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Strips about music
- The Big Drug Scare, Part 3 (8/10/2007)
- With Friends Like These (9/26/2007)
- Aural Drug Consumption, Part 1 (11/12/2007)
- Aural Drug Consumption, Part 2 (11/14/2007)
- Aural Drug Consumption, Part 3 (11/16/2007)
- Music & Me Part 1: Thomas Dolby (11/30/2007)
- Music & Me Part 2: Adamski (5/5/2008)
- Hidden Subtext (5/7/2008)
- Useless Aversions (5/28/2008)
- Restrained (8/29/2008)
Music & Me: Adamski
Adam Tinley aka Adamski aka Adam Sky got pigeonholed into the acid house scene. He doesn't seem to mind much: In his MySpace profile, he calls himself a rave veteran. I became aware of the name with his break-out single "Killer". The twelve-inch mix starts out full force with the mother of all bass lines, supported by a cleverly syncopated drum pattern. Seal's vocals add the human dimension which is crucial for chart success, but it is really the relentless bass line which keeps this track alive in my memory.
George Michael went so far as to use Killer's bass line as the underpinnings of his interpretation of The Temptation's "Papa Was A Rolling Stone". Trevor Horn re-recorded it for Seal's first album, to disappointing results. A group named ATB took the whole thing and sped it up to techno velocity, thereby destroying the song's heart. No matter, it still charted. "Killer" is indestructible. I listened to the accompanying album in a record shop (remember those), but it didn't click. So I got myself a compilation with the extended version of "Killer" on it and went on my merry way.
Three years pass. In 1993, whenever I browse the CD bargain bins of department stores, I invariably come across Adamski's third album, "Naughty". Its stand-out single "Get Your Body" also had a great bassline, but it's not as memorable as Killer's. Since the album is only a few bucks, I take it home anyway.
"Naughty" is a revelation. For months, I find myself listening to it almost constantly. Every song is a jewel. Whenever I feel down, the album catches me. There is no one favorite track for me, it's the whole album which captivates me. To this day, it's a record I can go back to over and over. Suddenly, I've become a die-hard Adamski fan.
Of course, there is no follow-up record. I compensate by collecting CD singles with remixes, tracking down "Musical Pharmacy" as a Japanese import for an exorbitant amount of money and eventually obtaining his debut album "Liveandirect" from an used record store. None of these quite hits the spot for me, though.
Time passes. In 1998, I hear that Adamski's back. He's also on ZTT, the label which spawned The Art Of Noise, Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Grace Jones, among others. To state at this point that I'm full of anticipation would be a bold understatement. The album arrives, called simply "Adamski's Thing". It's Adamski alright, but he's evolved quite a bit. His vocalist Gerideau has a precise voice which becomes laser-sharp in the higher registers. That takes a bit getting used to.
Still, the record is brilliant. The public at large seems indifferent, though. The album's two singles don't seem to get much airplay. Adamski seems to have produced an album mostly for my benefit instead of his own. After a couple of listens, things suddenly click. At this point, I'm at a fairly dark place in my personal life. The defiance of "Existential Boredom" and "Climbing Up" consistently picks me up and sends me back into the world.
So what happened next with Adamski's career? Well, nothing of course. He released one more single with Gerideau on a different label ("In The City"), then he changed his name for the Millennium to Adam Sky. He released a few 12" singles on small European labels. His website adam-sky.net has expired recently, his only current web presence is a convoluted mess of a MySpace page. According to that page, he's currently situated in Venezuela and he spends most of his time DJ-ing.
It's a bit sad state from an old fan's point of view, but on the other hand: Damn, he's made two excellent albums and produced a hit song for the ages. He might be back before I know it, with a new album full of more captivating music. In the mean time, "Naughty" and "Adamski's Thing" are always present in my record collection, waiting to pick me up from a fall.
Selected Discography
- Liveandirect, debut album from 1989, recorded live. Contains "N-R-G", "The Bassline Changed My Life" and "I Love Technology". The 1990 US version also contains "Killer" tacked-on as a bonus track.
- Doctor Adamski's Musical Pharmacy from 1990. This is the album which spawned "Killer". The last track, "Over Killer", is a sparse remix, not to be confused with the "Killeremix" released separately. The album also includes a longer version of "N-R-G" called "N.R.G. Symphony in F Minor".
- Naughty from 1992 continues the tradition of carrying tracks from the previous album into the next. In this case it's "Never Goin' Down" which contains bits of "Future Freak". The single "Get Your Body" is present in a considerably different form than the radio version. Jimi Polo contributes on a number of tracks. The album is a commercial flop, yet I treasure it very much. The songs flow perfectly.
- Adamski's Thing from 1998 pushes the guitars forward into the mix. Adamski's Thing is an actual band, not a "project". The head vocalist is called Gerideau. The singles were "Intravenous Venus" and the infectiously optimistic "One Of The People". For me, the stand-out tracks are "God's Teeth", "Climbing Up" for their aggressive energy. Many songs build up from sparse arrangements into huge productions, such as "Champagne Or Real Pain".
- Killer: The Best of Adamski from 1999 is your standard sour-grapes "best of" package. When an artist leaves a major label and releases his work elsewhere, the former label will quickly package a compilation of his previous output. The liner notes summing up Adamski's career are particularly insulting. The unnamed writer starts by misspelling Adamsi's given name as Adam Tinnley and wastes a lot of space on a shoddy description of the Acid House scene. The third album isn't even mentioned by name. The track selection makes up for it, though. It contains the original "Killer" Remix as well as the 12 inch versions of "Killer" and "Get Your Body" (not credited as such).
Also available: Miscellaneous 12" singles – "In The City" was only released in the UK and Italy. His recent releases as "Adam Sky" are rather hard to track down. His latest release to date is a remake of Mark Stewart's "We Are All Prostitutes" (released in the fall of 2007).
Strips featuring Adamski:
Adamski on the web:
Adamski's MySpace page
Adamski discography at discogs.com
Adamski's Thing discography at discogs.com
Adam Sky discography at discogs.com
Adamski's discography at Wikipedia (somewhat inaccurate)