MP3:
Side 1:
Not This Girl (2:45)
Krissie (3:37)
Side 2:
Lighten the Shadows (3:21)
One Shot Deal (3:13)
I received this record through an associate of Bill Mumy (the kid from Lost in Space, and more recently, one half of Barnes & Barnes as his alter-ego, Art Barnes). It seems that back in 1981, Mumy and a bunch of his friends somehow got together with this Debi Neal person (probably the girlfriend of one of them, pffft) and recorded this 13-minute, ten-inch(!) picture disc. Apparently only 250 copies were made, and I own number 63. Too good to just have regular black vinyl and a picture sleeve, huh? And there's no reason this EP couldn't have fit on a 7", either. As such, since it is a picture disc, I apologize for the high amounts of surface noise.
I don't think it's very hard to tell why Ms. Neal's career didn't take off. All four songs on this EP are musically unremarkable and terribly hackneyed- the worst offender is "Krissie", where Debi moans "Krissie, don't nobody love you? Is that the reason why you left school?" and how Krissie never sleeps because she's "scared of dreaming". Oh, BOO HOO! Your standard mushy sob-story of a life gone down the wrong path. Unfortunately, it's also the most memorable tune because of an unrelenting three-chord piano riff that refuses to let up during the entire song (which also happens to be the longest on the record). Debi's voice also sounds weak and unsubstantial; perhaps it's the mixing, but it's probably just that her voice just isn't very distinctive at all. I detect some multitracking of it on the choruses, which barely helps and just ends up proving my point more. The backing vocals (provided by the band?) aren't any better.
The most notable thing about this EP today is its aforementioned connection to Mumy, who co-wrote the jazzy "Lighten the Shadows", which starts side-B. I doubt he remembers much about the record today. I was able to find out that Debi sang backup vocals on several Eric Burdon albums- oh, so the guy who started War wasn't good enough to stick with, huh?
- Contributed by: The Swill Man
Media: 33 rpm 10" promotional picture disc, #63/250
Label: "A Pic Disc Product", "Direction" by "The Fitzgerald Hartley Co."
Credits:
Tracks 1, 2 and 4 written by Debi Neal, track 3 written by Debi Neal and Bill Mumy
Produced by Paul Gordon
Players: Kevin Dukes, Mark Williams, Michael Barry, Paul Fox
Engineered by Frank Wolf
Recorded at George Englunds (sic)
Date: 1981
It's not too bad.
Posted by: youkeeponlooking | July 24, 2007 at 01:09 PM
The way you described these songs led me to believe my ears would bleed listening to them. They're not that bad.
Posted by: sketchy | July 25, 2007 at 07:05 AM
Yeah I must agree with the two previous comments. The songs are not bad at all. She has a pretty good voice I think.
Posted by: Richard | July 25, 2007 at 01:28 PM
oh please, who are you people? You are obviously stunned by the fact that you can almost see her nether-regions. blech.
Posted by: Brandon | July 25, 2007 at 02:07 PM
I have to say that I couldn't disagree more with the harsh critique of Debi - this is quite the gem - recalling the finest of eighties pop melancholy - and it has that tone that hits me in the chest. Reminds me of E.G. Daily at her best
Posted by: Kurt Weller | July 25, 2007 at 02:11 PM
Uh oh, we are neck deep in irony now. I get it.
Posted by: Brandon | July 25, 2007 at 03:11 PM
My face is somewhat red but I was serious....
I'm not saying that the picture disc didn't help a little;)
Posted by: Kurt Weller | July 25, 2007 at 09:43 PM
It seems a waste of time and effort for anyone who has music they actually like. Got anything you like?
Once you've been around a while, the whole "music so bad it's entertaining" field loses a lot of its appeal.
Posted by: Steven Strauss | July 25, 2007 at 10:14 PM
Oh, and I'd bet Eric or his staff had more to do with the end of Debi's tenure than Debi did. A backup singer with a real gig in a touring band doesn't usually step off the gravy train willingly. Especially to pursue an iffy solo thing.
Was the comparison Kurt Weller drew to E. G. Daily his way of saying that Debi sings like Tommy on Rugrats? (Daily's promo photos all fairly screamed "IN REAL LIFE I'M A HOT CHICK!")
Posted by: Steven Strauss | July 25, 2007 at 10:22 PM
Hey, if Page 3 girl Samantha Fox and ex-pornstar Taylor Dane could do dance music, why not this chick. It's really the material that blows, the production and her voice are really no worse than a lot of 80s music that were bonafide hits.
As an aside, "....more recently, one half of Barnes & Barnes..." is ancient history for Mumy. I investigated him when I heard him mentioned on an interview with the guys from POCO on WFUV. Mumy wrote one of their "hits" back in the 70's, and is still out there doing music in a country rock vein today. Go to billmumy.com if you're curious (NOT bill-Y, but bill). There are worse ways to spend 2 minutes on the Net.....
Posted by: Dale Hazelton | July 26, 2007 at 10:02 AM
Sorry, Dale, but Barnes & Barnes are not exactly ancient history. Truth be told, they haven't released a full album since 1991, but they still work together on new songs every few months and even put out a brand new song two years ago. So while Barnes & Barnes haven't made a full comeback yet, they're definitely not a 70's novelty footnote.
Posted by: The Swill Man | July 26, 2007 at 02:54 PM
I stand corrected, Swill Man....here is the B&B link from Mumy's site:
http://voobaha.com/
Posted by: Dale Hazelton | July 27, 2007 at 10:35 AM
Was the comparison Kurt Weller drew to E. G. Daily his way of saying that Debi sings like Tommy on Rugrats? (Daily's promo photos all fairly screamed "IN REAL LIFE I'M A HOT CHICK!")
I forgot that she became a Rugrats voice - I was comparing her work from the film The Orkly Kid [she appears in the movie as well as performs a song that is played during the talent show - as well as her song for the film Better Off Dead.] Something about the production value of those songs reminded me of the Debi Neal cut.
Posted by: Kurt Weller | August 04, 2007 at 05:19 PM
Back when this one was released, Hot Wacks Quarterly wasted two interior pages + the cover shot on this gal. Issue #9 -- no use googling it seems, but search for it on ebay + you'll most likely find it.
"The pic disc has a limited numbered run of 250 copies and is being snapped up rapidly by collectors paying upwards of $25 per copy. The sensual photo of Debi on the B side will insure its collectibility"
Posted by: some nobody | April 12, 2008 at 05:13 PM
Debi Neal is so fun to play on stage with, she is strong, plays by ear, writes wonderful songs and simply "missed her boat" because they labeled her another Pat Benatar. She was much more. I was the drummer, Jill Fox, when Debi was with an all female band in early 80's. There were some great players, Jennifer Condos who went on to play bass behind Don Henley. Valerie Ford played hell out of her Fender. Eileen Diamond another great bass player, I played with some local Hollywood bands for a while and went into radio having a successful gig for years in Palm Springs CA and meeting up with Jennifer Condos at a radio conference where Henley was at the top of the ticket. Debi really was good. What you are listening to is called a "demo" and major labels dismissed her as another Pat Benatar. A good producer could bring out this voice and fatten up the sound. So glad to come across it. She did another great song, T-R-O-U-B-L-E that I thought was one of her best.
Posted by: Jill Fox | June 18, 2010 at 08:40 PM