Search - Jane Wiedlin :: Jane Wiedlin

Jane Wiedlin colours my world with a blue kiss

Daniel J. Hamlow | Narita, Japan | 01/04/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"With her departure from the Go-Go's after the release of their Talk Show album, guitarist Jane Wiedlin was on her own with her self-titled album, released in October 1985. Boasting a typical 80's pop sound with some traces of new wave, it proves Jane could do her own thing."I colour my world with a blue kiss" sings Jane on her first single. "Blue Kiss" is a cute mid-tempo pop single and this is the kind of song that later evolved into "Rush Hour." Lots of colour imagery and motifs here: "How can you choose a white-coloured world when I got a rainbow for you." and "last night a spectrum filled the sky (I miss you) this morning, it shattered with your goodbye."With a Go-Go's-like rhythm section, what kind of cruel world does Jane Wiedlin say goodbye to in "Goodbye Cruel World"? "No more children hungry or bruised no more land r-ped and abused/no more animals hunted for fun/it's time to undo the damage we've done" I'm for that. The naivete of "why is it so naive to believe in love/why do bombs, we got more than enough?" is touching but a dream, unfortunately. This song, along with the title track of her second album Fur, shows her politically conscious side.The upbeat "Sometimes You Really Get On My Nerves" sports early 80's new-wave type keyboards and describes the mixed up signals, tensions, and irritations that lead to situations where "anger's a weapon we can't handle." "We get petty/we get mean/when I want some quiet/you want to scream" and the priority of getting things straight at home before paying attention to world problems is also mentioned.Jane sings about riding on silver bullet trains, drinking sake, and other things in Japan in "East Meets West." An interesting comparison is when she sings about eight million gods in a Shinto shrine, and eight million being the viewer number for Solid Gold.Another engaging keyboard and drums number, with a rapidly sung chorus and BPM, "Somebody's Going To Get Into This House" was the B-side of "Blue Kiss."The upbeat "Forever" has a sound that could belong on a Cyndi Lauper B-side from She's So Unusual, while she questions the 80's dating rituals in "Modern Romance": "what's so great about modern romance/what's so neat about foolin around/taking her heart and running it into the ground" she asks. The tempo and guitar of "I Will Wait For You" might place it on a Missing Persons album.Her favourite track from here, according to her greatest hits album liner notes, is taken from Bill Clinton's (if you can believe it) favourite book, Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "One Hundred Years Of Solitude." This was the B-side of the UK single release of "Blue Kiss." This wistful mid-paced song is mostly about reminiscences and how it feels like a hundred years of..."Where We Can Go" is another engaging track that could've made it on a Go-Go's album.The Celtic-tinged "My Traveling Heart" featuring pipes, ends the album, and with lyrics like "all I'm left is my traveling heart" and "our time together, I lose my sense of me" indicates her feelings about leaving the Go-Go's. She was glad to be with them, but after a while, her wanting to do something on her own prevailed.A good start, and a good sound. Apart from "Blue Kiss" and "Where We Can Go", nothing much singleworthy, but these songs herald an improvement for her 1988 album Fur."

If ever a CD needed to be reissued, This Is 'The One!'

Rolando A. Castillo | Tampa, FL United States | 07/24/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After searching for this CD for almost 5 years, I was fortunate enough to locate a copy. It was worth the time and effort. Ms. Wiedlin really hit the ground running with eleven songs that displays each facet of her talent. It's all there: from the longing sorrow of "Blue Kiss" to the playfulness of "East Meets West" and "Somebody's Going To Get Into This House" to the hard-driving (and wonderfully danceable) rhythm of "Where We Can Go" this CD does not disappoint. If I had to choose one song on this CD as my favorite it would have to be "My Traveling Heart." In her greatest hits compilation, Ms. Wiedlin noted how she wrote the song to 'describe my ambivalent feelings about leaving the Go-Go's.' It is truly a magnificent anthem to describe that feeling we all get when we know it's time to move on, whether it's leaving a relationship, a job, or the town you've lived in all your life. Bottom line - if you ever find a copy (or our prayers are answered and this CD is reissued), don't hesitate for a second -- buy! Buy!"

Proof that dynamite comes in small packages

LA's Rock Pile | NLR, AR USA | 10/28/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This has everything the later record "Tangled" did not have. Energy, passion, creativity, uniqueness. Some of it haunting as in "Forever" and "Hundred Years of Solitude" some if it pop "Blue Kiss", some high energy like "Where We Can Go", "I Will Wait for You", some humorous: "East Meets West", some.....well, you get the idea. I bought this in vinyl when it came out in 1985 (that long ago?) and listened through my later college years on homemade tape, and finally have the CD version that will last to the end of my days. I think this is the best of her efforts and although politically, Jane and I would mix like fire and gasoline, I nonetheless acknowledge I am intrigued by her style, sound (remember keyboards and saxophones?) , and energy that personifies the 1980's, when music to me, was a lot more fun."