Living To Music December 2011

Join in if you can, alone or with friends, this Sunday at 9pm with Greg Wilson's Living To Music worldwide communal listening experience. The selected album this month is Michael Jackson's 1979 album Off The Wall.

http://www.gregwilson.co.uk/2011/11/living-to-music-michael-jackson-off-the-wall/

My used vinyl copy, newly arrived from eBay today in preparation for Sunday night is currently on the turntable and sounding great.

Magnificent Millie

Millie Jackson has been a recording artist since the early 70s.  An American Soul/R&B singer with an incredible rich, deep voice, she is given to peppering her performances with spoken word sections, some of which contain language that ranges from the saucy to the explicit.

I bought two of her LPs at a car boot sale earlier this month for 50p each:

Still Caught Up (1975)

Still Caught Up was the follow up to the hugely successful 1974 concept album "Caught Up" which told the story of a love triangle from the perpectives of the two female sides.  Still Caught Up continues the theme, with Side 1 sung from the point of view of the wronged wife who still loves her cheating hubby, with telling songs like "Making The Best Of A Bad Situation" and "Tell Her It's Over".  On Side 2 we hear from the mistress with "Do What Makes You Satisfied" and "Leftovers".

Here's her cover of Loving Arms:

Spotify:  Millie Jackson – Leftovers 

Still Caught Up reached no.27 on the US R&B album chart.

Lovingly Yours (1977)

Lovingly Yours is another collection of songs about love, sex and heartbreak.  The combination of spoken word, strings and subject matter give the album a very Barry White vibe.

Spotify:  Millie Jackson – Somethin' 'Bout 'Cha        Millie Jackson – A Love Of Your Own

Lovingly Yours reached no. 44 in the US R&B album chart.

Millie still records and performs today (her website is here) as well as hosting a regular show on a Dallas radio station.





Break it again

Back in September I posted about a track from Breakdance - The Movie; a cheesy but fab 80s film.  A couple of weeks ago I picked up the full soundtrack LP for £1:

Breakdance - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1984)

The original post with the lead single and movie info is here.  It's a great soundtrack and as you can see from the album cover, the female lead is once again rocking the leotard/legwarmers combo.

Top tracks:  Chaka Khan – Ain't Nobody  (Spotify)

 

 

Return of the Thin White Duke

I was pleased to find David Bowie's Station To Station in excellent condition for £1 at a recent boot sale:

David Bowie - Station To Station (1976)

Bowie's tenth studio album was partly influenced by his recent role in the Nicolas Roeg film The Man Who Fell To Earth, a still from which is used as the cover art.

A transitional album, Station To Station develops the "plastic soul" and funk grooves of Young Americans towards his later "Berlin Trilogy" which were influenced by cold German electronica and motorik rhythms (Neu!, Kraftwerk).  His alter ego here is the "Thin White Duke" who comes over as a drug addled aristocrat; an emotionless alien character whose impeccable style and poise were only eclipsed by his massive cocaine intake.

Original Rolling Stone review here:  

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/station-to-station-19760325

It's hard to pick out favourite songs from the six on the album, but my two favourite at the moment anyway, are Stay for it's brilliant intro and his cover of Wild Is The Wind, which is just gorgeous.

Spotify:   David Bowie – Stay        David Bowie – Wild Is The Wind

Station To Station reached no.5 in the UK and no.3 in the US Billboard Pop Album chart.





Beat Box Rock'n'Roll

I bought this for £1 a few weeks ago, partly because I remembered one of their singles, but mainly because of the fantastic cartoon cover art:

Westworld - Where The Action Is (1987)

Westworld consisted of American vocalist Elizabeth Westwood, drummer Nick Burton and former Generation X guitarist Bob Andrews.  This was their debut album and I'd describe it as rockabilly-pop with hip-hop beats.  No, come back...

The two most successful singles were Sonic Boom Boy which reached no.11 in the UK and Ba-Na-Na-Bam-Boo which got to no.37.  They are both pretty good songs, and I also quite like another called Psychotech, but that's about where it ends really.  Most of the rest is weak to awful, with thin 80s production and forgettable tunes; the nadir being the track Cheap & Nasty, whose apt title sums up the feel of much of the album.

Great cover, a shame the contents aren't as good.  It reached no.49 in the UK chart.

Spotify:   Westworld – Sonic Boom Boy - Original LP Version

                   Westworld – Ba-Na-Na-Bam-Boo

                   Westworld – Psychotech

Mr Jelly Lord

This cost £4 at a recent car boot sale - big money for this vinyl fan, but well worth it!

Jelly Roll Morton and his Red Hot Peppers -

The King Of New Orleans Jazz (1981)

Jazz composer and arranger Jelly Roll Morton's birth name was Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe.  The nickname Jelly Roll (the current black slang for female genitalia) was given to him whilst working as a brothel pianist aged just fourteen.

Born in New Orleans in 1885, he died at just 55 of complications from knife wounds.  During his career he wrote and recorded what are now regarded as jazz classics of the 1920's, including Black Bottom Stomp, Jelly Roll Blues and Wolverine Blues.  His Red Hot Peppers were indeed red hot; musicians such as trombonist Edward 'Kid' Ory and George Mitchell on cornet and trumpet, were both part of the line-up of sidemen.

This collection of recordings (first released in this format in 1962) covers this period during which he was at the peak of his career.  According to the sleevenotes Morton, at the time of his death, was "in the process of suing the world for recognition".  His claim to have "invented" jazz was well known, as was his extremely arrogant nature, and it may even have led him to lie about his date of birth, which may well have been a full five years later than 1885.

Spotify:   Jelly Roll Morton – Black Bottom Stomp      Jelly Roll Morton – The Pearls

                 Jelly Roll Morton – Dead Man Blues      Jelly Roll Morton – Jelly Roll Blues



Golden Years

I received belated birthday presents from my little brother last week, bought from a second hand vinyl stall on Cambridge market.  The first is Alice Cooper's Greatest Hits:

Alice Cooper's Greatest Hits (1974)

This is a collection of singles from Alice Cooper the band's (as opposed to Alice Cooper the solo artist) third to seventh albums, from 1971's Easy Action to 1793's Muscle Of Love, their final album.

The songs appear in chronological order and it's easy to track the development of Alice Cooper the singer in a Detroit hard rock band, to Alice Cooper the theatrical horror-rock superstar, now everyone's favourite scary golf-mad uncle.  All of the songs were remixed by producer Jack Richardson especially for the album.

The illustration on the cover is by Drew Struzan.  The band are seen lounging against a car in front of a 1930's garage.  Film stars to spot include Jean Harlow, Humphrey Bogart and Groucho Marx.

The development in their sound can be heard by listening to the first track from each side of the LP; their first hit I'm Eighteen and 1973's Hello Hooray.

Spotify:  Alice Cooper – I'm Eighteen          Alice Cooper – Hello Hooray

The album reached no.8 in the US Billboard chart.

My brother (who is, by the way, both clever and handsome) also bought me David Bowie's compilation Changesonebowie:

David Bowie - Changesonebowie (1976)

This is a fantastic collection of singles and album tracks  from 1969-76, including the single John, I'm Only Dancing, which had not yet been included on an album and not released in the US due to it's supposed "risque" lyrics.

Spotify:  David Bowie – John, I'm Only Dancing

The album reached no.2 in the UK and no.10 in the US Billboard Pop album chart.

It Was A Very Good Year...

Inspired by Vintage Vicki I've been playing with Mosaic Maker and have created a mosaic of just some of the records I've found at car boot sales and charity shops this year.

It's been a good one!

Melt

Peter Gabriel's third self-titled album cost 50p at a car boot sale a couple of weeks ago:

Peter Gabriel (1980)

Also known as "Melt" because of the striking cover photo, this is a dark album of prog-pop.  It tells disturbing stories from the point of view of burglars and stalkers, plus tales of fear, murder and frustration.

This was the lead single which reached no.4 in the UK:

 

The album reached no.1 in the UK and no.22 in the Billboard Pop albums chart in the US.

Spotify:    Peter Gabriel – No Self Control

Living To Music November 2011

Join in if you can, alone or with friends, this Sunday at 9pm with Greg Wilson's Living To Music worldwide communal listening experience.  The selected album this month is Janelle Monae's The Archandroid.

http://www.gregwilson.co.uk/2011/10/living-to-music-janelle-monae-the-archandroid/