New Wave/Synthpop songs ranked from #200 to #1, one per day.
Sunday, October 1, 2017
Number 28: Robert King - Paper Heart
When Scottish punk band The Scars broke up in 1982, it seemed the end of the road musically for frontman Robert King. The times had changed, and veteran punk rockers were leaving the industry in droves. King had a idea, however: reinvent himself as a new waver. In 1983, he cobbled together studio time and recorded a single, "Paper Heart", from which he hoped to gain label support and produce a full-length solo album. Unfortunately, the song didn't chart, and an album wasn't to be. King soon busied himself with other things, eventually rejoining his Scars bandmates for a reunion in 2010. The "Paper Heart" single sank into the realm of what might have been. It's an awesome track that shows King had the chops to be a fantastic synthpop/new wave presence had he continued in that vein. I've always loved the song and lamented the fact that King did not create more solo music at the time. "Paper Heart" is at #28 on my Top 200.
Great tune indeed... but punker reinvented as new waver was a very tough transformation indeed, and virtually impossible to pull off without being labeled a "sell-out" ... list of people who succeeded doing it is about as long as "The Amish Phone Book". Blondie maybe? Mink DeVille? Most other artists trying to switch genres at the time were crucified ... I'm looking at you Peter Frampton (Rock to Pop with "I'm In You" and the horrifically bad Sgt. Pepper movie which I unfortunately can never un-see)
Great tune indeed... but punker reinvented as new waver was a very tough transformation indeed, and virtually impossible to pull off without being labeled a "sell-out" ... list of people who succeeded doing it is about as long as "The Amish Phone Book". Blondie maybe? Mink DeVille? Most other artists trying to switch genres at the time were crucified ... I'm looking at you Peter Frampton (Rock to Pop with "I'm In You" and the horrifically bad Sgt. Pepper movie which I unfortunately can never un-see)
ReplyDeleteVery true. And I've never seen that Frampton Sgt. Pepper movie (thankfully, from what I have heard from you and others).
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