Two Bit Monsters
1980 studio album by John Hiatt
Two Bit Monsters is singer-songwriter John Hiatt's fourth album, released in June 1980. It was his second of two albums with MCA Records. It failed to chart, and MCA dropped Hiatt. "It Hasn't Happened Yet" would be a minor country hit for Rosanne Cash, from her album Somewhere in the Stars. Cash also covered "Pink Bedroom", on Rhythm & Romance.
01Release
Two Bit Monsters was released by MCA Records in June 1980. "I Spy (For the F.B.I.)" was released as a single, with "Good Girl, Bad World" as the B-Side. "Back to the War", c/w "Pink Bedroom", and "Back to Normal" were also released as singles. The album failed to chart everywhere but Sweden, where it peaked at No. 41 on the Sverigetopplistan chart.
02Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| Cash Box | (unrated) |
| Robert Christgau | B |
| Rolling Stone | (favorable) |
The Boston Globe wrote that "Hiatt's effort is strong, angry, and intelligent... He is not content to sneer, rather, Hiatt is one to ridicule and condemn." Billboard wrote that the album "takes him [Hiatt] from the folk rock genre to the world of pop rock."
03Track listing
All tracks are written by John Hiatt, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Back to Normal" | 3:18 | |
| 2. | "Down in Front" | 3:22 | |
| 3. | "I Spy (For the F.B.I.)" | Richard "Popcorn" Wylie, Herman Kelley | 2:41 |
| 4. | "Pink Bedroom" | 2:53 | |
| 5. | "Good Girl, Bad World" | 3:14 | |
| 6. | "Face the Nation" | 3:07 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Cop Party" | 2:54 |
| 2. | "Back to the War" | 3:28 |
| 3. | "It Hasn't Happened Yet" | 3:22 |
| 4. | "String Pull Job" | 3:22 |
| 5. | "New Numbers" | 3:02 |
| Total length: | 34:43 | |
04Personnel
- John Hiatt, guitar, vocals
- Howard Epstein, bass guitar, background vocals
- Shane Keister, keyboards, organ, piano
- Darrell Verdusco, drums, background vocals
- Technical
- Denny Bruce, producer
- Mark Howlett, recording, mixing
- John Van Hamersveld, photography, design
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Two Bit Monsters”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Hiatt Monsters.jpg by Unknown author, Fair use
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