I am still doggedly working on my “Best of 2022” Top 10 (I am down to a shortlist of 19). However, while I buy a lot of new music every year, I also buy a fair bit of “new to me” music. Those albums are not counted as they were released in prior years, but I don’t love discovering them any less. This next review is an example of that, having “discovered” this artist 40 years late.
Disc 1612 is…Convertible Music
Artist: Josie Cotton
Year of Release: 1982
What’s up with the Cover? This cover is the nexus of classy lady and classic car. With apologies to Billy Ocean, get out of my dreams and er…I’ll get into your car. My car is faster than this one, but this one has the advantage of Josie Cotton in a minidress, so I will happily forego the horsepower.
How I Came To Know It: I was looking for the Valley Girl soundtrack as a gift for Sheila (for that story, see Disc 1558). It was hard to get and so I started looking for the artists from the soundtrack, thinking maybe I’d recreate it myself as a grand romantic gesture of some sort. Like Lloyd Dobler in Say Anything, for people who don’t own a ghetto blaster, or “Beautiful Maria of My Soul” in the Mambo Kings, but for people who can’t write their own music.
Anyway, I digress. The important thing is that I stumbled on Josie Cotton’s Bandcamp site, downloaded two digital albums, and bought a third on CD hard copy. That last one is “Convertible Music.”
How It Stacks Up: I have three Josie Cotton albums and competition is close, but I’ll put “Convertible Music” in at #1.
“Convertible Music” sits at the intersection of fifties rockabilly and New Wave, top down, revving its engine and daring you to have some summer fun. The vehicle is a bit dated and of its time, but just like the car on the cover, that is part of its charm.
On later records, Cotton shows a propensity for trying on different musical styles, and even her sophomore record, “From the Hip” has more influences and nuance. On “Convertible Music” you get an artist clearly in love with sixties pop, refreshed with modern eighties energy. The best example of this is the opener. “He Could Be The One” was also featured on the Valley Girl Soundtrack. It is infectious and hearkens to a simpler time, when people danced in their socks and boys and girls shot demure looks from the bleachers at one another.
While the influences are clear, so is Cotton’s enthusiasm. Her vocals won’t make your spine tingle or raise any neck hair, but she has a natural knack for phrasing and can sit down in the front of the beat’s pocket in a way that energizes the songs.
It is worth mentioning that this record has some Grade A handclap action. Everyone knows a song is always improved with some well-placed handclaps, and on “Convertible Music” we get handclaps at the height of their power in multiple songs. I am a sucker for the single clap, then the triple clap-clap-clap approach, but any handclaps will do.
I prefer Cotton as she experiments on later albums, but there is something special about “Convertible Music” that draws you in. The innocence of a bygone era, with lyrics that hint that that era was never innocent after all. She reminded me favourably of the Shangri-Las, but less biker and leather and more hot rod and poodle skirt. In the end the sunny vibe of this record fully won me over.
The album has a distant sound that was frustrating. This could be bad eighties production, or just the inevitable loss of fidelity taking tunes recorded for analog and putting them on digital. Also, don’t expect any grand philosophical explorations, as the emotional content of the songs subsist on simple topics like, “I’m in love”, “I’m jealous” and “Let’s party!” However, there is a time and a place for this kind of music as well, particularly when it is done with honest intentions and a hint of edge.
Overall, I had fun listening to this record, and it ultimately led me into even more Josie Cotton records. I’m not quite swooning with fanboy praise, but I’m happy I got in the car.
Best tracks: He Could Be The One, Rockin’ Love, Johnny Are you Queer, Another Girl, Bye Bye Baby
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