Swing Out Sister - "Breakout" C/D

Every song is at least excellent, every intro has me saying "i can't believe it's still so marvellous". Favorite song is "Twilight world", probably one of the only pieces of english lyrics that ever moved me.

Swing Out Sister, Where Our Love Grows (Shanachie)

The phrase "big in Japan" might've been popularized in song by Alphaville, but it's been a punchline for far longer than that. Been off the charts for awhile but hate to admit that your success is waning? Just claim that you're shifting mass units in Tokyo and that, as a result, you've been focusing your efforts on setting up a tour of pachinko parlors throughout the land of the rising sun so that your fans in Okinawa aren't left wanting. I mean, really, who's going to question you? All jokes aside, however, the Japanese have decidedly diverse musical taste, keeping a lot of artists recording new material when they've been all but forgotten in their native countries; the Japanese love their power pop (Matthew Sweet has admitted to being showered with gifts when he plays), they dig the Britpop (the Trashcan Sinatras did a tour there and exclusively released their Snow EP via Sony Japan), and, yes, they quite like the jazz-pop, too. This brings us to the point of this entire discussion, which is to say that, despite the fact that you probably only remember them for their 1987 single, "Breakout," Swing Out Sister are still rather big in Japan. In a career that's heading toward the two-decade mark, Swing Out Sister have carved themselves a decidedly small niche as creators of the best lounge-pop since the 5th Dimension's heyday. It's been a gradual evolution from pop to jazz to lounge, but, after the too-jazzy-for-its-own-good The Living Return in 1994, the band discovered Burt Bacharach and Jimmy Webb and settled into a comfortable groove channeling the general feel of the best '60s and '70s work of those artists. Singer Corinne Drewery has one of the most soulful voices in the business, and it's a shame that Where Our Love Grows, another wonderful addition to Swing Out Sister's catalog and the band's first U.S. release since 1997, won't get the attention or sales it deserves. It's smooth and silky, sometimes slinky pop, the perfect soundtrack for your next cocktail party; just press play, and Love won't let you down.

I also suspect it is why I have a weakness for moon-faced women with dark bobbed hair.

Could never understood the bit with the braceleted arms in the video, though.

can i get a shoutout for the girl in the george michael "father figure" video?

it was nice to hear it at your birthday drinks!

btw JtN i hear you have done very good things with a Go-Betweens song

I was a fairly rockist 14-year-old and emphatically did not like Bros. 'Digging Your Scene' is great. 'Breakout' is OK. 'Shattered Dreams' remains awful.

But as jazz-pop goes, it's not quite as good as "My Ever-Changing Moods."

I'm thinking a cover of "Year of the Cat" is in their future. She comes in incense and patchouli .....

Funny, that's how I felt the first time I saw the video for "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun."

SOS - "Breakout"
Johnny Hates Jazz - "Shattered Dreams"
Living in a Box - "Living in a Box"
Curiosity Killed The Cat - "Misfit"

I was never a "When Smokey Sings" fan. I'm glad it was such a big hit (and my classic '80s station plays it A LOT) but the song is a pallid homage. If you're going to bow to Smokey, your lyrics better approach his, and "Lexicon of Love" was the last time Martin Fry even approximated it.

See also: "Broken Wings" by Mr. Mister.

love this song

This song is basically perfect BUT I think that semi-rapped bridge does walk the line of awkwardness-approaching-cringe just a little bit.

LAY DOWN THE LAW
SHOUT OUT FOR MORE
BREAKOUT AND SHOUT
DAY IN DAY OUT
BREAKOUT

― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, November 12, 2012

hell yeah

DON'T STOP TO ASK

― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, February 28, 2012 7:08 PM (nine years ago) bookmarkflaglink

NOW YOU'VE FOUND A BREAK TO MAKE IT LAST

― wolf kabob (ENBB), Tuesday, February 28, 2012 7:12 PM (nine years ago) bookmarkflaglink

WOO-OOH-OOH

― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, February 28, 2012 7:12 PM (nine years ago) bookmarkflaglink

YOU'VE GOT TO FIND A WAY SAY WHAT YOU WANT TO SAY

― Jurgis Rudkus // Dick Butkus (Pillbox),

I remember being very depressed by the video as a little kid, thinking, 'Is adulthood really that bland, that this is happiness, this is fun, this is BREAKING OUT?'

If it were made now it'd show the unmistakeable highlights of adulthood such as binge-watching a tv series, eating at a new restaurant, ordering clothing online...

DON'T STOP TO ASK

― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, February 28, 2012 7:08 PM (nine years ago) bookmarkflaglink

NOW YOU'VE FOUND A BREAK TO MAKE IT LAST

― wolf kabob (ENBB), Tuesday, February 28, 2012 7:12 PM (nine years ago) bookmarkflaglink

WOO-OOH-OOH

― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, February 28, 2012 7:12 PM (nine years ago) bookmarkflaglink

YOU'VE GOT TO FIND A WAY SAY WHAT YOU WANT TO SAY

― Jurgis Rudkus // Dick Butkus (Pillbox),

― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, July 3, 2021

breakout

I've been really into this band's first album lately. It's like an entire album of 90's anime opening themes. I guess its sound may even have been the inspiration for a lot of those themes.

'blue mood' is a jam:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrtFz2MD3o8

Some people stop at nothing
If you're searching for something
Lay down the law, shout out for more
Breakout and shout, day in, day out

Breakout

LAY DOWN THE LAW
SHOUT OUT FOR MORE
BREAKOUT AND SHOUT
DAY IN DAY OUT
BREAKOUT

― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, November 12, 2012

― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, May 10, 2020 6

― meticulously crafted, socially responsible, morally upsta (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn),

LAY DOWN THE LAW AND BREAK IT
WHEN DREWERY COMES HOME

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/jul/25/how-we-made-breakout-by-swing-out-sister-interview

I’d fallen off a horse and fractured my skull. I was incapacitated – I couldn’t move – so with nothing to do but recover, I started scribbling down loads of notes.

!!!

"Theme (From It's Better to Travel)" reminds me of the Orb's "Spanish Castles in Space"

"Theme" really isn't what I expected from Swing out Sister:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNHvQqqELVU

I wonder if they played it as an overture in concerts? Or if it was the two blokes in the band trying to show that they could do film soundtracks. It sounds like a mixture of incidental music from Star Cops crossed with battle music from a SNES game.

The lead singer's mother is apparently "the doyenne of England's hedgehog ladies":
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedgehog_Care

I like the suggestion of it the closer to the album but the overture to the concerts - very "Pimpf"

Some people stop at nothing
If you're searching for something
Lay down the law, shout out for more
Breakout and shout, day in, day out

― Shard-borne Beatles with their drowsy hums (Chinaski),

big box of swing out sister...

https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/swing-out-sister-blue-mood-breakout-and-beyond-the-early-years-part-1-8cd-box-set/

Interview with Corinne on the Ace Records Podcast here -- good listen!

https://soundcloud.com/ace-records-ltd/the-ace-records-podcast-28-corinne-drewery

A bump for the morning!

this song always cheers me up

A bump for the morning!

This strikes me as very fitting for the whole sophstipop aesthetic

those "Breakout" horns are the equivalents of bumps in the morning

I love "It's Better to Travel" so much. Been looking for more albums that hit that sound (which it seems the band departed from immediately and permanently). So far the closest I've found is "En Cavale" by Isabelle Antena, which hits on a similar glossy, jazzy Sophisti-pop type sound. Any other tips?

Though I am listening to their "Live at the Jazz Cafe" record for the first time right now and... dang! This is really good, and really not what I expected!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dgme2q7GOF0

Dip In The Pool's 'Retinae' definitely has its moments!

Oh yeah, that's a good pull! I like that album a lot too. Kind of a quieter energy to it than Swing Out Sister but it does hold a very similar appeal. Great clarinet on there too!

yeah its definitely more 'Twilight World' than 'Breakout'

Ended up checking out Shapes and Patterns because it was their highest-rated album on rym. pretty straightforward and pleasant Burt Bacharach-style music but certainly not as fun or compelling as "Breakout". But interesting to learn about their second life in Japan - "Now You're Not Here" from Shapes and Patterns was a huge hit and they're pretty well-known there

This Dip in the Pool song rules