RANDOM RECORD WORKOUT SEASON 5 Battle 24 Greg Kihn Band: Kihntinued (Side 1) Vs. Spizzoil/Spizzenergi/The Spizzles/ Athletico Spizz 80: Do a Runner (Side 2) Greg Kihn Band: Kihntinued (Side 1) Originally from Baltimore, MD Greg Kihn moved to Berkely, CA in the early 1970's. Eventually he founded and formed this band that bears his namesake. In California he worked painting houses, singing in the streets, and working behind the counter at Berkeley record store Rather Ripped Records with future band mate and Earth Quake keyboardist Gary Phillips. The following year, he became one of the first artists signed to Matthew Kaufman's Beserkley Records. Along with Jonathan Richman, Earth Quake, and The Rubinoos, Kihn helped to carve the label's sound. Kihn's career mostly peaked in the early to mid 80's, even having (in my opinion) the ultimate honor of "Weird Al" Yankovic spoofing one of his famous songs. He still plays today in various forms, charity concerts and the like. He has frequently sung The Star-Spangled Banner for his favorite baseball team, the San Francisco Giants, and his favorite hockey team, the San Jose Sharks. Also, if you are a fan of puns, you will appreciate most of his discography, as he created a few good titles using his last name (such as this album). So, now that you know who Mr. Kihn is, let's discuss the music he makes with his band. Kihntinued is his 7th studio effort. It is a pretty solid collection of tracks, heavy in the power pop and new wave category. "Happy Man" is probably the most chorded to keep you from boredom. A pretty straight forward tune, really. "Every Love Song" contains some jingle mixed with jangle, mixed with discotheque-nique (yipes!) seems like filler, and I could 100% do without the sax. "Everyday/Saturday" is a light rush on the pop bus. A decent rocker. "Dedication" follows and is certainly a slower and more subtle rocker. I feel like Kasey Kasem missed out on an opprtunity for the long distance D. The album closes out with " Tell Me Lies" and it has an almost reggae feel. This was a big thing in the early 80's it seems. 3rd wave Ska or whatever. Thanks in large part to bands like The Specials, Madness, The Police and The Clash. Overall this album was akihn (see? I can do it too, Greg) to a mediocre craft beer. Small press, decent taste, but nothing to write home about, and not to many are going to take notice. He had better for sure. Spizzoil/Spizzenergi/ The Spizzles/ Athletico Spizz 80: Do a Runner (Side 2) Spizzenergi formed in the late 1970s, an English punk/new wave band led by vocalist / guitarist Spizz (real name Kenneth Spiers). You may have wondered why there were so many versions of Spizz up above. Well, that is because the band changed its name every year, with subsequent names including Athletico Spizz 80 (this album), Spizzoil and The Spizzles. The band is most commonly known as Spizzenergi though. The move was both punk, and just a way to be different...although probably not too great for building a large fanbase. It is certainly a unique move. The band is also most known for putting out the single "Where's Captain Kirk?" . Widely considered a punk favorite, it did quite well for them for over 2 decades. By this time they were going as Spizzenergi and had a decidedly new wave sound. As Spizzenergi they became the first number one band in the newly formed UK Indie Singles Chart in January 1980. This was largely due to The BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel descrbing "Where's Captain Kirk?" as... "the best Star Trek associated song". Spizz created the artwork for the single cover using felt pens. This was basically the peak of Spizz's commercial popularity. So, this is essentially their debut album. But the band sort of had a cult following in the underground due to early singles as Spizzoil. Confused yet? Well, don't be, it's just good clean fun at the record industry's expense. "Red and Black" starts it all off. It is (as you might be expecting by now) discordant and crazy, leading into rocking slop. It is both punky and bizzare. Almost like a New Wave Sex Pistols. Very robotic in nature. "The Rhythm Inside" has a bit more substance and shape. More like Bauhause type of weird. "Person Impersonator" is the most traditional song-like so far. Also, the best actual title in my opinion. They absolutely have the "energi" (#seewhatididthere) to back it up. "Clocks are Big" is back to the electro-punk-ish nature. Truly innovative for that purpose alone. Waaaaay to short though. I can feel their sense of intended tension and humorous insight hn they follow up a barely 30 second song with an 8 plus minute electro trip called "Airships". I think this was actually my favorite tune on here. A beautiful intro, almost shoegazer-like pop. Very effective, as I felt like I was floating in the vacuum of space. I feel like there was a definite art core leaning. Deaf School meets Devo. So Greg Kihntinued his power popping reputation and burned 134 calories over 5 songs and 19 minutes. That is 26.8 calories per song and 7.05 calories per minute. Greg also managed to earn 9 out of 15 possible stars. The Spizzles athletico'd about 142 calories over 19 minutes and 5 songs. They averaged 28.4 calories per song and 7.47 calories per minute. They also earned 11 out of 15 possible stars. Not only did the Spizzles do a runner, they won today's battle!! Listen for yourself! Check out the links: Greg Kihn Band: "Happy Man" (such dramatic sound fx at intro!) https://youtu.be/TEqJtDFTq_4 The Spizzles/ Athletico Spizz 80: not much out there on this band, though from this footage they seemed popular-ish...enjoy live footage. https://youtu.be/lqp5ThTkSig #RANDOMRECORDWORKOUTSEASON5 #RANDOMRECORDWORKOUT
