The Severed Cortex

Link: http://www.amazon.com/Datarock/dp/B000A6QWZ6/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-1514635-5264950?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1179109111&sr=8-1

Normally I'm not into gay Norwegian disco music, or gay American disco, or American disco, or gay disco, or disco music for that matter; except for of course Right Said Fred's I'm Too Sexy and Frankie Goes to Hollywood's Relax. (Is it redundant to say gay disco?) What I am into sometimes is campy music, as witnessed by the two songs mentioned above. I think everyone can agree that disco music holds the greatest potential for exploiting the 'camp' factor and Datarock does a real fine job of it here. From what I've read, since obviously I've never been to a disco in Norway, Norwegian gay disco is quite over the top. (Insert gay top/bottom joke here) Datarock is definitely over the top on this release; so much so that you don't really know if they are truly devotees of the lifestyle or just poking it in the butt for fun. There are times when this is as fudge-y as it gets with lyrics like 'He had a prince of an ass. He had the ass of a prince'. and 'I used to dance with my daddy'. Other times it's not so clear if they are just plain making fun of the culture by mentioning their girlfriends.

One thing is for sure, the song Computer Camp Love is the height of camp and it's definitely the one that made me pay attention. The give and take between the narrator and the chorus is hilarious and it makes me laugh every time I hear it ... and I've listened to it a lot.
Narrator: I ran into her on computer camp
Chorus: Was 1984?
Narrator: Not sure. I had my Commodore 64, had to score
Chorus: Not with that dirty tramp?
Narrator: She's not a tramp. Her name is Judy.
Chorus: That's a nice name.
Narrator: Yeah. She's a nice girl.
Chorus: Big deal. Did you get in her pants?
Narrator: She's not that kind of a girl booger.
Chorus: Why? Does she have a penis?
Narrator: Seen as supreme-as. You better know that she's a genus and a Venus.
Chorus: Tell me more. Was it love at first sight?
Narrator: That's right. This was god given grace with a face you could praise.
Chorus: Tell me more. Did you put up a fight?
Narrator: I don't think so, but before we tore the chorus let’s all explore amour

... which is pretty much how most of the songs on the release go. Campy, ambiguously gay at times, and then just outright break out the lube gay the rest of the time. If I listened to this back home, I would have been beaten up because this sounds nothing like Lynyrd Skynyrd or Molly Hatchet. (Molly Hatchet rules BTW ... I'm so not gay).

But I'm not back home and you probably aren't either. If you're looking for campy dance music, this might be the ticket. Most of the songs on here are kind of throwaway, but if you give them a couple listens you'll probably find that they grow on you. The whole cheesy Casio sound does get a little old at times, but that sound kind of means that this could have been released 15 years ago next to Right Said Fred's I'm Too Sexy and fit in just fine; just like it sort of does today. I'd definitely recommend listening to Computer Camp Love, but you can probably pass on the rest of it.