Old Enough to Forget

Well, things have been bustling in the house over the last little while. Mainly the boys took over the basement between semesters and that meant I more or less lost the use of the turntable while they played games to all hours of the night. I still manage to get some time in and relax but I've been tasked with a number of spring things too ... the driveway and back patio won't pressure wash themselves ... This time out is another collection of odds and sods. A couple of these were new to me and a few of these I'd not heard in years and years. Without further adieu I present to you the tenth iteration of Stylus over Substance ... no jumping, I don't want to skip the record. Rick Springfield - Tao (1985) The Kinks - Word of Mouth (1984)  Streetheart - Quicksand Shoes (1980) Kate & Anna McGarrigle - Dancer with Bruised Knees (1977) Kansas - Vinyl Confessions (1982) Rick Springfield - Tao (1985) This was one of the more overlooked albums by Rick Springfield. I bough...

When this came out in 1980 I was just around the corner from becoming a big Kansas fan. The first album I actually bought was Audio Visions and I bought that around a year after it came out after hearing "Relentless" on a mix tape my buddy Gord had brought over - it also had "Flirtin' with Disaster" on it too, so it was a memorable tape - I don't know why I can remember this type of thing, but can't for the life of me tell you why I just went into the kitchen. 1980 had been a pretty big year for Kerry Livgren. Writing and recording two albums was a pretty big deal, especially since both albums are really good. I know I got Audio Visions first but Seeds of Change was recorded earlier in the year - I'm not sure when I bought this one, but it was before Vinyl Confessions in 1982. I do know that my copy of Seeds has the Kirshner logo on the label so it wasn't a later pressing - I'm not sure what this has to do with anything, but it's k...

Over the last year and a bit I've been accumulating more dollar store treasures than I have time to actually process. It doesn't mean I'm not giving them a proper listen and consideration, it's just that not everything has a story that can meanderamble for a while and still say nothing at the end. Also there are a lot of bands where there are numerous albums in their discography that are sitting on my shelf (more than one, as my wife reminds me) and they deserve a shout out. I figured since no one really reads this nonsense anyway and this is all about me fuelling my own inflated sense of hubris I'd start a new segment I'd slot in maybe once a week, or once a month, or perhaps quarterly, or as an annual thing. I'm hedging my bets as I generally have a lot of ideas and poor follow through. Not everything is a dollar store treasure, some of these I've had a long time, some not so long, and some were more than a buck. However, let's be optimistic and se...