Fine purveyors of finely crafted witty and clever pop songs,The Fabulous Poodles began life in 1975, and hit the Pub Rock circuit. In a style that could be described as Proto-New Wave, they seemed to pre-empt the style of many such group that appeared on both sides of the atlantic in 1978, in what would become known as 'the New Wave'; even though the New Wave was originally meant to apply to the first wave of 'Punk' groups. To us 'Punks', anything that wasn't prog , glam or Reggae was Punk, including Post Punk and New Wave....it was all punk until the revisionists got to label everything in retropect.
In fact I'd be struggling to name another Proto-New Wave group? Even Blondie weren't really new wave until 1977?.....Split Enz?...nah.
This album is an American compilation of the first two Fabulous Poodles UK albums(The Eponymous debut,1977, and Unsuitable,1978), when their US label tried to break them in the states.....of course it sank like brick,and they got dumped after a second US album. The witticisms probably went over their heads, and didn't rock enough for the US market.
Tracklist:
Mirror Star 4:27
Work Shy 3:30
Chicago Boxcar 3:56
Oh Cheryl 3:25
Toy Town People 2:10
Mr. Mike 3:38
Roll Your Own 2:46
'B' Movies 3:18
Tit Photographer Blues 2:48
Cherchez La Femme 3:38
3 comments:
Yes, the witty songwriting went amiss here in the States. We had our own version of the Poodles called The Laughing Dogs. Clever songs infused with cheeky humor. But the kids wanted angst and fury.
I beg to differ, Ian. Here in MY states we loved the Poodles, along with our angst and fury. I was a DJ at a college radio station in those days, and was one of the cool kids enjoying the Poodles show at the Whisky A Go Go on March 24, 1979. Still have the ticket stub to prove it. :P
I'm so happy to listen to these tracks again.
I was at that Whisky A Go Go show too, still have the pink glasses they were throwing into the crowd. Glad to find these tracks, thanks so much. Think Pink!
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