Humans - Happy Hour (1981) torrent

Humans - Happy Hour (1981)

I tracked this album down primarily because I love their song "I Live In The City", which I bought on a whim back in 1980 and has been attached to many of my favorite playlists all the years since. I can't say that anything on this album quite matches that song, but it's all pretty upbeat and after multiple listens I've got a few of them stuck in my head, if not my playlists.

From Wikipedia: "Humans were a new wave band from Santa Cruz, formed in 1976 as The Mysterious People. They changed their name to Humans in 1979. Leader Sterling Storm's style was similar to that of Wall Of Voodoo's Stan Ridgway, while bassist Eric Gies wrote mostly quirky ballads. They continued to play in the Bay Area into the late 1980s and also managed to make a long-form video to accompany their I.R.S. LP, Happy Hour, before breaking up. Storm has since become a successful production designer."

From IRScorner.com: "Paranoia, Loneliness and Death are the overlying themes on this concept album, where each of tunes thematically tie together. Lead singer Sterling Storm even produced and directed a longform music video (released on Mike Nesmith's late great PACIFIC ARTS).

This slab of vinyl starts off with "Get You Tonite", billed as 'this year's K-Mart Song' and and is a dazzling exploration of big city paranoia (and its justification). "Lightning" is one of those 'on-the-road' love songs that grows on you with repeated listenings and paints a terrific video in your mind's eye that could never be reproduced on a TV screen! Perhaps the finest HUMANS song ever recorded! "Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark", one of two Eric Geis-penned tunes that flesh out this LP, is a catchy number in his usual "love'n'paranoia" vein wherein love is collapsing, "reverting back" to what it was before song-crossed lover entered the scene. Both haunting and touching... The first three cuts are the best, but none match the quirky fast-paced fun of their debut EP, PLAY. The overly long "Obituary" closes out side one in a depressing dirge-like manner.

If you can find the VHS or LaserDisc of the HAPPY HOUR long-form video, by all means get it!"

TRACK LIST:

A1 Get You Tonight 3:09
A2 Lightning 4:02
A3 Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark 3:09
A4 Change 3:44
A5 Foreign Culture 4:43
B1 Invisible Man 3:40
B2 Waiting At The Station 3:04
B3 You Don't Wanna Know 3:09
B4 Lost Control 3:45
B5 Obituary 6:10

CREDITS
Arranged By – David Kahne, Humans, The
Artwork By [Cover Design], Photography – Su Shuttle
Drums – Jim Norris
Guitar – John Anderson
Keyboards – David Larstein
Producer, Engineer – David Kahne
Vocals, Bass – Eric Gies
Vocals, Guitar – Sterling Storm
Written-By – Eric Gies (tracks: A3, B3), Sterling Storm (tracks: A1, A2, A4, A5, B1, B2, B4, B5)