The Stray Cats' 1982 US debut album, Built For Speed, was actually a collection of the "best" tracks from the band's two previous UK album releases, Stray Cats and Gonna Ball (both 1981). Today we have a song that didn't make the Built For Speed cut, the fascinating, yet problematic "Storm the Embassy" from their first UK LP.
Fascinating, because the track sounds like nothing else the band has ever recorded; it's an odd, but successful marriage of rockabilly and post-punk musical styles. Indeed, the opening of the song bears more than a slight resemblance to that of Joy Division's "Shadowplay".
Sounds good so far, right? So where does the "problematic" part come into it?
In the lyrics, unfortunately, which deal with the Iranian hostage crisis with only a shade more sophistication than the "Ayatollah is an Ass-hole-a" breed of patriotic populist chants of the period. It's entirely understandable from a historical point of view, but knowing what we know now it's hard not to wince while listening to some parts of the song.
I assume the reason "Storm the Embassy" wasn't chosen for Built For Speed was because by the time of the album's release in 1982, the hostage crisis was old news. (In fact, the hostages had been free a month when the song made its UK debut on the Stray Cats LP.)
Saturday, May 27, 2006
freedom takes money
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3 comments:
Most fair-minded people regard the "October Suprise" theory as completely discredited. So I don't think I get your point in linking to it. [contra: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9/11_Conspiracy] What gives? Who are the brain police?
The more extreme tin-foil hat aspects of the conspiracy are pure bullshit, I agree. However the timing of events, plus the fact that the Reagan administration showed no qualms about conducting covert deals with the Iranian government later on, strongly suggests that something fishy was happening behind the scene.
I really Like Storm the embassy. So it's a right wing kind of song?
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