Search - Holly & Italians :: Right to Be Italian

'Bout Time!!!

L Salisbury | Maryland United States | 02/26/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album (with the classic "tell that girl to shut up") has been a cult classic since it's 1981 release. Now, only 21 years later, it sees the light of CD. WHAT THE [HECK] TOOK SO LONG???
"Shut up" is not the only great song; check out "means to a den",
"youth coup" and the best song "rock against romance" (which mixes punk rock with a string section!). Grab it now so you don't have to wait another 21 years!"

Top-notch power-pop-punk from 1981

hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 11/21/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Upon its release in 1981, this band's debut (and with this line-up, only) album quickly found itself dwarfed by the iconic track, "Tell That Girl to Shut Up." A decade later, when the song was turned into a hit by Transvision Vamp, the album from which it originally sprung (and the band that originally sprang it) receded yet another step from public renown. Things weren't helped by Virgin's reluctance to reissue the album on CD, nor the time-limited nature of this Wounded Bird's release. The hard-luck story leaves this great power-pop album once again difficult to find.



And rest assured, this is no one-hit wonder of an LP; Holly Beth Vincent's other songs were in the same league as "Tell That Girl," and veteran producer Richard Gottehrer (Blondie, Go-Gos, Richard Hell & The Voidoids) deftly mated the verve of new wave and punk with the timeless sound of guitar-driven rock 'n' roll. Vincent's music is in a league with The Waitresses, Go-Go's and Pearl Harbor & The Explosions, but without the New Wave affectations that prematurely aged the competition's work. Think of this as a sharper-edged version of Bonnie Hayes & The Wild Combo's "Good Clean Fun."



Wounded Bird's reissue includes the original front and back covers and song lyrics for the album's original ten tracks. Four bonus cuts include the single edit of "Miles Away" and its B-side "It's Only Me," along with two additional B-sides, the acidic "Fanzine" and the Ronnie Spector-styled "Poster Boy." MIA from this disc are the pre-LP 7" version of "Tell That Girl to Shut Up" and its B-side "Chapel of Love," which were disappointingly include on the CD reissued of Holly Beth Vincent's confusingly-titled follow-up solo LP, "Holly and the Italians."



This is worth searching for on the secondary market, as it's one of the best power-pop-punk albums to come out in the early '80s. [©2006 hyperbolium dot com]"

Contains the ultimate early 80's pop-punk song "tell that gi

J. McDonald | 02/19/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a MUST OWN for any fan of early 80's pop-punk. Imagine a mixture of Ramones and Go-Go's and you'll get the idea. This album was produced by musical genius Richard Gottehrer, the man behind such successful artists as the Angels ("my boyfriend's back" - 1963), Blondie (self titled - 1976) , the Go-Go's (produced the first two LP's) and many, many more! Late Night with David Letterman fans may be interested to know that the LP features drummer Anton Fig and Paul Schaffer on Piano and Organ!



You've probably heard the classic track "tell that girl to shut up", the ultimate 80's pop-punk masterpiece! The song was later re-recorded by Transvision Vamp (without any visible credit given to holly?), so if you are only familiar with that "imitation" you owe it to yourself to investigate the original. The rest of the album is not without flaws but has lots of very high points.



Holly and the Italians was basically the name of a group conceived by "holly beth vincent". Her follow up to this release actually uses her full name as the title of the album. After the 2nd release (a total chart failure) Holly vanished for a LONG time but showed up again with the group "the oblivious" and later with a group called "Vowel Movement" with Concrete Blonde singer Johnette Napolitano. In 2007 she released a CD titled "Super Rocket Star".



If you like this CD you should seek out the follow up release "Holly Beth Vincent" which is a very unique effort worth owning but suffers from the production of Mike Thorne (a guy who ruined the sound of a lot of New Wave groups when he took over production). The DOUBLE CD named "demos federico" is certainly worth owning. The tracks "it's only me" and "fanzine" are both far superior on "demos federico" than the versions included here on "the right to be italian". Several of the tracks on "demos federico" are also demo tracks from her group "the oblivious".



Check out everything from Holly and you're sure to be surprised and entertained! She may have never lived up to the full potential glimpsed on this first release.... but there's a smattering of great tunes on every album!"