'Til Tuesday's "Voices Carry" is, in my opinion, one of the strongest singles of its era. Released in 1985, for a song every source I consult says was an MTV staple, I swear I cannot remember hearing this until circa 2006 when I moved to L.A., where they played it on the radio on a daily basis. I don't remember ever hearing this on the radio in 1985 or at any other time during the 30 years I lived in Chicago.
Part of the reason for this may be that we didn't have MTV at our house growing up, a point of infinite frustration for a kid in the 80s (and one I am thankful for now). A friend down the street had it, though, and "Music Television" was on a lot at his house. I can remember some rather oddball songs ("Shoot that Poison Arrow" for one), but not this one.
I also listened to A LOT of radio from a young age. Some of the songs that populated my sonic landscape from as far back as 1982 were "Rock the Casbah" (an instant lifelong favorite), as well as everything Huey Lewis and the News, Prince and Duran Duran. Whatever station I heard all that on had to be playing "Voices Carry." I just missed it.
Or maybe I didn't miss it. My reaction to hearing this song the first time was immediate infatuation, as if, even though I had no memory of it on the surface, my subconscious had long ago embraced it. I was listening to a lot of modern pop in 2006 (Justin Timberlake's first record, Kyle Minogue, etc), making mix CDs I dubbed "Satan's Discoteque" and arranging playlists that included everything from George Benson to Throbbing Gristle. The point is, "Voices Carry" would have fit right into my scatterbrained sonic ethos at the time, especially because its production is a great example of that lush, 80s vibe that M83 would recontextualize a few years later and make me hungry for again.
Listening to the entire Voices Carry album while I write this, I'm blown away. The whole eleven-song cycle is fantastic, and really, for a band dubbed "New Wave" in their day, there are moments that dovetail with what was going on with 80s Rock at the time. The guitars on "Don't Watch Me Bleed," for instance, have a healthy but tasteful application of both Chorus and Reverb that make each note shimmer in the way bands like Kix and Warrant would live and breathe by a year or two later. This is a great revelation since I enjoy that production technique but not bands like Kix or Warrant.
Watch:
Interesting little teaser that popped up on Bloody Disgusting recently. Saw this earlier and it made me fire up the song, hence today's post.
There's not really enough here to make a very good assessment, but Voices Carry is the debut feature from Writers/Directors Abby Brenker & Ellyn Vander Wyden, and I'm always interested in supporting new voices.
Read:
My good friend and Horror Vision cohost Butcher pointed me to the upcoming Giallo-inspired comic mini-series You'll Do Bad Things. This was 100% off my radar, but damn if I didn't have my shop add this the moment I saw this cover:
Here's Image Comic's solicitation blurb, plucked from the irreplaceable League of Comic Geeks:
"It's been ten years since the release of He Came in With a Smile, the true crime smash hit that chronicled the brutal murders committed by the Nursery Rhyme Killer. But in the decade since its release, its author Seth Holms hasn't produced another title. He wants to write a story with a happy ending, but every time his fingers clack across the keyboard, it always ends in his character's death. Worse yet? These tales of blood and barbarity that flow so freely from Seth's mind are starting to happen in real life."
Nothing we haven't seen before, but that can be said of a lot. It's not the idea but what you do with it, right? Written by Tyler Boss - whose 2021 series Dead Dog's Bite was a favorite of that year - with art by Adriano Turtulici, I am very much looking forward to this one.
Playlist:
Melvins - Houdini Live 2005 (thanks, Mr. Brown!)
Melvins - (A) Senile Animal
The Bronx - The Bronx (IV)
James Brown Presents: Funky People
The Pogues - Rum Sodomy & the Lash
Iggy and the Stooges - Raw Power (1973 David Bowie Mix)
