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 !!
This is UB40's 6th album and consists of mainly 'toasting' - a Jamaican style of rapping, before rapping was a thing. We got a taste for it when Astro did a toasted verse of 'Red Red Wine' on their 'Labour of Love' album.
U-Roy was a pioneer of toasting - talking or chanting over a beat or 'riddim' by a DJ. Before Blondie did their take, but after The Paragons did the original, U-Roy recorded his deejay version of 'The Tide is High' and brought toasting into the open. Even more so when he did a UK tour along with Max Romeo in '72. When Musical Youth sang 'Pass the Dutchie' in 1982 they were paraphrasing a U-Roy line "this station rules the nation with version" meaning a version of a track that a 'toaster' could use to overlay his vocal.
Along with the full 'Baggariddim' album there's a 12" 45 included in this 2-disc set. The 45 has the UB40/Chrissie Hynde version of 'I Got You Babe' along with 'Don't Break My Heart', the only 2 non-toasted songs here. The rest of the tracks feature a variety of artists putting vocals over some titles released on previous UB40 LPs. An unusual album, but for fans of UB40 (me included) it's a good addition to the collection.
This album for me is all about one song, and that song shouldn't even be here.
'Waiting On A Friend' was part of the 'Goat's Head Soup' sessions back in 1972 when Mick Taylor was in the line-up. By the time this album was released and the finished track was included, Mick Taylor was gone and Ronnie Wood was doing the honours. It took a while but Mick was eventually given credit (and royalties).
'Start Me Up' tends to be the "known" song from the album, popular when it was first released and then given new exposure when Microsoft used it for their Windows 95 marketing, but for me, 'Waiting ...' is the pick and the video clip that came out for it seals the deal. I'm sure everyone knows, but just in case .. in the video the building where Mick is waiting for Keith is 96-98 St. Marks Place in the East Village in NYC. That's the same building used to illustrate the cover of Led Zeppelin's 'Physical Graffiti' album cover.
'Tattoo You', tattoo me, it's well worth the ink.
What do Tchaikovsky, Emerson Lake & Palmer and AC/DC have in common? !CANNONS!
In 1880 Tchaikovsky put them in his 1812 Overture - in 1970 ELP used them in 'Pictures at an Exhibition' at the Isle of Wight and in 1981 Acka/Dacka blasted them in the title track from this album.
This isn't the first AC/DC album to paraphrase a saying. 'Let There Be Rock' was taken from "Let there be light" and this album was a mix of various sayings on the theme of "For those about to die .." It was further immortalised in the movie 'School of Rock' when Jack Black's character Dewy Finn inspires his band by saying "In the words of AC/DC: We roll tonight... to the guitar bite... and for those about to rock... I salute you."
If you're into rock family trees, cast your mind back to The Easybeats. Scottish born Easybeats founding member and guitarist George Young was the brother of AC/DC's Angus and Malcolm Young and along with fellow Easybeat Harry Vanda went on to produce a number of AC/DC albums, but not this one unfortunately. Trivia alert: The "Guitar George" and "Harry" who are mentioned in the Dire Straits hit song "Sultans of Swing" are George Young and Harry Vanda.
AC/DC - turn the volume to 11.
