what Frank is listening to #35 – MATTHEW WILDER – I Don't speak the Language – (Epic) – 1983
![[83.jpg]](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UjRpW1RlbC0/R1WWaIOT_eI/AAAAAAAACxc/F2ma5bKAY1o/s1600/83.jpg)
I had no idea who Matthew Wilder was until I put on the album and … remembered. The very first track, "Break My Stride", was a big hit and takes me back to the insufferable Top 40 of the early 1980s and all those Catholic high school dances where getting to first base meant actually getting the courage to ask a girl to dance and a home run was when she would dance with you for at least five songs … you were a legend if you got that far … I don't think I ever did.
Allmusic.com has a bio which I copy in toto as it says it all:
The defiant chorus of Matthew Wilder's 1983 hit "Break My Stride" — "Ain't nothin' gonna break my stride/Nobody gonna slow me down" — could also define his career. Wilder is one of the few artists who was able to escape from the stigma of having only one smash single and yet find more success in the music industry. In the early '70s, Wilder was part of the Greenwich Village folk duo Matthew & Peter. Wilder moved to Los Angeles in 1978 and sang on TV commercials; he also became a backup vocalist for Rickie Lee Jones and Bette Midler. In 1983, Wilder released his first album, I Don't Speak the Language. "Break My Stride" reached the Top Ten in the U.S. However, Wilder's second LP, 1984's Bouncin' Off the Walls, flopped. Nevertheless, Wilder continued to write and produce for others. In 1995, Wilder produced No Doubt's multi-platinum debut Tragic Kingdom. Wilder's work on the Mulan soundtrack in 1998 that earned him an Oscar nomination.
He also worked as a songwriter and as a record producer for 702, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, and Joanna.
So obviously the guy is no slouch…
Wilder was born and bred in New York City (1953 – Manhattan no less not even Queens or the Bronx or Brooklyn) and really typifies a lot of the music … a slightly arty, mainstream singer songwriter up with the times and technology. The sound on this album is definitely 1983 – the album is driven by gentle synthesisers (the Prophet V and Prophet 10 are on almost every track, with guitar very much in the background filling in the gaps … much like in a jazz quartet). Though that is not surprising, as Wilder is piano based and plays piano and some of the synths on this album. There are all manner of saxes as well emulators, a DMX Drum machine and something called a "chroma" in the sound also. Even the cover is slightly arty – what do you expect from a white waspish New Yorker? Well actually his real name is Matthew Weiner (lol) … so I suppose he is Jewish New Yorker … explains the arty overtones. Wilder looks like someone I know, but with a moustache … I wonder who?
Having said all that I can say that the album is at best "inoffensive" arty synthpop. I say inoffensive because a couple of the tracks are quite catchy in that TV commercial jingle way. His stance is that of a New Wave Singer Songwriter with a backing band (if that makes any sense at all). Sort of like a male Cyndi Lauper (another New Yorker) or a US version of the Thompson Twins. I'm not sure how Wilder toured on the strength of this album – its all very studio engineered – though I suppose he played pubs and clubs. The songs are very familiar and I thought for sure that a lot of his music would have loomed large in teen movies or TV in the 1980s, but, I checked, and it didn't.
Album
#49US
Singles
"Break My Stride" #5US ( anything in the US top 20 is a big big hit – due to population size), #4 UK
"The Kid's American" – #33US
Best tracks:
- Break My Stride – the hit and catchy
- The Kid's American – its funny
- I Don't Speak the Language
- Dreams keep Bringing you back – I'm sure someone has covered this as the song is very familiar
I'll tape a couple of tracks for a 1980s Top 40 CD and then flog this off.
Sound:
(originally posted: 24/05/2009)
