35th Anniversary of The Completion Backward Principle

The Tubes formed in San Francisco in the early 70's and released their debut album in 1975. Throughout the remainder of the 70's the band released some good songs like What Do You Want From Life and had a cult following but seemed a bit more on the performance artsy side when playing live.

If you look closely, that's not your imagination hanging from that outfit.

In 1979 in what can be called as an attempt to go a little more mainstream by releasing Remote Control. A concept album about an idiot savant who watches too much television. The album was produced by Todd Rundgren but critics didn't like it too much and it was quickly forgotten. There are a few good songs on the for sure but it's not that memorable. Listen for yourself...

 

After Remote Control, The Tubes were dropped by A & M Records and signed by Capitol Records. Then in April of 1981, The Tubes released their masterpiece, The Completion Backward Principal. If my memory serves me correctly, my uncle bought me this record when I was in the 6th grade in 1982. To say my mind wasn't quite open to music is an understatement (which is why I spend a lot of time catching upon all the great bands/songs/albums from 1979-1985). Luckily I had a friend who was a year younger than me who knew what a great album this was and urged me to listen to it and listen to it often (I'm not sure how he knew about the The Tubes during that time, we lived in Marlborough, CT which is not a hot bed for cutting edge music. No cable, MTV still in it's infancy and no progressive rock or college radio stations on the dial). When I gave it a chance I was hooked. This album was what Remote Control wasn't. It had a lot of mainstream pop/rock tracks but they just worked more than there previous attempt. The end result was masterful.

After the opening, the album grabs you and pulls you in with "Talk To Ya Later" and keep you around for all 10 tracks (CDs weren't invented yet so I had it on vinyl). There really isn't a bad song o the album. While I am not a big fan of "I Don't Want to Wait," it was the 2nd highest charting song after "Talk To Ya Later." My personal favorites are "Sushi Girl"" and 'Mr. Hate."

Vinyl Track Listing:

• Side one
• "Talk to Ya Later" (Best overall song on the album)
• "Sushi Girl" (One of my personal favorites)
• "Amnesia" (Really good song)
• "Mr. Hate" (Another personal favorite)
• "Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman" (Silly but a good song none the less. There's a lyric that clearly refers toFee Waybill having sex with the 50 foot woman and it went over my head. It went over my head until I was about 20 years old)
• Side two
• "Think About Me" (Good song, not as good as "Amnesia" in my opinion)
• "A Matter of Pride" (Good song)
• "Don't Want To Wait Anymore" (Not a big fan of this song. 80's drivel)
• "Power Tools" (Good song)
• "Let's Make Some Noise" (Not a bad song, better than "Don't Want To Wait Anymore" but sounds very similar to "Prime Time" off Remote Control)

History has more or less forgotten the gem. It (criminally) didn't make Rolling Stone's Top 100 Albums of the 80's (there's a lot of glaring omissions) but it's a great album and deserves recognition. If you get a chance, sit back and listen to it. You won't regret it.