Customer Reviews

Smashes Crashes & Near Misses: Best of

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I first heard The Record's hit "Starry Eyes" on FM radio in 1979 where the song got some decent airplay. I bought the l.p. that included this hit and loved the album. Most of the songs on this cd are from that l.p. plus The Record's follow-up l.p.. Songs such as "Starry Eyes","Teenanrama", "Rumour Sets The Woods Alight" and "Girl In The Golden Disc" are pure new wave power pop with extremely catchy melodies. If you liked groups such as "The Jags", "Split Enz", "The Producers", "Holly & The Italians" or "The Romantics" you'll love this collection. Highly Recommended!

If The Records had been named the CDs or the DVDs, I guess they still might be around. Will Birch and John Wicks wrote snappy pop gems: wry, youthful sounding, but with a sneaky, clever angst-lite underbelly that most missed. While Starry Eyes was their only US hit, Birch and Wicks wrote a plethora of catchy songs with slightly off-center lyrics.

Teenarama, Starry Eyes, Up All Night, Girls that Don't Exist, All Messed up and Ready to Go, Girl, and Affection Rejected were from the first album: Shades in Bed in England and eponymous in the US. Songs from this album were mostly produced by Robert "Mutt" Lange and Tim Friese-Greene (who joined Talk Talk after their first album for It's My Life and their masterpiece Colour of Spring). One of the highlights of The Records debut was their *super* tight harmonies, and they shine here. Also featured from The Records first album is some of the most lyrical and strongest lead guitar accent work I've ever heard in pop music, provided by Huw Gower. It really gave the album some ooomph. Check Gower out on Girl, Affection Rejected, and Up All Night.

The second album "Crashes" was Album of the Month in Stereo Review. It is characterized by a little more mature and stronger songs than the debut LP, and includes the fabulous Girl in the Golden, I Don't Remember Your Name, Hearts Will Be Broken, the classic Hearts in Her Eyes, the Beatlesque Spent a Week With You Last Night, Rumour Sets the Woods Alight, and the driving anthem of frustration The Same Mistakes. However, Jude Cole's (who had a string of minor US hits in the 90s) guitar doesn't quite pack the punch of Gower's, and Craig Leon's production has a little less bite than Lange and Friese-Greene.

The third and final major release was "Music on Both Sides," which frankly only had enough good material for probably one side. Also, and inexplicably, the signature tight vocals of the Records were discarded for the harsh and off-key Chris Gent. Jude Cole left, and the revolving lead guitar role fell to Chris Whelan. Selfish Love, Not So Much The Time, and Imitation Jewellery were among the strongest cuts and are featured here. Rock and Roll Love Letter was a poppy song from the pre-Shades in Bed Days that sounds like the Bay City Rollers on vitamins. Unfortunately, the first two albums are not available on CD (as my vinyl copies wear down), so until then, this will have to do....

Judging from the popularity of the Records, they had a lot of crashes and near misses, but no smashes. Too bad - the group's British take on Power Pop is as melodic, bouncing and inspiring as that of the Raspberries, Badfinger and Big Star. Of the twenty tracks featured, there are no less than a half dozen delectable "should have been" AM hits. The guitars on `Starry Eyes' ring with the majesty of the Byrds. `Up All Night' and `All Messed Up And Ready To Go' recall Big Star with gorgeous multi-part Hollies vocal harmonies. I assumed that the bubbly `Hearts In Her Eyes' belonged to the Searchers, but the song is actually a Will Birch/John Wicks composition. For dynamic production and bombastic love songs ala the Raspberries - `Affection Rejected' could-have should-have been an Eric Carmen hit. For a band that recorded consistently melodious and energetic Pop for three years (1979-82), I'm disappointed that their work (like the Shoes) got buried by American Heavy Metal - such a loss. This Caroline CD duplicates the original 1988 UK release from Virgin. At seventy-four minutes, Smashes, Crashes and Near Misses is an admirable and dazzling Power Pop bargain from the band that "should have been."

For the earlier reviewers who said that these guys were never a great band and that this material is dated, well, you are just plain wrong! I have always been a major fan of Power-Pop since the mid-70's, and this is the CD that I measure all great Power-Pop by. I think the songs included here are as good, if not better, than anything my other power-pop heroes like, BADFINGER, THE RASPBERRIES, THE DB'S, JELLYFISH, FLAMING GROOVIES, THE POSIES, etc., released in their prime. The Will Birch/John Wicks songwriting tandem was WAY underrated. I could go on for several paragraphs as to how good these guys sounded, but if you have ever liked Rock and Roll with great pop harmonies and Beatlesque guitars cranked to 11, then, my friends, you NEED this CD! You WILL NOT be disappointed. The songs here are as fresh as they were in the early 80's.

Here's the deal: if high pop harmony and solid songwriting is your forte, you can't lose with this one. Not only does their classic "Starry Eyes" illustrate this gift but others like "Up All Night", "Girl In the Golden Disc" and "Hearts in Her Eyes" shine and uplift. They simply have some of the most astonishingly beautiful harmonies ever created in pop music. They take thier cues from the Hollies but they even improve on them. You can sink into them and escape reality for a good 3 minutes.

As a hard-core Records fan who purchased the Records' three original vinyl albums in 1979-1982, I also bought this compilation because, at the time of its issue in 1995, it was the first and only recording of Records' music available in CD form (or any form, as the three original albums were long out of print), and because it includes two tracks not included on the original albums, including "Paint Her Face" and the Mick Glossop-produced cover of "Rock'N'Roll Love Letter". The latter is a nice surprise; the Records rock harder on this track than any other song to date while retaining its great melody and I cherished this CD for it. I discovered later that "Rock'N'Roll Love Letter" was recorded in two versions, with the other version produced by Robert "Mutt" Lange (of Def Leppard and Shania Twain fame), and was their first single released ahead of their debut album. Unfortunately it was a dismal failure, which is probably the reason it was not originally included on any of their 3 albums.

Since this CD was issued, Will Birch (drummer and co-writer with John Wicks and Richie Bull of the majority of Records' songs) has formed a label, On The Beach, and carefully reissued the Records' three original albums on CD between 2002 and 2007 on CD with a generous number of bonus tracks and liner notes. The debut album is reissued as the British version, entitled "Shades in Bed", and contains "Paint Her Face" and the Lange-produced version of "Rock'N'Roll Love Letter". The latter song has a denser "Wall of Sound" mix compared to the Glossop-produced version, which I think detracts somewhat from the song, although it's a fine power-pop tune in its own right. Anyone seeking some music of the Records should purchase at least the first two reissues ("Shades in Bed" and "Crashes"), which are almost perfect examples of power-pop, and for completists, the 3rd reissue as well ("Music on Both Sides"). "Music on Both Sides" has some substandard songs, but its best tracks compare well to the first two albums, so it's certainly worth considering. Will Birch's reissues of the original albums makes "Smashes, Crashes, and Near Misses" almost superfluous; "almost" because none of the three reissues contain the Glossop-produced "Rock'N'Roll Love Letter". I'm surprised Will Birch didn't include it on any of the three reissues, as it's distinctive enough from the Lange version to stand up on its own, and, IMHO, is superior to it. For those who are satisfied with the Lange version--or simply don't care for the song--the 2 or 3 Birch reissues are superior to this compilation, although admittedly more expense is necessary. [Incidentally, I contacted Will Birch through his Records site and asked him why he didn't include both versions of "Rock'N'Roll Love Letter" on the reissues, and he seemed surprised that this didn't happen. I also couldn't help wondering if he simply forgot that two versions of "Rock'N'Roll Love Letter" existed.]

The Birch reissues are all available from Amazon and the finer CD dealers. Will Birch also runs a site for the Records and, through it, has made available all three reissues; substantial discounts are provided for buyers purchasing 2 or all 3 reissues, such that their prices are lower than most American dealers (including Amazon), at least for the moment, even accounting for the shipping costs from the UK. Amazon will not permit me to provide the full URL for the Records' site, but anyone should be able to find it easily by entering "The Records" and "Will Birch" into any web browser search function.

The bottom line is that "Smashes, Crashes, and Near Misses" is a decent sampler of the Records' music for casual listeners who need/want only a single CD. For Records enthusiasts and others who are interested in more Records music, the first two or all 3 reissues of the original albums is preferred, as this compilation necessarily omits many great tracks from the Records. For completists such as I, this compilation is necessary even with the three Birch reissues only because the compilation is the only current source of the Glossop-produced "Rock'N'Roll Love Letter". However, I find somewhat distasteful to buy an entire CD just for one track; for those who use iTunes and MP3 players, the individual tracks of "Smashes..." can purchased on iTunes and Amazon.com, including "Rock'N'Roll Love Letter".

If the Beatles had continued recording into the mid-to-late 70's, this is probably what they would have sounded like (with apologies to Klaatu fans!).The Records released several fine LP's in the 70's that made almost immeadiate U-turns right into the cutout bins(power pop's halcyon days unfortunately coincided with the sucking black hole of the disco era;many seminal bands of the genre were ignored to death at the time). Luckily, Caroline has compiled a generous helping of thier chiming, harmony-drenched power pop onto one very affordable disc. Fans of Pezband, 20/20, 3 O'Clock, 707 and the Shoes will enjoy a warm and fuzzy sense of closure after obtaining this CD!

The Records were a power pop band that employed the new wave chugga-chugga (muted barre chords) sound as opposed to relying on stereotypical jangly guitars. Nevertheless, the harmonies and hooks were sweet as could be and they had strong songwriting skills. "Starry Eyes" is by far the best song but others from this sampler are of such quality that a fan of power pop can certainly enjoy this worthy compilation.

"Get Me Outta Your Starry Eyes and Be On Your Way!"

Back in the summer of 1978, as British New Wave was starting to crash across the American Shores, this single epitomized the power pop aspects of what radio programmers considered the palatable side of this new British Invasion. With a Byrdsian jangle guitar opening and Searchers-smooth harmony, "Starry Eyes" made The Records sound like the had the world in their pocket. And like so many New Wave one hit wonders, it was perfect pop encased on a three and a half minute seven inch 45.

John Wicks and Will Birch were the main team behind The Records. They created three albums in a three year period, the terrific debut, a sturdy second, "Crashes," and a mediocre third ("Music On Both Sides"). While I can't call them a great band, when you cull an hour's worth of singles/songs from these three albums, "Smashes Crashes and Near Misses" is power-pop on the level of The Knack, 20/20 and The Plimsouls. The deep harmonies were coupled with killer hooks; songs like "Starry Eyes," "Teenarama" and "Hearts In Her Eyes" are so stunningly good you wonder why The Records didn't catch fire. In fact, "Hearts In Her Eyes" was such a flawless imitation of The Searchers that The Searchers covered it on their 1980 comeback album Love's Melodies. They even pulled off a Bay City Rollers cover, a non-LP single of "Rock and Roll Love Letter."

The Records never re-captured the peak of "Starry Eyes" again, but if you think Nick Lowe (or his many productions) deserve space in the hall of fame, you'll probably like "Smashes Crashes and Near Misses." An additional footnote, American guitarist Jude Cole was the guitarist on "Crashes," and eventually had a decent solo career. When I met him and produced a copy of said Records record, he blushed.

Harmonies, melodies, and hooks...What's not to like? If you like so called "power pop" this recording is quite important as it sounds like what The Raspberries would had they been British. In my opinion this is high praise since, like the Raspberries, The Records were criminally underated yet utterly fantastic in their realm. It is some small justice that this record survives as, like Big Star, new generations can discover it anew. As one of the bands that helped define the genre...Don't miss this and when you get it don't be surprised how you go around for days humming the melodies and singing the "hooks" in your mind. This is infectious beyond reason, but oh, so good!