I awoke late today and had to get out to an art class I take on Saturdays. I was really fatigued since I had gone through a tough week at my job. I sat there watching the VH1 music television channel, when a very interesting program came on.
VH1 apparently has this new show going on where they get long lost bands back together for one night reunion shows. Today, they went searching for the 1980's band Romeo Void. WOW! This is cool!
I am a child of the early 1980's. I listed to The Who and other 1970's bands as a boy, and liked a lot of stuff my older brother brought back from college, like The Doors, Santana and Cheap Trick.
As I went through high school, my tastes changed under the influence of a few friends I met. I still liked some of the famous bands, but I felt myself pulled towards what was then the "underground" of 1980's music. MTV, newly christened in 1981 and piped into my family's house by early 1982, also played a part.
I really wonder whether young people realize how big of a thing MTV was in its early years, say from 1981 - 1987. Every new video was an adventure to watch. It was like painting on a brand new white canvass. If you were good looking, you could make it big, while others ended up on the losing end of the matter. Prince, Billy Idol and Duran Duran were big winners in the early MTV sweepstakes. David Bowie, The Kinks, and some other established big guns also successfully made the leap, thanks to their sheer talent.
Returning to the matter of my tastes, it so happened that I started treading new musical paths. The great punk bands such as the Sex Pistols, the Ramones, and The Clash (more reggae and not so punkish) took their place alongside the old favorites. Moreover, there were a ton of bands that came out that I fell in love with. The Jam, U2, The Pretenders, Ultravox, Sixousie and the Banshees, The Alarm, Big Country, Stray Cats, and The Cure all became my new faves. I used to spend a fair chunk of my barely above water wages on LP's at record stores.
So when I saw the Romeo Void show on VH1, I tuned in. I had 2 Romeo Void albums (both were stolen by old acquaintances), but I still have a "best of" CD called Warm in Your Coat. Romeo Void's singer, Debora Iyall, hit the nail on the head when she said that the band has a sound all its own. Once you hear a Romeo Void song, you know it's them. Iyall's thoughtful "personal story" style lyrics, coupled with Benjamin Rossi's full / jazzy saxophone, and a flexible musical sound that allowed the other band members to define and drive songs made for catchy and listenable music.
Moreover, their music has stood the test of time. Around 1997 or so, I brought my copy of "Warm in Your Coat" to a party that was thrown by a couple I know. 6 or 7 people asked me who it was that I had playing on the stereo. The unanimous consensus was that Romeo Void was pretty cool.
It was sad to see the Benjamin Rossi now has hearing problems. As for the demise of the band, they admitted that it was partly egos and partly a loss of backing from their label. Apparently, too many powerful people thought that Debora Iyalls physique (today, we call women like her Big Beautiful Women) was an intolerable issue and that they were a band with no future.
It's so sad that in the eyes of many, beauty trumps talent. Benjamin Rossi shared a story on the program where their song "Never Say Never" is now encoded into the home video game "Grand Theft Auto." Rossi went on to say that his nephew, after hearing the song on the video game, left a message on his telephone saying that his music was awesome. I wonder how many people will hold a similar opinion of Christina Aguilera's current music 20 years from now.
What's my best memory of listening to Romeo Void? Around 1988 or so, I went out one Friday night with some girls I used to know. It was about 11pm, when I made a left hand turn onto a major thoroughfare here in Houston. As I did so, "Never Say Never" came on the radio! Romeo Void was rarely played on the radio, but when the song came on, all three of these girls let out what could only be described as Witches Laughter! The night was young and we were young. I can't remember a god damned thing about what happened thereafterwards, but it must have been great!
Listening to their music today, one can't help but think that Romeo Void still had a number of good albums left in them when they broke up. I suspect they could have held together for another 4 - 5 years or so, had things not turned out they way they did. It would have been cool to see what else they could have come up with.
Posted by The Mighty Wizard at January 25, 2004 01:34 AM