- Tom Ed -- vocals, keyboards

- none known

Genre: pop

Rating: 2 stars **

Title:  Tom Ed

Company: Tomorrow

Catalog: TVI-139
Year: 1977

Country/State: US

Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+

Comments: still in shrink

Available: 1

Catalog ID: 5722

Price: $100.00

As a tax scam enterprise, nothing on the Tomorrow label is particularly easy to find, but 1977's cleverly-titled "Tom Ed" is even harder to score than most releases on the elusive label.

As you'd expect, other than the fact the album was co-produced by John Gomez and Elliott Rosoff, there was virtually no information provided about namesake Ed.  Absent writing or performance credits I'm assuming he wrote all ten tracks and was responsible for the vocals and keyboards (since these were all keyboard-propelled numbers).  So what did this one sound like?   Well the first couple of times this one didn't do a great deal for me.  Ed came off as a self-conscious, pompous, blowhard.  Most of the set featured singer/songwriter fair with an emphasis on 'big' statements related to the joys and heartaches of love.   Yeah, I can hear the groans out there.  That said, this is another one I put away for a couple of months and then revisited before deciding whether to chuck it, or not.   I must have softened during that timeframe since I discovered the collection wasn't nearly as bad as I originally thought.  Still not great, but there were at least a couple of tracks worth checking out.

"Tom Ed" track listing:
(side 1)

1.) Carnival King   rating: *** stars

'Carnival King' opened with a martial beat and a vaguely lysergic feel.  Highly orchestrated it had the benefit of showcasing Ed's somewhat fey voice at its rawest.  Imagine Gilbert O'Sullivan trying to be heavy.

2.) Sing-a-Long Song  rating: *** stars

'Sing-a-Long Song' captured Ed at his cocktail jazz peak ...  Thanks to the hideously catchy la-la-la-la chorus the song was actually irritatingly memorable.

3.) All of Me   rating: ** stars

Complete with heavy orchestration, 'All of Me' was one of those 'big' ballads that simply served to underscore Ed's Fey characteristics.  Echoes of Chris DeBurgh ...  

4.) Love Me Like a Friend   rating: ** stars

Complete with sophomoric lyrics like 'he treated her unkindly; taste another man's wine', if anything 'Love Me Like a Friend' was even worse ...  Besides, songs about do it with your best friend's fiancée are not cool.

5.) Happy  rating: *** stars

After two hideous ballads the poppy 'Happy' was a nice change of pace.  You could even overlook the dumbsh*t lyrics on this one.

(side 2)
1.) Friday Fever  rating: *** stars

Not to imply that it was great, but 'Friday Fever' might have been the most commercial song on the album.  Personally I'd suggest ignoring all of Ed's pick-up suggestions.

2.) Fly Girl   rating: *** stars

Sporting kind of a jazzy feel and a great bass line, 'Fly Girl' was a sleeper that may be my favorite song.

3.) Checker Champ   rating: ** stars

'Checker Champ' merely underscored the fact you should never write a song about checkers.  Another Chris DeBurgh-styled ballad ...

4.) I Could Have   rating: ** stars

Ah, time to get serious about lost opportunities ... Anytime there's a spoken word segment you know things are going to get rough and 'I Could Have' was no exception.  Not to sound mean-spirited, but I'd have to say he couldn't have ...

5.) I Failed   rating: *** stars

Yes it was another ballad and his quivery voice was again front and center, but for some reason 'I Failed' actually came off as being worthwhile.  I'm going to attribute that fact to the great guitar that accompanied the song and the fact the song was fairly short.

Certainly not the best release on Tomorrow, but not the worst and as said before there were at least five songs worth hearing.   By the way, someone out there must have some info on Mr. Ed ...