Foghat - Fool for the City

How could I pass this up? This was one of the original pressings BR 6959, but it's not like it made this any more valuable. It was still a dollar, but dang boy howdy a dollar well spent. I sure would have liked to have had the inset, but never having seen the original who knows if it actually had anything on the inside. The album cover was in decent shape, and the vinyl, especially on the first killer side cleaned up so well I was surprised. Mint, baby. The second side had a little rash, a pretty good nick on "Terraplane Blues" that lasts a few spins around but nothing to spoil things.

I wasn't even in my teens when this came out, and I can't remember when I first heard songs by the band. Over the years of course "Slow Ride" would take on a life of it's own when my kids started playing it on Guitar Hero - a game that frankly brought classic rock into the mainstream, even if only for a moment. The title track was also a great song. It's too bad the album is so short, I mean with only seven songs, the whole thing is just over half an hour long. I suppose cranking out an album a year will take a toll, so you go with what you got. I know it sounds like I'm whinging, it's just that I would have liked more. I feel like I'm holding up an empty bowl and pleading, "Please sir, I want some more."

Fool for the City, was the the band's fifth release, and the one where it all came together. I cannot lay claim to being a super fan, but over the years I have managed to accumulate a lot of their releases, and this is one I return to most often.

The band is great, and I love Rod "The Bottle" Price's guitar playing, in particular his slide work is an integral part of the band's sound. Lonesome Dave Peverett wrote or co-wrote five of the seven tracks and sang the songs and played rhythm guitar. Drummer Roger Earl is the guy on the cover fishing. You gotta love drummers. Nick Jameson in addition to playing bass guitar, keyboards, and some guitar was also the producer and engineer.

The one thing about getting back into vinyl versus my digital library or CDs is that I can get stuck with a favourite side. The first side is stellar, and is the one I will repeat over and over. I mean seriously, "Fool for the City", "My Babe" and the eight minutes of pure riff heaven on "Slow Ride" make for a spectacular first half. It's no wonder the second side doesn't have the same oomph but it was still solid boogie-woogie rock and roll. Except for the album's closer, Take It or Leave It" that seemed like a song from a different band. It's not bad, in fact it's a pretty decent song - it's just a more polished pop song that plays like a harder soft rock song you'd hear by ACE or The Doobie Brothers.

Regardless, this was a great find, and a lot of fun to listen to. This was Yeah, I did spend more time repeating side one but that's only because it's awesome. Don't worry, I've not abandoned the second side, I play it too, and it's growing on me.

Garfield - Strange Streets

I'd seen this before in the bin, but kept flipping through the stacks. I'd see it a few more times, each time stopping to look at it a little more. There was something kind of cool about the cover where the stylized Celtic knot had the dotted yellow line - it was a strange street for sure. I pulled the record out of the jacket and I was struck by the centre image. There was the familiar Mercury label, the same one I'd seen a thousand times on BTOs Head On album. Well, I'd bought things based on odd associations before - like when I had to buy anything that Solid Rock Records released (this was generally a good thing) who knows maybe this was a hidden gem. There weren't any real scratches or rash, just a lot of dirt and dust - it seemed to clean up okay, but we'll see how it goes. The album opens with the title track, and this wasn't straight ahead pop, or rock. It was leaning to the progressive, but with a pop bent. Oddly enough the vocals reminded me of Mi...

Hoodoo Gurus - Mars Needs Guitars!

The first time I got this album it was a gift from my old roommate Otto. For a goofy little nebbish he would occasionally surprise me with some left of field musical treasures. Although, I still think he was reaching a little when he brought home the new "Led Zeppelin" album by Kingdom Come and forced me to listen to "Get it On" over and over again. I'd not listened to Mars Needs Guitars in a long, long, long time. The first thing that I jumped out at me was how David Faulkner's vocals reminded me of his fellow countryman Peter Garrett from Midnight Oil. I think the reason this never occurred to me was at the time I didn't have any Midnight Oil until Diesel and Dust in 1987. I'm not saying it was all the time, but there were a couple of songs where it stood out. Not a bad thing, just a thing. Even at the time this felt slightly out of step with what was going on in 1985. It seemed like everyone was using drum machines and synthesizers and having t...

Saturday Night Fever - The Original Movie Soundtrack

It was going to happen sooner or later. Nostalgia is a cruel Mistress...she can dull the sharpest edges and over time can even soften the hardest of opinions. I found this in the dollar bin, and frankly at a dollar I was worried about what this would cost me. Not only from a monetary perspective, but my time, and more important my credibility. Fourteen year old me was screaming "Don't you dare. DON'T DO IT! Put it down. Walk away!" Then there was grey bearded me holding it and looking at it, thinking, "How bad could it be? I actually kind of like "Staying Alive" and me buying this record won't bring disco back, and no one will have to know I bought this." I pulled the album out of the bin, and carefully took out the records. They'd seen better days, and there were a couple of decent scratches that would no doubt make their presence known later. The jacket was in decent condition, and both of the albums had the original sleeves. I dusted the...

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