THE CARS vs. THE RAMONES a.k.a. New Releases by SHONEN KNIFE and KRIS DELMHORST

I had a discussion recently with my wife about the 1980s.  We were watching VH1’s “One Hit Wonders” show—a guilty pleasure—and the focus was on 1980s movies.  The themes to both Dirty Dancing and St. Elmo’s Fire made their list, and I was reacquainted with how incredibly awful those tunes are.  My wife was prompted to say that the 1980s sucked, but I had to disagree.  The argument can be made that so much of what hit the charts back then was treacle—but there’s a reason why so many of today’s pop artists seem to be structuring their tunes as if they were created thirty years ago.  And when else could you find a chart shared by a three-chord punk band of screamers like The Ramones and a synth-driven, hyperstructured band like The Cars?

What are the other similarities between these two titans?  Both bands had a string of top 40 hits that are as indelible today as they were when they were created. Both featured incredibly ugly, gangly and tall lead singers.  Both knew, more than anything, how to market themselves—even if Joey Ramone professed to eschew commercialism, his appearance in the brilliantly campy Rock and Roll High School shows his true colors.  And both have tribute albums released this year.

Hit the cut for the reviews…

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October 14, 2011. Tags: Covers, Covers On Fridaze, Indie Pop, indie punk, Punk. Uncategorized. 3 comments.