Herbie Hancock and Foday Musa Suso ‘Village Life’
Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Moon/Light” by Herbie Hancock and Foday Musa Suso In West African culture, a griot is a musician and storyteller who holds all of the keys to the history of his people. It is the griot’s place in society to share that history through music, entertainment and poetry. The kora is a 21-string instrument that is the chief instrument accompanying a griot. Foday Musa Suso was born in Gambia and is a direct descendent of the inventor who invented the musical instrument over four hundred years ago. Now anyone who’s ever heard the music of the kora, no doubt, has fallen under its spell. It is a string instrument that has...
Digital Sex ‘Essence’
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#812 in the Series) is Digital Sex, Essence Do you know this one? No you say? I somewhat expected that. No, not because the band wasn’t good enough or deserving enough because they indeed were. They were quite good but they were unfortunate to be another one of those talented acts that fell through the cracks. I don’t remember seeing them on MTV and that was the quickest and easiest way to get your name in front of people back in 1986. This was the indie rock of the time period. This was an Indie rock act back when you didn’t have the internet to help promote the little guy. It...
10,000 Maniacs ‘The Wishing Chair’
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#789 in the Series) is the 10,000 Maniacs, The Wishing Chair. I actually remember when I first purchased this album. I was looking for something different. Local radio played a few tunes off this and I loved the sound. I distinctly remember making the trip to trusty ole’ Hegewisch Records to see if they had it. It was good news/bad news when I got to the store. It was a little more popular than I expected. The vinyl was sold out so I had to buy it on cassette. Okay, I didn’t have to but I did. Say what you want about those old cassettes, but there was actually something good about...
Don Dixon “Most of the Girls Like to Dance but Only Some of the Boys Do”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#607 in the Series) is Don Dixon, Most of the Girls Like to Dance but Only Some of the Boys Do Quite often the hardest thing about maintaining this website is trying to come up with the next day’s “Cool Album of the Day.” There are times when nothing jumps out at you that you feel like telling people about. Then there are times when you get an idea from places you never expected. That’s what happened yesterday when I was looking for our next entry. As you know we also have a Facebook page for “Cool Album of the Date.” On the page there is often continuous discussion on the entries along...
John Fogerty “Centerfield”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#594 in the Series) is John Fogerty, Centerfield This is another one of those albums that may not be looked upon the same way as it did when it was released. I think the overplaying of the title cut may have caused a little “album fatigue” that changes the overall perspective of this album. I’m writing this looking back to what I felt and what it felt like listening to this album back in 1985. In 2012 you might not realize how much of a big deal this album was, but this was a big deal! You have to go back and look at the whole history of John Fogerty and remember...
The Rave Ups “Town and Country”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#542 in the Series) is The Rave Ups, Town and Country When the Rave-Ups played Cabaret Metro (Chicago) in 1990, they introduced themselves by saying we’re The Rave Ups from Pittsburgh, PA. They then launched into their biggest hit “Positively Lost Me” which in the middle of they did a brief but melodic cover of The Stones “The Last Time” that not only worked but was a great example of their talents. Unfortunately, there were about the same number of people in the crowd that night as there was when they played that same song in a scene from the movie Pretty In Pink. These guys were an underground hit that came at...
The Hooters “Nervous Night”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#486 in the Series) is The Hooters, “Nervous Night.” The Hooters are yet another band from that hotbed of music, Philadelphia. I’ve always loved the Philly sound, Todd Rundgren, Hall and Oates etc. There must be something in that water by the port. “Nervous Night” was released in 1985 and features The Hooters ever present melodica. Hence the band name. The two main men in The Hooters are Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman. They handled most of the songwriting and all lead vocals. Eric plays guitar and Rob keys mainly. The act is filled out by Andy King on bass, John Lilley also on guitar and David Uosikkinen on drums. This was another...
The Waterboys “This is the Sea”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#476in the Series) is The Waterboys, This is the Sea. Hands up all those who remember “The Big Music?” Don’t worry, you could easily be forgiven if you don’t! You’ll know the bands associated with it though. The Big Music was a description thrown about in the early 80′s (here in the UK at least) and it was applied, mostly, to a small grouping of bands who were just starting to make an impression on the music buying public and who were all deemed to be making a similar grandiose, epic, “reaching for the sky” type music. You or I would probably just have settled for the term Stadium Rock to be honest...
John Mellencamp “Scarecrow”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#432 in the Series) is John Mellencamp, Scarecrow I was not even close to being a John Mellencamp fan when this was released. I was not even close to ever being interested in buying one of his albums and definitely was never interested in buying a John Cougar album either. I will admit that the long version of “I Need a Lover” isn’t too bad; I’ll give him that one. As time went on, I started reading that John wasn’t a big fan of some of the other things either, and he especially wasn’t a fan of the way Riva Records wanted to package him as some a pop star. He’d write and...
China Crisis “Flaunt the Imperfection”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#396 in the Series) is China Crisis, Flaunt the Imperfection Flaunt the Imperfection is the third studio album from one of my favorite acts, China Crisis. I love their What Price Paradise album. Like I’ve mentioned before, it seems like my favorite albums coincide with the tours that I’ve seen, having said that, this is probably a better album. This one has a big name attached to it. That name is Walter Becker. Who? Many of you know that name. He’s one half of the famed duo that fronts Steely Dan, the other half being of course, Donald Fagen. Mr. Becker produced Flaunt the Imperfection. He also ads some synthesizer touches along with...
