CoronaVinyl Day 437 (B): Rubber Soul by The Beatles

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

When I last posted a CoronaVinyl album back in late August, I had no intention of having a five-month gap between posts.  Between rearranging of spaces due to construction at the homestead, travel, Rocktober, and laziness, I just kind of put CoronaVinyl on the back burner.  However, due to some workplace construction, I'm now going to be fully remote for the foreseeable future, and there's no better time like the present to bring back listening to vinyl every day.  Plus, I've acquired some more records over the past five months, so I'm invigorated.  I can't promise I'll post every day I'm working from home, but dammit, I'll try.

The last post was "A," so that means today's CoronaVinyl category is "B."  I went with one of my favorite Beatles' albums -- which can be said for most of their albums -- 1965's Rubber Soul.  I have my album cover hanging on my wall of albums in my office, at least while I still have a wall in my office, so above is an image of the album cover from Wikipedia and then a shot of my copy of the record.

I have the North American version of Rubber Soul.  You see, until Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club band was release din 1967, The Beatles had different albums released in North America and the UK.  Some had different titles, while some had the same title as the UK version, but a different track listing.  Rubber Soul falls into the latter category.

The UK version has 14 tracks, while the North American version only has 12.  "Nowhere Man" and "If I Needed Someone" were left off, and two songs from Help! were substituted in as the first tracks on each side:  "I've Just Seen a Face" for "Drive My Car" on Side 1 and "It's Only Love" for "What Goes On" on Side 2.  The four omitted songs would appear the next year on the North American release Yesterday and Today.

Rubber Soul is one of the band's many transformative albums in their short-but-insanely-prolific career.  The album marked the band's evolution from pop to art.  The lyrics were more introspective and mature, they began using non-traditional instruments, like the sitar, and they were solidifying themselves as heads and shoulders above their peers.

As with many of their albums, it topped both the UK album chart and the Billboard album chart, as well as many others around the world.  The North American version is not on Spotify, but thankfully someone made a playlist.

Favorite Song on Side 1:  "I've Just Seen a Face"
I hate to go with a Help! song, but without "Nowhere Man" on Side 1, it was a tough call between "I've Just Seen a Face" and "Norwegian Wood."  I gave the nod to Paul's sublime acoustic love song.

Favorite Song on Side 2:  "In My Life"
This is one of my top five Beatles songs, and it's on what I consider one of their strongest album sides.  "I'm Looking Through You," "Wait," "Girl," "Run For Your Life," and "If I Needed Someone" are all fantastic songs, but they can't touch "In My Life."  Without fail, it still gives me goosebumps every time I hear those first plucks of the guitar strings.  John -- with Paul's help, of course -- wrote an almost bittersweet ode to Liverpool, memories, and love that is as timeless and poignant as just about any song every written.

Hair Band Friday - 1/27/23

1.  "House of Pain" by Faster Pussycat

2.  "I'm the King" by Black 'N Blue

3.  "Rocks Off" by Def Leppard

4.  "Hot Wire" by Kix

5.  "In Motion" by Britny Fox

6.  "Starry Eyes" by Mötley Crüe

7.  "Edison's Medicine" by Tesla

8.  "The Right to Rock" by Keel

9.  "She's Evil But She's Mine" by Lynch Mob

10.  "Armed and Dangerous" by Y&T

Retro Video of the Week: "Feed the Tree" by Belly

Today is the 30th anniversary of the release of Rhode Island alt rockers Belly's debut album, Star.  The band was formed by former Throwing Muses lead singer Tanya Donelly, who was also a co-founding member of The Breeders, but left that band to focus on Belly.  Star was a modest hit in the U.S., reaching #59 on the Billboard album chart, but it went to #2 on the UK album chart.  While the album didn't have any hits on the Billboard Hot 100, it featured three Top 20 hits on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart:  "Feed the Tree" (#1), "Gepetto" (#8), and "Slow Dog" (#17).

If you've heard only one Belly song, it's likely "Feed the Tree," which not only topped the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, but also hit #32 on the UK pop chart.  The video had pretty regular airplay on MTV and was nominated for Best Alternative Video at the VMAs in 1993 (and the band was nominated for Best New Artist).  The song is a great, catchy early '90s alt rock song, and the video is pure early '90s, featuring the band playing in a forest while wearing typical '90s garb.

Hair Band Friday - 1/20/23

1.  "Loving You is a Dirty Job" by Ratt

2.  "Young Blood" by Whitesnake

3.  "Shy Kid" by Krokus

4.  "Give Me an Inch" by Hurricane

5.  "Get Wise to the Rise" by Black 'N Blue

6.  "Used to Love Her" by Guns N' Roses

7.  "Before My Eyes" by Tesla

8.  "I Don't Know" by Ozzy Osbourne

9.  "Tomorrow" by Europe

10.  "She Wants More" by Slaughter

Retro Video of the Week: "Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)" by Def Leppard

Friday marks the 40th anniversary of the release of Def Leppard's third studio album, Pyromania.  The band's second album produced by now-legendary producer Mutt Lange, Pyromania is what propelled Def Leppard into international stardom and helped lay the groundwork for the hair metal sound that would dominate '80s hard rock.

This was the last Def Leppard album to feature original guitarist Pete Willis.  He co-wrote four songs on the album, and he recorded rhythm guitar tracks on all of the album's songs.  However, before the band finished recording the album, they kicked Willis out of the band for alcohol abuse -- which I always find a little ironic when hard rock and metal bands in the '80s booted members for drinking too much, since they were all partying their balls off.  Willis was replaced by Phil Collen, who added guitar solos and some additional guitar parts to the songs.  Collen, of course, has been in the band since then.

Pyromania reached #2 on the Billboard album chart, kept out of the #1 spot by Michael Jackson's Thriller, which prevented Pyromania from becoming the first hair band album to reach #1 -- a feat that Quiet Riot would achieve in November 1983.  The album featured the band's first three Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100:  "Photograph" (#12), "Rock of Ages" (#16), and "Foolin'" (#28).  The first two also hit #1 on the Billboard Rock Tracks chart, while "Foolin'" and "Too Late For Love" were both Top 10 songs on that chart.  Pyromania sold about 100,000 copies each week for most of 1983, and it was eventually certified diamond in the U.S.  Their follow-up, 1987's Hysteria, was also certified diamond, making Def Leppard the only band that released two diamond-selling studio albums in the '80s.

The video from Pyromania I'm going with is the first song on the album, "Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)," which was never released as a single, but has remained a fan favorite over the years.  It's a driving rock song with great riffs and an arena-ready chorus.  The video was shot in 1984 in Japan during the Pyromania tour.  As you can see, Rick Allen still had two arms at this point, as the car accident that claimed his left arm would happen on New Year's Eve that year.

Hair Band Friday - 1/13/23

1.  "Hot Rockin'" by Judas Priest

2.  "We Are Strong" by Hurricane

3.  "It Doesn't Matter" by Ratt

4.  "Why Does Love Have to Change" by Night Ranger

5.  "Looking Out for #1" by Twisted Sister

6.  "Back Home Again" by Cinderella

7.  "When the Brains Go To the Balls" by Sleeze Beez

8.  "When Darkness Calls" by Lynch Mob

9.  "The Razor's Edge" by AC/DC

10.  "Chained" by Giant

Retro Video of the Week: "Save Your Love" by Renée and Renato

Forty years ago this week, the UK singles chart began to be tabulated by The Gallup Organization, modernizing and expanding the chart.  The first #1 song after the transition was also the last #1 song before the transition:  Renée and Renato's "Save Your Love."  Renée and Renato were a male/female duo, comprised of Italian-born Renato Pagliari and British singer Hilary Lester, brought together by British songwriter Johnny Edward, who wrote "Save Your Love."

The song is a schmaltzy pop love song, mixing English and Italian lyrics  It sounds like it should be from the pre-rock and roll era of the late '40s or early '50s, and presumably it captured the hearts of elderly Britons who were not so much into New Wave or metal.  Interestingly, the song -- which was released by Edward's Hollywood Records label -- was the first true indie song to top the UK pop chart.  It held the #1 spot for four consecutive weeks.

The video is just as schmaltzy as the song.  The woman in the video is actually a model, and not Lester, who had already left to join another group before the song got big.  She soon after returned to private life, while Pagliari continued singing.  He died in 2009.

Hair Band Friday - 1/6/23

1.  "Open Your Heart" by Europe

2.  "Cheap an' Nasty" by Whitesnake

3.  "Body Talk" by Kix

4.  "Don't Lie to Me" by Dokken

5.  "Hollywood" by Junkyard

6.  "One Night Alone" by Vixen

7.  "Yeah Right" by Twisted Sister

8.  "Shelter Me" by Cinderella

9.  "Back to the City" by Keel

10.  "Man on a Mission" by Van Halen

Retro Video of the Week: "Electric Gypsy" by L.A. Guns

Today is the 35th anniversary of the release of L.A. Guns' self-titled debut album.  L.A. Guns were one of the quintessential Sunset Strip rock bands of the '80s.  Originally formed in 1983 by guitarist Tracii Guns and drummer Rob Gardner, they eventually teamed up with the singer and guitarists of another local hard rock band named Hollywood Rose -- Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin, and Chris Weber -- before changing their name to a combination of the two bands's name, Guns N' Roses.  Then Weber moved to New York, Guns left the band and was replaced by a guy named Slash, original bassist Ole Beich was replaced by Duff McKagen, and finally, Gardner quit the group and was replaced by Steven Adler.  And the rest is history.

In 1986, Guns re-formed L.A. Guns with a new lineup, and before their debut album was recorded, replaced the original singer with Phil Lewis, formerly of the British glam band Girl, which is also famous as the band guitarist Phil Collen left in 1982 to join Def Leppard.

Anywho, the band's debut album is a classic Sunset Strip glam metal album and was pretty well-received by critics, even though it did have any charting hits on the Billboard Hot 100.  The album reached #50 on the Billboard album chart and went gold in the U.S.  They had a few videos off the album, but I'm going with "Electric Gypsy," which was the group's debut single.  It's a great rock song, and I think the term "electric gypsy" accurately describes the look of many Sunset Strip rockers from the '80s.