ALBUM: Gun Shy (1986)
MVC Rating: 4.0 $$$$
Given the name and menacing bald guy on the cover, you might think this is some hard-core punk or something way off the beaten path.
But the Screaming Blue Messiahs aren’t blue and they only scream a little bit. This defunct British trio shook things up a bit in the 1980s with a trio of albums that basically hit you in the face with straight ahead rock and roll.
There was some rockabilly, some Clash and BoDeans all tied up in the trio’s straightforward rock.
My album, ‘Gun Shy,’ was their second full-length album and yielded a minor hit called ‘Wild Blue Yonder.’ Good song!
Their biggest hit was ‘I Wanna be a Flinstone” off of their second album ‘Bikini Red.’
Gun-Shy showed them at the top of their game. Critics loved it — even getting a complimentary write-up in the New York Times, according to the Tidal.com website in its ‘Unsung Heroes’ feature.
“With twanging, squealing guitars and walloping drums, Gun-Shy comes on like a pickup truck full of Furies,” wrote the NYT.
But alas personal differences felled this promising band. In an interview with members Kenny Harris and Chris Thompson were asked about the possibility of reuniting with third member Bill Carter to play.
‘No, we are not in touch with him and as for a reformation, you have a better chance of seeing Elvis on stage supported by The Beatles,’ Thompson said.