The A’s “The A’s”/”A Woman’s Got The Power”

by Beverly Paterson in Album Reviews

Does anyone remember The A’s? I somehow missed them when they were around, but became acquainted with them several years ago in the form of “Godfathers of Power Pop” and “The History of Power Pop” collections, which include a couple of their songs. A Philadelphia, Pennsylvania band, The A’s recorded two albums for the Arista label before crawling into oblivion.

The band’s first disc, “The A’s,” surfaced in 1979 and was very much a product of its time. Lead singer Richard Bush’s vocals plead, snarl and whine with nervous tension, while jaunty keyboards, spiky hooks and choppy guitar chords supply a nice backdrop to the drama. If there’s an album that represents the mood and tone of new wave music, here it is. Such a style was hot and happening then, and The A’s were endowed with all the proper ingredients to make it work. Can’t go wrong with herky jerky ditties like “Teenage Jerk Off,“ “Who’s Gonna Save The World,“ “C.I.A.“ and “After Last Night,” which wiggle to and fro with needling pop quirks.

Released in 1981, “A Woman’s Got The Power” examined The A’s cruising in a slightly different direction. Awash with booming horns hammered against a thick wall of sound, “Little Mistakes” sways towards the Bruce Springsteen side of the field. Speaking of Bruce, his saxophone player, Clarence Clemons, cut a version of the title track of the record for “Rescue,“ his solo album from 1983. Jennifer Holliday also tackled the number and scored a hit single with her dance oriented cover in 1999. Soulful and sensuous, “A Woman’s Got The Power” is a very beautiful song. The remainder of the effort tends to be rootsier and rockier than “The A’s,” implying these guys were capable of operating in multiple sonic dimensions. Cool  harmonies to boot…