Old Enough to Forget

When this came out in '82 it was an odd duck, and frankly I really had no time or stomach for Mr. Jackson. Of course with time I came to know the error of my ways, and I will freely acknowledge the near genius level of Joe Jackson's best work. I'd be lying if I said everything committed to the grooves resonated with me, but boy howdy his hit to miss ratio is pretty impressive. Night and Day reunited Joe with producer David Kershenbaum who helmed those first two killer records, Look Sharp! and I'm the Man back in 1979. Times had changed and rather than move forward Joe deliberately went back in time for inspiration, starting with his 1981 release Joe Jackson's Jumpin' Jive , a cover album of old classics. Night and Day was as much a jazz record as it was a sophisticated pop album. As much as I missed guitarist Gary Sanford I'm not sure how he would have fit (but I still think he'd have added some great flourishes), however longtime bassist Graham Mab

Recorded live in front of over 18,000 fans September 12, 1969 in Los Angeles the album captures the band as they run through some of their earlier hits, and a number of covers ... they're all covers, but man the band would make the songs their own. I found this quite a while ago, and was in better shape than it first appeared. From what I've read this is an original pressing, which was cool.  At this stage in their career the band had only released two albums, and to come out with a live album so soon must have seemed a little weird. Apparently Steppenwolf was recording a number of their shows for a potential live album, and Three Dog Night was opening for them the night this was recorded. As both bands were Dunhill and they were recording the show anyway they just got extra tape and captured the opening act as well. Turns out that was a pretty smart move as the album was a hit and would go gold. What makes this so cool is that it really is a performance captured l

Wings. Not Paul McCartney and Wings. Just Wings. Of course the reality is Wings was Paul's band. End of discussion. Wings at the Speed of Sound though is a band effort. To me this was their best line up. The core trio of Paul, Linda, and Denny were augmented by Jimmy McCulloch, on stringed things, and Joe English on drums. While the majority of the songs were credited to Paul and Linda, each member got a turn taking lead vocals which I was Paul's way of emphasizing Wings was a band. As a kid, it was the radio hits I knew, and on occasion a deeper track that would get some play. This is unfortunately the album known for "Silly Love Songs" a song so deeply and truly shitty I want to drag the needle across the record. I don't though. I persevere and who know, it's pushing fifty years now, it should be softening. Why not, I bought a Village People album ... and enjoyed it. I suppose I should just put the record on. I won't have to make any rash decisions unti