29. Tom Tom Club by Tom Tom Club
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHL8Vi8Edt4&list=OLAK5uy_ljP5f9WWsGctDUkoeJ5epIn8Ir1aVm2Os
When this album came out in 1981, I was oblivious to its existence. And I remained that way until a couple years ago when I started looking for '80s wheelhouse songs that aren't in the wheelhouse yet. That's when I stumbled upon Tom Tom Club.
Tom Tom Club (the band) was formed by Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz, the bassist and drummer of Talking Heads fame. Originally, Tom Tom Club was a side project that had the blessing of David Byrne, the front man for Talking Heads. Then when David Byrne went into full-blown diva mode and left the band, Tom Tom Club became Tina and Chris's full-time gig.
Since I discovered this self-titled debut album, it's become my favorite of all the Tom Tom Club albums. For me, there's just something about it being a 1981 album that makes it so much more enjoyable to listen to, as it was produced in the early days of rap music. Tom Tom Club's 1983 album Closer to the Bone also makes for a fun listen, but the music is a bit more polished and synthesized. I like the rougher sounds of the 1981 album, as the sounds seem to me to be a bit more raw and, consequently, creative and innovative. I mean, it certainly doesn't sound like any of the other albums that I've heard from 1981. But their 1983 album does sound a bit more like the other albums that came out around that time.
There have been four different versions of the Tom Tom Club album that have been released with different songs on them. Since I don't have any recollection of the original album, I'm okay with listening to all of the songs on all of the versions. The more the merrier! There is one instrumental song titled "Spooks" that was put out as a B-side to "Wordy Rappinghood." It's basically 6 minutes and 28 seconds of the same kind background music featured on "As Above So Below." But here's the link, just in case you're keen to hear it.
The only other thing that I would like to mention is that Tina sings in French on some of the songs, and back in 1981 I was very interested in learning French. I even bought an English-French dictionary. I thought it would be fun to say really stupid things in French--a take off on Steve Martin's jokes about the French language. (It's like those French have a different word for everything!) The phrase I tried to translate and memorize was "I'm on my way to milk the cows." I'm sure my translation was completely wrong, but for a time, every morning and night when I went to milk the cows, I would repeat it aloud just to amuse myself. I don't remember that phrase anymore. Later on in high school I played an angry French chef in some kind of drama comedy thing that we did. I just spoke English like Inspector Jacques Clouseau, only in an angry tone. I believe there's a yearbook image of me in the chef's outfit with me trying to look like an angry French chef. It's a dumb picture of me doing something dumb, just like all of the other yearbook pictures of me.
Anyway, there's some French lyrics on some songs that I find to be quite enjoyable to listen to, even though they aren't sung in an angry tone or include phrases about milking cows. At least, I don't think they do. I don't know for sure because...and I want to be clear about this...I don't speak French.
Comprenz vous?
Nardo
#29: Tom Tom Club—Tom Tom Club. When you started this list, I looked forward to it for your write-ups on albums that I knew and loved AND I also looked forward to learning about some albums that I knew little or nothing about. This is one of those albums.
ReplyDeleteOf course, I was immediately taken with “Wordy Rappinghood,” which sounds like the illegitimate child of Blondie’s “Rapture” and Men At Work’s “People Just Love to Play With Words.” In fact, upon just one listen it landed as my third favorite “word” song, behind the aforementioned song by Men At Work and Weird Al’s “Word Crimes.” (Yes, ahead of “Word Up,” by Cameo.)
I don’t recall “Genius of Love,” although it made it to #31 on the Billboard charts back in 1981. Hearing it now, I like it—if for no other reason than the little “James Brown” nod.
Overall, I’ll have to admit that this is probably not an album I’ll put in my permanent rotation. It’s fine, but doesn’t move me much. (It does, however, move my five year-old son. I was listening to it in the morning as we awaited his bus to afternoon kindergarten, and he danced around the house to it.)