Notes:
A 2001 reissue fleshed out the original album with tracks from their aborted second album: Ambition, I See Through You, Premature Baby, Christ Look Upon Us, Oh U Boys, Only the Best, Think of Me, Happens So Fast, and No Second Troy (Alias Sam).
Acting My Age
Graduate
Review:
“Graduate features Roland Orzabel and Curt Smith in their days prior to attaining international stardom with Tears for Fears. They formed in Bath on the back of the New Wave boom of the late 1970s” (CdUniverse.com) as “a five piece power-pop band that…featured Roland Orzabal (guitar/keyboards/vocals), Curt Smith (bass/synths/vocals), John Baker (guitar/vocals), Andy Marsden (drums), and Steve Buck (keyboards/flute). They got their name from the cover of Simon & Garfunkel's 'Mrs. Robinson' (found on The Graduate original movie soundtrack) that they used to play live as a show opener” (MemoriesFade.com).
“Elvis Should Play Ska was Graduate's first single on the Pye label and was the marketing tool Pye used to justify dressing the boys up in zoot suits for concerts and promotional photos. According to Andy Marsden: ‘We happened to be around at the end of the 70's along with a number of ska influenced groups such as Selector, Bad Manners, Madness etc. but we were not ‘Two Tone’ (as ska was called then). Roland had heard an interview given by Elvis Costello where he said that all ska groups at that time were simply ‘one hit wonders’ trying to cash-in on the mod revival. Rol felt that his comments were sour grapes because a lot of the songs in the charts at that time were doing better than Elvis Costello's songs. Because of this, Rol wrote 'Elvis Should Play Ska'…because it was written in a ska fashion, the record company latched onto the ‘ska’ thing. No other Graduate songs were similar, but Pye Records decided to package the band with that image, and even took us down the King's Road in Chelsea to choose zoot suits” (MemoriesFade.com).
The accompanying “Acting My Age album “is, at its worst, teeth-grindingly embarrassing on Shut Up (featuring Roland Orzabal horribly immature vocals screeching ‘Shut up, shut up, you naughty boy’) but is largely bearable. There are tunes which XTC wouldn't have been ashamed in the hook-laden Watching Your World and Ever Met a Day” (leonardslair.co.uk).
Graduate disbanded when, “as the story goes, Roland and Curt were unhappy at being constantly outvoted on band decisions despite being Graduate's main creative force. According to Curt in 1983: ‘I suppose Pye thought we were young and commercial for the time and could make a bit of money out of us. But we gave up half way through when we decided we didn't like being in bands. It was a worthwhile lesson and hopefully neither of us will ever be in a group again. In its place we decided to form a much looser act, that didn't parade under a so-called democratic banner…especially when Roland and I were the only two creative members of the band. So…we decided to…leave and create our own thing…[using] whichever backing musicians we wanted whenever we wanted, leaving them free to go off and do whatever else they wanted to do in between’” (MemoriesFade.com).
The 2001 Sanctuary Records reissue adds another nine songs, “some of which were to feature on an aborted second album…Ambition and the white funk of I See Through You reveal songwriting maturity and are a definite step forward whereas the unissued Christ Look Upon Us, Think of Me and No Second Troy reveal their more considered, soulful side. The move towards their emotional keyboard-driven pop success of the future was just a small step away but much of this music is surprisingly palatable” (leonardslair.co.uk).
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