Smyth, Patty And Scandal: Goodbye To You! Best Of The ‘80s Live

Originally released on pink vinyl for Record Store Day 2018, Goodbye To You! Best Of The 80s Live documents singer Patty Smyth and her band Scandal right back at the start of what should have been their stratospheric career. Featuring 15 songs, the first 11 come from a 1983 show at the Agora Ballroom in New Haven, with the closing four from a year down the line at the Indiana University Auditorium. Considering that at the time of the first show, all the band had to their name was a five track self titled EP (albeit, ‘the best selling EP in Columbia Records history’), the confidence behind a set that features all of the songs the band had recorded so far was impressive indeed. However, the line-up behind Patty of Keith Mack (guitar), Zack Smith (guitar), Ivan Ellis (bass), Thommy Price (drums) and Benjy King (keyboards) obviously hadn’t been wasting any time, with this show, which was captured as the band neared the end of a lengthy tour, also revealing a further three songs that would appear on the Warrior album released in 1984.

As is so often the way, the main focus was on the lady behind the mic and Patty Smyth deserved every second that the spotlight was turned on her. Here her New York attitude infuses a set of straight up commercial rock with an edge that set this band apart from the crowd. EP cuts, “Love Got A Line On You�, “She Can’t Say No� and “Win Some Lose Some� hitting home with an infectious, good time feel. Clearly having a ball on stage, the young lady who would in later years be known for marrying Richard Hell, and then tennis brat John McEnroe, was a star in her own right and with a gritty, powerful vocal howl that was never anything less than controlled and utterly seductive, it’s easy to understand why so many took this lady to their hearts.

With Patty and her band also handling slower numbers like “All I Want� and “Less Than Half Of What You Say Is True� with a real maturity, there was no way that the Scandal story was all about one person. Although Patty’s stage rap that references her being the only woman in a band with five, bad, bad, bad boys… prior to the lithe “Another Bad Love� does feel decidedly uncomfortable with the benefit of modern day hindsight. However with the duo of “Child Of Night� and “Hold On�, neither of which featured on a studio record by the band, rounding out the set, that one questionable moment is easy to forgive and forget in what is a thoroughly captivating set.

Closing the disc out are the four tracks from the 1984 show, with excellent cover versions of “Second That Emotion� (by The Miracles) and “River Deep, Mountain High� (Ike & Tina Turner) bookending the Warrior album tracks, “Talk To Me� and “Warrior�; the latter of which proved to be both Patty and Scandal’s calling card for many years to come.

Unfortunately Scandal would slowly disintegrate after their one and only album brushed with mega-success (to be fair, it did go platinum in America), with Patty releasing a pair of underrated solo albums before disappearing from the scene. More recent years have seen the singer and various versions of Scandal return to live duty. If their performances come anywhere close to the intensity and excitement captured on Goodbye To You!, then you won’t want to miss them.

Track Listing
1. Child of the Night,
2. Love's Got A Line On You,
3. She Can't Say no,
4. Less Than Half of What You Say Is True
5. Another Bad Love,
6. Tonight,
7. All I Want,
8. Hold On  
9. Goodbye To You,
10., Win Some, Lose Some,
11. Second That Emotion (with band intros)
12. Beat Of A Heart,
13. Talk To Me,
14. The Warrior,
15. River Deep, Mountain High  

Added: June 24th 2018
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Goodbye To You! @ Weinerworld
Hits: 1196
Language: english

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