Seven Songs for the Week #132 - 15th Oct 25

Driving in the Irish countryside this past weekend and I decided to listen to The Bridge, from start to finish, for some reason. I bought this record when it came out - I was a huge Billy fan as a kid - and it was my first CD. Anyways, its a very uneven listen which now has a lot of the sounds of 1986 on it, one song even name-checks 1986, which is never a good idea. The opening track, Running On Ice, sounds like Billy is trying to sing like Sting, on A Matter of Trust he's channeling Springsteen (this was Billy's first album post Born In The USA-mania). Unusually, the album gets better as it goes on, the best stuff is on the b-side. Big Man on Mulberry Street is like no other Billy track, and inspired a whole episode of Moonlighting, which is very mid-1980s. Stevie Winwood Hammonds it up on the closing track. Here Cyndi Lauper joins in is a song about nothing, what's the code of silence, what do they want to say? It's a mystery. I like the brief World In Action/Mountain interlude. BTW Cyndi Lauper is to Billy Joel what Stevie Nicks is to Tom Petty.

Slowly working through this box set in the car which I have to always point out that I managed to pick up for just €10. Nice song.

Trimm Trabb is here because of the next song on the list. Good track though. Pay attention to the acoustic riff. I never realised Damon is reading an address out at the start: 733 West Knoll Drive, CA 90069. It leads you to Le Parc at Melrose - https://www.leparcsuites.com

It's fun how you can pick out songs from the blur & 13 albums which in retrospect foreshadow Gorillaz - like this one. The up-and-down-the-fret acoustic riffing also sounds like Re-Hash, the opening track from the Gorillaz debut.

I own The Madcap Laughs but not this album. Don't think I've listened to it before this week. It is Syd. When I heard this track I immediately went "Trimm Trabb!" Same riff!

Put this album on after The Bridge - it's a different vibe. I like how this track just ends.

After having the Soulwax remix on last week's list I went back to their Much Against Everyone's Advice album, which I liked a lot when it came out. Catchy.

In the background of somewhere this week, can't remember where.