Old Enough to Forget

Ah, Michael Damian. Well, it was bound to happen at some point. To be honest I've been actually looking forward to this, mainly because I had packed a lot of baggage in advance and was just waiting for a chance to unload on what I was hoping would be a big pile of monkey droppings. I'd have my revenge for "Rock On" and nothing was going to get in my way. Everybody knows that actors are often just frustrated musicians who were too pretty to be taken seriously. Then again, why is it that musicians want to be actors? Sigh. The album I found was his 1984 debut "Love is a Mystery" on Columbia. Dang, this label was home to some pretty awesome acts. Maybe this was a novelty release. Thankfully the copy I found for my dollar had the liner notes, and the core band was Michael on vocals and keyboards - and chimes (couldn't find a triangle?), Larry Weir on guitars and keyboards, and Tom Weir on drums. A quick peek on the internet revealed that Michael, Larry and To...

This was another one of those "still sealed" records I scored for by birthday. The cover looked cool, I subconsciously filed this under rock and prog, and assumed I was in for a '70s keyboard driven album. I mean, with a title like Fuse , with a cover that featured an old glass fuse - the kind you could once find in your stove or old electric panel I figured this was going to be an electrified experience. Before I dropped the needle I scanned the back cover, and the only name I recognized was Hayward Parrot, who engineered the album. This was cool, as I'd just seen his name on The Front an album I'd just found. While the cover showed Rich Wamil & Copperpenny, the album's spine and the record label attributed this to Copperpenny. I'm guessing at the time there was some name recognition for Mr. Wamil, and sure enough on the credits his name is in bold print. The album opens with "Disco Queen" and sure enough, what I'm getting is a blend of ...

On of the record stores I like to frequent has a pretty solid online store. Every so often I'll just go on a splurge in the comfort of my home, where I am able to wear my crocs and not feel like I'm being judged. So there I am, mindlessly searching for stuff, and I key to the fact I can search for still sealed items ...  Well, this could be fun.  I went on a bit of a tear and ended up with about a hundred bucks of stuff that seemed like a good idea. I got the kids to pay for it as it was close to my birthday. One of the treasures that popped up was Underworld by The Front. The name of the band felt familiar, but I couldn't peg it at the time. So I added this to the cart. I honestly had no idea what to expect, but from the back cover photo was as it was on Duke Street records, so it was likely going to be okay. After all, Jane Siberry and Rik Emmett were on Duke Street at one point so I assumed this would be a guilty by association thing.  The album was indeed a lot of fun...

Red Rider seemed to come out of nowhere in 1980 with their song "White Hot." It was a wicked bit of rock magic that felt like something new. A big part of the sound was found in Ken Greer who added his string wizardry to the mix much like the late David Lindley complimented Jackson Browne. Ken's use of lap steel as a rock vehicle was pretty brilliant. When the band dropped their follow up in '81 I remember picking it up before anything had started to catch on the radio. "Lunatic Fringe" melted a lot of faces, and it's kind of hard to underscore how big a deal the song was to so many people. The song was a rock anthem that didn't sound like anything else out there. In short, this one song was worth the price of admission. Did I mention Ken Greer's solo? Excuse me while put my face back on. The rest of the album felt somewhat anti-climactic, but by no means was it a waste of time. It was still very firmly rooted in the '70s and while the '8...

Utopia is one of those bands I was always curious about as this was Todd Rundgren's band, and for years I'd seen his name pop up on various albums over the years. After a fairly long dry spell (at least two or three weeks) where I could only find obscure show tunes and old Disney records in the dollar bin, up popped what looked to be a decent copy of Deface the Music . There was a slight wobble but I figured it was worth a chance so I brought it home and gave it a little TLC and put it in the queue. Well, the slight wobble was more than slight and effectively made the first tracks on both sides unplayable, which was a shame. But not all was lost. I'm not sure what I was expecting musically as I hadn't looked it up prior to dropping the needle. I suppose the cover should have given it away, but come on, everyone seemed to have a cover like this at some point. Of course as soon as the music started I found myself listening to a long lost Beatles record ... or The Rutles, ...

Eight miles high and still going. If I had a Byrds album this is where I'd have put it. Mainly so I could shit on that song and it's horrid 12 string guitar work that everyone else thinks is spectacular. It's the same sound my kids made when they'd get their hand stuck under the strings when they'd mess around in my music room. Anyway, before I drift too far off point. This month is mostly familiar names this time around. Funny I was pulling stuff from the to be filed pile and although bands like The Edgar Winter Group and Wishbone Ash were relatively new experiences for me, it was fun to revisit the Paul Janz album and finally get a chance to go through the final and much maligned J. Geils release. Then of course there's SAGA - man I love SAGA.  Five For Fighting No. 8 The Edgar Winter Group - Shock Treatment (1974) Wishbone Ash - Locked In (1976) Paul Janz - High Strung (1985) The J. Geils Band - You're Gettin' Even While I'm Gettin' Odd (1...

I was in searching an online catalogue for some stuff and this popped up when I was looking for something by Randy Stonehill. Considering I had most of his stuff already, I have no idea why I was looking, but up popped an album by Kyle, no first name, or maybe it was his first name. Who knows. I know I don't. Turns out the song "If I Had the Cash" was also co-written by Keith Green. Now I was curious. The album cost me five bucks, and I will admit I was pretty curious.KYLE, and I was more curious when I read the back cover. It was produced by Danny Janssen & Bobby Hart. Yeah, those guys. So this was likely going to be somewhere between The Monkees, Josie and the Pussycats and The Partridge Family. That's okay, I liked The Monkees. I'm going to jot down my thoughts in real time, and then come back and see if anything makes sense? Are you seated comfortably? The first song "Rescue Me" comes over the speakers and this is sounds a bit like Neil Diamond, ...

A few months back my buddy Olav, who has a surprisingly deep knowledge of classic rock and an ability to remember weird details that tend to escape us mere mortals sent me a note asking if I'd heard the song "Soviet Jewellery" to which I replied ... "Huh?" So he sent me a link, and I told him it was a pretty cool song, and that as far as I was concerned, was that. Except that it wasn't. Without going into a lot of extra pointless verbiage Olav and I were in a record store and I was rooting around the cheap bins. Rather than stand around Olav decided he'd look too, and in short order he emerged with a copy of BB Gabor . "Oooh," I said, "that's cool, put it on the pile." Yeah, it was a fruitful day and there was a pile ... except this one never made it to the pile. "I'm getting this one." said my rather impish friend. As our visit went on he found a couple more things that ended up on my pile, and when we'd paid an...

Sweet was always a weird band for me to categorize, were they hard rock, were they glam, were they a just a Chinnichap bubble gum act? I mean these were the guys who rocked my world as a kid with "Ballroom Blitz" and melted my face with "Fox on the Run" both from the North American version of Desolation Boulevard on Capitol Records. Much later I heard "Little Willy" and couldn't reconcile that this was by the same band. It was written by Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn names I'd later associate with an awful lot of really questionable glam tinged rock. They were the kings of bubble gum glam but they were so much more than that. However, let's be honest "Little Willy" is just a head scratcher, but "Ballroom Blitz" was sheer wonderfulness, and the stuff with Suzi Quatro was wicked. To me, they were a hard rock act, I had no idea what glam was a kid. Music was either good or it wasn't. By 1976 the lads in Sweet were looking to...

I've picked up an awful lot of stuff over the last few months, probably more than I should have, but dagnabbit a deal is a deal, but the shelf where my incoming pile is stored is getting pretty full. Which means I get to spend more time in the basement listening to tunes and avoiding other chores. Win win. Of all the guys in City Boy, it was Mike Slamer's name I was familiar with from his work with Steve Walsh - both solo and as a member of Streets. The guy was a super tasty player and could really rip it up too. From there I found out he'd been in a band called City Boy and that was about it. Fast forward, and I picked up a really nice looking copy of Dinner at the Ritz .  I scan the back cover and there are six dapper looking lads wearing tuxedos. Also on the back cover Mutt Lange was listed as producer and co-engineer. I was already sold, this just made is more solder. I have yet to hear anything associated with Mutt that was a stinker ... that includes Shania Twain (I k...

I was perusing the dollar section and found this one. The jacket was in immaculate condition and while there was no insert the record itself looked shiny. I also mistakenly thought it was another SFH Band release (J.D. Souther, Richie Furay and Chris Hillman) and while the one I had was rather forgettable, it was enjoyable, so why not? It wasn't until I dropped my buck that I realized this was McGuinn, Clark & Hillman.  Now, I'm a casual fan of The Byrds, and I enjoy most of what I've heard over the years - except for "8 Miles High" yeah, it's a classic, but for goodness sake Roger McGuin spent most of the song trying to get his fingers untangled from the 12 strings on his Rickenbacker. It may be a cacophonic masterpiece to some, but to me it's a reminder that not everyone can play lead guitar. As a casual fan I knew that Chris Hillman and Roger McGuinn were former Byrds, but didn't know that Gene Clark was as well. Turns out here were three of the...

Right off I'll say the only reason I got this was so I could take a monstrous dump on their 1976 earworm "Afternoon Delight" a song so catchy and equally irritating that I felt it was by doody to avenge my nearly ruined childhood by being merciless to a band who never did anything to me other than craft a song that got under my skin. Heck despite McCartney writing "Silly Love Songs" I still listen to his stuff, so I'm not sure why I'm so excited to go after a soft rock act that never hurt anyone. So I put the album on and had my knives out waiting for the first song to start ... "Boulder to Birmingham" immediately got my attention, and I put down my knives. What the hell was this? This song was fantastic. Looking at the liner notes the song was written by Emmylou Harris and Bill Danoff.  The second track was a little more generic country pop but again, it was pretty solid. This was irritating, I so wanted this to be terrible. For a group who ca...

I was farting around meanderbrowsing (it's a real thing) through one of the record stores I occasionally shop. It's a treasure trove of stuff, but can be a tad overwhelming and while not disorganized it's all over the place. I've found more than a few awesome nuggets and the proprietor is an odd duck, at times in the best way, and other times it's overwhelming when I just want to quietly browse. However, he's a treasure trove of knowledge and his ability to retain an astounding amount of absolutely useless trivia makes me look like a moron. Something I can honestly do all on my own without help - but that's beside the point. Generally when I'm there I have a specific item I've got a hankering to find. Chances are pretty decent he has it, or knows about it. This is also the same guy that put me onto Hair Cut One Hundred (better than I expected), and the Karroll Brothers - which was a wicked score. We've also lamented poor Jim Clench's bad luck...