Any TroubleWhere Are All The Nice Girls?
That Clive Gregson remains one of the lesser-known talents to emerge from the legendary Stiff records crew is as puzzling as it is unjust. As the lead singer and songwriter of Any Trouble, Gregson paired absurdly addictive pop classicist song structures with a lean punchy sound that fit right at home with aesthetic of such better known Stiffsters as Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello. Any Trouble’s debut Where Are All The Nice Girls? (an apt question for Valentine's Day, isn't it?) begins with its two strongest cuts: “Yesterday Love” is propulsive jangle pop at a breakneck speed while “Second Choice” has a slight ska-bounce and one of the most instantly hummable choruses to come out of the new wave. And if that’s not enough, Gregson turns in a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Growin’ Up” that not only doesn’t suck, but actually makes the Boss’s sound rather stiff. This is hands-down the best album I've ever picked up off the shelf solely on the basis of cover art and record label.
To hear tracks from Where Are All The Nice Girls? click here.
2 comments:
I've been an avid Clive Gregson fan since the Any Trouble days. And I still love his stuff today.
Why weren't Any Trouble (and Clive) more popular? Well I think it was just looks! Yes, I know Elivs Costello was popular - and he was also a speccy person - but was there room for two of them?
Clive also had problems due to playing the same Guitar as Elvis.
Still, for anyone 50 something Clive is now a great role model: a little too heavy; not much hair.
But he' still a bloody good performer and wonderful song writer!
Just to let you know, Stiff is re-releasing a remastered and expanded version of Any Trouble's "Where are all the nice girls?" It's available in the US on April 3rd. In the UK on March 12th.
They're also re-releasing 4 other classic Stiff titles:
Wreckless Eric - Big Smash
Rachel Sweet - Fool Around
Tracey Ullman - You Broke My Heart in 17 Places
Dirty Looks - Dirty Looks / Turn It Up (2 albums on one CD)
Viva Stiff!
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