Tags
Aztec Camera, Blue Oyster Cult, Discogs, Henry Mancini, K-Tel, Music, New Order, Records, Rick Springfield, Rod Stewart, Simple Minds, Sly and the Family Stone, The Less Desirables, Underdog Records, Wang Chung
Salutations™!!
©Geffen Records
It was a rather dreary day in WSNC yesterday and will continue to be for a few days. There were minimal folks out because no one knows what Florence is going to do. So, The BCPF and I made sure to get some good listening material at Underdog Records. And, we did! Here’s what:
- Sly & The Family Stone – Fresh — #186 on the RS List and I love good funky rock and that’s what this is. Great stuff. Yellow label UK pressing, I believe. It’s in VG++ condition.
- The Blue Öyster Cult – Tyranny And Mutation — This was the 23rd entry on the Eugeology list from last year. I stated at the time that I didn’t care to hear it again. I do want my list stuffs on vinyl, so here it is in my listening realm again. VG+.
- Aztec Camera – High Land, Hard Rain — I had heard of Aztec Camera but knew nothing of them. I had seen a few AC albums and thought nothing of it. I didn’t know it was The BCPF’s kind of thing. She said it was and we got this one. I could tell right away that it was definitely her kind of thing. It’s VG++.
- Simple Minds – Once Upon A Time — There are a lot of great songs on this album and I was very happy to have it. It was a VG++ rated album and we really enjoyed listening to it. Simple Minds are a great band and I’ll buy pretty much anything from them I find.
- New Order – Low-life — This wasn’t purchased from Underdog Records but was given to us there by our pal Clay Howard. Clay’s the only person we know that will give you gifts for his birthday! It was a great listen and The BCPF was singing along with the whole thing. At least mouthing the words, she won’t sing in front of me for whatever reason. VG++!
- Wang Chung – Points On The Curve — I will never understand what in the wide-world-of-sports they’re talking about on “Dance Hall Days” but I really like the song. There were several great tunes on this album, and I’ll venture to say it was one of my favorite listens yesterday. Good early 80s pop and the best part is we found it in the $1 bin. I will go as far as saying it was VG++.
- Henry Mancini – The Best Of Mancini — I love Henry Mancini and his smooth and groovy jazz stylings. He does it really well not only as musical releases but in television and movies, as well. It was a $1 bin find and is VG+.
- Rod Stewart – Never A Dull Moment — It was funny to watch both The BCPF and me trying to figure out how to get the vinyl out of the sleeve. It was some weird double-flapped gatefold type thing. It turns out you get the vinyl from the back of that. It’s difficult to explain. We just had never seen one like that. Anywhat! It was a $1 bin find and I was surprised how much I liked the album. Some of Stewart’s older albums are a bit bluesy for me. VG.
- Rick Springfield – Success Hasn’t Spoiled Me Yet — Another great pop album from the early 1980s. Speaking of Clay Howard, the first time we talked about playing music together was him asking about doing a Springfield tribute band. “Don’t Talk to Strangers” is on this one. Great stuff. VG+.
- Various – Hit Machine — My friend Taylor Chamberlin contacted me on my Instagram post about this. He asked if I had it and I said I didn’t, which was odd because I have such a vast collection of K-Tel albums. He left it at Underdog Records for me. That was a swell gesture of him, I think. Thanks, TC. It’s G+.
So, not a huge haul but a very satisfying one. We got to all but the BOC and K-Tel album yesterday. It was a great listen day. I’ll have some news about The Less Desirables and Underdog Records this week. But, let me say that you can find a lot of cool records both used and new at Underdog. A lot of the stuff from the late 80s and into the 00s that were not even really released on LP is not being re-released in that format and Underdog Records gets them. Be sure to listen to The Less Desirables to hear what the TLD/UDR exclusive deal of the week is.
Discogs is my go-to for cataloging my albums and listing them here. It’s the easiest way to keep up with your collection, too. And, they have a great marketplace for selling or buying your records, cassettes or CDs.
Until tomorrow, keep spinning…
Scorp out!
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“What you gonna do when things go wrong? What you gonna do when it all cracks up? What you gonna do when the love burns down? What you gonna do when the flames go up? Who is gonna come and turn the tide? What’s it gonna take to make a dream survive? Who’s got the touch to calm the storm inside? Who’s gonna save you? Alive and kicking.” – “Alive and Kicking” (Kerr/Burchill/MacNeil)
anyway. Give me the Beatles anyday. Speaking of which, Chuck Berry’s “You Can’t Catch Me” (recorded here) features the lyric, “Here come old flat top” just like “Come Together” from Abbey Road. There was some stink about that but it was settled. Some of why I don’t care for this record is the blues aspect. We know how I am about that. I like the more polished late-60s-through-early-90s Stones, if I’m going to listen to them at all. Another thing, twelve songs and only four are written by them. Again, I know it’s still really, really early in their careers, but that perplexes me. I have to say that I do not mind the RS originals but their covers on this, drives me up the wall. Meh.
songs about dancing and it not only not be cheesy but be relevant and serious. ‘Cause really, who doesn’t just want to funk out? “Groovallegiance” features a very rare bass solo, but I didn’t find clarification if it’s “Bootsy,” “Boogie” or “Skeet” that’s playing said solo. All three as listed as personnel but nothing is necessarily denoted as who does what where. It’s awesome no matter whom it is. “Who Says a Funk Band Can’t Play Rock?!” is truly a rock song. The whole album is about breaking through to something more. This song proves exactly what the title suggests, wrong. “Promentalshitbackwashpsychosis Enema Squad (The Doo-Doo Chasers)” wins the award for the longest song title on the countdown (at least that I can tell). It’s pretty much saying that the world can be a “shite hole” and there are those that perpetuate that assumption. We’ve all gone in the crapper, if you will. A great (almost) 11 minute song, that. I am pretty certain that “Bootsy” is playing the bass on “Cholly (Funk Getting Ready to Roll)” as he’s a co-writer. All in all this is a great funk/rock album. I have really gotten in to most everything in that genre that I’ve heard in this countdown, thus far. Yay, me and dug!
Dylan I know and that’s a good thing. “Isis,” “Mozambique” are mesmerizing. They are so easy to listen to but strangely complex. “One More Cup of Coffee” which I believe has Emmylou Harris singing backup is sad and beautiful. Although, the story isn’t bad, I don’t really care much about “Joey.” It drags, it’s whiny and it’s eleven minutes long. It seems that one got some negative attention for glorifying gangsters. Yikes! I do like the Mexican-style of “Romance in Durango.” Reminds me of some stuff Ma Père would listen to when I was a child. He’s not Mexican but liked Marty Robbins and such. “Sara” is an almost pleading, directly personal direction of songwriting as it was about his wife. It wasn’t often, at least that I can figure, that he did that. That’s one of my favorite songs on this album. I’d own this album if I could skip “Joey.” Dug!
the first single. I have that on a Time-Life compilation, which I’m sure is Sounds of the 70s. You can hear the imperfections in the drumming and other instruments, but I think that adds to the uniqueness. At the beginning of side two, he gives a small tour of studio sounds like hum and hiss. It was odd hearing it. “Marlene” has xylophones and such on it and at one point sounds just like that new chime that Facebook uses for it’s Instant Messenger and I kept thinking someone was messaging me. Side four is comprised of songs that were done with full ensembles. Musicians include Mark Klingman, Rick Derringer, Vicki Sue Robinson and Edward James Olmos (yes, that Edward James Olmos, vox). The third released single was “Hello It’s Me” which is a side four song. The second was “Couldn’t I Just Tell You” and the fourth was “Wolfman Jack” which is probably the worst song on the album and it was released TWO years after “Hello It’s Me.” There was another album released before “Wolfman Jack” came out. I don’t understand that. Anywhat! Overall I thought the album was fantastic, but really, Rundgren could have cut that down to about eleven songs and left it as an LP. Most of it was filler, some of which sounded very much like other songs on the album and could have been done away with or released two separate albums. It was too much. But, because I liked the material, I’m still going with a “dug” here.
