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Andy McCarroll and Moral Support - Zionic Bonds

Back in 1982 this popped onto my radar when I found the album in my little Christian bookstore. It was this Irish band that steered me in U2's direction and in short order I picked up October , and then quickly snapped up Boy as well, but it all started with this Andy McCarroll album. I pretty much played this to death. It was a strange, quirky, overly preachy but wonderfully endearing album ... and it has not aged well, but it still sounds awesome nonetheless. At the time I had no idea this was actually released in 1980, and it was rebranded from Moral Support to Andy McCarroll and Moral Support and released in North America in 1981. By the summer of '82 this along with my U2 albums Boy and October and Toto IV were in constant rotation. The U2 records are their own story, with each album was recorded onto a 90 minute cassette, and it lived in my car. What this has to do with anything is still to be determined. Think of it as a placeholder to be referenced if necessary.* For s...
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Brian May & Friends - Star Fleet Project

When I found this album back in '83 it had a remainder cut out on the cover. Makes one wonder what Capital records thought was going to happen with a three song vanity project from Brian May. Me, I loved this from the moment I saw it ... I just knew, KNEW it was going to be awesome. I was determined to love this no matter what. How hard could it be to love something that had Brian May and Eddie Van Halen on the same album? Apparently not hard at all ... but harder than I first thought ... but it didn't matter. Rounding out the friends, was drummer Alan Gratzer (REO Speedwagon), bassist Phil Chen (Rod Steward, Jeff Beck, Joan Armatrading) and Fred Mandel (Alice Cooper, Domenic Troiano, Queen and Pink Floyd) on keyboards. These boys could play. As Brian writes on the back cover essay this was just supposed to be a hang and jam with some people he had wanted to play with. You can practically hear the songs coming together. The three songs on the MINI LP are essentially an audible ...
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Little Image - Self Titled

Little Image, or little image, or my favourite and most aesthetically pleasing littleimage. is an alternative pop band from Dallas Texas. The band features the talents of Jackson Simmons (vocals, guitar), Troy Bruner (drums) and Brandon Walters (bass, synth). This is what passes for alternative nowadays. Yeah, I am old. Well, oldish, but it's all relative. Still, gotta give these kids props. They're a band, and band's are not the flavour of the day. Hollywood Records may or may not have the cachet they once had when they were the home of Queen and Fastball. They're still a major label in an age when I have no idea what labels are supposed to do for an artist. I suppose if I had the time I could write a letter to Ashton Ulrich and Mike Daly the dynamic duo who are the band's A&R team and ask them. Self Titled  is another one of those Marco Polo Platters I shelled out less than ten bucks for. I don't know why I just don't take a picture of the album and ...
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Toto - Isolation

After selling over 4 million copies of Toto IV the band set about crafting a worthy follow up. It took a while and in the process Bobby Kimball exited the band and was replaced by Fergie Frederiksen. Fergie sounded nothing like Bobby which I thought was a good thing ... others not so much. As this is my bloggity thing, I get to say what I want, and yes it was a good thing. Heck, I'd go and pick up So Fired Up by LeRoux just because Fergie sang lead - oddly enough with LeRoux his time as lead vocalist would be a one and done as the band would break up leaving Fergie looking for work ... which he found with Toto ... for one album, and then Fergie was looking for work. I'm getting ahead of myself. I know that music is practically disposable now, but dang it this whole vinyl thing pretty much forces an active experience which I really find enjoyable. Weird how often it never used to. I'd put on an album and let it play while I fiddle farted around ... if it wasn't for the ...
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Matthew Ward - Toward Eternity

In May of 1981 I was given a pile of Christian records ... okay maybe not a pile, but it felt like a lot. I don't remember all of the titles but I do remember How the West was One by 2nd Chapter of Acts. This was my introduction to Phil Keaggy and his playing melted my brain. One of the vocalists in the band was a skinny young kid who sounded like a boy when he spoke and had a huge voice. It seemed inevitable that he'd release a solo album at some point. That point came in 1979 when Toward Eternity  was released, according to Mr. Ward's website he was 18 when he recorded the album, which is sort of mind boggling. I probably got it in 1982 when I was 19, and the most ambitious song I'd written to that point was "49 Rats Eating Beer-sausage." I remember reading the credits as I listened to the songs, and was really excited to see Phil's name listed on most of the tracks. The album opens with a one two punch that still makes me grin like an idiot. This is di...
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The Adventures - The Adventures (Theodore and Friends)

The Adventures popped up on my radar back in 1988 when I heard "Broken Land" on the radio ... once. I was at work at the time and the some caught my attention. I waited patiently in the hopes the song would be identified, and thankfully when it was over I got to hear a mumbled titled by The Adventures. I found the album, and got more than just the one song. It was so good and so different than most of what was in my CD player at the time. A year later they dropped Trading Secrets with the Moon , and while I never heard any songs on the radio, my mix tapes pulled a few songs and then I lost track of them. During the dying days of Krazy Bob's I popped in more than usual, often dropping more cash than usual because it was the end of an era and there were still treasures to be had while they could be had. This particular trip was only to mine his discount bins, which he would often seed with hidden gems. He was never shy about pointing out stuff I missed. On this particular v...
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Jane Siberry - The Speckless Sky

I'll admit that I was drawn and sort of repelled by "Mimi on the Beach" when it first showed up on MuchMusic back in 1984 ... however, like the Borg were so fond of saying, "Resistance is futile." The song grew on me, but it wouldn't be until after I bought The Speckless Sky , based on the irresistible strength of "One More Colour" that I started to consider myself a fan. "One More Colour" may have been a hit in terms of cracking the top 40 here at home, but it should have been huge .  This was the album that made me a fan. Shortly after I went and bought No Borders Here . I kept up with her releases for many years. I still consider myself a fan but times change and I didn't (still don't) have the necessary budget to buy everything that I want. Streaming is fun but having the whole world at your fingertips does sort of take the shine off things a little. Weird. Regardless, with The Speckless Sky , Jane was back with her band, Al C...
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