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Post by Joe Karlosi on Jan 20, 2011 8:08:04 GMT -5
Thanks to the newest edition of Fab Fourum's discussion on the values of George's 1982 GONE TROPPO LP, I have gone back and listened to it again for the first time in a long time. I found that it's much better than I've ever given it credit for. I don't love it, but I would no longer place it on the very bottom of my "George's Best To Least Albums" list.
I have always felt that THAT'S THE WAY IT GOES and DREAM AWAY were my favorite songs, and I still do. But I also enjoy WAKE UP MY LOVE, the title track GONE TROPPO, and I'm finding that I can now listen to the '50s-themed I REALLY LOVE YOU and appreciate it, whereas I always formerly despised it. I also like BABY DON'T RUN AWAY.
So that's 6 out of 10 tracks, which isn't a bad ratio. (I know many people rave about CIRCLES, MYSTICAL ONE, and UNKNOWN DELIGHT but they bore me still). When I look at this album, I actually like more songs from it than I do on either EXTRA TEXTURE or DARK HORSE! (these are now Harri's two "worst" albums for me).
WHen I go back and trace my steps with regard to my disdain for this record, I think my biggest problem with it in 1982 was that George just did not care. I recall vividly going to the record store when this was released without any publcity and being barely able to spot the LP cover on the racks, because it was so under the radar and hush-hush... plus, the cover was so bland that it was as though George didn't even want people to recognize him.
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diego
Very Clean
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Post by diego on Jan 20, 2011 15:04:31 GMT -5
I like it, it's one of those records that it seems a lot of people hate but I find to be at least ok, like Wild Life or Sometime in New York City. I would put it somewhere in the middle, with All Things Must Pass, Cloud 9 and Brainwashed being my top 3 Harrison albums and Extra Texture, Dark Horse and Somewhere in England being my bottom 3.
I can't think of a song I hate in Gone Troppo, it's mostly good to average. The production doesn't help though, I hate those synthesized voices.
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Joseph McCabe
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A rebel to his last breath ...
Posts: 912
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Post by Joseph McCabe on Jan 20, 2011 15:38:29 GMT -5
Yes, I think GONE TROPPO is a fine album. It's always been one of those albums that I don't often think of playing -- but when I do, I really enjoy it. I'm glad you had a rethink about Troppo, Joe (diego was already on board). Myself, there are some albums (not all Beatles by any means) that I wish I could get into, but I simply can't (for example, Dark Side Of The Moon and Two Virgins ). McCabe
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Joseph McCabe
Very Clean
A rebel to his last breath ...
Posts: 912
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Post by Joseph McCabe on Jan 20, 2011 15:41:12 GMT -5
I like it, it's one of those records that it seems a lot of people hate ------- Yeah, without actually hearing it in many cases. There's a lot of "standard opinions" in Beatleland - and one of them is that Gone Troppo is crap. Joe Karlosi is not in this camp, obviously. But there are many who are - passing opinions without having the integrity to listen! McCabe
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Post by John S. Damm on Jan 20, 2011 17:11:50 GMT -5
I like it, it's one of those records that it seems a lot of people hate ------- Yeah, without actually hearing it in many cases. There's a lot of "standard opinions" in Beatleland - and one of them is that Gone Troppo is crap. Joe Karlosi is not in this camp, obviously. But there are many who are - passing opinions without having the integrity to listen! Mccabe George is to blame for this. He did nothing to promote the album and acted himself as if he was ashamed of it. If George didn't seem to care about his own album, why should his fans? Having said that, I never disliked GT but Joe is right, it was released under a funky aura of deliberate indifference by George so it did not catch fire with me initially. I always adored though "Wake Up My Love" which got surprisingly heavy airplay in my neck of the woods. It is also funny that "I Really Love You" dismayed me originally as it did Joe but now I like it! The album really grew on me at the time of the Dark Horse Records remastered reissues. That's when I really sat down with this album and it gave me joy. I must admit that I haven't listened to it in awhile but it is better to leave an album on an up-note than on the down! My own GT buying experience was my good friend and I made our bi-weekly visit to Karma Records in Bloomington, Indiana when I was at I.U. and as I always did, I started at "Beatles" in the record shelf and worked my way down to "Starr" after visiting the "Harrison", "Lennon" and "McCartney" bins. Well I got to "Harrison" and there were about six of these bright yellow and blue album covers so I grabbed one and ran to the long-haired sales clerk demanding to know what this was! The guy said something like, "New Harrison album out today, I don't know much about it, not a lot of advance press." I was so excited at my good fortune that I bought two, one for me and one for my buddy, a poor college kid like me. I couldn't believe I stumbled onto a first day release of a new George album! Even pre-internet, I kept on top of new releases from the lads but this one ambushed me. Went back to the dorm and played it and shrugged my shoulders, played it a few more times and essentially shelved it until the remastered c.d. was reissued. I did buy the first wave c.d. version but played it as much as that vinyl record purchased all those years ago in B-town.
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Post by coachbk on Jan 21, 2011 22:29:14 GMT -5
GONE TROPPO has no publicity and no airplay (I don't think I've ever heard a single song from it on the radio). I got it as a used cassette, listened to it a couple times and didn't think much of it. Went back and listened to it again and I like "Wake Up My Love", "That's The Way It Goes" and "Gone Troppo" quite a bit. "I Really Love You" is a kind of different and fun song for George. I think I should give it another listen soon!
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Post by Jason I on Jan 22, 2011 8:59:35 GMT -5
I like a lot of the songs, but aside from a few tracks I'm not a fan of the production at all. To my ears it's overproduced and now sounds very dated.
It was a revelation to me when I first heard the 'Mystical One' demo. I wish George would have done more acoustic songs like that.
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Post by Sir Frankie Crisp on Jan 22, 2011 9:14:29 GMT -5
My experience is similar to Joe and John’s. When I was younger I always kept track of new album releases because nothing was more exciting than the anticipation of a new Fab record. Like so many others, I was surprised when I went into my local record store just to browse around and I happened to see Gone Troppo on a rack near the front of the store. The album cover looked like something Monty Python would put out - a second rate mishmash of animation and photos. I didn’t really pay much attention to it until I saw a tiny photo of George in the lower right hand corner. I hadn’t heard a word about any new album so I was completely surprised and quite happy to be going home with his new record tucked under my arm.
Those were the days when I was knee-deep into The Jam and The Clash and Madness. (I could never figure out why Madness and The Jam never caught on in North America…but that’s another story altogether). The first time I sat down to listen to Gone Troppo I was furious. It seemed so lightweight and embarrassing compared to One Step Beyond (Madness) and All Mod Cons (The Jam). I put it away for a long time, somewhat disgusted with George for releasing something so anemic. A year or two passed and I pulled it out again and much to my surprise I enjoyed it. If you’re only going to give one or two listens to Gone Troppo you probably won’t be impressed but if you give it some time, chances are you’ll be rewarded. There is some really nice guitar playing on here (“Greece” immediately comes to mind) and “I Really Love You” is a fun 50’s style do-wop raver that is quite comical. This album certainly isn’t going to set the world on fire but it’s one of those forgotten records that deserve to be re-evaluated. Hearing George sing “No like shoveling snowfall, Good time drinking on me bottle” especially at this time of year, is like a balm to the soul.
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Post by OldFred on Jan 22, 2011 9:26:44 GMT -5
Had the exact same experience as Sir Frankie. Went to my local record store to do some shopping, then see this album cover with a tiny picture of George from 1974 in the corner. Checking the track selections I was thrilled to see that 'Dream Away' from 'Time Bandits' was one of the songs, so I bought the album. I enjoyed 'Wake Up My Love' and some of the other songs, though 'I Really Love You' didn't grab me at the time until I learned to appreciate Do Wop a little later.
There was absolutely no advance publicity for the album and it just took everyone by surprise. It's like what the guys on the Fab Fourum said, George owed the record company an album, he gave them what he had and said "OK here, now leave me alone!".
I think that attitude came back to bite George later. In a BBC Radio documentary I have on the Traveling Wilburys, it related a story of George going into a record store once and looking through the bins and not finding any of his albums or the Traveling Wilbury around, and realizing "Oh, maybe I should put these out again!". Hearing that story I thought, "Good idea, Georgie. The royalties might help pay for the upkeep of Friar Park, you know".
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Post by Joe Karlosi on Jan 22, 2011 12:41:07 GMT -5
I should clarify that I did go to the store specifically seeking George's album, but it was almost impossible to spot it because of the bland cover without George's prominence. But the only reason I knew the LP had been released was because back then I listened to a weekly Beatles radio show from the campus of Adelphi University called THE BEATLES HOUR, which also kept up with news and release information.
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Post by anyoneanyhow on Feb 25, 2011 20:26:34 GMT -5
Just shopping at Bondy's in lower Manhattan and up on the wall was an lp I never saw before with a small old picture of George...wtf? I nknew right then George didn't care about selling this record but picked it up immediately.
Like Extra Texture, there are a lot of fine songs on this record, no real clunkers, but way too many slooowww songs in a row, kind of sleep inducing. Can't put it down to any song, but we need some uptempo in here.
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Post by beatleroadie on Apr 15, 2011 15:17:36 GMT -5
"Wake Up My Love", "Circles," "That's the Way it Goes" and "Gone Troppo" are all great songs and "Dream Away" and "I Really Love You" are decent good fun. So overall its a solid record. Not fantastic, but not deserving to be dismissed outright like some do.
I get that George was shying away from press and the whole record industry game at this point, but damn he recorded this so soon after John was murdered and after he'd had a huge fight with his label over Somewhere in England...Some level-headed rock journalists with decent ears should have stepped in, taken this LP on its own terms and said, "There are a handful of valuable songs here, and this record is every bit as engaging as most of George's solo work, ATMP and LITMW excluded." The fact that they did not just seems lazy. Of course they'd all moved on to New Wave at that point I guess.
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