Artist: Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet
Album: Savvy Show Stoppers
Release: 1990
Label: Glass
Tracklist:
1. Good Cop Bad Cop
2. Musical Interlude
3. Theme From T.V.
4. Zombie Compromise
5. Malfunction
6. Shake Some Evil
7. You Spin Me Round '86
8. Run Chicken Run
9. Bennett Cerf
10. Egypt Texas
11. Customized
12. Our Weapons Are Useless
13. Shadowy Countdown
14. Harlem By The Sea
15. Having An Average Weekend
The Kids In The Hall was probably my favorite sketch comedy show from my youth. Comedy Central would air it BACK-TO-BACK exactly as I got home from middle school everyday, so I would dodge the few responsibilities I had and would watch it religiously. Then I would play video games. Aside from the skewed sense of humor of these five Canadians, another highlight of the show was being able to hear the theme song four times a day. As I entered high school, the craving for the theme song grew and grew to unimaginable heights until I finally scoured the wasteland known as half.com and found their first album, Savvy Show Stoppers, for only 4.99! Yay! I listened and loved, but soon forgot about it as I got more and more into hardcore and Talk Talk.
Flashforward to 2010 and I'm still living my thirteen-year-old self's dream and playing video games way too much. My sense of humor and overall social presence is extremely awkward, potentially due to the influence shows like The Kids In The Hall had on me as a developing human child. [note: I write like I talk, so imagine trying to hold a conversation with me. YIKES] Recently, I had scored the entire series on DVD for cheap and have been watching it with friends and it is STILL amazing. This has also compelled me to start listening to this album again.
I'm well aware that I haven't even mentioned Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet's name yet, so I guess I'll squeeze it in here. The band was part of the neo-surf movement, which is kind of hilarious due to the fact they're from Toronto, but that's besides the point. For the most part, the band plays only instrumentals. They never took themselves too seriously and their music is a lot of fun, though it's not disposable by any means.
Savvy Show Stoppers, while maybe not their best album, is still their definitive release due to it possessing their timeless TV anthem "Having An Average Weekend," which, as previously mentioned, served as the theme song for da kids. It's a classic tune, for sure, not only for its associations, but in that it's just one of the best surf revival songs ever made. The rest of the album is certainly interesting, as well. Not every song hits as hard as the rest, but nothing is compeletely uninteresting or unlistenable. Other highlights include the opener of "Good Cop Bad Cop," the hilariously titled "Bennet Cerf," the Taco Bell-used "Zombie Compromise" and their Link Wray cover of "Run Chicken Run." Even if surf stuff doesn't appeal to you, you should still check this out if only for "Having An Average Weekend."
Download Here
-Adam
Album: Savvy Show Stoppers
Release: 1990
Label: Glass
Tracklist:
1. Good Cop Bad Cop
2. Musical Interlude
3. Theme From T.V.
4. Zombie Compromise
5. Malfunction
6. Shake Some Evil
7. You Spin Me Round '86
8. Run Chicken Run
9. Bennett Cerf
10. Egypt Texas
11. Customized
12. Our Weapons Are Useless
13. Shadowy Countdown
14. Harlem By The Sea
15. Having An Average Weekend
The Kids In The Hall was probably my favorite sketch comedy show from my youth. Comedy Central would air it BACK-TO-BACK exactly as I got home from middle school everyday, so I would dodge the few responsibilities I had and would watch it religiously. Then I would play video games. Aside from the skewed sense of humor of these five Canadians, another highlight of the show was being able to hear the theme song four times a day. As I entered high school, the craving for the theme song grew and grew to unimaginable heights until I finally scoured the wasteland known as half.com and found their first album, Savvy Show Stoppers, for only 4.99! Yay! I listened and loved, but soon forgot about it as I got more and more into hardcore and Talk Talk.
Flashforward to 2010 and I'm still living my thirteen-year-old self's dream and playing video games way too much. My sense of humor and overall social presence is extremely awkward, potentially due to the influence shows like The Kids In The Hall had on me as a developing human child. [note: I write like I talk, so imagine trying to hold a conversation with me. YIKES] Recently, I had scored the entire series on DVD for cheap and have been watching it with friends and it is STILL amazing. This has also compelled me to start listening to this album again.
I'm well aware that I haven't even mentioned Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet's name yet, so I guess I'll squeeze it in here. The band was part of the neo-surf movement, which is kind of hilarious due to the fact they're from Toronto, but that's besides the point. For the most part, the band plays only instrumentals. They never took themselves too seriously and their music is a lot of fun, though it's not disposable by any means.
Savvy Show Stoppers, while maybe not their best album, is still their definitive release due to it possessing their timeless TV anthem "Having An Average Weekend," which, as previously mentioned, served as the theme song for da kids. It's a classic tune, for sure, not only for its associations, but in that it's just one of the best surf revival songs ever made. The rest of the album is certainly interesting, as well. Not every song hits as hard as the rest, but nothing is compeletely uninteresting or unlistenable. Other highlights include the opener of "Good Cop Bad Cop," the hilariously titled "Bennet Cerf," the Taco Bell-used "Zombie Compromise" and their Link Wray cover of "Run Chicken Run." Even if surf stuff doesn't appeal to you, you should still check this out if only for "Having An Average Weekend."
Download Here
-Adam
6 comments:
Note that The Marsh Hens list the theme song from Kids in the Hall as our primary influence on our MySpace page. I can't take credit for that minuscule hilarity (that was Fred's idea), but kudos to this band, and to that great show.
man i used do all of this. thanks for posting this, long live video games, tv and not being responsible at all.
-aaron
They got lumped into the whol neo-surf thing, but I think that's sort of short sighted as they more of a straightforward rock act and had a lot more range than most of the mid-tempo, mundane neo-surf that was coming out at the time. I have this record and an earlier one that is a little slower more cohesive, but I stil think that this is the best album they ever put out. Good to see this posted here for people to get into since they never caught on for some reason.
This album rules. Thanks for sharing it. I as well have been a huge kids in the hall fan for my whole life since it was on comedy central. I've always wanted to hear more of their stuff.
"FANKX! A BUNCH!! ADAM!!!"
Gracias for sharing, I'm probably the only one in this town ( Juarez, Mexico ) who knows who the SMOASP are or has seen The Kids in the Hall show. Love them both !!!
Thanks again.
Post a Comment