Customer Reviews

20/20 / Look Out

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In the late 70's, LA was the headquarters for much of the country's punk influenced new wave and pop. From the Quick to the Last to the Plimsouls to 20/20, there was no shortage of great rocking pop coming from California. 20/20 was perhaps one of the best and nowhere did they shine brighter than on their debut. Early singles for Bomp! Records were amazing - seek them out on the Various Artists Roots of Powerpop CD collection - and they followed up those 60's influenced singles with more quirky, modern new wave-y tunes. Most of the tracks on the debut (songs 1-12 here) are keepers, catchy choruses, swirling vocals, all the trademarks of great pop. Look Out!, while containing a few very cool tracks, was unfortunately not quite up to par, a downward spiral that continued when they hit rock bottom on Sex Trap (their planned next release that barely saw the lgiht of day). Anyway, the Look Out! tracks are considerably less traditional power pop and have enough hooks to appeal to more adventurous fans who wished the debut had more new wave appeal. I, however, am on the other side of the fence, loving 20/20 for their moments of gleeful pop glory - fans of the Plimsouls, Beat, Cheap Trick, and Knack will be doing themselves a real favor to pick this disc up.

Best Tracks:
"Yellow Pills" - This song title was used for a 4 disc power pop compilation series (AWESOME CD's) as well as a huge fanzine. It will forever be a classic of 70's power pop and new wave, and with good reason.
"Cheri" - This next track keeps the energy strong after "Yellow Pills". A great, simple guitar rocker.
"She's An Obsession" - This song starts out with a drumbeat that comes out of nowhere, randomly stops, and has NOTHING to do with the rhythm or tempo of the actual song. A really interesting touch that adds to this upbeat, Knack-style tune.
"Jet Lag" - A terrific pop number/almost ballad with 38 Special-like soloing (though this came a year before any of that band's BIG hits).
"The Night I Heard A Scream" - Bittersweet, delicate song with a jarring bridge and quite blunt lyrics. Very catchy, the best song on Look Out!
"Mobile Unit 245" - Not an amazing song in the traditional pop sense, but a nice Lennon-y vocal and I love the way the intensity builds.

I'll never forget the first time I heard 'Yellow Pills' - my first exposure to the 'angular' power pop scene. I couldn't really afford to buy records, so I either had to tape LPs off friends or wait until a birthday or x-mas and nag my grandmother. I got this for my birthday in 1979, and formed a band about 6 days later. But, just to be perverse, the only track we ever played from the record was 'Leaving Your World Behind'...

These guys were the soundtrack of my early-mid teens. Saw 'em three times (a riot in San Diego, in a barn in Escondido, and in San Francisco), one show for each of the first three albums. Different drummer each time, too. Fantastic live band; the harmonies in particular were superb.

You will like this if you like pop with an edge. The first album is more traditional power pop, the second is more new wave-ish. But both records have a terrific combination of good melodies, great harmonies, dirty guitars and the odd synth. Although a lot of people felt let down by 'Look Out!', I cannot IMAGINE why 'Nuclear Boy' wasn't released as a single. It's like 'My Sharona' written by someone who isn't a pederast...should have been huge. I wore out two copies of that LP in the end...remember how crap vinyl really was?

Well I remember sparkin up and listen with "Yellow Pills" in my headphones. I have not touched weed at all in about 15 years, but I still remember this one. Great vocal work, mix is very tight, I remember taking a very very pretty date with me to the STARWOOD club to see 20/20. Later the owner of the club met with an ill fate due to some sort of mob activity and a related murder, if I remember correctly after all those drugs I did as a teenager. The STARWOOD club was shut down. Somehow I survived anyway and my last 20/20 memory was at UCLA where I was attending as an undergrad when 20/20 played live outside on a perfect bright sunny day. Side note I have seen a review on the net that refered to "Nuclear Boys" as something new wave related when it was obviously political, which the record company objected to as it was about Ronald Reagan. The reviewer (Chris Woodstra) completely missed what that song was about, and it did cause the record company to object strenuously I believe.

(The 5 star rating applies to the album "Look Out")

The second album on this CD, "Look Out", to me lives up to the idealized version I have of what newer rock/pop music sounded like in the very early eighties (but in most cases didn't). I'm probably in the minority, but I think "Look Out" is a much better effort than the self-titled "20/20". I also think people should try and find the vinyl copy of "Look Out" if they don't already have it. To me it sounds better than the CD. (GEMM has any used album you could want). But of course we can't listen to albums in our car, can we. This, unfortunately, didn't become part of the American Dream.

Speaking of American Dreams, "American Dream", the final song on "Look Out" is one of the best pop songs out there. Period. (What a segue). The lyrics cast a critical eye on the American consumer culture, while the music paints a beautiful, dreamy landscape....

Such a pretty wife and the house has a microwave
Chinatown rock when a kid's gotta have his way
Murjani waiting for you
Go buy it, what can you lose?
Don't you want to be a part of anything?
Don't you want to be a part of the American Dream?

(A consumer culture that has only gotten worse since this album was released in 1981...)

I stumbled across this the year it came out when visiting a friend in SLO town during his college years. "Yellow pills" was such an interesting song I had to take a chance. I still have the album. It is one of the albums that in my humble (not really) opinion is one of the top 5 or 10 albums that epitomizes the early new wave style. I recorded this for a road trip cassette, with the (American) Beat on the other, which I would say makes the same list. Though I was heavily into punk at the time, I still had an open (musical) mind. I never heard the second session that is on the CD, but I am going to purchase this solely for their first effort, and save the vinyl for posterity. GO FOR IT!

Wow, I am surprised anyone else has even heard of this band. Orginally from Tulsa, Oklahoma, 20/20 moved to Los Angeles but never really caught on with the new wave crowd. Which is a crying shame; songs like "Yellow Pills" and "Cheri" are awesome.

Just dusted off my old vinyl copies of these albums and was instantly transported back in time. Riding around Los Angeles with 3 friends in my buddy's VW bug, looking for girls at party houses where Mom & Dad were out of town, drinking Coors beer, cranking this music on the hand-held tape deck. These guys played a dance at my high school then - I'll never forget them doing a ripping version of "Pictures of Lily," a song that never sounded as good to me before or since. Or was it "For Your Love?" Ah, well...who cares?

Despite all the good memories this stuff brings back, I honestly think it holds up pretty well. Great beats, cracking guitar sounds, sweet harmonies, cool lyrics. Wherever you guys are today, my hats off to ya for making my youth what it was.

Both albums, the self-titled 20/20 and Look Out!, are classic new wave albums. Don't skim anything! Nuclear Boy, American Dream, Strange Side of Love, and Alien from Look Out! should all have enjoyed serious airplay. 24 years old and it still sounds new.

The first album of this two-fer is wonderful: it contains every memorable 20/20 song the group recorded, except "Nuclear Boy," their "hit." The sound quality is very good, not having any of the dated qualities of the era. It sounds as though the original masters were used.

The second album, sans the previously mentioned hit, is entirely forgettable. The liner notes remark that it took months to record, using a different producer. Whatever care was taken to achieve this level of perfection seemed to have resulted, ironically, in a lack of focus and direction musically. The energy found in the first album is lacking, the melodies are all second rate, and the arrangements feel as though they have been through a meddling producer's hand. The sound quality on this portion of the CD is muddy, lacking highs and presence: it certainly does not sound as though anything close to a first generation mix was used.

In summary, the first album justifies the purchase. Just be prepared to skim around the last 12 tracks.

These Oklahoma kids, Steve Allen and Ron Flynt went to Los Angeles, California in 1977, to live out there rock 'n roll dreams. They recruited Mike Gallo (who is now in the punk band Agnostic Frost) and Chris Silagyi, and recorded their 1st album at Earle Mankey's place. The year was 1979, and new wave music was going great guns at the time. This album "20/20" #138, should of gone further, it had tremendous grit and those keyboards were something else. "Yellow Pills", is a power-pop classic, this song has appeared on many a various artist collections through the years. "Cheri", is pure new wave rock magic. "Out Of This Time", great keyboard effects and a solid tune. You get their mellowest tune on the Beatle harmonies on "Tell Me Why (Can't Understand You)". A tune that would of fit on any Roy Wood album is "Tonight We Fly", a jumpy pop-rocker. A personal favorite of mine is their rockin' "Remember The Lightning", this should of been a solid top 20 hit for sure. The pure beat of "She's An Obsession" and "Leaving Your World Behind", is a master stroke of drawn out 20/20. "Backyard Guys", a jubilant sing-a-long tune, a smokin' good time. "Jet Lag", a Mike Gallo tune, not bad at all, another smoth pop-rocker. Steve Allen's "Action Now", finishes up their debut with this bouncy piece.

"Look Out!" #127, sounded a little different than their debut, of course it was 1981, they also added Joel Tursi and dropped Mike Gallo. They start of the album with "Nuclear Boy", a futuristic tune with some great jaunty guitar. "Out Of My Head", oh those guitars, very 60's sounding with 80's technology. "Strange Side Of Love", a meaty pop-rocker, very layered track. "Alien", with a western beat. "Girl Like You", should of been another hit, so eighties, great song. "Life In The U.S.A.", pounding beat and some great guitar. Flynt's "The Night I Heard A Scream", is a great song, harmonies can't be beat. Chris Silagyi finally got his chance to write a song, and he came up with this crunchy beat piece "Beat City". "Mobile Unit 245", one of the bands more mature tunes, great piano played by Chris on this track. They close out the album with the modern sounding "American Dream", a song about life.

They released an album in 1983 called "Sex Trap", it didn't sell at all, and the band broke up. In 1994 they reformed again, this time back in Tulsa, Oklahoma for the album "4 Day Tornado", a very strong release indeed.