Namesakes #94: Breathless

When Jean Luc Goddard wrote and directed À bout de souffle, one of the most influential movies of the 60s, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg, did he have any idea how many earnest young men would end up stealing the film's British title for their band names? 

Of course he didn't, otherwise he'd have called his film Duran Duran instead. (In case you're wondering, there was only one band to ever use the name Duran Duran... although there is a band called Duran Duran Duran... but I'd stick with Simon Le Bon if I were you.)  

Bands called Breathless then... take a deep breath!

BREATHLESS #1

Cleveland, Ohio AOR band who enjoyed a few breaths of success in the late 70s and early 80s with chunky guitars and singalong choruses. Warms my heart, it surely does.

Breathless - Takin' It Back

BREATHLESS #2

Welsh rockabilly band led by two brothers of Cavan Grogan, Teddy Boy lead singer of Crazy Cavan and the Rhythm Rockers. These guys were active throughout the 80s, and they even did a song about one of my all-time favourite TV shows... 

Breathless - The Twilight Zone

BREATHLESS #3

Acclaimed dream-pop band (I think Khayem first brought them to my attention) who met while working at the Virgin Megastore in London and released their first recordings in 1984. Amazingly, they're still in the go, having released their 8th album just a couple of years back. Frontman Dominic Appleton also sang with This Mortal Coil.

Breathless - Always

BREATHLESS #4

German speed-metal band from 1985 who would later change their name to Glory Anthem.

Breathless - Caught In The Heat

BREATHLESS #5

More German metal, also from 1985. Must have been something in the air.

Breathless - Back From The Attack

BREATHLESS #6

Belgium metal band, also from 1985. By this point, I was wondering if it was the fall out from Chernobyl, but that didn't happen till '86.

Breathless - Nobody's Perfect

BREATHLESS #7

If you're the sort of person who gets turned on by record labels, you'll be thrilled to hear that these guys were on Blanco Y Negro in 1999. They were from Spain and their only release appears to be a track called Snow On The Sahara. I imagined something atmospheric, perhaps more dream pop. I didn't get it...

Breathless - Snow On The Sahara

BREATHLESS #8

Greek rockabilly band who arrived on the scene in 2008, but sound like they came from 50 years earlier...

Breathless - Hot Rod Kid

BREATHLESS #9

Female-fronted punk bank from Italy in 2011...

Breathless - That Magic Have To Come

BREATHLESS #10

And finally today, a Thai Goth-Metal band from 2012 led by Narusha Dithabenjakul who also created a comic strip called Bunny Man. 

Breathless - Masquerade of Puppets

Which ones take your breath away... and which ones leave you gagging for breath?

  

Idiomusic #2: Better Late Than Never

We're back with another idiom and some pop songs which appropriated it. This post was supposed to run yesterday, but...

See what I did there?

The album cover at the top of the page is from Eddie & The Hot Rods' 2004 comeback album, their first in 9 years, hence the title. Other than that, it appears to be business as usual. Hot Rods lead singer Barrie Masters sadly passed away in 2019... and if you're wondering about Eddie, he was just a shop dummy brought on stage in the early days, but they soon got tired of dragging him around...

Eddie & The Hot Rods - Bad Time Again

Sadly, that album didn't have a title track. And because I reckon you've waited long enough for a song named after this week's idiom... here it is. Better l...

Sigh. Let's start with some Love...

Love - Love Is More Than Words Or Better Late Than Never

Next up, York's finest.

Shed Seven - Better Late Than Never

Finest what, you ask? Monkey-faced Britpoppers, I answer.

Some Bangly Canadian power pop next...

Universal Honey - Better Late Than Never

You normally can't go wrong with a bit of Motown. The jury's still out on Bobby Breen though, who sounds to me like he's singing while gargling mouthwash...

Bobby Breen - Better Late Than Never

Here are The Cover Girls, with a track from the soundtrack of the 1988 Eddie Murphy movie, Coming To America...

The Cover Girls - Better Late Than Never

And purely because they've never appeared on this blog before, nor on my previous blog, meaning that I haven't given them even one mention in almost 18 years of blogging... ladies and gentlemen, I give you...

The Nolans - Better Late Than Never

OK, enough of this MOR stuff... let's ROCK!

FM - Better Late Than Never

Some 60s pop from Down Under next, with a teen star who was qualified to teach ballet by the age of 14.

Patsy Ann Noble - Better Late Than Never

Still in Australia, here's some dream pop from the 90s...

Tugboat - Better Late Than Never

In a similar stylee, here's a band Khayem introduced me to a while back...

Breathless - Better Late Than Never

Bang up to date now with some bouncy indie pop from Liverpool...

The Ragamuffins - Better Late Than Never

I've always got a bit of (lilac) time for Stephen Duffy... even though he's got today's idiom arse-backwards...

The Lilac Time - Too Sooner Late Than Better

Country star Tanya Tucker was 13 when she had her first hit single in 1972... which makes her just over 20 when she released this belter in 1979... I dunno, she looks older on the album cover.

Tanya Tucker - Better Late Than Never

Pick of the bunch today comes from My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James. I always have time for a good two minute pop song - they're useful for filling up the last slot on a compilation CD...