My Amazon Reviews: The Motels "Little Robbers"

It's a Steal
4 Out Of 5 Stars

Having suddenly discovered what success tasted like, The Motels were more than willing to re-mine the same vein. "Little Robbers" kicked off just like its predecessor; "Where Do We Go From Here" is all but carbon copied from All Four One's "Mission of Mercy." But where "Only The Lonely" was the breakthrough ballad, this time, "Suddenly Last Summer" was the stunner and upped the ante of that first hit. Much like The Police's "Every Breath You Take," "Suddenly Last Summer" was a pitch perfect slice of radio pop. Martha Davis' sultry vocals work their magic on the hook-laden melody. It deservedly became The Motels' second (and final) top 10 hit.

The album also knocked off a second solid single with "Remember The Nights." Problem was, after the singles, "Little Robbers" was not as solid as "All Four One." There was even a groaner with "Isle of You," and some generic AOR stuff that hasn't held up so well. The best of the album can be found on The Essential Collection, much like their final album, Shock. Some really good stuff here, with Martha Davis remaining one of the 80's more charismatic female vocalists.

As for the remaster, like many of the Culture Factory re-issues, it leans toward loud and over-compressed. So if you have that old One-Way reissue from the early 2000's, don't let go of it just yet.

     

My Amazon Reviews: The Motels "All Four One"

Checking In at The Five Star Motels
5 Out of 5 Stars

It is one of those stories that became all too prevalent in the 80's; decent band is forced to compromise for mega-success. Martha Davis and The Motels suddenly found themselves on the brink of stardom, and their record company didn't like the album they had prepared. An ultimatum was issued - go back into the studio with a producer of Capitol's choosing and his session hacks for a redo or no deal. The band swallowed hard (and nearly disintegrated). Val Garay (who had worked on the original sessions) delivered the keyboard dominated new sessions and "All Four One" was the result.

The final album treads a very fine line between arena rock and the edgy, arty new-wave the first two Motels albums were focused on. Only "Art Fails" and "Apocalypso" (the original album titles) sound like they came from that period. But the polished up Motels also brought lead singer Martha Davis into an even sharper focus, making the torchy "Only The Lonely" into the band's signature hit. The other two radio draws here; "Mission of Mercy" and "Take The L," pulled down radio play and established not only the Motels, but the crossover sound of safe New Wave. As such, "All Four One" is a classic album from the early 80's, helping to usher in a new sound.

There were also a pair of surprises here. Martha turned jazzy for the haunting "Change Your Mind," a major departure for The Motels' albums. The second was the inclusion of an obscure but controversial Carole King/Gerry Goffin song that Phil Spector produced for The Crystals, "He Hit Me and It Felt Like a Kiss." An ambiguously angry song about relationship abuse (or a cheeky ode to SM, take your pick), the original song was released as a single and subsequently blacklisted from radio. It makes its selection as a cover on "All Four One" all the odder, seeing as the band was fighting Capitol to record an album that would be commercially more viable than the "Apocalypso" sessions had yielded. As such, it was pretty much a backhand to the suits and helped The Motels maintain a semblance of edge.

Granted, the sudden success made the band all the more eager to stay safe (Little Robbers is almost a carbon copy of this and even cleaner). However, there are still plenty of reasons to like "All Four One." The remaster will drive audiophiles nuts as the compression really flattens and over compresses the percussion in particular, but I'm glad just to finally have this CD back in my library.

     

My Amazon Reviews: The Motels "Shock"

Going Into Shock
3 Out Of 5 Stars

The final Motels album of the 80's was also their slickest. There were still plenty of great songs and Martha Davis' amazing voice. But "Shock" is also loaded up with drum-machines and very dated sounding synths. There's very little organic sounding to the album. That doesn't mean the songs are forgettable, there are a few that rank with the band's best. The top 40 single "Shame," the dance ready title track, and "Icy Red," which could have given the late 80's Heart a run for their money. But for my money, Martha's solo album, "Policy," was a better album.

Now onto the reissue itself. Culture Factory is doing a service by getting many of these out of print albums back onto the market. But like so many of the reissues of older albums, they lift the volume well past what it needed to be. They did the same to The Romantics' debut. I don't find the volume to be anywhere near the tragedy a few of the other reviewers here have noted. If you were never able to procure a copy of this in its limited release long ago, or the BGO release, this version of "Shock" will do just fine. Get it before it goes out of print, too.

     

My Amazon Reviews: Martha Davis "Policy"

Better Than Shocked
4 Out Of 5 Stars

Martha Davis was allegedly working on a musical as she was composing these songs for The Motels to record. Unfortunately, neither happened. The musical was never produced and the band broke up. But these songs remain and should have firerocketed Martha into solo stardom. Who knows why, but the CD disappeared with minimal notice.

That is too bad because "Policy" is a darn good album, to my ears, better than The Motels' "Shock." I even set up a contest for this at the time I was working at radio, and still have a cassette with Martha plugging the station and the contest. There were two surefire hits on "Policy" as well. "Tell It To The Moon" and "Don't Tell Me The Time" were both great pieces of pop that got a little radio play. ("Tell It To The Moon" was also one of those hook-laden insta-hits written by pop maestro Diane Warren and will likely be a hit for someone in the future.)

The darkness that permeated The Motels' songs also comes into play here. Both "Rebecca" and "What Money Might Buy" give their femme fatales some really meaty lyrics to shape up to. Sadly, this was Martha's only solo record on a major label, though she has released two others independently and toured with new incarnations of The Motels. I am glad I have my autographed copy...and Martha, come back!