Captain Sensible: A Day in the Life of...

Captain Sensible: A Day in the Life of...

1984

A&M Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Wot  2. Glad It's All Over  3.  It Would Be So Nice  4. Martha The Mouth  5.  It's Hard To Believe I'm Not  6.  There Are More Snakes Than Ladders  7. Brenda Part 1  8. Brenda Part 2  9.  I'm A Spider  10. I Love Her  11.  Happy Talk


Wow!  A greatest hits album that was released two years after his debut single!  Nah, I'm betting most of this stuff wasn't released here and this was A&M's attempt at breaking Captain Sensible in the States, which was probably a fool's errand...I'm glad they made the effort though, otherwise: a.) I wouldn't have this or b.) I would have paid a lot of money for an import...

So here's the breakdown:

From Sensible's first album,  1982's "Women and Captains First" we have "Wot" which I consider the big draw (along with "Happy Talk" which is also included)...File this in the "Early 80's British Punk/New Wave Artists Attempting Rap" section along with the Clash's "Magnificent Seven" and Adam Ant's "Ant Rap." Rap in the ol' Sugarhill Gang/Ripping off Chic style...So dang catchy that you'll drive your friends and family nuts constantly repeating, "'e said Captain! I said WOT!!" Something about the phrase and how he says it makes you want to say it over and over again for all of eternity...I also enjoy "Martha the Mouth" seeing that I'm a sucker for big, loud, flat-sounding 80's drum machines over wistful pop....All you Robyn Hitchcock fans be sure to check out the two "Brenda" tracks that Hitchcock wrote and played guitar on. Distinctively Hitchcock with its surreal lyrics, dreamy chime and boingy bass (provided by a keyboard in this instance). I wonder if this is the same Brenda who drove the iron sledge? Hmmm....

Here's "Wot"...

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Then there are 5 tracks from 1984's "The Power of Love": 

 "I'm Glad it's All Over" commemorates the end of the Falkland war with donky, bell-rockin', children's choir-y Fairlight CMI synth-pop... Every time I hear this song I like the verses more and more and the chorus less and less...Despite the nice sentiment, I have a feeling this was one of those you-had-to-be-there thingys..."I Love Her" is also a bit soft for my tastes...I'm much more comfortable with the up-tempo, boppy, syth-pop stuff like "It's Hard To Believe I'm Not" which makes me so happy for some reason. As does the Pink Floyd cover, although I might be biased because I consider "It Would Be So Nice" one of the Floyd's most underrated tracks...On one hand I'm not surprised he pulls it off  since he displayed a British tea-party psychedelia influence in the Damned, on the other hand I can't believe this distinctly 60's style works so well with an 80's production style. A good song's a good song, I guess...We get another Robyn Hitchock collabo on"I'm a Spider" which is funky-creepy in a way that "Fegmania!" listeners will instantly recognize...I had no idea that Captain Sensible and Robyn Hitchcock had ever worked together, let alone multiple times...Goddamn, Christmas came early this year...

Check out "It Would Be So Nice"...

The track "There's More Snakes Than Ladders" is a standalone single that never appeared on a studio album as far as I know. More gentle keyboard-based pop with Captain Sensible's charming nice-punk vocals...I should probably stress that Damned fans who declare "Damned Damned Damned" and "Machine Gun Ettiquette" to be the band's only worthwhile albums should probably skip "A Day in the Life of..." I'm sure it's too soft, too poppy, too synth-y for your tastes However, if you can handle "Strawberries" this just might work for you even though its a fair bit softer. Don't expect a lot of guitars and you'll be fine...

Let's listen to one more...Here's "It's Hard To Believe I'm Not"...Enjoy...