Showaddywaddy - Good Times (CD, Imported)

By the time of Showaddywaddy's seventh album, Good Times, almost all of the original spark and enthusiasm the band displayed with their exciting brand of rock & roll revivalism had been paved over by a smooth expanse of pandering showbiz tendencies and bland silliness. The record is the usual mix of originals and covers of '50s and '60s classics. This time out the selection of covers is obvious with picks like "Alley-Oop," "C'mon Everybody" and "Shake," each of which is drained of life and given a dose of lackluster professionalism. The only cover that has a pulse at all is their dash through the Easybeats' screaming rocker "Good Times," and even then the band ruin it with their ham-fisted playing. The originals are no great shakes either as the corny backing vocals and overall processed sound turn even the songs that threaten to rock -- like the opener "Multiplication" and "You Always Stand Me Up" -- are turned to mush by the end. Some of them were mush from the beginning, like the cheesy polka-sounding "Party Time" and the overly emotional "I Don't Like Rock N' Roll No More." Showaddywaddy should have packed it in long before this album came out. It is that bad. Not that they ever had much of a reputation but what little they had would have been left in tatters if anyone had been listening. It failed to chart and was thankfully cast into the trash heap of glam history until 7T's rescued it and added two equally terrible bonus tracks. ~ Tim Sendra