video directed "the perfect kiss"

Damon Wayans as roland gift about two minutes into this In Living Color Soul Train parody

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eROqO_XxvjQ

For all the talk about nirvana killing hair metal there's really should be more acknowledgment of how they also killed off "college rock" over the same time period - that the Our Band Could Be Your Life narrative leaves little room for Midnight Oil.

That's why it's always really interesting to me to look at the early 90s modern rock charts. You have all these late 80s acts--or acts that feel very late 80s to me--still hitting, like, #3 for the first few years of the 90s. I feel like a lot of these acts are British, reflecting the anglophile bias of late 80s college rock, and a lot of the songs have kind of disappeared from pop culture at large.

Damon Wayans as roland gift about two minutes into this In Living Color Soul Train parody

― da croupier, Wednesday, July 23, 2014 11:37 AM (54 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol i've been thinking about this for 24 hrs

xpost like Slave To The Grind or Adrenalize, the've been sacrificed to the narrative.

Wayne's World (Feb. 1992) - 121.6m US box office, #1 soundtrack album
Wayne's World 2 (Dec. 1993) - $48.1m US box office, #78 soundtrack album

my appreciation for FYC cratered pretty hard after seeing their SNL appearance and hearing what Roland sounded like outside of the studio

voted "She Drives Me Crazy"

i distinctly remember clumsily trying to imitate the guitarist's playing when "johnny come home" was on TV a lot.

his playing or his dancing?

His playing (which I only heard via the video since I didn't have the record).

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

You know it's kind of surprising these guys didn't come back when trip hop was kind of big because their mix of soul, samples and electronics kind of fits in there. I could definitely hear Roland Gift's vocals in say a Mezzanine era Massive Attack track quite well.

Oh yes! Roland Gift would've been a great Massive Attack guest vocalist.

melancholy + 'funky drummer' sample + long held organ chords - this is practically trip-hop already

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrBYsPJ0rkA

When Bruce's "Streets of Philadelphia" came out, it took me forever to figure out what it was reminding me of. Turns out it was this song.

boom - wouldn't have occurred to me and i suspect it's more convergent evolution more than anything else (change the drum sample and you're not far from 'justify my love')(so tempted to try to throw together a 'trip-hop not trip-hop' playlist together now). it's been forever since i listened to it but there has to be at least one track from listen w/o prejudice vol 1 that fits this pattern.

When Bruce's "Streets of Philadelphia" came out, it took me forever to figure out what it was reminding me of. Turns out it was this song.

― Johnny Fever,

whoa mind blown

t's been forever since i listened to it but there has to be at least one track from listen w/o prejudice vol 1 that fits this pattern.

"Waiting For The Day," the third single, which also uses organ and a slightly decelerated "Funky Drummer" sample, not to mention interpolation of "You Can't Always Get What You Want."

You guys remember this? A #3 hit in the UK in '88. Top twenty dance here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N74sYm8a2k8

"I'm Not the Man I Used to Be" sounds like a lost Bee Gees demo.

I enjoy Monie Love's turn on the loopy breakbeat "Monie Love Mix" of She Drives Me Crazy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgPZHX3912M

Just remembered that my 90-min tape of The Raw & The Cooked had Simply Red's Men and Women on the b-side.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.