Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Josie Cotton - Johnny Are You Queer? 12" - 1981

Yes, you guessed it. Another record from my new wave power pop purchase of 2008. I couldn't believe when I came across this in the record bin. I think I was excited about this record more than any other in the haul that day. I know it was the firs record I pulled out of the bag to show my wife.

The song "Johnny Are You Queer?" is so politically incorrect by today's standards. I can't even imagine the song being recored today, at least not by any major label. The thing about it, though, is that the song is still very innocent. It is also catchy as hell. The song was featured to great effect in "Valley Girl". In fact there is a lot of Josie in that movie. If you ever have the chance to pick up "Convertible Music" do so. The whole record is great, chock full or hooky poppy pop candy.

The B-Side "(Let's Do) The Blackout" isn't on any album that I'm aware of. It is a great B-side. It is was a B-side should be. It's not a throw away, but is a great little gift to anyone who bought this 12". It's a song that falls into the time honored genre of songs about doing some new dance. In this case Josie is singing about doing a dance called the blackout. What exactly that is who knows. The song has a little more punk vibe too it and has a dark streak running right down the middle of the song. It's a little departure from the poppy sunny tunes usually associated with Josie Cotton. I think you may like it.

Enjoy!

01 Johnny Are You Queer_.m4a
02 (Let's Do) The Blackout.m4a

3 comments:

Spencer said...

You really should hunt down Valley Girl. The music is amazing. Josie Cotton actually performs in the movie. I'm pretty sure that Modern English's "Melt With You" became the classic that it is because of it's use in this movie. I can't say enough about this movie and in fact you'll be hearing more from me about it in upcoming posts.

jazzpunk said...

Any chance of a lossless rip of this single? Would really appreciate it!!

Spencer said...

I hate having to disappoint, but I don't have the lossless files readily available and I'm not up for searching through all my back up discs to find the uncompressed files. I can re-up the m4a files. They are compressed at 320 kbps. If that interests you send me an e-mail and I'll send you a link.