Tasteful Tasteless (album)
| Tasteful Tasteless | ||||||||||
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| Studio album by Foolish Creeper | ||||||||||
| Released | July 21, 1984 | |||||||||
| Recorded | February-June 1984 | |||||||||
| Genre | Hard rock | |||||||||
| Length | 41:27 | |||||||||
| Label | Split Phones Records | |||||||||
| Producer | Dave Shevil | |||||||||
| Foolish Creeper chronology | ||||||||||
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| Singles from Tasteful Tasteless | ||||||||||
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Tasteful Tasteless is the second studio album by American rock band Foolish Creeper, released on July 22, 1984. The album was a critical success and ultimately won the group three Grammy nominations, as well as started a 50 city tour from 1984 through 1986.
Production
After the failure that was Battler, the group met to discuss the future of the band. Realizing the failure of the first album was due to their attempt at mimicking the styles and tone of other successful artists of the time, the band agreed to try and find their own sound.
While out touring at local venues in early 1983, lead singer Denis Porter and lead guitarist Lauren Jensen visited a music store where they stumbled across a [Korg Poly-800] synthesizer. Porter started playing around with the keyboard and immediately fell in love with the sound. While Porter played, Jensen started ad-libbing lyrics to a song, leading to an impromptu jam session right inside the music store. 45 minutes later, the two left the store with the keyboard and the lyrics to their first single Another Time Perhaps.
It was during this time producer Dave Shevil started shopping the group around to a new record label. Many labels refused to work with the band, having heard what happened with Parma Records and not wanting the same thing to happen with them. After two years of coming up empty handed, Shevil founded a brand new record label located out of Chicago that was looking for new acts to sign. Having not heard of the problems with Parma Records, they signed the band to a two record contract.
After signing with the new label, Shevil had spoken to a contact of his out in Los Angeles who said that a film producer was looking for a song to play during the credits of a horror movie they were making. Shevil told the band about the opportunity to have a song in a movie and suggested they try and write something based on the outline of the film. Denis Porter took on the duties of writing and composing the song Night Terrors, which was sent to the producer of the film but ultimately turned away. The movie was the original Nightmare on Elm Street.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Knock Knock" | Denis Porter, Lauren Jensen | 4:10 |
| 2. | "Another Time Perhaps" | Porter, Jensen, | 4:22 |
| 3. | "First on the Floor" | Karen Weber, Craig Hansen | 3:56 |
| 4. | "Backup Honey (Another Day To Live)" | Porter, Jensen, Weber, Hansen, Roman Erickson | 4:05 |
| 5. | "Tasteful/Tasteless" | Porter, Jensen, Weber | 3:43 |
| 6. | "Caught" | Hansen | 4:34 |
| 7. | "Riding Out The Fever" | Porter, Erickson, Hansen | 4:17 |
| 8. | "Night Terrors" | Porter | 4:04 |
| 9. | "Finally You" | Porter, Weber, Jensen, Erickson, Hansen | 4:16 |
| 10. | "Hope" | Jensen | 4:02 |
| Total length: | 41:27 | ||
Reception
The album was released to mostly favorable reviews. Critics who hated Battler praised this album for it's original sound, tone, and catchy lyrics. Each single peaked in the Top 10 on the charts and stayed there for months, resulting in Foolish Creeper being constantly on the radio. The album and band were nominated for three Grammy Awards for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, Album of the Year, and Song of the Year. Unfortunately they did not win any of the awards, but it proved to critics and audience alike that they could hold their own.
Personnel
- Denis Porter – lead vocals, keyboards
- Lauren Jensen – lead guitar, backing vocals
- Craig Hansen – rhythm guitar
- Karen Weber – bass
- Roman Erickson – drums, percussion
