| Released: 1982 (Slash Records) Produced by: Steve Savage and the band |
| Side One | Side Two |
|---|---|
| Girls Like Me Shelly's Boyfriend Separating Dum Fun Coverage |
Inside Doubt Joyride Loverboy Raylene The Last Word |
A New Wave treasure. Highly recommended.
Not a hit album by normal definition (it "bubbled under" at #206 on August 14, 1982 where Billboard listed the label as Splash, not Slash), but a perfect release nonetheless. I first heard of Bonnie Hayes on the soundtrack to the movie Valley Girl; the two Hayes songs included in that movie are the first two tracks on this album ("Girls Like Me" and "Shelly's Boyfriend"). Finally picked up this album years after the fact and man-oh-man what a find. Classic New Wave - uptempo, hook-filled, retro power pop sound complete with Farfisa organ. Hayes is not only a great songwriter, she's got the perfect voice for this type of music. The lyrics are sexy as hell from a confident girl who knows what she wants, so I'm not exactly sure about the "clean" part of the album title, but it is indeed "good fun" - one of the funnest albums I've ever heard. I have no idea how Hayes wasn't a bigger pop star in the early '80s - let's blame the record label or misogyny. Damn shame. All killer no filler, Good Clean Fun would have gotten plenty of playing time in my 1972 Ford Maverick when I was in high school if only I'd known about it.
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| Billboard, July 17, 1982, p. 64 |
In a ★★★★½ review, Allmusic calls this album a "neglected '80s pop masterpiece" and boldly claims it to be "the finest album of the entire early-'80s California girl pop scene. Yes, even better than Beauty and the Beat or All Over the Place." That's an audacious statement and one with which I am in full agreement.
- Girls Like Me: From the intro designed to keep you off-kilter to that fantastic bass line to the vocal harmonies to the keyboard solo, this is three minutes of pop bliss. Absolutely zero nits to pick.
- Shelly's Boyfriend: Hayes wrote this thing high in her range and it almost sounds like a different singer but it's the perfect voice for the teenage "that boy's no good for you - you deserve better" lyrics.
- Separating: after a piano intro, the verse sort of lopes along at half-time then it kicks into the chorus with staccato guitar upbeats then back again but the soaring guitar solo might be the best part. "If you think you're gonna play me, you'd better find another game."
- Dum Fun: This tune just steps right into it from the get-go with no intro and gets better from there. I enjoy the way the guitar and organ play off each other. Then an organ solo leads into a bluesy, half-time guitar solo and it's perfect. Then it's over as quickly as it began.
- Coverage: this is no ballad, but Bonnie finally slows things down a bit, adds some mixed meter and a relentless guitar ostinato pattern. All ten tunes on the album are great, but this is the one that always seems to become an earworm.
- Inside Doubt: upbeat and aggressive, this thing screams NEW WAVE on all counts: bouncy bass line, Farfisa organ, and hooks a'plenty.
- Joyride: More hooks! Gimme more hooks! "She said, 'I like it in the back seat.'" Have mercy. Is it hot in here? Great guitar solo over Hayes' electric piano. Again, the switch from a half-time feel works so flawlessly you hardly notice the difference.
- Loverboy: The best song the Go-Go's never recorded. The guitar solo definitely has a surf-rock vibe.
- Raylene: Latin-flavored party groove. The bass line doesn't quite match up and that used to bother me until I realized Hayes did that on purpose to create tension that's released later in the tune. Brilliant.
- The Last Word: I love the building intro that's later used to lead into the chorus. Guitar and organ both get solo turns. "You can't tell me what to do." And I wouldn't want to, Bonnie, except maybe to ask for another tune or four?
