Don't gob on me!

For the third time this summer, I've seen someone's posted an album on a blog or forum, accompanied by my AMG (All Music Guide) review of it. Well, glad someone's getting some use out of them. The latest, WASP by Shawn Cassidy.

Seeing as I have only a prerecorded cassette version of this, my guess is that I saw said tape in a cut-out bin and snatched it up, as I used to do. Either that or reading a CREEM review, one or the other, had to be my first exposure to this unlikely pairing of the teen idol and Todd Rundgren/Utopia.

Hearing it again, I'm still unsure whether Todd was trying to humiliate SC with the idiosyncratic Todd-isms like the chipmunk voice and novelty synth sounds, or if it was Rundgren's sincere attempt to make Shawn sound hip. When the production gimmicks don't overwhelm him, this album shows that Cassidy could've been a viable rocker in the 80's. Apart from those dated Todd-touches, the album has aged well . . . it still rocks!

I am more convinced that ever, though, that it's Rundgren himself -- rather than him making SC sound uncannily like him -- on the title track. C'mon, listen to the way he says: "Looking for somebody to gob on? Well, don't gob on me!"

Until it's issued on CD, if ever, you'll have to blog-crawl to find WASP, which I recommend you do. It's gob-worthy!