At the center of the band was the husband-wife team of Marv and Rindy Ross; he played guitar while she did lead vocals and saxophone. Also in the group were Jack Charles (guitar), Rick DiGiallonardo (keyboards), Rich Gooch (bass) and Brian David Willis (drums and percussion).
Side one begins with “Take Me to Heart”. As the first single it went to number 28 on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 6 on the Mainstream Rock charts. Rindy opens the song with a saxophone solo, followed by her siren-like vocals that cut right to your heart and take a firm hold.
The title track “Take Another Picture”, as the second single, only reached number 58 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The lyrics tell the tale of a daughter who discovers her father had a secret affair, documented by hidden photos in the back of the closet.
“Shane” tells of a woman who loves a man so much that she wants to shelter and protect him from those that would hurt him.
Marv takes over the lead vocals on “Eye to Eye”, an intimate ballad of love lost.
“It Don’t Move Me” is about not getting caught up in the flavor of the week or following the herd blindly. The rhythm of the song has an interesting bounce to it, with a grinding, underlying guitar part.
Side two starts with “Shakin’ the Jinx”, a song about moving away from a town life that eventually drags many down. The music and the vocals really set up a threatening, tense tone.
Following up the last track, “Make It Shine” is a glimmer of hope as you come out of the darkness. I like its upbeat optimism. The track also appeared on the soundtrack for Gremlins in 1984.
Marv is back on lead for “One More Round to Go”, about not giving up until the game is done. DiGiallonardo really goes to town on the piano parts on this one.
On the ballad “Nowhere Left to Hide”, Riddy mines that emotional vein of loneliness and fear.
The album closes with “It All Becomes Clear”, a song about stepping back and taking a look at things with a distant perspective. Sometimes that yields the clarity that close proximity to a situation cannot.
I have liked Quarterflash since their debut, so it was disappointing to find that Take Another Picture has long been out of print. Its only CD version was released in 1984. Unlike the rest of the group’s early catalog, it is not available on any of the digital outlets either. A couple songs did appear on their greatest hits collection from the mid-90’s which can be found on iTunes.
Rindy Ross's vocals can be sultry and sexy (saxy?) but she can bring the female scorned wrath down, too, can't she? Would like to hear her do a covers album.
ReplyDeleteDespite owning their first four discs {mostly because of MRS. HERC], I would not equate myself as a big a fan of their music as you and I was surprised to see you haven't featured their debut yet. That first album is listenable all the way through but the rest of the albums are a little too uneven for me.
Brandon Hixson is a HUGE Quarterflash fan. His YouTube channel has a ton of their videos and he has even taken it upon himself to create a top quality video from the many performances of "Find Another Fool".
On a late Summer rainy evening last year I took a chance and brought up their most recent album on Spotify. While I don't think I would have pulled it up under normal weather conditions, the music of Goodbye Uncle Buzz was the perfect soundtrack as we sat on the back porch, listening to the rhythm of the falling rain and watching the heavenly light show.