Crazy Rhythms

Crazy Rhythms
Studio album by The Feelies
Released	April 1980
Recorded	Vanguard Studios, NY Spring-Summer, 1979
Genre	Post-punk Jangle pop College rock
Length	43:04
Label	Stiff
Producer	Bill Million and Glenn Mercer with Mark Abel
Professional reviews
Allmusic link The Guardian link Mojo [1] Pitchfork Media (9.1/10) link Robert Christgau (A-) link Rolling Stone link Tiny Mix Tapes link
The Feelies chronology
Crazy Rhythms (1980) The Good Earth (1986)

Crazy Rhythms is the Feelies' first album. It was released in April 1980 on Stiff.

The album is known for its dry, clean "upfront" guitar sound (achieved by direct injection: plugging the guitars directly into the mixing console without the use of an amplifier or microphone) and also its long interstitial passages of drones and improvised percussion.^{[citation needed]} All of the songs were credited to "Mercer/Million", with the exception of a cover of the Beatles' "Everybody's Got Something to Hide (Except Me and My Monkey)".

Critical reception

The album was a critical success, voted one of the best albums of 1980 in the Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics' poll, beating out such notable critics' favorites as David Bowie's Scary Monsters, Joy Division's Closer, The Rolling Stones's Emotional Rescue, and The Specials' debut album.^[2] It was ranked #49 in Rolling Stone's top 100 albums of the 1980s, and #69 on Pitchfork Media's similar list.

In September 2009 the album was performed live in its entirety as part of the All Tomorrow's Parties-curated Don't Look Back series.

Reissues

The first release on CD was in Germany and the United States in 1986. The 1990 A&M CD release included, as a bonus track, a cover of The Rolling Stones' "Paint It, Black." This track was recorded in 1990 (without Fier or DeNunzio), and not during the original sessions for Crazy Rhythms.^[3]

Bar/None Records plans to reissue Crazy Rhythms on September 8, 2009. Domino Records will reissue the album outside of the U.S. & Canada.

Track listing

All songs by Bill Million and Glenn Mercer except as indicated.

Side one

1. "The Boy with the Perpetual Nervousness" – 5:10
2. "Fa Cé-La" – 2:04
3. "Loveless Love" – 5:14
4. "Forces at Work" – 7:10

Side two

1. "Original Love" – 2:55
2. "Everybody's Got Something To Hide (Except Me and My Monkey)" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) – 4:18
3. "Moscow Nights" – 4:34
4. "Raised Eyebrows" – 3:00
5. "Crazy Rhythms" – 6:13

CD reissue bonus track (recorded 1990)

1. "Paint It Black" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards)– 2:54

Personnel

• Bill Million - acoustic, treated rhythm, lead, bridged, 6-string, "excercised [sic] & oboed"guitars, vocals, timbali, sandpaper, claves, can, tom-tom, snare, cowbell, shaker, shoes, temple blocks, tambourine, boxes and bells
• Glenn Mercer - electric, "faulty," 12-string, lead, rhythm, treated, bowed and galloping guitars, vocals, keyboards, temple block, shaker, claves, maracas, bell, castanettes, sleigh bells, reverbed sticks, shoes, spasmodic drums and coat rack
• Keith De Nunzio - bass guitar, snare drum, anchor drum, tom-tom, woodblock, pipe, bell and background vocals (except on "Paint It Black")
• Anton Fier - drums, drum kit and "kit drums", tom-toms, pipe and cowbell (except on "Paint It Black")
• Brenda Sauter - bass, background vocals on "Paint It Black"
• Stanley Demeski – drums on "Paint It Black"
• Dave Weckerman – percussion on "Paint It Black"

Notes