M – “NEW YORK – LONDON – PARIS – MUNICH” & “THE OFFICIAL SECRETS ACT” (1979/1980)
You know M, pharmacy or have at least heard their famous pop single “Pop Muzik”. For ages, illness I’ve been curious to hear what their albums sounded like. I’d originally guessed they sounded something like the Buggles. I was kinda half-sorta right.
The first LP from ’79, advice “New York – London – Paris – Munich”, gives way to off-kilter disco right after the perfunctory “Pop Muzik” intro. Not exactly straight-ahead disco, but a slightly mutated UK variation. A little like The Buggles crossed with Rick James and Roxy Music (don’t get too excited, it isn’t that good.)
The reason this post happened is because of the second album, 1980′s “The Official Secrets Act”, easily one of the strangest follow-ups of its era. “M” was the pseudonym of British vocalist/musician Robin Scott, and the huge success of “Pop Muzik” must’ve made Scott seriously self-conscious about wanting to stay out of the spotlight, for “The Official Secrets Act” seems like a very willfully uncommercial affair. As in a potential career-killing one.
Tapping into a rich vein of Cold War paranoia, “Secrets” is a concept album of sorts, features almost no pop/disco beats, and in fact seems heavily influenced by the era’s edgy post-punk rather than dancefloor shenanigans. One song sounds almost exactly like The Residents, another features Scott shouting in a Lydon-esque growl, and yet another is one of the album’s few concessions to the “New York – London – Paris – Munich” sound, except that its wonderfully off-kilter structure is based around a 9/4 time signature. I liked this album a lot.
Anybody out there have a rip of M’s third LP from ’81, called “Famous Last Words”? I’m kinda dying to hear it. (Not to be confused with Supertramp’s 1982 LP “…Famous Last Words…”, of course.)
M – “New York – London – Paris – Munich”, 1979 (ZIP file)
M – “The Official Secrets Act”, 1980 (ZIP file)
I am a HUGE fan of M. Official Secrets Act is one of my favorite records of all time — I actually did a pretty long review of it.
Anyway — Bret — as to your request, shoot me an email. I maaaybe could help out, you know, at least, if album sharing wasn’t totally illegal and all…8)
YES!!! Thank you! Glorious!
in reference to my previous post, if the email doesn’t come through to you from the proper field, it is “revme” at my website. So yes!
Here’s my vinyl rip I made years ago… added “Smash the mirror” with a CD copy because I couldn’t fit it on my original CDR (and I had the track on “The History” comp). “Dance on the ruins” is a highlight for Tony Levin’s stick playing alone:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=0KSPWN6V
So why doesn’t anybody mention Robin Scotts wonderful album “Woman From The Warm Grass” from 1969?
I’ll mention the fantastic EP “The Arrangement” that Scott recorded with Ryuicho Sakamoto in 1981/2. Alternatively, the cuts are also on Sakamoto’s “Left Handed Dream” album, possibly in alternate mixes. Adrian Belew manages to play guitar as well on these cuts; the super busy guy he was at the time. Three great tastes that taste great together!
“Moonlight & Muzak” is a rip-off of “Bombers” by Tubeway Army.
Famous Last Words CD rip with bonus tracks:
http://www.filesonic.com/file/904020811/M_-_Famous_Last_Words_(1982).part1.rar
http://www.filesonic.com/file/904015021/M_-_Famous_Last_Words_(1982).part2.rar
I’ve got a vinyl copy of ‘The Official Secrets Act’ which I found in a cheapo bin in Woolworth’s (R.I.P.) in the early ’80′s…there’s a bit on it somewhere that really sounds like Can to me…looking forward to being able to hear it again.