Hair Band Friday - 8/26/22

1.  "Dance" by Ratt

2.  "War Machine" by KISS

3.  "Like the Beat of a Heart" by Dio

4.  "China White" by Scorpions

5.  "Rock America" by Danger Danger

6.  "Privacy" by Sammy Hagar

7.  "Liar" by Britny Fox

8.  "On Your Knees" (live) by W.A.S.P.

9.  "Bed of Roses" by Warrant

10.  "Anybody Listening?" by Queensrÿche

CoronaVinyl Day 436 (A): Ambrosia by Ambrosia

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We are back to "A," and today I listened to Ambrosia's self-titled 1975 album.

I have three Ambrosia albums, and I last featured them in the "Yacht Rock" category way back in May 2020 -- back when we were naïve enough to think this whole COVID thing was just going to last a couple months.  Anyway, Ambrosia is best known for their yacht rocky hits "How Much I Feel" (#3) from 1978 and "Biggest Part of Me" (#3) and "You're The Only Woman (You & I)" (#13) from 1980.  However, before they band was churning out baby-making music, they started out as a prog rock band, and this album is definitely pure mid '70s prog.

The album was mixed by Alan Parsons, and all of the band members played on the Alan Parson's Project's debut album in 1976.  The first number, "Nice, Nice, Very Nice," has lyrics from a poem in Kurt Vonnegut's Cats in the Cradle.  Super proggy.  It was a minor hit, reaching #63 on the Billboard Hot 100.  Other than that, the album sounds very much like ELP or Yes from that time period.  "Holdin' Onto Yesterday" was the group's first Top 40 hit, getting to #17 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The album itself reached #22 on the Billboard album chart, their second-highest charting album behind 1978's Life Beyond LA.  The band would go onto more success, as discussed above, in the late '70s and early '80s.  All in all, they had 5 Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including two Top 10s (mentioned above).  They broke up after 1982's Road Island album, shortly after Bruce Hornsby joined the group's touring band.  Co-lead singer and bassist would go onto be a founding member of Bruce Hornsby and The Range.  The band reunited in 1989 and have toured since then with varying lineups, and though they haven't released any studio albums since Road Island, they released two live albums in the 2000s. 

Favorite Song on Side 1:  ""World Leave Me Alone"
This song is a little more rocking and has a little more grit than the other songs on the album.  There's a good guitar solo, as well.

Favorite Song on Side 2:  "Mama Frog"
This one is a proggy rocker, complete with an organ solo.  And then there's a spoken word interlude of "Jabberwock" from Alice in Wonderland.  Again, super proggy.

Retro Video of the Week: "The Walk" by The Time

Tomorrow is the 40th anniversary of the release of The Time's second studio album, What Time Is It?  The Time and their charismatic lead singer Morris Day were part of the Minneapolis Sound that Prince spearheaded in the late '70s and early '80s.  They were friends and frequent collaborators with Prince, who wrote or co-wrote all of the songs on What Time Is It?

The album went to #26 on the Billboard album chart and #2 on the Billboard R&B album chart, their highest-charting album on the latter.  Of the three singles released from the album, only "The Walk" has a video, so that was an easy choice.  It's a great example of the Minneapolis Sound -- funky, catchy, and a little synthy.

CoronaVinyl Day 435 (Various Artists): Cat People Soundtrack by Various Artists

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Today's CoronaVinyl category is "Various Artists," and I went with the Cat People soundtrack, which is one of the many records my neighbor gave to me months ago.

The 1982 erotic horror flick Cat People, a remake of the 1942 film, starred Nastassja Kinski as a woman who travels from Canada to New Orleans to hang out with her estranged brother, only to discover she's a wereleopard.  I've been there!

While the film got mixed review, the soundtrack did a little better.  Produced and written nearly entirely by famed disco composer/producer/arranger Giorgio Moroder, the soundtrack is largely score music (and very early '80s at that), save for the first track on the album, "Cat People (Putting Out the Fire)" by David Bowie.  The soundtrack reached #47 on the Billboard album chart, but reached the Top 10 on the album charts in New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden.  Bowie's song stalled out at #67 on the Billboard Hot 100, but went to #9 on the Billboard Hot Rock Tracks chart and #14 on the Billboard Club Play Singles chart, as well as topping the pop charts in Finland, New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden, reaching #* on the Swiss pop chart, and the Top 20 on the pop charts in Australia, Canada, and Ireland.

It garnered Moroder a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Motion Picture Score (losing to John Williams for E.T.), and the title track garnered Bowie a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Motion Picture Song (losing to "Up Where We Belong" by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes from An Officer and A Gentleman).

All in all, this probably isn't an album you're going to want to listen to, unless you're at a wereleopard orgy.

Favorite Song on Side 1:  "Cat People (Putting Out the Fire)" by David Bowie
Given that this is the only song with words on the album and those words were written and sung by David Bowie, this was an easy choice.

Favorite Song on Side 2:  "To The Bridge" by Giorgio Moroder
This is a perfect instrumental score track for an early '80s erotic horror movie about wereleopards, so I assume.

CoronaVinyl Day 434 (W): Talking Book by Stevie Wonder

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Today's CoronaVinyl category is "W," and I have a few more Stevie Wonder albums to go through, but haven't featured one since Innervisions back in July 2020, so why the fuck not listen to another of the greatest albums ever made instead of, say Grover Washington, Jr.?  So today, I aurally pleasured myself with Wonder's 15th studio album, 1972's Talking Book.

As I expounded upon back in that July 2020 post, there aren't many five-album runs better than Wonder's five albums released between 1972 and 1976 -- all released before he turned 27.  Four of the five albums made it on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time list:  1972's Music of My Mind (#350) and Talking Book (#59), 1973's Innervisions (#34), 1974's Fulfillingness' First Finale (not ranked), and 1976's Songs in the Key of Life (#4).  The latter three won the Grammy for Album of the Year, making Wonder the only artist to have won the award with three consecutive album releases.

Talking Book was released about six months after Wonder turned 22.  It's a combination of Wonder's burgeoning foray into funk with his soulful, slower pop ballads and love songs.  Like with most of the albums from this period, Wonder played nearly all of the instruments on the album.  He had a little bit more help on Talking Book than on Music of My Mind, and the help was pretty damn accomplished.  Jeff Beck and Ray Parker, Jr. each played guitar on a song.  David Sanborn played the alto sax on "Tuesday Heartbreak."  Backing vocals -- in addition to Wonder himself -- were provided by the likes of accomplished backing vocalist Jim Gilstrap (who sang the first two lines of "You Are The Sunshine of My Life" and later sang co-lead on the theme song to Good Times) and Deniece Williams (who would later have a successful solo career, including the 1984 #1 song "Let's Hear It For The Boy"), among others.

Six of the ten songs on the album were written solely by Wonder, while two songs were co-written by Wonder and his then-wife Syreeta Wright, and the other two songs were co-written by Wonder and his songwriting collaborator for much of the '70s, Yvonne Wright (no relation).

The album reached #3 on the Billboard album chart and topped the Billboard R&B album chart, both his highest-charting positions on those respective charts at that time.  Both singles from the album were not only #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, but are also all-time classics and signature Wonder songs, despite being very different:  the funky and horn-friendly "Superstition" and R&B ballad love song "You Are The Sunshine of My Life."  The former won two Grammys, one for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and one for Best R&B Song for "Superstition," and the latter won the Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

Favorite Song on Side 1:  "Maybe Your Baby"
This plodding funk song, with some sneaky good guitars from Ray Parker, Jr.

Favorite Song on Side 2:  "I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)"
The album ends with an epic love song on which Wonder plays all the instruments, sings lead (often double-tracked with himself), and sings backing vocals.  Knowing a little more about what was going on in Wonder's personal life at the time gives the song a deeper meaning.  Wonder and Syreeta Wright had gotten divorced earlier in the summer of 1972, a couple months before Talking Book was released.  Though their relationship was apparently copasetic enough that they continued to work together, this song is basically a "goodbye Syreeta, hello new love, whoever you may be" song.  The verses talk about loss in love, but the choruses offer a ray of hope for the future, but also a slight dig at Wright:  "I believe with you it will be forever / I believe when I fall in love this time it will be forever."  And musically, my favorite parts of the song are Wonder's increasingly delicious drum fills.

Hair Band Friday - 8/19/22

1.  "Live Wire" by Mötley Crüe

2.  "House of Pain" by Van Halen

3.  "Shotgun Man" by Bang Tango

4.  "Got You By The Balls" by AC/DC

5.  "Enough is Enough" by Ratt

6.  "The Ultimate Sin" by Ozzy Osbourne

7.  "Ten Lovers" by Y&T

8.  "Rock On" by Vandenberg

9.  "Good With the Bad" by Bonham

10.  "The Garden" by Guns N' Roses

CoronaVinyl Day 433 (T): The Rocker (1971-1974) by Thin Lizzy

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Today's CoronaVinyl category is "T," and I don't have any more albums by "T" artists who haven't already been featured on CoronaVinyl, so it will be repeated "T" artists from here on out.  My selection today was the 1977 Think Lizzy compilation The Rocker (1971-1974), which is the U.S. version of the 1976 UK compilation Remembering - Part 1 (though with one different track).

As the title implies, the album features songs the band released between 1971 and 1974 -- or, in other words, from right before they really hit their stride and found their signature sound.  You know I'm a huge Thin Lizzy fan, and I was excited whenever I picked this album up a few years ago as part of a larger lot of records.  The cover is beat up and open at the bottom, but thankfully the record itself is in pristine condition.

All of the songs are from the Eric Bell era, before the group had its signature twin lead guitar attack with Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson.  Bell was a founding member of the group and came up with the band's name, but left the group in late 1973 for health reasons.

Because of the band's popularity after Bell left, I think some of the early Thin Lizzy albums and songs get overlooked, but they were still pretty damn good.  The album features songs from two of the band's first three albums -- 1971's self-titled album and 1973's Vagabonds of the Western World, though nothing from 1972's Shades of a Blue Orphanage -- and a few singles from that time period, as well.  "Whiskey in the Jar" is the only song on the album that was a hit outside of Ireland.

The album is not available on Spotify, so I'll embed YouTube videos of my favorite song from each side below.  Here is the track listing, along with what album the song was from or whether it was a single or previously unreleased.

Side 1
1.  "Black Boys on the Corner" (B-side to "Whiskey in the Jar" single, 1972)
2.  "Honesty is No Excuse" (Thin Lizzy, 1971)
3.  "Randolph's Tango" (single, 1973)
4.  "Little Girl in Bloom" (Vagabonds of the Western World, 1973)
5.  "Sitamoia" (previously unreleased, 1974)

Side 2
1.  "Little Darling" (single, 1974)
2.  "Remembering" (Thin Lizzy, 1971)
3.  "Gonna Creep Up on You" (Vagabonds of the Western World, 1973)
4.  "Whiskey in the Jar" (single, 1972)
5.  "The Rocker" (Vagabonds of the Western World, 1973)

Favorite Song on Side 1:  "Sitamoia"
I had never heard this song until today.  It's one of two non-album tracks on the album ("Little Darling" is the other) that the band recorded with Gary Moore when he briefly replaced Bell, before Gorham and Robertson joined the band.  Of course, Moore would float in and out of the band's periphery during the next few years before joining the band for good for 1979's Black Rose: A Rock Legend album, and then leaving the band before the next album was recorded.  Anyway, this song is kind of unlike anything else Thin Lizzy was doing at the time.  It has a blistering tribal beat, the strange repeating title, and then Phil Lynott busting out impassioned lyrics about Lord knows what, with a Celtic interlude featuring Moore on guitar and a fiddle.

Favorite Song on Side 2:  "The Rocker"
The second side of the album is definitely the more rocking of the two sides, and it was tough not to go with "Whiskey in the Jar" because I fucking love that song.  But I had to go with the song that inspired the album's title.  "The Rocker" lives up to its name, with a great guitar riff from Bell and snarling lyrics from Lynott.  As he sings/yells, "I'm a rocker!"  He certainly was.

Retro Video of the Week: "Wipe Out" by The Fat Boys

Earlier this week marked the 35th anniversary of the release of New York hip hop group The Fat Boys' fourth and most successful studio album, Crushin'.  The album reached #8 on the Billboard album chart and #4 on the Billboard R&B album chart.  It eventually went platinum in the U.S.

The success of the album was propelled by the group's unlikely collaboration with The Beach Boys for an updated cover of The Surfaris' surf rock classic "Wipe Out."  The song was the group's biggest hit, going to #12 on the Billboard Hot 100, #10 on the Billboard R&B singles chart, and Top 5 on the pop charts in the UK, Ireland, and New Zealand.

The video shows the group's sense of humor, as they trade locales with The Beach Boys -- who turn everyone they pass in New York into surfers.  Seeing this video just makes me realize how much I need to listen to Pet Sounds while watching Disorderlies.

CoronaVinyl Day 432 (S): Once Upon a Time by Simple Minds

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Today's CoronaVinyl category is "S," and I listened to Scottish rockers Simple Minds' seventh studio album, 1985's Once Upon a Time.

Of course, Simple Minds is best known for their 1985 anthem featured in The Breakfast Club, "Don't You (Forget About Me)," which was a #1 hit in the U.S. and a huge hit internationally as well.  But don't you dare call Simple Minds a one-hit wonder.  They were the biggest-selling Scottish band of the '80s, and in the UK, they had five #1 albums and 24 Top 40 hits on the UK pop chart between 1982 and 1998, including 8 Top 10s and one #1.

In the U.S., they weren't quite as successful, but they still did alright.  After "Don't You (Forget About Me)," the band had four more Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100.  Three of those came from Once Upon a Time:  "Alive and Kicking" (#3), "Sanctify Yourself" (#14), and "All The Things She Said" (#28).

The album is a tight new wave/pop rock album, and there really isn't a bad song on the album.  It certainly foreshadows the success INXS would have a couple years later, both from a musical perspective -- mixing danceable rhythms with hooks -- and also because lead singer Jim Kerr's voice is not unlike Michael Hutchence's voice.

Once Upon a Time became the band's highest-charting album in the U.S., reaching #10 on the Billboard album chart.  It was also the band's second consecutive #1 album on the UK album chart, and it also topped the album chart in the Netherlands and was Top 10 on the album charts in Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland.

The version of the album on Spotify is a "Super Deluxe" version, which means there are a whopping 39 extra songs.

Favorite Song on Side 1:  "Ghostdancing"
This one wasn't released as a single in the U.S., but it went to #13 on the UK pop charts.  It's an up-tempo synth pop song that makes you want to dance, but with apparitions.

Favorite Song on Side 2:  "Oh Jungleland"
The second side kicks off with some pep and power, with impassioned vocals from Kerr on top of a synthy rock backdrop.

CoronaVinyl Day 431 (R): The Kenny Rankin Album by Kenny Rankin

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After a nearly two-month hiatus, CoronaVinyl is back.  Most of the construction we were doing is finished, to the point where I can both more easily access my records and turntable, but I am also able to listen to albums without being interrupted by constant hammering or sawing.  Picking up where we left off, today's CoronaVinyl category is "R," and I went with six studio album, 1977's The Kenny Rankin Album.

Rankin was a singer-songwriter.  He was one of the guitarists on Bob Dylan's seminal 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home, and he was also a regular guest on The Tonight Show, appearing more than 20 times.  Most interesting to me is that he was good friends with George Carlin, and he toured with Carlin as Carlin's opening act for about ten years in the '70s and '80s.

This album is kind of schmaltzy and jazzy, with string arrangements.  It definitely has a '70s lounge feel.  It's not something I would necessarily gravitate towards.  About half of the songs are originals, with the others being covers, including The Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," Billy Preston (and Joe Cocker's) "You Are So Beautiful," Stephen Bishop's "On and On," and The Rascals' "Groovin'."

Rankin died in 2009 from lung cancer, but the year before, he sang at Carlin's memorial service.

The album is not available on Spotify, but the full album is available on YouTube, so I embedded that below.

Favorite Song on Side 1:  "On and On"
I don't particularly care for any of the songs on Side 1, but I don't particularly care for his cover of Stephen Bishop's "On and On" less than the other four songs.

Favorite Song on Side 2:  "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
It's a Beatles cover, so that's good enough for me.