The Feelies' Crazy Rhythms

Ok, so I took a couple of days off. I had a busy weekend. And get used to it because I'm going to be away next weekend as well.

Today's record is soooo old. 27 years. 1980. It's hard to believe that I'm thinking about how long ago 1980 was.

The Feelies formed in New Jersey in the late 70's. Glenn Mercer and Bill Million are the core members. Dave Weckerman was in an original lineup with a different name, and later became a full time member, but he was not in the group for 1980's Crazy Rhythms, their first album.

Crazy Rhythms is such an appropriate title for this album, because the rhythms of the songs are the focal point of the record, and they are often unusual. On many tracks, Million's and Mercer's guitars play counter-rhythms that battle from the left and right speakers. (Again, this stands out nicely when you listen in headphones.) These rhythms are often frenetic and make the songs gallop, seeming to pick up speed at times. The array of percussion sounds sprinkled around the record complement the guitars nicely. Sleigh bells, shakers, woodblocks, maracas, castanets...auxiliary percussion sounds are compounding the "crazy rhythms" all over the album. In one song, in fact, Mercer is credited as playing a coat rack.

This album is a really interesting snapshot of the music world in the early 80's. The post-punk sound that is about to become new wave. Although the Feelies were not exactly well known, this album was quite influential. It was listed in Rolling Stone magazine's 1990 list of 100 top albums of the 1980's. Number 49. R.E.M. lists them as an influence. (Actually I guess that's probably not a surprise.)

A notable feature of this cd is the inclusion of two good cover songs. They do a great job with the Beatles' "Everybody's Got Something To Hide (Except Me and My Monkey)." Also included is "Paint It Black" by the Rolling Stones. This cover is pretty much straight up, and was not included on the original record. I own a later issue of the album on cd that includes this song performed by a newer Feelies lineup in which Million and Mercer are joined by Weckerman, Brenda Suater, and Stanley Demeski. It was not recorded during the original sessions for the album. This is the regular lineup that recorded most of the Feelies' albums. There was a 6 year gap between Crazy Rhythms and the other three Feelies albums that were released in the late 80's and early 90's featuring the regular lineup.

I was excited to read that Glenn Mercer released a solo album in June of this year. I haven't found it yet, but it's on my list.