Border Wave
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Border Wave
| type = studio
| artist = Sir Douglas Quintet
| cover = Border Wave.album.jpg
| alt =
| released = 1981
| recorded =
| venue =
| studio = Electric Lady
| genre =
| length =
| label = Takoma
| producer = Craig Leon, Cassell Webb
| prev_title = The Best of the Sir Douglas Quintet
| prev_year = 1980
| next_title = Live Texas Tornado
| next_year = 1983
}}
Border Wave is an album by the American band the Sir Douglas Quintet, released in 1981.{{cite book |title=The Rough Guide to Rock |date=2003 |publisher=Rough Guides |page=943 |edition=3rd}}{{cite magazine |last1=Carson |first1=Tom |title=Border Wave |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=Mar 19, 1981 |issue=339 |page=64}} Doug Sahm was inspired to record the album after the success of Joe Carrasco and Elvis Costello.{{cite news |last1=McLeese |first1=Don |title=Just one long Sahm song |work=Austin American-Statesman |date=16 June 1994 |department=Onward |page=5}}{{cite magazine |last1=Hisaw |first1=Eric |title=Mr. Record Man: Doug Sahm, Sir Douglas Quintet and the Texas Tornados |magazine=Lone Star Music Magazine |date=August 1, 2010 |volume=3 |issue=5}} It was Sahm's second album for Takoma Records.{{cite book |last1=Koster |first1=Rick |title=Texas Music |date=2000 |publisher=St. Martin's Publishing Group |page=132}} Border Wave peaked at No. 184 on the Billboard 200.{{cite web |title=Billboard 200: Week of February 21, 1981 |url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200/1981-02-20/ |website=Billboard |access-date=3 December 2023}} The band supported the album with a North American tour.{{cite news |title=Sir Douglas Quintet's 'Border Wave' |work=Los Angeles Times |date=25 Jan 1981 |department=Calendar |page=65}}
Production
Recorded at Electric Lady Studios over five days, the album was coproduced by Craig Leon.{{cite news |last1=Bentley |first1=Bill |title=Sir Douglas: Still Moving |work=LA Weekly |date=30 Jan 1981 |page=27}}{{cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=Dave |title=Alternative Rock |date=2000 |publisher=Miller Freeman Books |page=790}} Sahm was joined by original bandmembers Johnny Perez and Augie Meyers.{{cite news |last1=Kaye |first1=Roger |title=The Sir Douglas Quintet is back, better than ever |work=Fort Worth Star-Telegram |date=15 Jan 1981 |page=8D}} Speedy Sparks played bass and Alvin Crow played guitar.{{cite book |editor1-last=Jasinski |editor1-first=Laurie E. |title=Handbook of Texas Music |date=2012 |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |edition=2nd}}{{cite news |last1=Teverbaugh |first1=Kim |title=Rockpile Debut |work=The Star Press |date=18 Jan 1981 |page=B8}} "You're Gonna Miss Me" is a cover of the Roky Erickson song. "I Keep Wishing for You" was written by Butch Hancock.{{cite news |last1=North |first1=Peter |title=Sir Doug and the boys cut loose in rock 'n' roll set |work=Edmonton Journal |date=15 Feb 2003 |page=E3}} "Who'll Be the Next in Line" is a cover of the Kinks song.
Critical reception
{{music ratings
|rev1 = AllMusic
|rev1score = {{rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web |title=Border Wave Review by Eugene Chadbourne |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/border-wave-mw0000840634 |website=AllMusic |access-date=3 December 2023}}
|rev2 = Robert Christgau
|rev3 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
|rev3score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2011 |publisher=Omnibus Press}}
|rev4 = MusicHound Blues: The Essential Album Guide
|rev4score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite book |title=MusicHound Blues: The Essential Album Guide |date=1998 |publisher=Visible Ink Press |page=325}}
|rev5 = Omaha World-Herald
|rev5score = {{rating|3.5|5}}{{cite news |last1=Catlin |first1=Roger |title=New Sounds |work=Omaha World-Herald |date=17 Feb 1981 |page=11}}
|rev6 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide
|rev6score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite book |title=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |date=1992 |publisher=Random House |page=615}}
|rev7 = Ukiah Daily Journal
|rev7score = B+{{cite news |last1=Gluckman |first1=Ron |title=Hits & Misses |work=Ukiah Daily Journal |date=5 Feb 1981 |page=35}}
}}
The New York Times wrote that "Mr. Sahm and his cohorts, whether from age or their record production, sound older and heavier, too."{{cite news |last1=Rockwell |first1=John |title=Studying Cycles of Primitive Rock |work=The New York Times |date=1 Feb 1981 |page=A27}} Robert Christgau determined that "he handles horns better than most, but the quintet is Doug's home concept, and this reunion could be his best LP ever." The Guardian stated that "the playing is tight, sparse, and energetic, with that Mexican organ played off against neat guitar licks and a tight rhythm section."{{cite news |last1=Denselow |first1=Robin |title=Sahm Time |work=The Guardian |date=14 Jan 1981 |department=Arts |page=10}} The Buffalo News praised the "pumping staccato organ and the drawling harmonies."{{cite news |last1=Anderson |first1=Dale |title=Records: Rock |work=The Buffalo News |date=16 Jan 1981 |department=Gusto |page=30}} The Cambridge Evening News panned the album, labeling it "bland, irritating, dated and full of jumpy, up-beat Sixties Searchers-type songs."{{cite news |last1=Miller |first1=Ian |title=The Sir Douglas Quintet... |work=Cambridge Evening News |date=5 Feb 1981 |page=14}} The Omaha World-Herald considered the lyrics to be "painfully thin."
AllMusic wrote: "How someone as old wave as Doug Sahm hooked into the new wave of the 80s is not exactly so mysterious if one examines the rich stylistic makeup of the Sir Douglas Quintet repertoire, and how so many of these grooves were finding their way into the sounds of the so-called new wave era." Reviewing a reissue, the Edmonton Journal stated that "Sahm never had any problem switching gears or focus as he was a true chameleon, comfortably moving from country to rock to blues to Tex-Mex music over the space of three or four releases." In 2012, the Houston Press opined that the band "gives Joe King Carraso & the Crowns a run for their money when the still-bizarre Tex-Mex/New Wave craze was at its height."{{cite news |last1=Gray |first1=Chris |title=10 Doug Sahm/Sir Douglas Quintet Albums You Need to Own |work=Houston Press |date=November 9, 2012 |department=Texas Music}}
Track listing
{{Track listing
| all_writing =
| title1 = Who'll Be the Next in Line
| length1 =
| title2 = It Was Fun While It Lasted
| length2 =
| title3 = Down on the Border
| length3 =
| title4 = I Keep Wishing for You
| length4 =
| title5 = Revolutionary Ways
| length5 =
| title6 = Old Habits, Die Hard
| length6 =
| title7 = You're Gonna Miss Me
| length7 =
| title8 = Sheila Tequila
| length8 =
| title9 = Tonite, Tonite
| length9 =
| title10 = Border Wave
| length10 =
}}