"You Were Robbed" features artists and bands that should have gotten much more recognition and fame than they did. Check them out now...better late than never!
Well known in their native Canada, The Pursuit of Happiness (TPOH) never made it as big in the States. Led by the hilarious and talented songwriter Moe Berg, TPOH did achieve a modest level of success with the amusing rock track “I’m An Adult Now” in 1989.
Maybe the song pigeonholed them into a novelty act, so the other spectacular cuts on their “Love Junk” debut went largely unnoticed by the mainstream. Take a listen to the melodic charm of “She’s So Young” and try to figure out why it wasn’t a crossover smash. The powerpop legend Todd Rundgren produced this record, and his influence comes through the best on this track.
Yes, those beautiful female harmonies supplied by Lelie Stanwyck and Kris Abbott! Those backing vocals became a signature sound for TPOH and they are omnipresent on all of their records. Although, Stanwyck and bassist Johnny Sinclair left the band after the solid sophomore record, “One Sided Story”, to form Universal Honey.
The third single from “Love Junk” was a gritty pop rocker about cheating, the only one I know to rhyme the word “beguiling”. Again, catchy melodies and wry lyrics make it a mystery why this song didn’t give the charts a beating.
Virtually every track is wonderful and sticks in the head easy. I’ll leave you with one final example that should convince you that TPOH was robbed: the acoustic-based pop rocker “When The Sky Comes Falling Down”.
1 comment:
One of my favourite albums of all time.
Post a Comment