![]() Geils Band musically to a place that Love Stinks had only hinted at. Released on October 26, 1981, less than three months after MTV first aired, the album pushed the J. But they were very animated performers and if they could figure out a way to take that stage charisma and translate it into something videogenic, then maybe they could find a new, younger audience.įreeze-Frame proved the vehicle. Geils Band members were not stylish young pretty boys, after all. Geils Band, who were already into the recording of their 12th studio album when MTV began reshaping the popular music landscape. This, of course, did not escape EMI America Records or the J. An instant phenomenon, MTV gave artists an unprecedented promotional outlet for their music. Music Television, MTV, was launched, offering a 24-hour menu of music videos. Then, at midnight on August 1, 1981, everything changed. ![]() Geils Band said, basically, yeah, we can do that too, and with their second studio album for the new label, Love Stinks, they figured out how to translate the innate party-time vibe of Geils music into modern rock. Punk and new wave music were the rage now, and if you wanted not to be left behind, you needed to find a more pronounced beat, fire up some synthesizers, look good and make people dance. Geils Band strutting their love of vintage R&B but they wanted them to sound more like a modern band and, as industry types said at the time, move some units. And there would be a new musical approach as well. Geils Bandīy 1978, Atlantic had dropped them and EMI America, a new label, picked them up. Related: We had the final interview with Jay Geils, namesake of the J. ![]() Geils Band but they couldn’t break out of their B-level status as record sellers. Wolf and Justman were writing fine modern R&B-rock tunes, their covers did the originals justice and the live show was dazzling everyone seemed to love the J. Bloodshot, in 1973, became their first and only top 10 album for Atlantic, and none of their other singles for the label rose above #30. (Detroit was a particularly hot market), the band’s album and single sales remained cool. Related: Our Album Rewind of the band’s great, first live LPĮven as they became a word-of-mouth concert favorite throughout much of the U.S. But the vocals don’t do much for John Lee Hooker (no surprise) and the two instrumentals hobble the album’s build (also no surprise, since great R&B instrumentals are almost as hard to come by as great white blues singers).” Side two pops out of the box with covers from Otis Rush and the Contours and then slows down in style with two originals that deserve to get covered back. Writing about their self-titled debut album, rock critic Robert Christgau said, “I find this gritty Jewish R&B band from Boston fun but somewhat retrogressive, which is admittedly the way I once felt about Creedence. Geils Band in 1970, and from the start that combination of authenticity, excitement and serious chops made critics take notice-even if, at first, some were ambivalent. They attracted the attention of Atlantic Records, which signed the J. Geils Band live at their peak in the ’70s
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