Let's Show Some Love For... "Down Endless Street"!

jaycee · #1 01-26-2010, 10:28 PM

(I just love these threads! I'm not entirely sure why, but I do!

I might not worry about any more for a while though.)
Just in case you're hesitant to download the LP Rarities torrent, here's a sample of what you're missing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtTh_MGXIZg
I personally think this should've been the A-side of the "Family Man" single.

Both are excellent songs though!

(Well, for most fans anyway, I think...)
So, let's show some love!

michelej1 · #2 01-26-2010, 11:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaycee

(I just love these threads! I'm not entirely sure why, but I do!

I might not worry about any more for a while though.)
Just in case you're hesitant to download the LP Rarities torrent, here's a sample of what you're missing:

I love this song.

I think the playful vocal work almost puts it into camp category and that's not good. The way he stretches out the words, it's got a Caspar the Friendly ghost quality to it. You can just see little ghosties flying through the air saying booo-oooo. And it tends to date the song.

So, I wish he had just done it with straight vocals, but I am still very fond of it, just as it is.

Michele

tilthefirefades · #3 01-27-2010, 01:14 AM

I loveee this song!

It would have fit perfectly on TITN, I think it should have went on there, I wouldn't mind another great Lindsey song on it!

louielouie2000 · #4 01-27-2010, 01:14 AM

Oh wow... I haven't heard this song in nearly a decade... thanks for bringing it up!

Not to pick on you individually, Michele... but I just never get why so many folks have to always use the word "dated" when it comes to Tango. Of course it sounds '80s... everything released in '87 was cheesy. Complaining about Tango being dated is akin to complaining about the heat in Phoenix. It's shooting fish in a barrel. Tango is what it is.

I personally adore all of the '80s cheese on Tango. It' just a fun album. It's one of the only times when I can say I truly enjoy Lindsey's quirky vocal contrivances; the excessive use of synthesizers, hairspray, and production. This song, and all the songs on Tango just make me smile. They're just so bubbly... even when they're dealing with deadly serious subject matter. The songs just make me smile and remember when...

jaycee · #5 01-27-2010, 02:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

Oh wow... I haven't heard this song in nearly a decade... thanks for bringing it up!

Not to pick on you individually, Michele... but I just never get why so many folks have to always use the word "dated" when it comes to Tango. Of course it sounds '80s... everything released in '87 was cheesy. Complaining about Tango being dated is akin to complaining about the heat in Phoenix. It's shooting fish in a barrel. Tango is what it is.

I personally adore all of the '80s cheese on Tango. It' just a fun album. It's one of the only times when I can say I truly enjoy Lindsey's quirky vocal contrivances; the excessive use of synthesizers, hairspray, and production. This song, and all the songs on Tango just make me smile. They're just so bubbly... even when they're dealing with deadly serious subject matter. The songs just make me smile and remember when...

Complete ditto!

Although I was only born in 1989, I feel as if I know I would've fit in the 80s easily as a teenager. Of course the correlation between my conceptions of the 80s and the reality of the 80s could actually be very poor...

LukeA · #6 01-27-2010, 03:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

Not to pick on you individually, Michele... but I just never get why so many folks have to always use the word "dated" when it comes to Tango. Of course it sounds '80s... everything released in '87 was cheesy. Complaining about Tango being dated is akin to complaining about the heat in Phoenix. It's shooting fish in a barrel. Tango is what it is.

Yes, I agree. Its appropriately dated, and fits in for its time period. Which is more than can be said about Lindsey's next output...

**jbrownsjr** · #7 01-27-2010, 03:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LukeA

Yes, I agree. Its appropriately dated, and fits in for its time period. Which is more than can be said about Lindsey's next output...

YES!!!!!!!

holidayroad · #8 01-27-2010, 09:49 AM

'Down Endless Street' has always been one of my favorites!!! I found the single in 1989 while I was in Portland, OR. I still listen to this song at least once a week!

David · #9 01-27-2010, 11:54 AM

To my ears, this piece always sounded like the B side it was. It's emblematic of the band's aesthetic decline to me: this track is virtually bankrupt of worthy orchestrative ideas. In a way, it's stupefying; it seems to have been cobbled together in one afternoon. To compare this construction with a superb & complex artifact from the studio band's heyday, like You Make Loving Fun, is like a punch in the stomach.

The general fan response to the band's output from 1975 to 1987 is that they made too few albums. I'm inclined to think they made too many.

jaycee · #10 01-27-2010, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David

...it seems to have been cobbled together in one afternoon.

You mean like "Dreams"?

michelej1 · #11 01-27-2010, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

Not to pick on you individually, Michele... but I just never get why so many folks have to always use the word "dated" when it comes to Tango. Of course it sounds '80s... everything released in '87 was cheesy. Complaining about Tango being dated is akin to complaining about the heat in Phoenix. It's shooting fish in a barrel. Tango is what it is.

I don't think the Tango album is dated. I think Down Endless Street is dated -- or at least the vocal made it kitschy in a way that doesn't travel well. I love Lindsey's vocal tricks. Time Bomb Town, for example is one of my top 5 songs of his and it's all the hiccups and yelps that make that song for me.

But I think Down Endless Street borders on silly, when it could have been perfect, with a straight vocal -- or at least a quirky vocal that didn't sound like a Halloween ghost. Michele