Customer Reviews

Tuff Darts!

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Wow, Tuff Darts finally making it to CD. I first became aware of this band when I was in Junior High School. It was the late 70's, folks were mainly into Disco. After seeing the Sex Pistols on Good Morning America, I was drawn into the world of Punk Rock, never to return! Now, as I near the age of 40, I'm reminded of one of my all time favorite records! Tuff Darts was a major inspiration for me in my youth (says something about me, eh?). I can still remember all the lyrics to "your love is like nuclear waste" and "rats". I got my vinyl from, believe it or not, the Columbia Record Club! Got it with Never Mind the Bollucks! Amazing! Still have it somewhere! Buy this CD! It's terrific!

This is goofy melodic punk/power-pop with the kind of cartoonish anti-social and anti-love lyrics that made the early Ramones and Dictators records so fun. Musically, they remind me most of The 'Tators, and maybe Richard Hell & the Voidoids, though they're not as arty. Fun stuff. Now is anybody up for reissuing The Brains and Fingerprintz onto c.d.?

I still have the vinyl original issue of "Tuff Darts!" and was delighted to find it released on CD. Pre-dating "The Knack" and the less-explicit-lyric-inclined "Romantics," Tuff Darts minced no words, yet played with a very listenable style and rocking beat, without the rough stridency characteristic of the hard-core bands in the genre termed "Punk." And, many of the songs are funny. Not necessarily because of such lines as, "I enjoy killing pigeons in the park. I like to peer in windows when it's nice and dark" ("Phone Booth Man"). The kick is in the matter-of-fact way the lyrics are sung, sometimes to a very laid-back melody, and not shouted.
I doubt a younger audience hearing this music for the first time, would have any inkling of its quarter-century age (bar the reference to dime phone calls). Themes progressive for the 70's could find an even larger popularity, as when the singer declares to an unnamed potential girlfriend: "I'd rather slash my wrists and cut my throat than have to spend the night with you. Your fancies are the pits..." ("Slash"). Living with repressive Southeastern radio fare in the Disco Era, I probably owe the fact that I can still think to the alternative press and a couple of college-campus record shops. "Tuff Darts!" could get airplay today. Even here.

in addition to all the other things people have said about this sisde is the fact that this may have been Bob Clearmountain's first credit as a producer for a major label (Sire). bob went on to be the producer and remix engineer for just about everyone in the record business. Bowie, Stones, Chic, Nile Rodgers......he is universally regarded as one of the best recording engineers/mixer/remixer and producers in the business today, and it all started 20 years ago at the Power Station in New York where this record was recorded. The sounds, riffs and production flourishes on this record are pure genius. if you want to know how a punk record should sound with vocals out front, kickin bass, mondo drums and properly recorded guitar amps, buy this record. On top of all that, the songs are totally whack and funy to boot. Buy this record so you can play it every time a chick breaks up with you. "She's Dead" and "Your Love is Like Nuclear Waste" are meant to be played at about 105dB, and will definitely bring you out of your funk and make you forget about that bitch......lol

Tuff Darts was one of the top live bands in NY when I saw them at CBGB''s in 1976. They were terrific performers who churned out hook after inspired musical hook, and it's great to hear them again. Sadly, this recording doesn't capture the energy and attitude I saw in the Bowery. Some of the choices the band's management made on this album were downright bizarre. Their two best live performances are completely lost in mystifying arrangements. "Slash" is turned from a raw, threatening anthem into doo-wop, with a Hawaiian guitar "punching" out what live were electrifying bridge chords. Similarly, Jeff Salen's throbbing and driving lead Les Paul in "Head Over Heels" was extremely muted, downright emasculated. The decision to start off with "Rats" was also curious; the idea, I guess, was to market them as a quirky Talking Heads-type band instead of the rockers they were. There are hints of the Darts' greatness in "My Guitar Lies Bleeding in My Arms" and what got the stoners dancing at CBGB's in "All for the Love of Rock n' Roll," the selection that ends the album. But I fear those who hadn't heard them live will stop playing this CD before they get to it. Those people, if they ever did hear of Tuff Darts, will likely be wondering what all the fuss was about.

You can usually find the Tuff Darts in the punk section of your local record store or wherever it is you buy music . Critics consider them to be a punk band ( probably because they never actually saw or heard the band ). The Tuff Darts are actually a straight ahead rock band . AND ...they're fun . The music isn't the fast frenzy pace of the Ramones nor is it guitar driven rock like say a Ten Years After ...it's just fun rock and roll with fun lyrics . She's Dead , Your Like Is Like Nuclear Waste , Phone Booth Man are really fun rock and roll songs . If you don't like the song Rats then you don't like rock and roll . Everyone that I played this album/cd for has the same reaction ...who is this ! ...then they go out and buy it .

If you like straight ahead rock and roll and you have a sense of humor buy this ... it's a classic imo .

Okay, I had been looking for this on disc for a long time, and would've bought it again. It has some songs that were a lot funnier when played loud and drunk (?) when I was 20. Not as good now. What can you say, some people are people...some people are dogs.

Saw them live at a club in Boston in the 70's, bought the album the next day. I expected them to break big time, but it never happened. EVERY cut is catchy, great hooks, swell lead guitar from Jeff Salen, there is NOTHING not to like here. Buy it and be amazed by how they slipped through the cracks!

Yes,thats how they named the band. Lou Grant turns to Mary Richards on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and exclaims"Tuff Darts ,Mary!" And its all downhill from there...seriously,this was a band straight outta the same CBGBs scene that gave us The Ramones,Blondie,Talking Heads etc. They lost their singer right off the bat ( Robert Gordon,first teaming with Guitar God Link Wray & then signing with RCA as an Elvis contender to the throne)
Tuff Darts made one album for Sire in 1976 even got Ian Hunter to play on it..totally non-PC ,rude ,crude,you name it,but the record company got taken over by Warner bros. & they wanted nothing to do with these guys( or the Ramones for that matter but thats another story)Some really funny stuff,some cruel lyrics,but some good rocking ( certainly they were as good or better musicians than the other CBGB bands were in the beginning)
John Desalvo(bass) was a great character,wrote some hysterical stuff""Your Love is Like Nuclear Waste,they should stamp contaminated across your face..." Great..John was a cool guy,got to know him when I worked at the late great Sire. I Know I'm ordering the Cd re-issue( & I know a couple of other people who will too..)I heard somewhere the Darts got back together..we can only hope...
Yes,it's true ,we (my band ) even got to open up for them @ CBGB! BUY This Now before they disappear again !!

I never thought this baby would ever be released!! I am also suprised to see others here writting the same review. This album was truly a neighborhood classic. I know of at least 4 copies of this album that were purchased in my old neighborhood and we used to joke that it was the only 4 they sold! Buy this album today, now!!!