Search - Rachel Sweet :: Fool Around: The Best of Rachel Sweet

Talented Little Crooner from the Age of CBGBs

Kelly L. Norman | Plymouth, MI United States | 11/17/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"From her first brilliant, soaring intro of B-A-B-Y to the saloon-styled Elvis Costello ballad "Stranger in the House", Rachel Sweet hopskotched into the punked-out world of the Ramones, Blondie and the Clash with a jailbait look, a wad of bubblegum, and a mildly pedophiliac titled debut lp, "Fool Around." This CD, "Fool Around: The Best of Rachel Sweet" comprises all the cuts from that early lp as well as several later hits, including her best known, "Everlasting Love," a duet with one-TV-movie-hit-wonder, Rex Smith.



Sweet recorded a couple of other CDs during the height of her fame, but none made as big a splash as "Fool Around", which won her a spot on the 1980 "Stiff" tour along with the likes of Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds. It would seem that, despite her definite musical talent, her best marketed feature was her age...or lack thereof. In later years, Sweet may have stopped getting the attention she deserved from managers, agents, and potential fans.



This "the Best Of" CD is great in that it does include all of the "Fool Around" material, most of which has a country feel to it, since Rachel got her start singing for fairs in her home state of Ohio, where the audiences wanted their music homespun. But there were a few songs even back then, like "Cuckoo Clock" (featuring Lene Lovich) and "Girl With the Synthesizer" that added wildly different directions to her repertoire. One of the best songs featuring her sultry country voice in a ballad is "Wildwood Saloon", which not only shows off her voice, but foreshadows another midwestern miss about to burst on the country scene, Alison Krauss.



The newer songs--the theme from "Hairspray", for example, and "I'll Watch the News" are witty and professionally delivered, if not quite as punchy.



It's no accident that one of Elvis Costello's best efforts at feting his pal George Jones ("Stranger in the House") appears here, and if you are unfamiliar with Sweet and wonder if you should buy this CD, thinking of Costello's tongue-in-cheek country period might help you decide. One of my favorite tunes (written by Records' drummer John Wicks)"Pin a Medal on Mary", contains the memorable verse:



You said you were going to the bathroom/

But you were gone for half an hour/

You came back so disarranged/

You hadn't been there for a shower. ...



This CD rocks, it's witty, it belts out the high and alto notes, it's a punk-pop extravaganza from the beginning of the genre.

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