Wednesday, January 20, 2016

ABCs of My Vinyl Collection (Letter A, Part 7)

Upon discovering Nick Lowe as a bright-eyed 13 year old, it wasn't long before I became obsessed with Stiff Records, particularly Ian Dury, Graham Parker, Kirsty MacColl, Wreckless Eric and Madness, and I would buy just about anything with the label's logo on it. Any Trouble's debut album, 'Where Are All the Nice Girls,' is a tremendous piece of power pop, and I always find myself wanting to spin 'Look Sharp,' 'Seconds of Pleasure' and 'My Aim Is True' right after I play it. Unfortunately, I don't think these lads ever quite reached the heights of their first single, "Yesterday's Love," but I really did take to this one from their second (and last) album for Stiff, 'Wheels in Motion.' Give this one a go while pondering why Any Trouble never troubled the charts. Incidentally, Any Trouble reconvened for a new album late last year. You can buy 'Present Tense' from Cherry Red Records.

"Trouble With Love"
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3 comments:

McPop said...

Now you're talking. Any Trouble is fantastic! I have "Where are all the Nice Girls?" on LP and 'Complete Stiff Recordings' CD box set. I have yet to hear the new reunion album. Have you heard it and if so what do you think?

Like you, I would also file Any Trouble with my Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson albums along with Nick Lowe, Ian Gomm, Jags, Dirty Looks, etc.

January 20, 2016 at 3:15 PM
Brian said...

McPop, Glad we have this one in common. I don't have the new album or the one that came out in 2007. I have only heard "Glenn Campbell." Here's the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsWVsbw0hHU

I have had the two Stiff albums since I was a pup, but I didn't buy the EMI America albums until about 2000 when I started buying vinyl again after a lost decade of CD purchases. I don't think I paid more than $2 for any of them. To be honest, I only listen to Where Are All the Nice Girls. Before today I probably hadn't pulled out Wheels in Motion in more than a decade... maybe more. Turned out to be a nostalgic and quite enjoyable trip. I used to have a great poster of that Nice Girls album cover. Always loved that look and am happy to see the band's logo is still being used on the new one.

January 20, 2016 at 8:25 PM
kevinpat said...

Don'tcha love it when a record label rallies up a particular sound. My buddy and I went to Salvation Army and bought cheap ill-fitting suits, which we wore perhaps 3x to a local bar. These sounds were all over the playlist there. Though that scene didn't last long, the sound remained. The stiff sound. Included to the above were Jona Lewie, Tenpole Tudor, and young Rachel Sweet. Maybe it's just my memory but it seems to me you hear a track and know it's a Stiffy That's cool. I always liked the vocals on Any Trouble. Just two steps from Squeeze. Because I had nothing better in my life at the time (hahaha) I made 4 cassette playlists of songs with the word "Girl(s)" in the title. I actually started with one but more tracks kept showing up. High on the list were songs from this scene, especially "Nice Girls" and of course a highlight for me "Girls Are Always Right" by Any Trouble. Fun stuff. More reasons to be cheerful, part 3.

January 22, 2016 at 8:22 AM

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