Sorry if the following is "bitty" but it's late.
I recall who Hothouse Flowers were but I have no idea what they sounded like. Frankly, I wasn't really doing the Top 40 in the 80s. The 80s are perhaps the greatest ever decade for music where very little came from the above ground (the charts) and everything came from the underground. That was an aside, obviously.
So, I approach this album relatively clear of mind. The "relatively" is by virtue of the fact that the band are Irish and so is my wife so I have some trepidation and recognise the use for some careful words*.
Generally, I have been ambivalent about Irish rock.
I loved Stiff Little Fingers as a youngster and I also had a lot of time for the Undertones, both from the North. Van Morrison, also from the North, I have always found patchy especially as he progressed. Sorry, I only distinguish the North because there are some slight different musical traditions added to the mix. It's not meant to be a political statement. Tiocfaidh ár lá. U2 despite their fine taste in music (Elvis), experimentation and some great songs never really floated my boat. My Bloody Valentine, Ash, and the Virgin Prunes I don't know enough of. Thin Lizzy had a few good tracks as did The Boomtown Rats. The Pogues I love but they are ex-pats. Hal, The Villagers and Identity Parade are new acts I listen to and like.
The Irish also tend to throw out many solo vocalists from Damien Dempsey to the supreme cheese of Richard Harris and they have won the Eurovision more times that you can point a stick, but, what I do truly love is traditional Irish music. This affection stems from the early 80s, almost a couple of decades before I met my wife.
The attraction to the music was both budgetary and philosophical. The budgetary stems from the fact that I found a lot of those trad Irish records in op shops whilst the philosophical refers to the content, as a lot of Irish traditional music is belligerently anti-English and that fit well with my Republican stance (then and now). Tiocfaidh ár lá. However, the more I listened to the traditional Irish music like the Dubliners, The Chieftans, Planxty and (the Americanized) Clancy Brothers, the more I saw the direct links between Celtic (specifically Irish) music and American country and folk.
Of course I liked American country and folk especially the early or primitive forms so it was no great leap to be then enamoured with Irish Celtic music.
A lot of Irish music references American country or folk … and if one country should it's the Irish as the Irish musical traditions had a great influence on American country and folk. That indirect influence can be heard on many of the American "roots rock" and "heartland rock" bands also. For those who care "roots rock" and "heartland rock" are close cousins though "heartland rock" tends to be a little more polished and a little less adventurous. Generally it's all straight ahead rock 'n' roll with occasional country-ish influences and a lot of Americana type themes – think Bruce Springsteen, John Cougar, Lone Justice or Steve Earle (during his rock period) in the mainstream to The Beat Farmers, Alex Chilton, Tav Falco Panther Burns, Green on Red, Alejandro Escovedo indie wise. The influences are Elvis, Bob Dylan, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jimmie Rodgers and everything in between.
But when this music goes full circle and ends up back in Ireland or in places like England I can't help but look on it with some amusement.
And Hothouse Flowers are an Irish "roots" rock band of sorts.
The critics tend to lump Hothouse Flowers into the "Celtic rock" genre though I hardly think that (at least on this album) the use of vibes, marimbas, electric sitars, bouzoukis, and saxophones as used by the Hothouse Flowers are not central instruments in the Celtic rock tradition.
"Celtic Rock" from allmusic, "From the punk and pipes sound of bands like the Pogues to the New York/Celtic hybrid of Black 47 to the only slightly Irish-inflected sound of the Cranberries, Celtic rock artists combine traditional Irish instruments with rock rhythms to produce music that is equal parts mania and passion, melancholy and romance. Celtic rock often shows the definitive stamp of Irish pub music, but it also draws equally from pop music sounds that range from R&B to alternative rock".
I hear very little "Celtic rock" here but I do hear a lot (truck loads) of mid to late-80s heartland rock a la Bruce Springsteen (all that stuff after "Nebraska") and John Cougar (around his "Scarecrow" time). And also, unfortunately, just as a lot Springsteen and Cougar output has dated from that period so has this. Post "Nebraska" Springsteen's (immediate) output was slick and glossy (despite the themes being quite dark) and the Hothouse Flowers are even more slick and glossy with none of the social observations and criticism Springsteen infused his songs with. For every "Dancing in the Dark" relationship song Springsteen had he had a "My Hometown" observational type song. This album however is all relationship songs (Well, there could be one anti-war song in there, if I could figure out what the band were on about..) and, given the style of music , it suffers.
The Hothouse Flowers were clearly affected by time and place which clearly effected their musical choices …
Allmusic, "The group first formed in 1985 when Liam Ó Maonlaí and Fiachna Ó Braonáin (who had known each other as children in an Irish-speaking school, Coláiste Eoin) began performing as street musicians, or buskers, on the streets of Dublin, Ireland as "The Incomparable Benzini Brothers". They were soon joined by Peter O'Toole, and had won a street-entertainer award within a year. They renamed the group "Hothouse Flowers" and began writing songs and performing throughout Ireland. Rolling Stone magazine called them "the best unsigned band in Europe". …In 1986 Bono from the band U2, saw the Flowers performing on television and offered his support. They released their first single, "Love Don't Work This Way", on U2's Mother Records label, which quickly led to a deal with the PolyGram subsidiary London Records".
I also hear a little of the Violent Femmes as well as a lot of gospel and soul in the mix. Despite this, and the Springsteen influences, bands like Counting Crows, Hootie and the Blowfish and The Waterboys could all probably sit comfortably with Hothouse Flowers.
I note though that, with a lot of Irish rock as well as English rock, there is a tendency for Americana inspired sounds to come out quite slick … and when you are inspired by already slick Americana rock the result is just a touch to clean for my ears. It seems to be all form no substance. It's as if Robert Palmer was fronting a bar band.
It's all well played, sung and bouncy but unfortunately the mainstream 80s sound, the passing of time, and the deja vu feeling of it does not make it a winner for me.
Tracks (best in italics)
- I'm Sorry – starts with a Bruce Springsteen-ish spoken introduction which sounds totally rehearsed. An Abbey player couldn't have done better.
- Don't Go – silly and obvious and catchy – very Springsteen like.
- Forgiven –.
- It'll Be Easier In The Morning – a country soul tinged mid tempo ballad – a bit like Dobie Gray's "Drift Away" – with not even a hint of an Irish accent.
- Hallelujah Jordan – more Springsteen.
- If You Go – starts of as Springsteen all the way down to the lonesome harmonica then the sexy sax-o-mo-phone kicks in. I could see Pat Benetar or Kim Carnes doing this.
- The Older We Get – It's uncanny how the lead singers vocal phrasing is like … wait for it … Bruce Springsteen.
- Yes I Was –.
- Love Don't Work This Way – very soulful with more sexy sax-o-mo-phones.
- Ballad Of Katie – a long and emotive power ballad.
- Feet On The Ground – a touch of B.B. King and U2 via "When Love Came to Town" here.
And …
Slick, but not for my taste … sell or give to the wife.
Chart Action
US
Album
#88 on The Billboard 200 1988
#88 on The Billboard 200 1988
Singles
no chart action on the main charts
no chart action on the main charts
UK
Album
#2 1988
#2 1988
Singles
#11 Don't Go
#33 I'm Sorry
#45 Easier In the Morning
#11 Don't Go
#33 I'm Sorry
#45 Easier In the Morning
Sounds
I'm Sorry
live
Don't Go
live
It'll Be Easier In The Morning
attached
Hallelujah Jordan
live
and attached
If You Go
The Older We Get
Ballad Of Katie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYfDkJybKQM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYfDkJybKQM
Feet On The Ground
live
Bio
Website
Trivia
- This album to date is the biggest selling debut album by an Irish artist in Ireland, reportedly selling close to 1 million copies there alone.
- The Hothouse Flowers and My Bloody Valentine have a shared history in members.
*The wife is not a huge Hothouse Flowers fan despite the fact that an Aunt is related to one of the band members … she is also related to someone in "My Bloody Valentine". Interestingly one of her cousins went to school with Bono … Ireland isn't a big place.
(originally posted: 25/07/2010)
1 Response to HOTHOUSE FLOWERS – People – (London) – 1988