THE BIG HEAT  -  STAN RIDGWAY

YEAR:  1986
LABEL:  IRS
TRACK LISTING:  The Big Heat,  Pick It Up (And Put It In Your Pocket),  Can't Stop the Show,  Pile Driver,  Walkin' Home Alone,  Drive She Said,  Salesman,  Twisted,  Camouflage,  Rio Greyhound (Instrumental)
BONUS TRACKS:  Stormy Side of Town,  Foggy River,  End of the Line,  Nadine,  Can't Stop the Show (Live),  Drive She Said (Live)
IMPRESSIONS:  Boy, I miss that 80's sound.  Listening to this album once again, with its stabbing synths and drum machines, the sound of the mid-80's floods right back and I'm tempted to put on my acid-washed bomber jacket that's hanging in the back of my closet.  It's the sound of "THE BREAKFAST CLUB" incidental music -- Wang Chungin' to the "Fire in the Twilight" -- that Devo-influenced, Kraftwerk-influenced early to mid-80's sound.  A sound that was prevalent in . . . well . . . Ridgway's old group Wall of Voodoo even.  Here we have Stan on his debut solo album which has been called heavily drenched in the world of film noir; after all, the title track and the album itself is at least partly inspired by Fritz Lang's classic 50's noir film of the same name.  And that's kinda the feel of the whole album.  Each song is just like listening to a mini-movie which sets up its own atmosphere and characters.  Like the time-traveler in the title track who zips from 1986 to 1992 to read the headlines, Stan Ridgway's solo debut palpably rockets me right back to that time when I used to start my pre-close about five minutes after my shift started at 4pm and then rode around in my best friend's puke-coloured Camaro!
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  The Big Heat,  Pick It Up (And Put It In Your Pocket),  Can't Stop the Show,  Walkin' Home Alone,  Drive She Said,  Salesman,  Twisted,  Camouflage,  Stormy Side of Town,  End of the Line,  Nadine
GUEST ARTISTS:  Mitchell Froom (keyboards, co-producer)
FACT SHEET:  THE BIG HEAT is Stan Ridgway's first album; originally released as a nine-song album, it was re-released in 1993 with the additional bonus tracks included.  The album yielded the #4 UK hit single "Camouflage".  Stan Ridgway was formerly the lead singer for the band Wall of Voodoo.  "Nadine" is a Chuck Berry cover.