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Raised on Radio #31- The Godfathers
Mar. 28th, 2013 08:25 pmWhen I did a series about music I grew up with, the question to ask is when did I grow up fully.
By age 15, I had met enough people who were lending me cassettes of the Cure, Depeche Mode, and PiL. I was writing "Sex Pistols" and "Clash" on my high school network.
Alternative broke a few years later, so I would have ended up their eventually, but the process was sped up.
Still, even if I lived in a vacuum, I was picking on things that appealed to me regardless of what anyone thought.
Which brings me to the Godfathers.
I was on the cusp of hanging out with punks, goths, and skaters when "Birth School Work Death" became a minor hit on MTV.
The Godfathers were a bit of an anomaly. Wikipedia says that they never were really successful back in their native England, and even here, while they fit in with the idea of college rock, were probably born to soon to really cash in on what surely would have been a big alt-rock payday.
I loved their breakout single, and had to buy the first album of theirs I could find.
That was "More songs about Love and Hate" which I bought at Wal-Mart.
It lacked a hit single, but it was a pretty solid slice of anthemic rock. I played it constantly and it fit in perfectly with the other bands that I was discovering.
1991's Unreal World appeared to be the album that (at least Columbia Records hoped) would finally connect what they had (a catchy hard rock sound) and what they wanted (a widespread audience looking for angry, guitar rock).
I wasn't impressed with the title track and wasn't even interested to pursue anything further, and America seemed to follow suit with a collective yawn.
.. and that was it. though the band has recently reunited and have new music on the horizon (I can't offer details, sorry) though without the underrated guitarist Kris Dollimore.
I hesitate to call these guys one hit wonders, because they are worth checking out. That said, when your breakthrough hit is this good, how do you follow up?
It's just about perfect.
By age 15, I had met enough people who were lending me cassettes of the Cure, Depeche Mode, and PiL. I was writing "Sex Pistols" and "Clash" on my high school network.
Alternative broke a few years later, so I would have ended up their eventually, but the process was sped up.
Still, even if I lived in a vacuum, I was picking on things that appealed to me regardless of what anyone thought.
Which brings me to the Godfathers.
I was on the cusp of hanging out with punks, goths, and skaters when "Birth School Work Death" became a minor hit on MTV.
The Godfathers were a bit of an anomaly. Wikipedia says that they never were really successful back in their native England, and even here, while they fit in with the idea of college rock, were probably born to soon to really cash in on what surely would have been a big alt-rock payday.
I loved their breakout single, and had to buy the first album of theirs I could find.
That was "More songs about Love and Hate" which I bought at Wal-Mart.
It lacked a hit single, but it was a pretty solid slice of anthemic rock. I played it constantly and it fit in perfectly with the other bands that I was discovering.
1991's Unreal World appeared to be the album that (at least Columbia Records hoped) would finally connect what they had (a catchy hard rock sound) and what they wanted (a widespread audience looking for angry, guitar rock).
I wasn't impressed with the title track and wasn't even interested to pursue anything further, and America seemed to follow suit with a collective yawn.
.. and that was it. though the band has recently reunited and have new music on the horizon (I can't offer details, sorry) though without the underrated guitarist Kris Dollimore.
I hesitate to call these guys one hit wonders, because they are worth checking out. That said, when your breakthrough hit is this good, how do you follow up?
It's just about perfect.
