Why It Matters

This was the one that was supposed to break Athens, Georgia’s Love Tractor nationally.  Things didn’t work out that way, but it’s still a great album.

This is one of those slippery cases of “it factor.”  Unlike R.E.M. and the B-52’s, Love Tractor didn’t have that little extra something to push them over the top, most likely a Fred Schneider or a Michael Stipe.  Mike Richmond’s vocals are fine, but they don’t have anywhere near the personality of either of those front men.

Or maybe by the time this one came out in 1987 college radio was already too far gone.  We’re talking about the year of Appetite For Destruction and Nothing’s Shocking, after all. And of course all of America – nay, the world – was still enthralled by Rockwell’s multi-aluminum 1986 release, The Genie.

You’re in luck.  This is such an unknown little gem that you can pick it up online for next to nothing.  Add it to your stacks, enjoy it, and bust it out for your hipster friends so that you can offer a condescending, “What? You don’t own any Love Tractor?”  Happy hunting.