Search - Apb :: Something to Believe in

Miracles do happen -- the ghosts materialize!

Fran Fried | Fresno, Ca. United States | 02/22/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Rewind to just over a year ago. The receiver I had owned since college had just finally crapped out (after 22 years!), and for a brief spell, the only place I could play music was on my computer. I was starting to miss playing some of my old '80s records -- like APB, the tightly wound Scottish punk/funk band who broke up in 1990, who were madly popular among the alternative/college radio crowd in the New York Tri-State area in the day. (I lived in Connecticut and was in college on Long Island when WLIR radio broke them big in '82.)

In that spirit, I came here to Amazon looking for a CD copy of "Something to Believe In," Link Records' collection of the band's early singles -- and was appalled to see that the cheapest the out-of-print disc was going for was $100, and one copy was posted for $300. In a way, though, I was happy -- it was an affirmation of just how good the band was and how their music held up. Still, I wasn't paying $100 for songs I already had on vinyl. And the one act most conspicuously absent from '80s compilation discs was still elusive to an audience who didn't know what they were missing.

So imagine my joy when the news came out in January -- miracle of miracles! -- that a New York indie label, Young American, was re-releasing "Something to Believe In" as a 2-CD set, to be followed by a John Peel sessions CD and the re-release of their only studio album, 1985's "Cure for the Blues."

If you've waited this long for the disc at a reasonable price, your patience has been rewarded.

The joys can be found in the simple reasons CDs came into existence in the first place -- to be able to enjoy music without the pops and scratches, the convenience of not having to turn over records ... and the sound quality. The sound quality! I'd swear I was in in the middle of Wilf Smarties' studio as the trio (well, originally and in the end a trio, with some other folks in between) poured on the kerosene. On Disc 1 -- the very disc some people were paying three figures for -- every nimble bass run and every Scottish wail by Iain Slater, every attack of the high-hat by George Cheyne, every sharp guitar snipe by Glenn Roberts is incredibly pronounced. That the songs stand up is no surprise: the tribal chant and instrumental bodyslam of "Rainy Day," the hyperactivity of "Shoot You Down" and "Help Yourself," the dance-club cool of "One Day" and "Danceability," the all-out passion of "Summer Love." But all of them sound much more glorious now than then. And in the era of hyper bass and stereos on wheels, maybe "All Your Life With Me," an instrumental B-side back then, will get the attention it deserves.

The second disc is just for giggles and curiosity, a throwaway, really -- a bunch of live tracks from Hofstra University and Club Malibu on Long Island, with sound quality that a Scot would call dodgy at best, plus one strong B-side ("Crazy Grey") and a few previously unreleased tracks that didn't pass muster then (and still don't). I would've liked to have seen the second disc used to re-release some more single sides ("When I Feel This Way," "Funk Invective"), but maybe they'll show up as bonus filler on the next releases.

Really, the reason for buying this collection is to have a pristine copy of that essential first disc without spending a mint. But in the end, it's much better than that. Listening to this is like finding out that the sweet girl you had a crush on in college 20 years back is still a knockout ... and she's available ...



"

I Put Out an All Points Bulletin on this CD

Michelle Leonick | Florida, USA | 08/16/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm still amazed by how the former radio station 92.7 FM WLIR from Long Island, NY was the life soundtrack to so many!!! It was like a rite of passage for many of us in the tri-state area. They played "new music first" and I was privy to so many groups that mainstream stations wouldn't touch. One of these bands was the Scottish funk masters APB. The summer of 1982 started my love affair with this orginal, danceable music. It was feel good-have fun-funky music.

I was feeling nostalgic last year and wanted to recapture that feeling of listening to APB's great songs, when I saw the CD was USED and expensively priced on Amazon so I started searching up APB to see what they were up to. Lo and behold, I found that it was going to be rereleased.

I love Iain Slater's haunting voice and funky bass!! I was hooked on "Shoot You Down" the first time I heard it. "Rainy Day" is an anthemic song complaining about(what else?)a rainy day that never seems to end. "One Day" and "Talk to Me" sound as good today as they did then. Actually, not a bad song on the CD!

I love the live performances. I remember the days of hanging at Malibu in Lido Beach. You need to get this CD and funk your butt off!!

For all of you who miss the late great WLIR,it is back on a different frequency of 107.1 FM on the east end of Long Island and online at www.wlir.com. Every week day at 12:00pm EST is the Flashback Lunch. And yes, they do take requests and they do play APB!! I live in Florida now but still get to hear the station on the internet!

Funk get ready to roll!"