Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “(Miss) Silver Dime” by Ian Hunter After the demise of Mott The Hoople, Ian Hunter’s solo career got off to a strong start with his 1975 eponymously titled debut album. Not that the album was by any means a hit upon release, however it did have standout tracks like “Once Bitten Twice Shy” (brought to the charts x years later by Great White), “It Ain’t Easy When You Fall” and “The Truth, The Whole Truth, Nothing But The Truth” that are some of Hunter’s best-loved tunes. But his second solo record All American Alien Boy was poorly received and sold minimally. As a result, his third album Overnight Angels didn’t even...

  Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Ballad Of Billy The Kid” (Live from C.W. Post College, 1977) by Billy Joel Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Things change… and so do opinions. Several years ago I thought that my days listening to Billy Joel were over. It had been many years since he released a record, and even many more since he released a really good record. I mistakenly passed on the Billy Joel/Elton John stadium tours of the 1990s. Like many, I pretty much stopped caring about him when the trials and tribulations of his personal life began to take center stage in the media instead of his music. But things do change. First there...

  Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Saddle Up The Palomino” by Neil Young American Stars And Bars was one of Neil Young’s most patchy albums, but that’s not because the material on the record is lacking. Quite the contrary, the songs are pretty much top notch throughout this “Whitman Sampler” of styles and sounds. However, the record does seem to get unfairly knocked for several reasons… For one, the record was recorded in several sessions between 1974 and 1977 with different lineups. This approach to recording doesn’t lend itself to a consistent listening experience. The entirety of the first side was recorded in April of 1977 with Crazy Horse and The Bullets (Frank Sampedro, Billy Talbot,...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#801 in the Series) is 801, Listen Now Some times you have to pull one out that I bet many of you have not  listened to in years!  I’m guessing that’s true for 801. When was the last time you pulled this one off the shelf?  There even a good chance that you never even heard of this one. Then again, I’m betting many of you have as well since we do have a large number of audiophiles that frequent the site. 801 is a band put together by Phil Manzanera, Phil is best known as lead guitarist for the legendary band Roxy Music. Roxy would take time off now and then and like most bands,...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#751in the Series) is Dave Mason, Let it Flow. Dave Mason has put out a big ol’ chunk of good music,  from the days he spent with Traffic through a long solo career.  His latest album, 26 letters – 12 Notes is also strong as Dave still remains relevant to this day.  It’s too bad radio didn’t go near it.  He commented from the stage at a recent show I saw, “It’s like ‘I’m Selling Encyclopedias to them.” Let it Flow was released in 1977.  Yup, that’s 35 years ago folks! It contained his biggest hit. “We Just Disagree.”  I think it’s one of the best  “this just ain’t workin’ babe” songs...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#740 in the Series) is Crucis, Los Delirios del Mariscal  It was, I remember, 1977 or 1978… And I was a very young teen, listening to radio in the wee hours. The sadly departed Juan Alberto Badía, a well known local radio deejay and journalist, launched to the air a piece of music of mesmerizing quality: dark, atmospheric… a very slow and subtle crescendo, full of drama, that ended up in a climax of supreme, powerful musical quality. It was Crucis.  And it was a piece called ¨Los Delirios del Mariscal¨ (¨Marshall´s Delirium¨, or something like that). One of the masterpieces of Argentinean prog rock and, in my humble opinion, on par...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#676 in the Series) is Queen,  News Of The World It’s hard to believe that it’s over twenty years since the passing of quite possibly the best front man ever to grace a stage. Freddie Mercury, the African-born Briton with the enviable vocal range, ability to write hit after hit, and over-the-top stage theatrics, died in 1991, leaving a gaping hole in the music world. Queen (or at least half of them) has limped on, most notably with Paul Rodgers, but it’s painfully obvious that Mercury is irreplaceable. Unfortunately I never got to see him live; I was only ten when he died, but I first got to know the band’s music...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#580 in the Series) is FM, Black Noise. FM was a Canadian pro-rock band from the 70s. They were lead by guitar and mandolin player called ‘Nash The Slash.’ This was the second album cover for Black Noise. Here was the original. Unfortunetly, Black Noise did not chart. Success would find FM a little later in their career with the Surveillance album. Nash the Slash was quite the interesting guy. In 1979 he took the stage with hospital bandages on this face that were dipped in phosphorous paint.  It was in reference to the Three Mile Island disaster.  It caught on and became his trade mark to this day. If you’ve have not...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#574 in the Series) is Genesis, Wind and Wuthering “..And There Were Still Four.” That could have been the title for Wind and Wuthering when you look back at it. I’m of course referring to the fact that this was indeed, the last album with four of the historic Genesis lineup members. We know that Peter Gabriel left the band at the end of the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway tour. The next year saw the release of the first post-Gabriel album, A Trick of the Tail. That great release was followed up with Wind and Wuthering.  Yes, like many of the band’s fans, we love the Gabriel era. My favorite will...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#563 in the Series) is Pete Townshend and Ronnie Lane, Rough Mix (MCA US, Polydor UK) Ronnie Lane was, along with Steve Marriott, one of the founding members of the seminal rock group The Small Faces.  Pete Townshend is the back-bone of what can easily be considered one of the top four rock bands of all time, The Who.  Together in 1977 while Pete was on a musical vacation between The Who By Number sand what probably should have been their swan song  Who Are You, and Ronnie was making yet another attempt to revitalize his solo career after four mostly critically acclaimed yet publicly ignored solo albums with his appropriately named...