The Replacements ‘Let It Be’
Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Answering Machine” by The Replacements When they were good, they were really great. But when The Replacements were bad, they were truly awful. Seeing The Replacements in concert was always a crap shoot. Whether it was boredom from being on the road, or just youthful blowing off steam, you never really knew what you were going to get when you went to see the “Placemats.” Heck, I saw them five times during their heyday, and I think they were really good only twice. I’m not sure if that makes me a sucker for punishment, or just addicted to the greatness that I did witness when they did come to play....
Simple Minds “Sparkle in the Rain”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#776 in the Series) is Simple Minds, Sparkle in the Rain The band simple minds were one of those acts that really had to stick it out to find success. They first got together toward the end of the 70s. Their first album, Life in a Day did quite well in the UK peaking at #30. It didn’t get a whiff of play here in the states outside of a couple very progressive stations and some college radio. It would take three years and five more releases before an album even charted here. That would be New Gold Dreams which featured the hit “Promised You a Miracle.” Still, the album only reached #69...
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions “Rattlesnakes”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#752 in the Series) is Lloyd Cole & The Commotions, Rattlesnakes Glasgow, Scotland in the early 80′s was full to brimming with raw musical talent and inspiration, with new bands springing up all over the place. The independent label Postcard Records was a small but major player, they had two fantastic bands, Orange Juice and Aztec Camera, who recorded seminal singles before moving on to bigger labels where both released superb debut albums. Other acts like Altered Images, The Bluebells and Friends Again swiftly followed and I can’t fail to mention The Blue Nile whose single “Tinseltown In The Rain” may well be the best ever by a Scots band. All of...
Bruce Springsteen “Born in the USA”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#745 in the Series) is Bruce Springsteen, Born in the USA At the start of 1984, with a new album imminent, Bruce Springsteen’s longtime fans must have been curious, maybe even anxious, about which direction he was going to take. His last effort, 1982′s superb “Nebraska” had been a bit of a departure, consisting as it did of a fairly sombre, and stark, suite of mainly downbeat songs. Bruce had been given artistic freedom to do his own thing on that release and he delivered a majestic masterpiece which has stood the test of time and remains, for many (myself included), his best album to date. This time around though both fans...
Bangles "All Over The Place"
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#693 in the Series) is The Bangles, All Over The Place I remember when this one was just released. It was too early in the girl-band genre to admit that a 26-year-old male was a fan. It still had to be a guilty pleasure that you played when no one was around. Heck, I even remember when I bought the first Pretenders album. I looked around the record store to make sure none of my buddies were watching, and that wasn’t even a girl band. The Go-Go’s had much to do with that. Yes, they were a very good band, but they were marketed very much for the young girl record buyer. The...
Dire Straits “Alchemy-Dire Straits Live”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#517 in the Series, and #53 in the Live Saturday Night Series) is Dire Straits, Alchemy Dire Straits Live I’ve been now lucky enough to see Dire Straits (on the Brothers in Arms tour at The Mecca in Milwaukee) and Mark Knopfler (in 2005 at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago). Both shows were unbelievably entertaining and fine exhibitions to true musicianship. I’m not sure how many of you are familiar with the Auditorium Theater. It is a 3000 or so seat venue or absolute magnificence. I would be hard pressed to find another small theater sized venue that can match it. It was built as an opera house in 1889. Remember, you didn’t...
Philip Bailey “Chinese Wall”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#492 in the Series) is Philip Bailey, Chinese Wall. Chinese Wall is Earth, Wind and Fire vocalist Philip Bailey’s second solo album. It was released in 1984 and it follows Continuation from the previous year. Continuation did…. OK, but not great. It peaked at #72 on the Billboard Top 200 Album chart. Chinese Wall reached #22. Why the difference? Well, mainly it was because of Phil Collins, but we’ll also say that it did have a bunch of good songs on it too. So what did Phil Collins have to do with the success? For one, he produced the album. Secondly, he plays drums on the entire album, but he also sang the...
Howard Jones “Human’s Lib”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#441 in The Series) is Howard Jones, Human’s Lib I actually started a write up for Howard’s second album, Dream Into Action when I started doing some research. I wanted to know the usual, chart positions, songs I may have forgotten, how many other albums the artist had etc. So I saw it was his second and I took a peak back at the debut. I remembered how much I liked that album and called an audible! So now we’re going to do Human’s Lib. Not as successful as Dream Into Action, chart-wise, but a very good piece of music. Two songs received most of the airplay. They were, “New Song” and “What...
The Nails “Mood Swing”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#408 in the Series) is The Nails, Mood Swing. One of the niceties of getting up “early” on Saturday is listening to WXRT here in Chicago and listening to four hours of their long running segment called “Saturday Morning Flashback.” Each Saturday they pick a year and play nothing but great music released during that time. They also give a little rundown of top movies, TV shows, who left us etc., etc. It really is a fun way to kill a morning. Today was 1984. What tunes we were treated too. (Working With Fire & Steel –China Crisis; Whisper to a Scream – Icicle Works; This is the Day – The The; A...
Talking Heads “Stop Making Sense”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#400 in the Series and #36 in the Live, Saturday Night Series) is Talking Heads, Stop Making Sense Yes, you read it correctly. Today marks the 400th entry to “Cool Album of the Day.” Wow, already. I’d get schmaltzy but I’ll save that for #500. I try to find something a little special for all the milestone numbers. I think I’ve done a pretty decent job finding one for #400. I remember Talking Heads, Stop Making Sense being a huge, huge deal when it was released in 1984. The concert form which this was taken was from December 1983. The main reason that this was hugely talked about was that it accompanied a...
