Yes in the name of my art – I actually put one of my precious records in the snow. Word up.
Cinderella Gypsy Road 12″ was one I bought a couple years after it came out. Me and my friends all LOVED Night Songs, ‘It’s just like AC/DC but better’ my mate Colin Dovey told me, you know what for about 6 months I agreed with him, I’ll write more about that at a later point so imagine my excitement when Cinderella released Long Cold Winter! Imagine my deep, crushing disappointment when, apart from about 3 tracks it SUCKED! When I was 17 I was more excitable than I am now, everything ROCKED!, or SUCKED! – I’m better now, mostly.
I did like the track ‘Gypsy Road’ a lot and so when I found it on white vinyl (that ROCKED!) I bought it. They were a funny-looking bunch of chaps Cinderella, I should know I had a poster of them on my bedroom wall for years, they never really looked very comfortable stuffed into those tight, tight, tight trousers and frilly shirts – surely they only wore it to work? I mean can you imagine taking your car to be serviced dressed like Eric Brittingham? or taking stuff to the dump looking like Tom Keifer? part of me hopes they did.
But anyway, ‘Gypsy Road’ was a total state-of-the-art late 80’s big rock tune (that ROCKED!) with some good playing and a damn good tune actually, before playing it again this morning I’d forgotten just how good actually. There is a slightly downbeat, world-weary tone to it too which I liked,
And who’s to care if I grow my hair to the sky
I’ll take a wish and a prayer cross my fingers cause I always get by
Some fast talkin’ jerk for a dollar wiped the smile off my face
I’m drivin’ all night
Just to keep the rat in the race
Needless to say ‘Second Wind’ is too easy a target for me to demean myself by making the obvious joke about it’s properties and the two live tracks, ‘Somebody Save Me’ and ‘In From The Outside’ add nothing to the versions on Night Songs, in fact the latter sounds quite amateurish to my ears (that SUCKED!) – odd because I did see Cinderella in Bradford on the tour for Heartbreak Station and they were really good.
So there you go, ‘Gypsy Road’ is a really good track and I had some fun in the snow after all. Please note 1537 takes no legal responsibility for anyone leaving precious vinyl in the snow, although all gentle mocking rights are reserved.
115 Down.
Loved Night Songs as well. I was 13 and well into an AC/DC phase that would last a good 2 years until Blow Up Your Video came out and I lost their phone number for a time. Long Cold Winter seemed like the album Cinderella decided they wanted to eat at the adult table. Had its moments, but they lost that griminess that made Night Songs so appealing to a hormonal adolescent.
I’d take Cinderella over their bizarro counterpart Britney Fox any day of the week. Plus, Cinderella did a great cover of Janis Joplin’s ‘Move Over’.
Too many ballads on LCW from memory, not enough Push Push. I’ve got Britny Fox first LP … So it goes.
Was that the one with ‘Girlschool’ on it? Singer always came across as Tom Kiefer trying too hard. A constipated yelp, really.
Please don’t remind me, I saw then supporting Alice Cooper once.
Teenage Frankenstein, indeed.