Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Aquarium” by Van Dyke Parks Van Dyke Parks has essentially been making the same album since 1968, and fortunately for his fans, that album is a great one. Parks’ fascination with Tin Pan Alley sounds and Depression-Era songwriting has infused his work since the mid-1960s, resulting in albums that sound like original cast recordings from musicals that don’t exist. Over the last two years, Parks self-released a series of six 7” singles on his own label. His brand new album, Songs Cycled compiles all of the singles. While the sticker on the outside of the album claims that Songs Cycled is his first “proper solo” album in 24 years, it’s all...

Song Of the Day by Eric Berman – “Even In The Quietest Moments” by Supertramp At the time of the release of Supertramp’s sixth album Breakfast In America, the band was on the precipice of a major commercial breakthrough that would see them top the U.S. charts for the first time. Yet, all of the elements were already in place and can be found on their previous platter Even In The Quietest Moments. Before Breakfast, Supertramp was predominantly known for their progressive rock leanings, however what set them apart from all of the other prog groups was their attention to melody and tunefulness. Their music was less about technical prowess, dynamic key signatures and fussy arrangements and more about...

Song Of the Day by Eric Berman – “Some Fantastic Place” by Squeeze Cool For Cats, Argybargy, East Side Story, Sweets From A Stranger and Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti — all of the above named albums are among the best records in the Squeeze catalog. For unknown reasons, Some Fantastic Place is a Squeeze record that stands head and shoulders tall amongst the others, but seldom gets mentioned in the same breath. Today, I officially add this album to the list of all-time great Squeeze albums, and if you’re a fan, so should you. Some Fantastic Place was the band’s tenth album released in 1993. It was the follow up to the album Play, which was possibly the weakest...

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “The Worst Band In The World” by 10cc The premise of a super group is that all of the members are well known entities unto themselves. Everyone knew who Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young were, and what bands they played with before they united. The group members behind today’s Song Of The Day were also a super group, however they were behind-the-scenes super stars that few people knew before they joined forces. 10cc consisted of two sets of incredibly talented songwriters: Graham Gouldman and Eric Stewart, and Kevin Godley and Lol Creme. Gouldman wrote the classic hits “For Your Love,” “Heart Full Of Soul,” and “Evil Hearted You” for The Yardbirds,...

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Jungle Boogie” by Kool & The Gang When Kool & The Gang topped the charts with “Celebrate” in 1980, they were at the peak of their success, but as far as I was concerned, they were long past their prime. To many, that prime happened seven years earlier with the 1973 album, Wild And Peaceful and its clutch of super funky singles. Kool & The Gang hailed from Jersey City, New Jersey and formed in 1964 as The Jazziacs. They then changed their name to Kool & The Flames, and later settled on Kool & The Gang so as not to be confused with James Brown and His Famous Flames. Their...

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Playing The Game” Live 1978 by Gentle Giant They were one of the premier Progressive Rock groups in their day…right up there with King Crimson, Yes and Genesis. Highlighting the stellar musicianship of brothers, Derek and Ray Shulman, Kerry Minnear, Gary Green and John Weathers, the Giant were adept multi-instrumentalists who would dazzle in concert with their intricate vocal arrangements and odd time signatures. The group’s “purple period” of greatness was roughly from the 1972 release of Octopus through 1975’s Free Hand, and encompassed the albums In A Glass House (1973) and The Power And The Glory (1974). In America, their early albums were released by Columbia Records and starting with...

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Evil Ways” by Santana from “Woodstock” This week we are celebrating the 44th anniversary of “An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music” which took place August 15-18th 1969 on Max Yasgur’s farm. While most people are familiar with Santana’s blazing performance of “Soul Sacrifice” that single handedly established the group to the American public and appeared in the movie, most people have never seen anything else from the group’s afternoon set on 8/16/69. At the time, the band was totally unknown out of their native San Francisco, and so was this now classic rock standard. The song wouldn’t become popular for many months, after the group released the studio...

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Infestissumam / Per Aspera Ad Inferi” by Ghost B.C. It’s not Spinal Tap during their “Stonehenge” phase, however Ghost B.C.’s satanic metal church music offers a theatrical twist (a la Tap’s “Henge”) unseen in rock music for many years. The stage fills with thick plumes of white smoke while the sound of Latin liturgical chanting fills the air. Out of the haze emerge five group members wearing hooded robes, their faces obscured by masks. The band members, known as Nameless Ghouls, represent one of five elements; fire, water, wind, earth and ether. Their robes are adorned with a different symbol for each element, and their brand of rock is the chunkiest,...

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Andmoreagain” by Love Love were the biggest rock act on the Elektra Record label, and along with The Byrds, were the darlings of the Whiskey a Go Go rock music scene on the Sunset Strip. That was until The Doors came along… The Summer Of Love wasn’t all sunshine and flower power, and Arthur Lee wasn’t your average psychedelic band leader. For one, Lee was an African American in a white man’s rock world who was leading a mixed-race band. His music was based on his reality reflecting the trials and tribulations of inner city life channeled through a prism of drug addiction, street violence and the Vietnam War. His world...

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Born To Run” by Bruce Springsteen Some of my favorite scenes from The Sopranos are when Tony Soprano is shown driving in his SUV rocking out and singing along to ‘70s tunes, usually by BTO or Journey. Today, I felt a little like Tony Soprano while driving to work, but instead of Journey or BTO, I was listening to one of the greatest albums ever released, Born To Run by Bruce Springsteen. A strange and wonderful sensation came over me by the time the title track came on, which will always signal the beginning of Side Two to me even when hearing it on an iPod. “Born To Run” is still...