Wreckless Eric ‘Wreckless Eric’
Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Whole Wide World” by Wreckless Eric “If it ain’t Stiff, it ain’t worth a f*ck.” “The world’s most flexible record label.” “Undertakers to the industry.” “We came. We Saw. We Left.” “In ’78 everyone born in ’45 will be 33-1/3.” “When you kill time, you murder success.” “If they’re dead, we’ll sign them.” The above non-sequitors were all slogans for one of the coolest record labels to be associated with the late 1970s punk rock movement. Stiff Records established itself by not only having a roster that included Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, The Damned, Wreckless Eric and Ian Dury, but by the hyperactive media antics they pulled off in the name...
Peter Gabriel ‘Rockpalast Live 1978′
Song Of the Day by Eric Berman – “On The Air” & “Moribund The Burgermeister” by Peter Gabriel (Live from Rockpalast, 1978) By the time of the broadcast from this 1978 Rockpalast show, Peter Gabriel was three years past his Genesis days and was out on the road promoting his second solo record, Peter Gabriel (which also goes by the names Peter Gabriel II and Scratch because of its album jacket image). I’ve already written several pieces on Peter Gabriel’s second album and its unique relationship with two other Robert Fripp productions, Sacred Songs by Daryl Hall and Fripp’s own Exposure , but a nice pro-shot concert from this era is a real find worth sharing. The video...
Blondie ‘Parallel Lines’
Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Picture This” by Blondie There was nothing new about punk and new wave. It came about as a reaction to the bloated excesses of progressive rock groups like Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Genesis and Yes and their seemingly obligatory side-long multi-part suites of music. (Not that there was anything wrong with that…) Groups like Ramones and Blondie brought back the sounds of the early 1960s. They simplified things, kept their songs under three minutes and created sugary-sweet melodic gems that were bashed out on guitars and drums. But being from New York, Blondie were just as inspired by the Broadway scene, and you can feel the presence of Broadway all...
Tom Robinson Band ‘Power in the Darkness’
Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Long Hot Summer” by Tom Robinson Band The album was a total rallying cry…a call to arms, so to speak, where the arms were guitars and the ammunition was the lyrics. At least, that’s how Tom Robinson Band’s debut album, Power In The Darkness, struck me when I first heard it back in 1978. TRB formed in England in 1976, right at the dawn of the punk explosion. While not a true punk band, they managed to adopt the punk rock ethos and mix their political views into the mix, making a big splash in their native UK. The original lineup of the band included Tom Robinson on bass and...
Big Star ‘Third/Sister Lovers’
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#800 in the Series) Big Star, Third/Sister Lovers This one goes down as one of the great enigma’s of rock music, an album by a band which had pretty much split up by the time it was recorded, which had no title and which didn’t even have a finalized track listing. For years it was, just like The Beach Boys “SMiLE”, more of a rumour, a myth, than an actual record. Thankfully it was eventually released, in an albeit limited capacity, and fans were finally able to hear what all the fuss was about. Was it worth it? Hell yeah. Big time. Big Star were founded in Memphis by three friends who were deeply...
Todd Rundgren "The Hermit of Mink Hollow"
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#714 in the Series) is Todd Rundgren, The Hermit of Mink Hollow. If I ever opened a pub, I always had in mind to call it the Mink Hollow. And there alongside music and sports memorabilia would be some kind of musical device that would be able to play Todd Rundgren and Utopia songs. Especially from this particular masterpiece. Kind of in the same way it is hard to name a favorite Beatles song or album, it can be of equal challenge for me to name my favorite Todd work. But really this has always been my personal favorite, maybe because it was released just before I turned 16 and was in the...
Pat Metheny Group “Pat Metheny Group”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#642 in the Series) is the eponymous release by The Pat Metheny Group. (ECM) Often when I post these pieces to either here at the website or on our sister Facebook Page I often get a reaction saying something like, “this album is good but I like ‘blank’ better” or possibly “you should’ve done their other album called ‘blank’ as apposed to this one.” As I’ve said before our goal was never to just feature an artist’s best album, that would narrow the field down considerably plus whom am I to say if what I think is the best album parallels with what you think is the best album. Don’t worry...
Charlie “Lines”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#604 in the Series) is Charlie, Lines. Readers of an “Cool Album of the Day” should see a pattern especially lately. What they would notice is that there is a strong tendency to feature albums of what’s commonly known now as the “Americana” genre. This is been my favorite music to listen to for a number of years now. But another genre that I’ve long enjoyed was the sound of the slick jazz rock bands often known as the ”L.A. Sound.” Some great music has been produced by that well-known group of musicians from Los Angeles. I’m sure you know what I’m referring to, Toto, later period Doobie Brothers, Les Dudek, Boz Scaggs, etc....
Warren Zevon “Excitable Boy”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#579 in the Series) is Warren Zevon, Excitable Boy. I don’t usually pick an artist’s most popular release. But this one is just too darn good, and too darn cool. Yes, it contains “Werewolves Of London.” That track still sounds good. It was the song that you could say put Warren on the map with the mainstream. I once heard a great saying by a stand-up comedian. ” You can’t be considered a superstar until my mother knows who you are.” Let’s say that many mothers knew of Warren because of “Werewolves of London.” Werewolves might have been the most popular track on the album, but it will have to get way...
UFO “The Chrysalis Years (1973-1979)”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (# 553 in the Series) is UFO, The Chrysalis Years, (1973-1979). I am going to delay with the normal album review inroduction and substitute it with: IT’S ALL HERE! ALL YOU COULD WANT FROM THIS SEMINAL 1970′S HARD ROCK JUGGERNAUT. AND IT COSTS LESS THAN NINETEEN DOLLARS ON LINE! Now that I have that out of my system…… UFO was a great heavy rock band that my friends and I worshipped as teenagers in suburban Chicago. My first show was UFO at the Aragon Ballroom on October 10, 1975. This group had everything. UFO possessed the piledriving rhythm section of Peter Way (bass) and Andy Parker (drums). They featured serviceable short term...
