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...

1978 was an unbelievably cool year for music. From hard rock to new wave, and yes (unfortunately) disco (for those who liked that sort of thing) music was alive and well and it was a heady time. The Cars seemed to come out of nowhere, and while they wore their rock credentials on their collective sleeves they were also very different. They were living in the future and bringing it to the present. Yeah, that's as confusing as it sounds. The band enlisted the legendary Roy Thomas Baker to produce the album, who certainly knew a thing or two about getting the most out of a band. The guy's list of credits is unbelievable.  It's kind of weird and fun sitting here listening to an album I actually never had as a kid. I mean, it's not like I didn't know the songs but for whatever reason I wouldn't pick up the album, and all the others, until the early '80s. Before Heartbeat City , I might add, and that was because the rock station here played "Since You're ...

I bought this when it came out for one song, "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades" and by golly it was a dang good song. There was something really cool about the song with the sterile drum programming and the wicked harmonica. I always thought this was a huge hit, and the one time I watched Head of the Class , the song was featured on the episode. Apparently it was a moderate hit, but it certainly stuck with me. Oddly this album has been joined at the hip with Georgia Satellites debut album as I remember picking them both up the same day, and I remember being disappointed with both albums after harvesting the shiny songs for my mix tapes. I was probably harder on this one though. The album charged out with the two best songs on the album the aforementioned sunglasses song, and "Life is Hard" ( a song that felt to me like a companion piece to David & David's "Boomtown") and after that I just ran out of steam. I just didn't put the e...

All I knew about Country Joe and The Fish was what I'd heard on the Woodstock album I'd checked out from the library when I was still in high school. Of course watching The Omega Man on TV as a kid was a riveting experience, and seeing Charlton Heston sitting in a dark theatre watching Woodstock sort of stuck with me. That triple live Woodstock album was another beast altogether, although at the time I really didn't think all that much of the '60s stuff. It was hit and miss, but it was an interesting experience. There was some cool stuff on those platters, and some stuff that made my ears hurt. Then there was the absolutely mind blowing "The 'Fish' Cheer" by Country Joe McDonald. I'd never really paid attention to protest songs, but this ... this was something special. It was probably the first time I'd heard the word fuck in a song, and it was used so artistically that it stuck with me. It's really the only song I truly liked on that albu...

Oh boy here we are with the twelfth instalment of Stylus Over Substance. What was supposed to be the short bite sized impressions of stuff I didn't feel like waxing all nonsensical over and wasting too many words.  I've not always been successful, or coherent. Does it really matter? Probably not, you're either in, or you're out. It's all good. Sometimes it's better. I'm still working my through the piles of records I got for Christmas, and the additional pile I just got for Father's Day will eventually get my attention. Sit back, put your feet up, let's celebrate the fifty five other entries that came before, and get to the next five. Howard Jones - Action Replay (1986) Martha and The Muffins - Trance and Dance (1980) Terry Jacks - Y'Don't Fight the Sea (1975) Barney Bigard & "The Pelican Trio" - Barney Bigard & "The Pelican Trio" (1978) The Alpha Band - Spark in the Dark (1977) Howard Jones - Action Replay (19...