Flash And The Pan

Flash & The Pan | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 23, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RENAISSANCE
• ASIN: B001J2SF1Y
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #177,880 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cheerful and Danceable - A Biting Social Commentary, April 22, 2000

By 

dev1 (Baltimore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flash & The Pan (Audio CD)

Memory is an imperfect machine: we recall impressions much better than facts. After 20 years (1979), I remember Flash and the Pan's debut as a compilation of light danceable tunes with perceptive and engaging lyrics. Two decades later, I haven't changed my opinion: Vanda and Young bait the listener with sunny pop music, then trap him with captivating lyrics.

The majority of music here is ideal for disco nights - cheerful and danceable (Hey St. Peter, Man In The Middle, Lady Killer, Hole In The Middle). The method which Flash uses to deliver the lyrics is also engaging. Vanda and Young sing-speak into an antiquated radio microphone. The effect is archaic and unearthly. Contrasting the hip danceable music, the lyrics are a far cry from "Let's get down and boogie." The character standing at the gates of Heaven (Hey, St. Peter) pleads with St. Peter that he has already spent his time in hell (New York City). `The African Shuffle' appears to be a blatant racist insult of Black (Donna Summer) disco music. More precisely, the song condemns the entire "turn-off your brain and just dance" doctrine. Again in `Lady Killer,' Flash belittles the male Caucasian elitist patrons of clubs such as Studio 54. Captain Black (see James `Blood' Ulmer - Tales Of Captain Black) accidentally destroys `California' with a misdirected ballistic missile. Filled with secrecy are the haunting `Walking In The Rain' (exploring sexual ambiguity) and `Down Among The Dead Men' (an irreverent tale of the Titanic).

In the final cut (First And Last), Vanda and Young's world of selfishness and materialism is reborn with compassion and enlightenment. Flash and the Pan is unprecedented: a biting social commentary fabricated from the very music which it finds deploring.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If only there were more!, June 7, 2000

By 

M. Townsend (US) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Flash & The Pan (Audio CD)

I'll never forget the first time I heard Lady Killer. I was working at Radio Shack, we always had the radio on, and my attention was drawn to the song. My first response was "now THAT"S different!". I've been hooked since. I'm fortunate enough to own all of the Flash and the Pan CD's. I'm glad that a couple of them are available in the US again. Now if Vanda and Young would only record another! BTW, if you can find a copy of Burning Up the Night, BUY IT!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A truly original sound from the Era of Original!, February 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Flash & The Pan (Audio CD)

I don't have this CD, I have the original album (yes, on vinyl!), and it's one of those records I bought without having ever heard it before, or even heard of the band. It's a system I have of band name, album name, and cover art - the whole concept of who they are. Who woulnd't be attracted by colorful frisbees flying around the heads of dark-glassed beach chair sitters of all ages facing in one direction? When I got it home, I knew I had found one of my lasting favorites. When I'm ninety (as if), I will still be tapping my cane and bopping my head to these tunes, and being whisked away to the exotic locales of my mind with songs like Walking In the Rain, which Grace jones did justice to but could not top. Voice synthesization and emotional reality glow as this disk spins.