Annabel Lamb - Riders On The Storm 12" - 1983

This is one of those "What the hell" kind of records for me. Someone named Annabel Lamb decided it would be good to do a laid back dance cover of the Doors classic "Riders On The Storm". I'm not against covering The Doors or this song, but what were they thinking with this song. It is so bland. I mean it is kind of a dance track, but it is so laid back that I don't think you'll be tearing up the dance floor to it. The vocals are only memorable in that they don't bring anything new to the piece. So basically file this one under oddity from the 80's.

As a side note I wonder why this was conceived. Where I grew up in the 80's The Doors were huge. I mean I grew up thinking of them as big and and important as say Led Zeppelin. The Doors was spray painted all over the place. Doors shirts were common. The Doors was written all over school books and folders. I don't know if that was regional or maybe they were having some resurgence in the early 80's or what, but as I've grown up and moved away from home, their star has somewhat faded. I still enjoy them, but with my adult eyes and my eyes in 2008 it is clear they weren't of Zeppelin's status. In fact as I kid I couldn't imagine someone saying they didn't like The Doors. I mean you just had to. So later in life when I started hearing people say that they didn't care for them I was surprised. I came to realize that there are plenty of people that have The Doors on their overrated list. Far more than Led Zeppelin ever will be. I mention this story just show how funny it is how our perceptions change over time.

So if you make it through the A-side, try the B-side which is essentially the instrumental. There are some vocals for the chorus, but they are minimal. This instrumental is almost painful because it is such a non event, but it is kind of save and maybe out does the A-side because of the crazy guitar solos and weird keyboard inserts that seem almost random. They kind of seem like they aren't even related to the song. It is kind of funny if you listen to it with that in mind. Again. What were they thinking?

Enjoy!

01 Riders On The Storm (Specially Remixed Dance Version).mp3
02 Riders On The Storm (dub).mp3