Wire's Colin Newman releases a creepy and dark solo debut

Colin Newman : Alone

[Purchase]

In October of 1980, Wire guitarist/ vocalist Colin Newman released his debut solo album A-Z. Here Newman is extending the off-kilter synth sounds and art school attitudes of Wire's 154 album with help from Wire drummer Robert Gotobed and Pink Flag/Chairs Missing/154 producer Mike Thorne. Wire hadn't officially broken up but it would be five years before the band ever played together onstage. Graham Lewis teamed up with Bruce Gilbert to make electronic music in He Said and Dome, but he and Newman co-wrote A-Z's most memorable track, "Alone". It appears on the Silence of the Lambs soundtrack and would later be covered by This Mortal Coil. 

Alone, with too much generosity 

A theatre mask of hostility attracts 

Assaults occur infrequently 

 And those who come, to conquer? 

Need strength But damage accumulates 

Still Moving him to tears 

Retained a sense of humour

Newman told NME 

"..the lyrics are just noises that you can make with your mouth. They don't really mean anything. I can never make statements. If I say something I also say the opposite as well, and then I want to say something that states the middle ground, so I end up at the end of a piece of writing saying absolutely nothing!"

The album is a genuinely creepy and a challenging listen. The ultimate grower, it is rising in prestige as the decades go by and is considered by some to be Wire's "fourth album".

Rundgren tries to out-do The Rutles on Deface The Music

Utopia : Alone

[Purchase]

On September 24, 1980 Utopia released Deface The Music, an album that apparently confused fans. Todd Rundgren had said Utopia never had a set sound and would never be predictable. My own theory is Rundgren watched The Rutles one night and decided he could write faux Beatles songs better than Neil Innes. He doesn't. But that doesn't mean Deface The Music isn't a fun way to spend 32 minutes, playing spot the influence. "Alone" may be based on "And I Love Her" but it stands on its own.

Rolling Stone's David Fricke seemed to appreciate the exercise, writing:

A literal rewrite of the Lennon-McCartney songbook may seem as pointless as a new Knack LP. But Utopia–and Rundgren, in particular–have always had a talent for this sort of snappy, crackling pop. Besides, the ingenious, engaging way they go about it here is a tribute to the spirit of fun that marked the originals. That kind of imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

"Take It Home", inspired by "Day Tripper", is another song that stands on its own. Think Cheap Trick with more cowbell.

Side Two takes on the psychedelic era with fewer good results. Rundgren's Beatleisms would come in handy when he produced Psychedelic Furs' Forever Now and XTC's Skylarking  years later.