Adamski Doctor Adamskis Musical Pharmacy

Adamski 'Doctor Adamski's Musical Pharmacy' (MCA 1990)

1990 was a game changer in many ways. Death Metal was near to its peak, but nobody apart from the Moshpit faithful seemed to be paying attention. Skaters who had been sporting Metallica shirts a year before were now shopping in McKenzie Sports instead of Quarterback, Dead Kennedys fans were wearing James T shirts (did anybody actually like James that much!?) and people were wanting to dance instead of mosh. Most important of all girls were wanting to dance and ollies at the Mound only impressed so much, it was time to start listening to new music.

I would still keep metal close to my heart but, to win the ladies over by shaking my fringe back and forth, indie and dance would have to be accepted. I didn't really have a problem with this as I enjoyed the likes of M/A/R/R/S, Technotronic and Coldcut, and Jonsey, my skater mate and short-lived breakdancer, had introduced me to Kraftwerk and others through his breakdance mix tapes. I also thought the Stone Roses and Charlatans were great as they weren't a million miles away from the 60s and 70s stuff my Mum and Dad listened to.

However, what I could never stand was the cross pollination of the two sounds. OK, I know that the Roses did the dance crossover thing, but they always maintained their rock foundations. What I couldn't stand was 'baggy', the likes of 'Screamadelica', not released until 1991 admittedly, and 'Pills 'n Thrills, and Bellyaches', it just reeked of insincerity and lacked any credibility as far as I was concerned, it was contrived and trying to please too many people whilst not pleasing me, in the slightest. Of course I was a huge hypocrite and could often be found running downstairs from Wheels to Katch with an Inspiral Carpets shirt on top of my Morbid Angel long sleeve to hit the floor in order to try and secure a snog!

This album sums up those confused times. It's a hideous chimera of a record that should have been put out of its misery long before it was released. It's got elements of baggy, techno, indie and rock and yet does none of them well. Adamski has got a terrible, poor man's Robert Smith, voice and no sense of how to write a decent tune.

Overall it sounds like a fourth rate 808 State record over produced by Andy Weatherall. It's not a million miles away from EMF and The Shamen (at their very worst, admittedly.) It has terrible drug reference songs and opening track 'Flashback Jack' ('I put the freshness back' Adamski tells us, as if we're meant to applaud his genius rip off of a carpet product advert) made me want to spew. Really.

But then 'Killer' comes on and I remembered why I ever entertained buying this record. 'Killer' is genius, all glitchy bleeps and blips, with a drum machine which almost gets ahead of itself and a soulful vocal from the soon to be huge Seal. It's a moment of brilliance, where even a piano house mid-section is forgivable. I love this song and it brings back so many memories of playing pool at Teviot whilst smoking fags during lunch break, skating, getting home to watch 'The Word' and 'Normski's House Party' and calling our mate Ewanski because he went to Cornwall, where Adamski was from, on his holidays.

Top tip - buy the 12" of 'Killer' and forget about this mess!

Peace