O.K., the title is slight hyperbole. More like two and a half faces. Which is still one and a half faces more than I originally thought, having crossed VanWarmer and, presumably, his signature song "Just When I Needed You Most" a couple of years ago when I dipped my feet into soft rock. And that song was so soft, that I wrote VanWarmer off as an artist of potential interest. Imagine my surprise when a couple of months later - while still on a bit of a soft rock kick (if such a thing can exist) - I found "Suzie Found A Weapon" on a soft rock comp, but it didn't sound at all like soft rock, more like some punchy new wave. I made a mental note to check out that VanWarmer, then of course promptly forgot about him. Somehow, this year I fell in with VanWarmer again, this time taking the time of checking him out, especially his early stretch for Bearsville Records. And I wasn't disappointed. Apart from the first album - which is all softer-than-a-baby's-butt soft rock - he showed encouraging signs of being a secret enfant terrible: Bringing out ten-minute faux prog rock, alternating with power pop/new wave songs, and being generally a lot more irrevent than something like "Just When I Needed You Most" would suggest: Whether its proposing cocaine to his girlfriend to get her to hang out with him (in "Hester's Song") or mocking televangelists in "Amen" ("Send us your money, we will pray for you").
VanWarmer was hip to what was happening around him. His version of the old gospel classic "Farther Along" suggests he had listened to Adam & The Ants, with the Burundi drums coming in on what is certainly one of the most interesting takes on that old chestnut. He also loved 60's pop, as evidenced by his faithful cover of the Lovin' Spoonful's "Do You Believe In Magic".
Waitaminute, you might say, didn't he talk about 1.000, or at least two and a half faces? Where's face number two and a half I hear you murmur? Well, turns out my first encounter with VanWarmer was many years ago. When checking out his work from the 90s and 2000s, I realized that I had first encountered RVM in the mid-90s when my dad was subscribed to a magazine called "New Country" and VanWarmer had put his soft rock bona fides to good use by adding some country instrumentation and hanging out with the new 'hat acts' as a mulleted soft country pop guy. Really sentimental stuff, but what can I say, I have a soft spot for such fare, so even that side of Randy I'm fine with.
You will find none of that on today's One Buck Record though, which - as the title suggests - focuses on his first four albums for Bearsville Records and there mainly his new wave stuff. It's fresh, it's adventurous, it's a lot of fun. Maybe Art's recent work on Robert Palmer over yonder at Jonder's place pushed me to pull up RVM in the posting queue - like Palmer, VanWarmer is a lot more than "the 'Just When I Needed You Most' guy". So check out some cool Bearsville Beats courtesy of Mr. VanWarmer...
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Bearsville Beats
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Interesting, like most of us I only knew him from "Just When I Needed You Most", so your compilation could become an enlightening experience!
ReplyDeleteI love the rockers who went "new wave" -- the more awkward, the better! They really thought they were going to become irrelevant or extinct if they didn't cut their hair and put on skinny ties. Few did it as gracefully as Robert Palmer. Thanks for this!
ReplyDeleteI remember your (or Stinky's? or both?) "Do Ya Think I'm New Wave" sampler which was fun. It's true that Palmer did it really well, the first time I listened to "Clues" I was blown away by his command of the style, whether on the heavier rockers or "I Dream Of Wires". Really, an underrated classic of the 80s right there.
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