I was supposed to be on holidays today, but cruel fate intervened, and I had to work all day. I reconciled this sad reality by deciding to leave work at a reasonable hour (note: I rarely do this) and come home.
Now I’m using some of that rarely seen after-work energy to write a music review. Two in fact, since CD Odyssey rules stipulate that if both albums are on a single CD they count as two reviews but share a single entry.
OK – on to the review(s).
Disc 1631 is…City
Nights
Disc 1632 is…Frequency
Artist: Nick Gilder
Year of Release: 1978 (City Nights) and 1979 (Frequency)
What’s up with the Cover? We have two covers in one, with the originals down the left-hand side.
“City Nights” features a coy and sexy Nick Gilder android, showing off his best clubbing clothes in what looks like a local parkade.
On “Frequency” we have what looks like a scene from “Scanners” as Gilder-bot reaches out to you through the incredibly modern and eerily futuristic cathode ray tube!
Finally, an “alternate stance” Nick Gilder is on the right, lit from below so you can see that his pants are far more interesting than you could have ever imagined in that ‘low light’ original cover. Gilder stands in the spotlight, no doubt from an overhead chopper keeping an eye on him until Rick Deckard can get to the location and “retire” him.
How I Came To Know It: I grew up with Nick Gilder, and had his two big singles on a couple of different K-Tel compilation albums back in the day. I’d always wanted those songs on CD.
Then, I saw this album advertised. A Most Incredible Deal! Original 2 LPs – 19 Classic Tracks – on 1 CD! I would have to be the WORLD’s GREATEST FOOL to not leap at this amazing offer. Not being the WORLD’s GREATEST FOOL, I leapt.
Both songs I wanted were on “City Nights” making “Frequency” an afterthought in the calculation but an afterthought that worked out OK in the end.
How It Stacks Up: I have two Nick Gilder albums (on one incredible CD, etc., etc….). If you are following along, you know which two. Since I’m reviewing them both at the same time I’ll say “City Nights” comes in at #1 and “Frequency” lands a respectable second.
Rating: 4 stars for “City Nights”; 3 stars for “Frequency”
Before I break down each record, a few common notes on “man from the future” Nick Gilder. You may fancy that Nick Gilder is actually from the past, since he recorded the majority of his music in the late seventies and early eighties, but he is definitely from the future, with his high almost artificial vocal and songs that are glossy, neon and chrome.
Everything about Nick Gilder is shiny. Second only to Gary Numan (who practically admits it) no artist is more likely to be an android than Nick Gilder. He comes out of that peculiar and short-lasting era of late seventies/early eighties rock and roll where the voices are so high and sharp-edged that you would be wise to put away your glassware before turning it up too loud.
This is not for everyone, but I have a small but special place in my heart for such artists (another equally-Canadian example – Prism). This stuff sounds weird, but it is weird in an anthemic, inspiring kind of way. Like the soundtrack to a robot love story.
OK – get the picture? Let’s move on to the records themselves.
City Nights
“City Nights” is the best Nick Gilder has to offer, and if you are not fortunate enough to find two classic albums on a single CD! (as I have done) this is the one you want first.
As I mentioned earlier, Gilder’s music has a futuristic element that borders on the inhuman. Fed partly by his voice, and partly by the structure of the songs. Left to his own devices it could get weird, but as the opening track, “Got to Get Out” he has a secret weapon: lead guitarist and fellow songwriter James McCulloch.
Whereas Gilder has a pop-like innocence to his music, McCulloch understands that the songs need an underpinning of crunch. It isn’t a ton of crunch, and it is levelled out in the mix with an equally healthy dose of synthesizer, but it is enough to pull the record back to its rock and roll roots. Even on lesser tracks like “(She’s) One of the Boys” it is McCulloch’s natural gift for a timeless guitar riff that will have you coming back for more.
“City Nights” will always be remembered more for its singles, particularly “Hot Child in the City.” This song was a pretty big deal back in the day in Canada. The New Wave chorus juxtaposes perfectly with a sort of late-night croon from Gilder. Anyone of a certain vintage will hear the riff and immediately start singing the chorus.
It is great, but my favourite tune is the album’s ‘lesser’ hit, “Here Comes the Night”. I had easy access to this song and played it a lot (see K-Tel record reference above). The tune has this great “late night party” vibe, and lyrics like:
“After dark the
shadow people walk
It's another world
Playing Valentino, trying to get a kiss
From the trendy girl
It's that lipstick game
Captured by a look from her x-ray eyes
She looked right through my best disguise”
...fascinated my much younger self. I wasn’t sure what “that lipstick game” was as a kid, but I knew it was something I wanted to know more about. The fact that one of the characters had x-ray eyes was a sci-fi connection that made it all the more alluring (the metaphor may have been lost on me as a boy).
“City Nights” has plenty of great deep cuts as well. My favourite on this listen was “Fly High” which has a song structure and arrangement that feels like it is literally lifting you. Yes, I was on a plane twice when I heard it, which helped, but I can confirm it has a similar (if lessened) effect when you hear it on terra firma.
Frequency
From the start, you can tell Gilder and McCulloch are interested in rocking out a bit harder on “Frequency”. The guitars are just a bit crunchier, and there is an urgency to the music that says, “hey – it’s rock and roll.” Usually this works, but there are times where it felt forced.
“(You Really) Rock Me” is a bit of both. There is plenty of good stuff here, but there is also a bit of that “Dancin’ Round and Round” rock/pop medley in Xanadu that makes you feel like maybe old people got in the mixing booth late at night and tried to tell the kids what was cool in their day.
I like Gilder when he just doubles down on the camp instead. “Frequency” is best when it sits disco adjacent, like a guy with a rock guitar sitting outside playing for tips to the lineup waiting to get into Studio 54.
“Metro Jets” is a strong example, featuring plenty of synthy organ, as it paints a picture of late-night partiers – equal parts vacuous and heroic.
Nick Gilder songs often have a rising anthemic quality to them, and there are moments on “Frequency” where things get more than a little Meat Loaf. I like Meat Loaf, so this was no problem.
Even more than “City Night”, “Frequency” is ‘future looking’ and the album ends aptly with “Into the 80’s” as Gilder’s enthusiasm for the coming decade is on full display, both in terms of style and theme. The eighties let a lot of us down, and listening to Gilder’s imagined version I can see why he’s hopeful. It is schlocky and awkward in places, but with all those harmonized background vocals and that insistent synth beat, you can imagine it is all going to be amazing. At the very least we’ll all have flying cars.
Summary
On both records, Gilder shows himself a master songwriter, and grounded by McCulloch’s guitars a lot of these songs that have no business working, manage to stick the landing.
Gilder famously wrote other Canadian hits as well, like Scandal’s “The Warrior”. I found an aged Gilder performing this tune but it was painful, so here’s Patty Smyth’s original in all its dance-battle glory. Pat Benatar covered Gilder’s “Rated X” on “In the Heat of the Night” (reviewed at Disc 667) as well.
These songs were chosen because the guy could write, and while his singing style is not for everyone, if you give it a chance you might find it will grow on you. Just accept that it is simultaneously of its time, and also from the future and you’ll have your head in the right space to enjoy the experience.
Best tracks:
City Nights: Got To Get Out, Hot Child in the City, Here Comes the Night, 21st Century, Fly High
Frequency: Time After Time, Metro Jets, Watcher of the Night, Into the 80s
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