With Every Word I Say: the Black Vinyl Shoes Poll

Full album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys8libY3fRE

voted

voted for not me. i love this and their first album a lot. other albums i've heard have some bangers but not nearly as solid all the way around.

"Not Me" for me too; "Boys Don't Lie," "Capital Gain," and "Nowhere So Fast" close.

Only know Present Tense and like it well enough, but op is making me wanna hear this album.

It ain't a 33 1/3, clemenza, but you got at least one potential convert listening!

"Fatal" easily for me!

I voted for Fatal too. I get kind of a proto-shoegaze vibe from that one.

it's inconceivable to me that i've never listened to this whole collection given my tastes (and my age) but here i am. i like it a lot.

it's hard to listen to it and not think of how say, db's, or let's active, or a million other 80s bands i love, reflect them.

"we set ourselves / on fire for awhile"

One of the greatest songs ever written about a kitchen mishap.

i always wanted to hear a cheap trick cover of capital gain

Love this album so much. Voted for "Someone Finer", short but perfect. I bought BVS mail order from the UK in 1978 after reading a rave review in Greg Shaw's Bomp magazine and was initially perplexed by the lo-fi vibe but the songs are such earworms. Greg Shaw also put out a 7" of Tomorrow Night in Dec 78 that I like better than the version on Present Tense.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE-YbOaBBgA

xp or Cheap Trick doing Nowhere So Fast

One of the greatest songs ever written about a kitchen mishap.

― mick signals

along with "my stove's on fire" by robert lester folsom

I'm listening to Writing a Postcard and thinking "if i had to guess, i'd say this is sloan."

*searches* ha there's an AV article comparing the two bands

"Tomorrow Night" is great, Ρεμπετολογια--it and "Too Late" would be right up there if they'd been on Black Vinyl Shoes. ("Too Late" actually charted on Billboard.) From Wikipedia: When MTV went on the air on August 1, 1981, the channel aired four of Shoes' videos: "Too Late", "Tomorrow Night", "Cruel You" and "In My Arms Again", making Shoes one of the first bands to be shown on MTV.

The coulda been contenders. They coulda been somebody--the Cars, the Go-Go's, Rick Springfield--instead of a bum, which is what they were.

Well what happened? Not familiar enough with the band to know if there was some sort of Badfinger-esque run of shit luck, or drug problems, or...?

Even with, or maybe because of, that cowbell, Not Me goes right into me, it’s fantastic.

this is one of those things i meant to listen to, really great stuff
feels like one of those things where your instinct is to say man these guys really had tunes too bad the production wasn't a little better, but then i suspect that better production might ruin the vibe

I dunno, the next album Present Tense has "better" production, and that's really good as well.

I don't know why they weren't more successful, I'm not that fond of Tongue Twister from 1981 but all their albums up to 1984's Silhouette are good to great. (I'm not knocking the later albums after that I just haven't heard them)

I have no explanation why the Cars (for instance) became famous and rich and they didn't. I mean, the Shoes are a thousand times a thousand better. More objectively, I have a harder time imagining "Not Me" on a Top 40 station than I do much lesser songs that became hits. There's something kind of invisible about "Not Me."

do you wanna get lucky does a lot of things right with those guitars imo. it's wonderful.

ok Shoes are fine but they are not anywhere near the same league as The Cars, come now

*brushes rocknroll hair*

The Shoes have written more songs I like than the Cars. Sorry that's just how I feel

WHOA, shocked this hasn't been polled before! I have a sentimental favorite in mind but gonna listen to the record again to check

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

This is bad timing but Fatal, It Really Hurts and She'll Disappear are all better than anything the Cars ever did. And I was bigging up the Cars tonight because the bar was playing Just What I Needed tonight and nobody but me even knew what it was. British/Australian people only know Drive, it's a sorry situation. They were all like the Cars? Isn't that some cheesy 80s band? Yes they are but they were fucking brilliant for years before that you bastards.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

this is worse than a bad song winning. now that i know this album, i'm starting a band.

every thread needs to become a poll about this album until you fuckers wise up and start voting

"More than 10 votes would surprise me." So I'm not surprised. But still disappointed they're not better known.

Forgot to vote, love this band. Would have probably voted Boys dont lie

Maybe Fire for a While too. That song sounds ahead of its time. It could be a MBV song.

late vote for "capital gain"

(sry)

Mildly surprised nobody mentioned this yet on the thread:

https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/shoes-black-vinyl-shoes-anthology-1973-1978-3cd-clamshell-boxset/

listening to "one in versailles" this morning. what an amazing record and a great way to start the day !

i think it's easily as good as BVS, which is another way of saying it's one of the best records ever. not sure why people aren't constantly being blown away by how good it is.

Didn't realize there was a Shoes box set put out this year:

http://louderthanwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Shoes-300x300.jpg

Was looking for a gift for a friend--I've got all their Elektra albums. I don't know what "clamshell" means, but not exactly a bargain: five songs per CD.

I see above there was an earlier box set two years ago. Giving them as many box sets as votes for the #1 songs in this poll.

this record rules. still haven't heard the elektra records

i almost said: well, i've heard "bazooka" — but then remembered i always confuse that with "boomerang" — the latter is the third elektra record, the former is '75 demos. what's the best song on "present tense" ? or "tongue twister" ?

Present Tense - "Too Late," I'd say, then "Tomorrow Night" or "Now and Then"
Tongue Twister - "Yes or No"

https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9VL9YyBm2M

ah thanks

Grade 4 class on a no-bus day, 7 students working on movie posters and doing what 99.9% of the human race will never do: listening to Black Vinyl Shoes.

I enjoyed Jeff Murphy’s book a lot, should read it again. They were interesting DIY gearheads before getting signed by Elektra.

would’ve probably voted for “tragedy”. great album.