This is Peter's first live album and finally it comes with an unambiguous title. Unlike his first four studio albums which were all titled 'Peter Gabriel' this one adds the descriptor 'Plays Live'.
Although the credits are for 4 concerts between Dec 3-7 1982 there is a note saying "additional recording" was done and "the producers" call this "cheating" (sorry for all the quotation marks, that's how it comes across.) That doesn't take away from the excitement of live recording including 'Shock the Monkey', 'Biko' and the evergreen 'Solsbury Hill'. For me, you can't go past the 1994 'Secret World Live' album for amazing concert performances and if you can find the video, even better. Watching Tony Levin in action is always mesmerizing.
Not to be confused with the soundtrack of the Blues Brothers movie, this was their debut album released 2 years before the film came out. Recorded live at the Universal Amphitheatre in L.A. in September 1978, the two "brothers" were John Belushi ("Joliet" Jake Blues) and Dan Aykroyd (Elmwood Blues) ably assisted by a host of well-known musicians including long time David Letterman band leader Paul "The Shiv" Shaffer.
Opening for Steve Martin, the Blues Brothers could have been dismissed as a novelty because of Aykroyd and Belushi, but with a quality backing and the fact that they took themselves seriously, they ended up producing an album that sold millions and became one of the highest selling blues albums ever.
I know what you're thinking - did we really need a Rod Stewart picture disc? To be honest I don't know what possessed me to buy it, but here it is in all it's glory. There was no album cover, just the disc with a card photo insert in a plastic sleeve.
Rod took a gamble with this album, taking on the disco trend and leaving his heavy rock / rock ballad style on the back burner for a while. It paid off, giving him a #1 single with the horrendously cheesy 'Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?' and a minor hit with 'Ain't Love a Bitch' while the title track came in a distant third.
A mixed bag compilation pulling single releases from as far back as 1969 with 'Give Peace a Chance' and 'Cold Turkey' through some album tracks up to 1974 with Elton John on piano and backing vocals for 'Whatever Gets You Through the Night'.
The picks for me are 'Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)', 'Power to the People' and the aforementioned 'Whatever Gets You ...'. I recall how great it was to chant 'Give Peace a Chance' when it first came out and how 'Imagine' started as being mildly annoying and ended up as one of my least favourite songs - ever.
A word of caution. If you buy this album, make sure it's the original release. The re-issue did not include track B1, 'Alexander Beetle' and others replaced it with 'Close to it All'.
Basing the album title and opening songs on her experience at Woodstock, 'Candles in the Rain' and 'Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)' really set the scene for Melanie's style and range. I recently found this album again over 50 years after buying it for the first time. Her voice can sound odd at times. Her arrangements can sound odd at times. The album can feel odd at times - but I love every inch of it. Her covers of James Taylor's 'Carolina on my Mind' and Jagger/Richards 'Ruby Tuesday' are distinctively different and fresh in their own way and her original compositions are consistently good. For me, 'The Good Guys' and 'Lovin Baby Girl' are the cream of the crop. You also get 'What Have They Done to my Song, Ma' .. always a winner.
As a lifelong Dylan collector having this album is a no-brainer. For the casual listener though, it's not an easy addition to the playlist. For a fan like me it was a must-have, being comprised of outtakes mainly from his 'Self Portrait' and 'New Morning' releases and therefore it was material that wouldn't normally have seen the light of day. It was put out by Columbia after Dylan left them for Asylum Records, so it was a bit of an f-u to the guy, done without any involvement from Dylan himself. Almost singing as a parody of himself, Dylan still does credible versions of Jerry Jeff Walkers 'Mr. Bojangles' and Joni Mitchell's 'Big Yellow Taxi' comes across in the way only Dylan can.
This album is in my wife's collection and it shows. Everything that came with it is still there, including the flyer from 40 years ago advertising "merch". Maybe I'll send for a $10 T-shirt.
The 8th album by Judas Priest gave the single 'You've Got Another Thing Comin''
"If you think I'll sit around as the world goes by
You're thinkin' like a fool 'cause it's a case of do or die
Out there is a fortune waitin' to be had
You think I'll let it go you're mad
You've got another thing comin'"
This isn't about Dinah Shore, it's about the records. Today we call a single LP containing multiple tracks an 'album' but originally, albums were just that - albums. Taken from the photo album format, record sets like this were presented in book form with, in this case, 4 records with a song on each side making up an 'album' of 8 songs.
This 'album' is almost 80 years old but when I rev the turntable up to 78 rpm it plays well.
I don't know. I mean, I really don't know. I bought this album on a recent forage through the discount bins. It's new, sealed and classed as 'experimental'. I'm reluctant to unseal it.
A couple of tracks are on YouTube. 'In Loving Memory' is an instrumental. The only comment is "Most Excellent!" but that's written by John Trubee who is not only the guitarist but the driving force behind the whole production. The other is a vocal called 'Electric Love Nudity Supreme'.
One day curiosity will get the better of me and I'll open this up and play it. Stay tuned.
This was a nice recent find in a second-hand store, their self-titled debut album AND it's in red vinyl. This is the U.S. pressing so the band and the album go by the name U.K. Squeeze, as they did in some other countries. The 'U.K.' was dropped after this release. The group was founded by Glenn Tilbrook, Chris Difford, Paul Gunn and our old friend, bandleader, composer, presenter and OBE Jools Holland. Tilbrook and Difford were the writers of virtually all Squeeze's songs.
The two singles from this album were 'Take Me, I'm Yours' and 'Bang Bang'.
Squeeze can almost be passed over today as just another band that came and went and had a few good songs on the way, but they really had an influence back in the day. A version of the band is still touring.
In 1989 my future wife Tracy heard through friends in Dublin that Irish band Something Happens would be at the 'Rebel Rebel' music store on Bleeker Street in New York just prior to their first ever American show. She headed down there, introduced herself, then went to the gig at The China Club. After that, there was no going back. When I moved to the USA in 1997 to be with Tracy, she came as a package. I also got 'Something Happens'.
After releasing a live EP in 1988, their first studio album 'Been There, Seen That, Done That' was produced by Tom Erdelyi, better known professionally as Tommy Ramone, the drummer for the punk rock band the Ramones. The album contains great tracks like 'Beach', 'Forget Georgia' and 'Burn Clear'. After a few more albums - 'Stuck Together With God's Glue' in 1990, 'Bedlam A Go-Go' in '92 and 'Planet Fabulous' in '94, the big worldwide break they were waiting for just never seemed to come, despite a successful American tour with Warren Zevon.
They're still playing in and around Dublin, with a loyal following who hang on every song whenever they appear on RTE or live at Whelans.
Stevie got two #1 singles from this album, 'You Are the Sunshine of My Life' and 'Superstition'.
Originally, that song was going to go to Jeff Beck as a sort of exchange payment for playing on the album. Stevie and Jeff messed around with the song and Jeff went off with a rough version. Unfortunately he took too long to record and release it and in the meantime Stevie had a #1 hit on his hands. Jeff did finally record his version at the end of 1972 but in the words of Maxwell Smart ... "missed it by that much".
Apart from Jeff Beck, Stevie brought in others such as Ray Parker Jr., David Sanborn and Deniece Williams to round out the sound and end up with an album that crossed over the R&B and popular charts.
The original pressing of this album cover had braille lettering. The front cover had the album title and his name, the inner gatefold held a message .. "Here is my music. It is all I have to tell you how I feel. Know that your love keeps my love strong. — Stevie"
This is Dave Masons debut solo album.
Even if you think you don't know Dave Mason, you do know Dave Mason. Cast your mind back to the sixties - back to his "on again off again" romance with 'Traffic'. He was responsible for writing their 1967 psychedelic anthem 'Hole In My Shoe' as well as the magnificent 1968 'Feelin' Alright' done well by Traffic themselves but put on the map by Joe Cocker.
His solo career wasn't stellar. He had a couple of minor singles hits, one from this album 'Only You Know and I Know' and then 'We Just Disagree' seven years later.
Playing this album all I can hear is Traffic, and even though Steve Winwood took most of their leads I get his vocal influence coming through. I'd expect it to be different. Leon Russell is in the mix along with Delaney and Bonnie. Dave's old bandmate Traffic drummer Jim Capaldi sat in and gets co-writing credit on one track.
It's not a dud album, in fact it's got variety and skill, but I can't get past the feeling that it's 'Traffic Light'. Ooh, see what I did there? That's clever !!
