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...

  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...

  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...

    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...

  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...

  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...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#513 in the Series) is Gino Vanelli, Brother to Brother. I’d love to know how many people freaked out when they saw today’s “Cool Album of The Day” is Gino Vanelli. I’ll say this, the real audiophiles are saying something like, “Amazing, a great album with an ultra-fantastic band.” Many though, only know him from his couple big hits like “I Just Wanna To Stop” and “Living Inside Myself,” and maybe even “People Gotta Move.” They probably know the look and the whole Gino Vanelli “thing” but have never heard some of the album cuts on this release. This album, and especially his live shows, featured some of the best musicians of their...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#496 in the Series) is Sea Level, Cats on the Coast. This 1978 was Sea Level’s second of what would be, five studio albums. They were part of the Capricorn Records family. So many of those great southern bands were from that 70s era.  They were from Macon, Georgia. Speaking of Macon, Georgia, Sea Level was kind of an Allman Brothers spin off, but not really. They were a little a little more ‘jazzy fusiony’ than the brothers. They would often play “Statesboro Blues” in their live shows. Three of the band members did play with the Allman Brothers at one time or another. Main founding member, Chuck Leavell was on keyboards....

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#481 in the Series) the debut album from The Cars You’re a new band. You begin by putting pencil to paper as your first tracks take shape. Maybe you get a gig here and there.  You write a few more songs and then the gigs get more frequent and hopefully in a little bit better houses.   You think, maybe if things go well you’ll get noticed.  Heck, if things really go well, maybe a real label will give you a record deal! That’s how it often rolls. I don’t know exactly if this was the scenario of Boston’s The Cars, but I’m guessing it wasn’t all that different. So all that happens and you...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#467 in the Series) is The Doobie Brothers, Minute By Minute. Ever since I’ve been around music, or sold music, or reviewed music or even just listened to music, there has always been one argument that has topped the charts in polarization.   That is The Doobie Brothers, “with or without Michael McDonald?”  People go nuts about this. Let me give my feelings. I’m one of those that actually digs both versions.  I was always a big fan of the earlier Doobie Brother music. What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits (with-out McDonald) is easily my favorite album by the band.  Minute By Minute (with McDonald) is probably my second favorite.  I tell what...