Genre: pop
Rating: 3 stars ***
Title: You Caught Me Out
Company: Stiff
Catalog: SEEZ
56
Year: 1984
Country/State: UK
Grade (cover/record): VG / VG
Comments: --
Available: 1
GEMM catalog ID: 5837
Price: $12.00
If you liked Tracey Ullman's debut album then you were liable to find her 1984 follow-up "You Caught Me Out" just as enjoyable. Musically the two albums really weren't all that different from one another with Ullman again showing off her surprisingly likeable voice on a mixture of '60s influenced pop and jittery '80s new wave-ish tracks. Anyone looking for out-and-out yucks was liable to be a little bit disappointed by the album since the outright gag numbers were far and few between ('Bad Motorcycle', 'Sunglasses', and a cover of The Waitresses 'I Know What Boys Like'). Not particularly original, but on the other hand this was one of those great mindless summer albums - full of breezy and highly commercial tracks.
- Penned by the late Kirsty MacColl, the title track was a gorgeous slice of '60s-styled power pop with a touch of '80s jumpiness slathered on the top. A fantastic melody coupled with great girl group harmonies (courtesy of Mandy Dickinson and Alison Thomas), made it instantly radio-friendly. One of my picks for standout performance on the album. rating: **** stars
- While I always liked Dusty Springfield's version of 'Little By Little', Ullman and producer Peter Collins upped the song's pop quotient, turning the title refrain into a hook that simply wouldn't let go of you. Powered by Ullman's best 'little girl' voice, how radio missed this one has always been a complete mystery to me. Only complaint was the track was simply too short. rating: ***** stars
- Played fairly straightforward, 'Baby I Lied' was a bland ballad and the first disappointment. Ullman's performance was fine, but the song simply wasn't very exciting. rating: ** stars
- The second Kirsty MacColl song, 'Terry' was another highly commercial performance with the added benefit of having one of the album's few nice guitar solos. Imagine an updated Shangris-Las track with another hopelessly catchy chorus. rating: **** stars
- While there's nothing wrong with '50s rock, '80s acts trying to do '50s-styled numbers are a different story. Neither funny and nor catchy, 'Bad Motorcycle' was a complete waste of time. rating: * stars
- Being widely known as a comedienne meant people brought certain preconceived notions to anything Ullman did. That made her stab at a straight ahead, serious ballad like Doug Taylor's 'Loving You Is Easy' both unexpected and slightly unsettling. The song underscored the fact Ullman had a pretty, if somewhat anonymous voice, but every time I hear it the song I keep wondering when does the funny, or clever part would start .... On the other hand kudos to Ullman for being willing to take a stab at a real tearjerker. rating: *** stars
- Written by John D. Loudermilk (?), 'Sunglasses' found Ullman jumping headlong into one of those Phil Spector-styled wall-of-sound production affairs. Sounding like something The Ronnettes might have done, the song itself was okay, though nowhere near as memorable as some of the other tracks, but the Spector sound was dead on. rating: *** stars
- Opening with what sounded like one of those $100 Casio keyboards, 'If I Had You' was another straightforward ballad. More laidback than some of the other performances, the key seemed a little high for Ullman. Pretty Korgis song with one of those 'Baker Street' styled sax solos. Mildly memorable. rating: ** stars
- Ullman's cover of the Motown classic 'Helpless' was professional, but simply didn't improve on the Kim Weston original so why bother? rating: ** stars
- Ullman's cover of the Neil Sedaka/Connie Francis classic 'Where the Boys Are' was professional, but simply didn't improve on the original so why bother? rating: ** stars
- Ullman's cover of the Shangris-Las' girls group classic 'Give Him a Great Big Kiss' was professional, but simply didn't improve on the original so why bother? Okay, the spoken word segments were funny. rating: ** stars
- The problem covering a track like 'I Know What Boys Like' rests with the fact The Waitresses' original was so good you just can't do anything to make the listener forget the Patti Donahue version. Add to that Ullman's version really wasn't all that different from the original. rating: ** stars
Stiff tapped the album for a series of UK singles, but seemingly gave up on the US market:
- 1984's 'Sunglasses' b/w 'Candy' (Stiff catalog number 106-663)
- 1984's 'Sunglasses' b/w 'Candy' (Stiff catalog number BUY 205) picture disc
- 1984's 'Helpless' b/w 'Falling In and Out of Love' (Stiff catalog number 106-924)
- 1984's 'Terry' b/w 'I Don't Want Our Love To Die' (Stiff catalog BUY-217)
About half of the album is great and the rest is never less than entertaining. All told far better than anything from era competitors such as Julie Brown, Josie Cotten, or Cyndi Lauper.
"You
Caught Me Out" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) You Caught Me Out (Kirsty MacCall - Briguette Crowe) -
2.) Little By Little (Kaye - Vendi - Gin) -
3.) Baby I Lied (D. Allen - R. Bourke - Rafe van Hoy)
4.) Terry (Kirsty MacCall - Gavin Povey) -
5.) Bad Motorcycle (Williams - Brown) -
6.) Loving You Is Easy (Doug Taylor) -
(side
2)
1.) Sunglasses (John D. Ludermilk) -
2.) If I Had You (A. Davies - S. Rachmoninov) -
3.) Helpless (Brian Holland - Lamond Dozer - Eddie Holland) -
4.) Where the Boys Are (Neil Sedaka - Greenfield) -
5.) Give Him a Great Big Kiss (Lieber - Stoller) -
6.) I Know What Boys Like (Chris Butler) -