The Tubes - Remote Control / The Completion Backward Principle / Outside Inside (1979, 1981, 1983 us mix of arena rock and pop - MP3 320K and Wave)

The Completion Backward Principle was the first release on EMI/Capitol by San Francisco-based the Tubes. It found the outrageous septet working with producer David Foster, who gives the record a high-gloss sheen.

It’s a pairing that, while possibly surprising to fans of the band’s earlier releases, actually works quite nicely.

The ballads (the Top 40 hit “Don’t Want to Wait Anymore” and the Toto-esque “Amnesia”) don’t suit the band, but most everything else does.

There’s a pair of catchy new wavish rockers in “Talk to Ya Later” and “Think About Me,” the wacky “Sushi Girl,” and the R&B-flavored “A Matter of Pride.”

The Completion Backward Principle rightfully earned the Tubes new fans and set the table for their commercial breakthrough, Outside/Inside, two years later.

The Tubes were arch satirists of popular culture whose outrageous performance art concepts -- which swung wildly from softcore pornography to suit-and-tie conservatism -- frequently eclipsed their elusive musical identity.

The beginnings of the group originate in Phoenix, AZ in the late ‘60s, where guitarist Bill Spooner, keyboardist Vince Welnick, and bassist Rick Anderson formed as the Beans (alternately billing themselves as the Radar Men from Uranus).

After moving to San Francisco in 1972, the Beans recruited guitarist Roger Steen and drummer Prairie Prince (from Red, White & Blues), and later became the Tubes with the addition of Michael Cotten on keyboards and former roadie Fee Waybill on lead vocals.

Over the course of the next few years, the Tubes earned a devoted cult following on the strength of Spooner’s parodic songs and the group’s surreal live shows, which featured Waybill adopting a variety of personae including the “crippled Nazi” Dr. Strangekiss, country singer Hugh Heifer, and Quay Lewd, a drug-addled British pop star.

After signing to A&M in 1975, they released their self-titled debut, followed a year later by Young and Rich; while both failed to transfer the manic energy and theatrical complexity of their live set onto record, the single “White Punks on Dope” became a minor hit and a radio staple.

After 1977’s failed concept record The Tubes Now, the group toured England, where a series of banned performances made them a media sensation.

However, during the recording of the concert LP What Do You Want from Live?, Waybill broke his leg on-stage while acting out his punk character Johnny Bugger; the remainder of the tour was canceled, and with it died the band’s chart momentum.

After returning to the U.S., they recruited producer Todd Rundgren and recorded 1979’s Remote Control, a concept album exploring the influence of television; when it met a similar commercial fate as its predecessors, the Tubes were dropped by A&M.

After signing to Capitol, they recorded 1981’s Completion Backwards Principle, an album based on an actual sales training instruction manual; both “Talk to You Later” and “Don’t Want to Wait Anymore” earned significant radio play, and the LP became the Tubes’ first Top 40 hit.

Thanks to its provocative video, the single “She’s a Beauty” reached the Top Ten, and pushed the 1983 LP Outside/Inside into the Top 20 Albums chart; after 1985’s Love Bomb stiffed, however, the Tubes disbanded, and Welnick later joined the Grateful Dead.

In 1993, the Tubes reunited; consisting of Waybill, Steen, Anderson, Prince, and new keyboardist Gary Cambra, they toured the U.S. and Europe before releasing a new LP, Genius of America, in 1996.

Spooner also issued his own solo record, Mall to Mars. In 2000, the Tubes embarked on another extensive tour, issuing the greatest-hits-live album Tubes World Tour to commemorate the event (AMG).

Sushi Girl:


Remote Control (1979):
01."Turn Me On" – 4:10
02."T.V. Is King" – 3:08
03."Prime Time" – 3:15
04."I Want It All Now" – 4:27
05."No Way Out" – 3:22
06."Getoverture" – 3:23
07."No Mercy" – 3:27
08."Only the Strong Survive" – 3:54
09."Be Mine Tonight" – 3:30
10."Love's a Mystery (I Don't Understand)" – 3:27
11."Telecide" – 5:41

The Completion Backward Principle(1981):
01.Talk To Ya Later
02.Let's Make Some Noise
03.Matter Of Pride
04.Mr. Hate
05.Attack Of The Fifty Foot Woman
06.Think About Me
07.Sushi Girl
08.Don't Want To Wait Anymore
09.Power Tools
10.Amnesia


Outside Inside (1983):
01.She's A Beauty - 4:00
02.No Not Again - 3:27
03.Out Of The Business - 3:29
04.The Monkey Time - 3:53
05.Glass House - 3:30
06.Wild Women Of Wongo - 3:56
07.Tip Of My Tongue - 3:57
08.Fantastic Delusion - 3:54
09.Drums - 2:20
10.Theme Park - 3:12
11.Outside Lookin' Inside - 0:56


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