Old Enough to Forget

There was a short but glorious period in the early '80s where I bought a lot of Christian music. My buddy Gord, who I love to tease, had an older brother, and between them they knew about everything. Gord was also a lot more forgiving than I ever was for sucky music. I remember the two of us being in the little Christian bookstore by my place when Gord was over visiting, and there on the wall were a couple of records by Sweet Comfort: Breakin' the Ice and Hold On Tight. For whatever reason I can still picture this wall. Phil Keaggy's Ph'lip Side was facing out with the sunburst Les Paul, and the first two Servant albums, Shallow Water and Rockin' Revival , were there too. I'd eventually get all of them...except for those Sweet Comfort albums. My memory is fuzzy at this point, but I'm pretty sure Gord played Breakin' the Ice and I was less than enthusiastic. That was also the time Gord put an air pistol into my cereal one morning and splattered me, the ...

The Pukka Orchestra is one of those little footnotes in Canadian music that generally references "Listen to the Radio" and not a lot after. The band was part of the Solid Gold roster that got flushed down the toilet when the label went under. To make matters worse, whoever took Solid Gold's assets during receivership also managed to lose the master tapes to their debut record. It had been decades since the band last released anything, and then with little fanfare there was a Facebook post a couple of years ago simply stating a "new" album was coming soon from the Pukka Orchestra. I was intrigued, and patiently waited for more information ... and I kept waiting. Then on March 22, 2024, it dropped, and I immediately streamed it. The songs on Chaos Is Come Again were originally released on their '86 release The Palace of Memory , and 1992's Dear Harry . I never did manage to find a copy of Dear Harry , and it remains on my list of wanted treasures. Now, fro...

I'm not sure if musical PTSD is a real thing or not, but I think I have it. I lived through disco and lived to tell the tale - over time I think I developed a pretty serious case of Stockholm Syndrome when it comes to a lot of stuff that made me want to puke or change the station when I was a teenager. Over the last couple of years I not only bought Saturday Night Fever , I kind of liked, in some cases really liked, a couple of the songs. I also have more than one album by The Village People. Back in the early '80s, after Michael Jackson single-handedly took over the world, it was pretty much impossible to not be exposed to his stuff on the radio, and goodness gravy that guy had a lot of songs on the radio. They were the worst of times. Now to be fair, "Beat It" with Eddie's solo was awesome, and it certainly didn't hurt that Steve Lukather was the sonic glue that held the whole thing together. However, the world in those turbulent years was divided into the w...

When I first heard their version of "The Runner" ("Runner") I was enthralled. I can't tell you, (but I am going to) how many times I picked this album up and put it back. I loved the song, but I wasn't sold on getting an entire album by Manfred Mann. So I passed. Then time passed. A lot of time ... decades. A while ago I was wandering around a flea market and there were several vendors selling assorted records and charging a small ransom for really questionable stuff. I try not to be that guy but I think I may have blurted out "You have got to be kidding" more than once when asking "How much?" Then I stumbled upon a rather chill looking dude who had an old milk crate full of records. I flipped through and there were a couple of things that caught my eye, but it was Somewhere in Afrika that I pulled out. It was still in the shrinkwrap and looked pristine. He looked up and caught my eye. I asked, "How much?" He told me. I pulled o...

Sinematic , released in 2019, is a sprawling 13-song experience spanning two albums. Broken into four segments, it's actually easier to digest in the small chunks presented on each side than sitting and listening to this on streaming (or CD). Although having said that, depending on my mood I like to eat the elephant one bite at a time. If you have the time, listening to it uninterrupted is a treat if you can manage it in a single sitting.  The streaming version also contains lyrics, and to my surprise on Apple Music the album description contains an overview as well as commentary on several of the songs, which was a real surprise. My goodness, this is how you try and compensate for not having a physical copy. I still find it interesting that I was never really a fan of The Band as a kid. I recall seeing bits and pieces of The Last Waltz and couldn't figure out what the fuss was. I do remember there was a bit of a tempest in a teacup when the band reunited without Robbie in the ...

I had seen this album many times and thought it looked absolutely awesome. I loved those old Warren magazines. I had a lot of copies of Creepy , Eerie and The Rook . No, I didn't have copies of  Vampirella  - but I would discreetly read it at the store when no one was looking.  Roger's sleeve was designed by Hipgnosis, the legendary design team from the UK, and it looked like something that could have come straight out of one of those magazines. I knew someone who had a copy and, as I was a big Queen fan, I asked about it. I was told it was nothing like Queen. So I passed. After all, this was Roger, the guy who got the B-side to "Bohemian Rhapsody" to sing about his car. Never my favourite song, but dagnabbit, through sheer force of will Roger earned my respect. Still, the prospect of hearing an entire album seemed to be a bit much. Everything changed in the summer of '84 after I heard "Man on Fire" - suddenly Mister Taylor was on my radar. Generally my ...