Customer Reviews

Scandal in Bohemia

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Been looking for this a long time (on CD). IMHO, this and
Condition Blue, though quite different, are the best albums the Jazz Butcher created.

This album was originally released on cd with the 'sex and travel' ep tacked on at the end. It was my first introduction to the butcher and his brand of irreverant bohemian pop. Sadly, a few years later glass records sold the rights to all of their output on glass in the back of the bar. The influence of alcohol on their career can never be underestimated.

A Scandal in Bohemia is arguably their finest moment. It runs the gamut of styles and textures. Blissful acoustic ballads like 'just like betty page' and 'soul happy hour' (one of many odes to drinking...) to something much louder, like 'Caroline Wheeler's Birthday Present' or 'Real Men From Hell' (not drum n bass, it's drum and bells.) To the purely inane like 'Mind Like A Playgroup' and 'My Desert'.

If you already got draining the glass and are looking for more, this is definitely worth checking out. This is also one of the one's David J. from Bauhaus and Love and Rockets played on.

I've been looking for this album for 14 years. David J from Bauhaus/Love & Rockets guests on this, and there are a number of classics here: "Real Men," and "Southern Mark Smith." In my opinion, "A Scandal In Bohemia" is a paragon of creativity.

It will be strange to listen to it a decade-and-a-half later...um, didn't hear it too much on the radio! It's one of those gems that you know will never see the light of day...anyway, get it and give it a try.

A must for any Jazz Butcher fan. Highly recommended, just ask Chris Lowery...

I spent the $100 and got the CD with Sex And Travel. It was worth it. Everything The Jazz Butcher does is a must own release. Scandal is no different. I hate that a philosophy major still uses the word soul, but to his credit he references the behavioral sink and Thomas Hobbes as swell. His lyrical repertoire is too witty for words. He matches lyrical prowess with some of the best songs I will ever hear. Of course I again have nothing in common with anybody else I ever meet. Just Like Betty Page and My Dessert are the weakest Jazz Butcher efforts ever for my tastes and Caroline Wheeler's Birthday Present is only saved by the witty lines about death and decay. The best song for my taste is Girlfriend. The line about how it could have turned out quite romantic, but it didn't, which means he can stand it, is hilarious and insightful. Not only that when this song came on on the mix tape I made for the restaurant I worked in a long time ago when restaurants were cool no less then 5 people wanted to know where the song came from. No other song got a response. I also love how catchy Happy Hour and Playgroup are. I have to change the words from mind and soul to brain, but lyrics like when he sings, milk and lemonade should not be made are as witty as music gets. Sex And Travel is even better. This CD. Priceless.