Airport: Greatest Hits

Motors | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 25, 1995)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Blue Plate Caroline
• ASIN: B000000HY7
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #385,420 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Dancing the Night Away

2. Sensation

3. Airport

4. Metropolis

5. Love and Loneliness

6. Forget About You

7. Emergency

8. Tenement Steps

9. Today

10. Freeze

11. That's What John Said

12. You Beat the Hell Outta Me

13. Soul Redeemer

14. Cold Love [Live]

15. Time for Make Up

16. Love Round the Corner

17. Here Comes the Hustler

Editorial Reviews

Out of print in the U.S.! When the British Pub Rock band Ducks Deluxe split, bassist/vocalist Nick Garvey and pianist Andy McMaster formed The Motors along with drummer Ricky Slaughter and guitarist/vocalist Bram Tchaikovsky. Their 1977 debut was a nod towards their Pub roots, but by their 1978 sophomore album, Approved By The Motors, they had flourished into a brilliant Pop outfit. A year later, Tchaikovsky went solo, Slaughter split and Garvey and McMaster continued with The Motors, making a keyboard-heavy album in 1980 that should have made them superstars. Unfortunately, things didn't work out that way, but we have this 17 track collection to remind us of their brilliance. All the great tracks are here ('Airport', 'Love And Loneliness', 'Forget About You', etc.) plus a few fantastic B-sides, album tracks and more. EMI. 2004. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Substance over style, September 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Airport: Greatest Hits (Audio CD)

The Motors weren't long on looks (indeed, you'd really have to go out of your way to find another group with less sex appeal) but they were long on songwriting ability and, along with Rockpile, were probably the last of the great pub rock bands of the era. Though some people (reportedly including former guitarist Bram Tchaikovsky) prefer the first album (which included the tremendous "Dancing the Night Away"), I've always saved my highest praises for the second album, "Approved By the Motors," which included "Airport," (a minor US hit, believe it or not!) "You Beat the Hell Out of Me," "Soul Redeemer," "Forget About You," and the gorgeous "Today." By "Tenement Steps" (who can forget its oddly shaped album jacket?) the group was down to the main songwriting team of Andy McMaster and Nick Garvey and were pursuing a sound more akin to 10cc; guitars in the background and keyboards to the fore. Though "Tenement Steps" wasn't nearly as good as "Approved By...," it still had some great material, particularly the title track, the Lennonesque "That's What John Said," and "Love and Loneliness," arguably the band's crowning achievement. After that they were gone, with Garvey releasing one solo album a year or two later (and subsequently doing occasional session work with Paul McCartney and others), Tchaikovsky releasing three albums before opening a recording studio that he operated for most of the '80s, and McMaster and drummer Nicky Slaughter seemingly vanishing off the face of the earth. Where are they now?

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ticket to Ride, December 10, 2008

By 

Paul Ess. (Holywell, N.Wales,UK.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Airport: Greatest Hits (Audio CD)

'Nostalgia ain't what it used to be.'
I remember the ticket-ripper saying this to me a few years ago as myself and six other troopers sat for a midnight showing of 'Quadrophenia' at a local pit.

It's true of course, but the beauty of this Amazon thing (even though there's been great consternation and dissatisfaction in recent weeks) is you can relive stuff from yonks back and still have fresh perspective - especially if it's a work you haven't heard since vinyl.

If I brought up the subject of the Motors at my local I would be derided as a jackass and shunned. That or be greeted with guffaws and rueful shakes of the head - so if only five people EVER read this review, that IS five people who would never have given them house-room or even had them cross their minds.

I was initially excited to finally get my hands on the 12" version of the magnificent 'Dancing the Night Away'. A superb but evasive recording which topped BBC Radio's - John Peel's Festive Fifty list in 1977, beating the likes of 'God Save the Queen', 'Do Anything You Wanna Do' and 'Complete Control' in it's effortless stroll to the top spot of, what was at the time, a VERY prestigious poll.
I've been looking for it for years having only a very old and shaky cassette version for succour, and to have it in my grasp had me panting with joyous satisfaction.

So what's the rest of 'Airport' like? Well, it's pretty good. The Virgin blurb states; 'A new wave, heavy metal pop band' and it's hard to quibble. Again, our old friends good tunes and words crash alarmingly back into view. 'You Beat the Hell Outta Me' is a caveman anthem while 'Airport' and 'Tenement Steps' are massive string-synth soul. 'Forget About You' and 'That's What John Said' are trad-guitar power-pop and there's a couple of lively ballads; 'Soul Redeemer' probably being the best.

It's a millenium away from being classic but it's crisply effective, well-produced, and juicy. Maybe I'm still suffering from shell-shock after recent Lurkers and Eddie and the Hot Rods exertions but this sounds great to me at the moment.
And believe me when I tell you, 'Dancing the Night Away' winning the JPFF poll above a whole ream of brilliant records was no fluke.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This collection makes sense, June 8, 2001

By 

Jeffrey J. Lyons (Pembroke, NH United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Airport: Greatest Hits (Audio CD)

The Motors are a hard band to define. Are they punk? Are they dance? Are they pop? Well I suppose the answer to all of those questions is "yes." The Motors were uinique in many respects and they enjoyed experimenting with different styles of music. When I hear some of the Motors music, I feel I'm in the audience of some huge broadway production. They liked production and music of gigantic proportions as well. Fans will know what I mean. This has some great songs "Airport," "That's What John Said," and "Tenement Steps" to name a few. Get it.