Old Enough to Forget

Back in '82 Larry Norman was top lining a slew of releases into the North American market with "Larry Norman Presents." At the time I had no idea these were merely repackaged releases. The Gap had come out a couple of years earlier, but in '82 this was the first time I'd seen or heard of Bryn Haworth, and it seemed intriguing. At the time, any association with secular artists was an odd badge of honour and here was Bryn Haworth with the Eric Clapton Band: Dave Markee, Chris Stainton, Henry Pinetti and Bruce Rowland. Well, that must mean something. I wasn't sure what to expect. I wasn't expecting what I got.  It was different, but man was it ever good.  At this point Toto IV was out, and that was constantly on my turntable, along with their earlier release Turn Back . Resurrection Band had dropped D.M.Z. and "Military Man" was one of my favourite songs. My goodness Stu Hess was near the top of my favourite guitar players ... a list that was cons...

Rock 'n' Roll Juvenile came out in '79, and I remember the song "Carrie" being played on the radio, and then being somewhat confused when a very similar version by Cano singing with an audible French Canadian accent actually outperformed the original here in Canada. When he released "Devil Woman" in 1976 I was hooked. It was a song I really liked but I never picked up any of his albums. It wasn't until I saw a buddy of mine at the mall holding a copy of Rock 'n' Roll Juvenile in the early '80s and I must have given him a little goofy look (which is honestly just my resting face) and he got all defensive and went on about how good the record was and that I shouldn't be a snob about his choice in records. Well, I liked the aforementioned "Devil Woman" and I did like "Carrie" and I really liked "We Don't Talk Anymore" and had recently gotten into The Tarney/Spencer Band and at the time songs from I'...

Here we are, the last Sunday of the month. While two in a row, I wouldn't say I'm in a pattern, yet. It's at least setting a precedent. Five for Fighting No.2 is a bit of an odd bunch this time around. I still think it's pretty cool even if it is kind of all over the place. which is how I like it. I'm still working through the backlog of albums from the dollar bin, and a couple new sealed albums that I was pretty stoked to find. However, I've picked up quite a bit lately and little piles have started to build in the basement. Which usually means I'm going to get an ear full from the wife. The one album I was really curious about from this batch was the Mike Lesley one - good thing I'm not a cat. If I was I'd need more than nine lives. Anyways, here's the second instalment: Five for Fighting Mike Lesley - Mike Lesley (1976) James Taylor - JT (1977) Arlo Guthrie - Alice's Restaurant (1967)  Valdy - Country Man (1972) Real Life - Heartland (198...