Old Enough to Forget

The cover to this album seemed so familiar from my teenage record store explorations, but for the life of me I had no idea who they were. I had always assumed Straight Eight were a Canadian band ... you know what they say when you assume something: According to Merriam Webster's online dictionary the word assume has a few different connotations based on meaning and usage, but the one I was using which was to take as granted or true was number four from a list of seven variations. I should probably just use the word "Suppose" next time to avoid confusion. After all, I don't want to make an ass out of you or me. Sometimes you can judge a book by it's cover, or an album by it's art - sometimes you can't. Whatever preconceived notions I had formulated in my developing brain would turn out to be nonsense. I suppose what supported my assertion (almost said the ass word, tch tch) that Straight Eight were Canadian was the label: El Mocambo. This was a pretty infam...

After a few punk albums with Generation X, Billy Idol stepped out (or sold out  according to the stalwart punk rockers who felt betrayed by his change in direction) and launched his solo career. Billy teamed up with guitarist Steve Stevens and the two of them created a hybrid punk bubble gum genre that was equal parts sneer, attitude and catchy hooks. Billy was one of the cornerstones of the '80s and here in Canada he was a pretty big deal proportionately outselling our neighbours to the south. I always liked the songs on the radio, but aside from hearing one of his later (at the time) albums  Whiplash Smile once at a friends (a cursory listen didn't do much to solidify Mr. Idol as anything warranting a purchase) I never bothered to buy anything. Billy Idol was released in '82 and the song I really remember is "White Wedding (part 1)" a song that still gives me a big grin. The album would go gold in the US and move 100,000 copies here in the Great White North, eh...

One of the first songs I learned on guitar was "Tush" and to this day it's one of my favourite songs to play. I still remember the first time I heard "Tube Snake Boogie" at a youth group dance ... the irony isn't lost on me, and it was so good. We yelled for it to be played again so we could sing along with the part where he's singing about the sister. Good times. When '83 rolled around videos were suddenly a thing, and boy howdy ZZ Top managed to marry cool with the blues, big beards, cool cars and chicks. Boom. Suddenly the band was more than that little ol' band from Texas. With Eliminator,  ZZ Top's eighth album, the band was propelled into the heart of the mainstream. They may have had several gold and a platinum album under their collective belts but as with all things, there are levels, and holy moly Eliminator was a whole 'nother level for the band.  The album had legs (how could I not?) and for a couple of years the band was r...

Blue Ridge Rangers was released in 1973 on Fantasy Records. The album was a collection of traditional and cover songs that were arranged and produced by John Fogerty. I suppose when it first came out it was a bit confusing. Was this a John Fogerty album? Was there a band? Who were the silhouettes on the cover? Why did they all look like the same person? Was this a giant FU to Fantasy records? After the initial run of pressings I'm guessing there was some pressure to rebrand the album, and subsequently John's name was featured more prominently. The Blue Ridge Rangers came out a year after the final CCR album  Mardi Gras marked the end of an era. I cannot imagine the pressure applied to a still young John Fogerty (28) to replicate the magic he had created with his previous band. While Mardi Gras  was a gold selling record, I suspect that was more the general public's muscle memory as it is generally considered the nadir of the band's output. I imagine there were words ...

Steppin' Out is not an album for the casual fan. I'm the first to admit that I'm not all that well versed in all things Armatrading, although over the last couple of years I've picked up a few of her albums, and I've really enjoyed them. Some more than others, but they were all good. While the album was "Recorded 'LIVE' in North America" the album was not released in the US. Apparently this was at the behest of Joan herself as she didn't think her album sales there warranted a live album. So those in the UK, Europe and Canada (yay) were the lucky recipients. The album itself is surprisingly short, just nine songs and clocking in at less than twenty two minutes a side, which for a live album seems a tad skinny. Most of the songs are full band with the title track being a solo version featuring Joan on guitar. The first couple of plays through, the album felt dull and frankly kind of boring. Which I found strange. Maybe my expectations were a li...

DISCLAIMER: Today is a little more meanderambling than normal.  Oddly this wasn't the record I had intended to write about ... I was pulling out Heatbeat City and Panorama came out at the same time. So being me, I played both. It was strange and my reaction was backward to what I remembered. Back in the day it was Heartbeat City that I played to death ... I mean I had their other albums and they were good, but man oh man to 21 year old me Heartbeat City was far and away their best album. I hadn't actually played Heartbeat City end to end for a long time, and while I still thought it was great, it was  Panorama that felt fresh. It was the drums. David Robinson had a way with his fills and the way his tom toms jumped out of the speakers was just so good. They were fat and demanded attention. He didn't overdo it and not every song needed extra fills. Heartbeat City was mainly Fairlight programming and it was cool at the time.  Panorama was the band's third album ...