Fiona (1985, LP)

Not all the music coming out of 1985 was washed-out, bland pop. Some of it was actually pretty good. Unfortunately, the unwashed masses tended not to notice it very much.

Fiona Flanagan was one of those who turned out some good stuff but got missed. This was not your typical 80s pop music. Call it power pop--something on the heavy side of pop or the lighter side of hard rock. Fiona had a powerful voice, although I think it was slightly weaker in the higher ranges, but her voice was still very nice to listen to and had a way of skidding in the gravel now and then. Think how Kim Karnes' voice sounded, like she was always walking through the gravel. But Fiona just stepped off the pavement and had it crunch under her feet at all the right spots.

I think another thing that may have hurt her was that another very popular, famous and already-established singer named Stevie Nicks had a single at the same time by the same title, "Talk to Me." By the way, an odd coincidence had both songs with saxophone solos, which as you may remember is something that usually catches my ear. Other than that, the songs are nothing alike, and Fiona's voice is nothing like Stevie Nicks'.

I really enjoyed listening to this album back then. It was one that I taped and played until I wore the tape out. My current vinyl rip was almost perfect except for one muted and almost unnoticeable pop on the last track, "Na Na Song," which is actually my favorite song from this album.

She was another singer who it was hard to find anything about back in 1985. I saw her perform once on "American Bandstand" or some show like that, and other than that I knew nothing that wasn't on the album. Now, of course, she has an entry in Wikipedia, and Heavy Harmonies has an entry with a later and more mature photo of her (she aged well). She released three more albums after this one (her first), the last one coming out in 1992. But although I kept an eye open, I never saw anything else from her in any of the local record stores, so this is the only one I ever got. Fiona has since been released on CD.

It's a good one.