New Order released their fifth album, Technique, in 1989. I found a copy at a car boot sale in October for £1:
New Order - Technique (1989)
Technique marked a shift away from their rock-pop sound to a more dance based style, influenced by the huge current acid house scene and their residence at the time in an Ibiza studio.
The biggest track is the opener Fine Time, which reached no.11 in the UK singles chart. The album reached no.1 in the UK and no.32 on the US Billboard chart.
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 the Stone Roses' self titled debut from 1989.
This arrived via eBay yesterday just in time for the final run-up to Christmas - a snip at £4.06. Originally released in 1963 and called "A Christmas Gift For You from Phil Spector", it was reissued with this different title and cover art 20 years later.
Phil Spector's Christmas Album (1983)
It features four of Phil's artists; The Ronettes, The Crystals, Darlene Love and Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans. Spector's Wall of Sound is put to phenomenal effect on seasonal classics Frosty The Snowman, White Christmas, Sleigh Ride, I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus and many others. Some kind soul has put some of the tracks on youtube:
Fantastic! The album ends with a spoken message from Phil himself over a rendition of Silent Night by all of the artists. It really is an essential part of Christmas, so here's the Spotify link to the entire album: Various – A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector
I bought a copy of Nina Simone's 1971 album Here Comes The Sun at a car boot sale in the summer for £2.
Nina Simone - Here Comes The Sun (1971)
Here Comes The Sun is an album of cover versions recorded with an orchestra, including the title track, Dylan's Just Like A Woman, Angel Of The Morning and My Way. The best track by far is her version of Mr Bojangles. It's the most moving version of this song (by Jerry Jeff Walker) I've ever heard.
Songs In The Key Of Life was Stevie Wonder's 13th studio album and the fourth and last of those from his so-called 70s "classic" period which began in 1972 with Talking Book. A few weeks ago I found a copy for 50p at a boot sale:
Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key Of Life (1976)
The album boasts 21 songs over a double LP and a 7-inch four-song EP. The EP was missing but the huge lyric book was present and everything was in excellent condition.
Wonder does indeed cover a vast array of life's issues including religion, politics, love, birth, death, racism and poverty. Much has been written about this sprawling critical and commercial gigantic success. Here's the original Rolling Stone magazine review from 1976:
It spawned several successful singles and went straight in at no.1 on the US Billboard album chart. It reached no.2 in the UK and is listed as no.56 in the Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time.
It's difficult to pick out favourite tracks, as the overall quality is so high, but here are a couple of zingers, followed by the link to the whole album on our good friend Spotify.
