Ah, it’s been a while since I’ve heard this album; it’s one that I had on tape (back to back with Synchronicity, I think), and was one that I played a fair bit back in, oh, probably 1989, and then forgot about.
It’s probably because we’ve recently had Gang Of Four and The Slits on this list, but I don’t remember noticing back then how strong the reggae element of this album is. Probably also because I read the title as “regatta” and not “reggatta”. So it roughly means “white reggae” and nothing to do with boat races.
To me, the stronger tracks on this album are the ones with the larger reggae component (which are mainly the ones written by Sting). The most directly reggae are The Bed’s Too Big Without You, which is a great vibe, and Bring On The Night. Once you notice it, it’s pretty obvious how much reggae there is in Walking On The Moon, while the other big hit on the album, Message In A Bottle, is closest to a mix of reggae and rock.
These are all good solid tracks; there’s a bit of a sense of some filler on the album, but to me what might be classed as the “novelty” tracks are some of my favourites – the title track with its nonsense lyrics - “Ee-yo, ee-yo, ee-yeah-yo", and On Any Other Day. This is a Stewart Copeland track, but it’s not clear if he’s singing or not, it doesn’t sound like Sting. Whoever it is affects an American accent for the narrator, and it makes the song sound a little like They Might Be Giants.
I went into a bit of a rabbit hole about why they used the accent, centred around the complaint by the narrator that “my fine young son has turned out gay”. Although by modern standards this isn’t a complaint at all, in 1979 Britain homosexuals were still mostly either a punchline or a punchbag but with a growing level of acceptance that at least they exist - the Thatcherite government in the Eighties launched the infamous Section 28 that tried to ban even talking about homosexuality, which backfired in spectacular Streisand Effect, so evidently there had to be a lash for there to have been a regressive backlash against. Is Copeland mocking a certain kind of American narrow-mindedness and/or entitlement with the song? Or did it just sound better in that character?
Copeland’s other tracks are the more punky/rocky tracks on the album and didn’t land as well for me, but mixed in with the strongly reggae tracks it makes for an interesting fusion, at least. This was like revisiting an old friend. I know why this didn’t make my list of “forever” albums that I refer back to every few years, but I can also see why it stuck with me for a while. I’ll also note that once again I’m impressed with how much crisper and cleaner the sound is through tiny earbuds playing music streamed through a phone, compared to the rather ropey quality of magnetic tape that I had.
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