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Showing posts with the label Gino Vannelli

Stylus over Substance (Volume 6) - The Who, Rick Springfield, Gino Vannelli, Red Rider & Doucette

I'm still digging myself out from the pile of records in the basement. Not that I mind, but my goodness there's a lot of stuff to go through, and frankly I don't want to short myself on anything so I'm still trying to spend time with them before putting them away. Oh, some will stay put for a long time I suspect, but there are always hidden gems and treasures among the old things that are new to me, A mixed bag this time of the familiar and not so much. The Who - Face Dances (1981) Rick Springfield - Hard to Hold (1984) Gino Vannelli - Brother to Brother (1978) Red Rider - Breaking Curfew (1984) Doucette - Coming Up Roses (1981) The Who - Face Dances (1981) This would be the band's first album after the death of drummer Keith Moon. Sitting on the throne behind the kit was Kenny Jones, who had been a member of The Small Faces. The album was produced by Bill Szymczyk and yielded the classic, "You Better You Bet" that helped pull the album to platinum s...

Gino Vannelli - Black Cars

The song "Black Cars" is one of those quintessential '80s songs that just seemed to have it all. I always liked the song, but I never picked up the album. When "Wild Horses" started to get some airplay a few years later, I actually tried to find the album it was on but for whatever reason it was out of stock, or I was looking in the wrong place - I left empty handed.  I don't think I looked too hard. Part of the problem was I had a preconceived notion of what to expect, and it was largely influenced by his '70s hits. They were to be fair, pretty great songs, but for some reason just rubbed me the wrong way. Trust me, there's a right way to rub, and a wrong way ... I'll just move on as this is not going to end well if I keep going - it won't be a happy ending. Recently I found a pristine copy of Black Cars in the dollar bin, and it was too good to pass up. I knew for sure I was getting one killer song, anything else would be gravy with a cher...