Back in the mid-eighties, Slash Records seemed to be on the brink of starting a whole new American breed of rockers, signing Los Lobos, The Blasters and Bodeans. The Bodeans were young and enthusiastic kids from Wisconsin, not trendy or fashionable, just making roots music and trying to get heard.
In a perfect world, the Bodeans debut would have exploded all over the radio when it was released, but unfortunately the rock and roll biz emphasized image over content and to this day "Love&Hope&Sex&Dreams" remains a lost classic of 1980' roots music. Produced by T-Bone Burnett at the top of his early production game, the Bodeans gave us an stellar debut album full of catchy melodies, great lyrics and guitars that bristle with youthful enthusiasm. With the opening notes of "She's A Runaway" and its theme of breakout, the band had an instant classic that should have slotted in comfortably next to the Springsteen or Mellencamp hits of the day.
T-Bone convinced Warner to sign the Bodeans because he thought they'd be bigger than The Beatles. Listening to this album after all these years makes you scratch your head as to why it didn't happen.
And don't forget the SUPER 8 DEBUT ALBUMS Blog Hop coming Monday (have you signed up yet?)
Signed up for the Super 8 and promoted it on my blog!
ReplyDeleteI think I might have a cassette by the Bodeans but I don't remember much about them. What first caught my attention about them was when they appeared on one of Robbie Robertson's solo albums that I really liked and I liked the contribution they made to that album.
ReplyDeleteLee
Tossing It Out