THE HARDER THEY COME   -   Various Artists

YEAR:  1972
LABEL:  Island
TRACK LISTING:  You Can Get It If You Really Want  -  Jimmy Cliff,  Draw Your Brakes  -  Scotty,  Rivers of Babylon - The Melodians,  Many Rivers To Cross  -  Jimmy Cliff,  Sweet and Dandy  -  Toots & the Maytals,  The Harder They Come  -  Jimmy Cliff,  Johnny Too Bad  -  The Slickers,  007 (Shanty Town)  -  Desmond Dekker,  Pressure Drop  -  Toots & the Maytals,  Sitting In Limbo  -  Jimmy Cliff,  You Can Get It If You Really Want (Instrumental) -  Jimmy Cliff,  The Harder They Come (Shorter Version)  -  Jimmy Cliff
BONUS TRACKS:  (on the 2-disc "Deluxe Edition" the 2nd disc is entitled: REGGAE HIT THE TOWN:  CRUCUAL REGGAE 1968 - 1972):  Israelites  -  Desmond Dekker & the Aces, My Conversation  -  The Uniques,  Do the Reggay - Toots & the Maytals,  Viet Nam  -  Jimmy Cliff,  I Can See Clearly Now  -  Johnny Nash,  Reggae Hit the Town  -  The Ethiopians,  Double Barrel  -  Dave & Ansel Collins,  It Mek  -  Desmond Dekker & the Aces,  Sweet Sensation  -  The Melodians,  Let Your Yeah Be Yeah  -  Jimmy Cliff,  Cherry Oh Baby - Eric Donaldson,  Monkey Spanner - Dave & Ansel Collins,  54-46 (That's My Number)  -  Toots & the Maytals,  It's My Delight  -  The Melodians,  Wonderful World Beautiful People  -  Jimmy Cliff,  Pomp & Pride  -  Toots & the Maytals,  Guava Jelly  -  Johnny Nash,  The Bigger They Come the Harder They Fall  -  Jimmy Cliff
IMPRESSIONS:  The landmark soundtrack from the landmark film which almost single-handedly broke reggae in the U.S. (and probably most of the world).  The film was the first major motion picture produced in Jamaica by Jamaicans focusing on Jamaican issues and the soundtrack (long considered one of the best and most important soundtrack albums of all-time) was an essential primer of reggae music (especially with the addition of a bonus disc in the 2003 Universal Music Deluxe Edition which continued the gathering of important early reggae hits). 
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  You Can Get It If You Really Want  -  Jimmy Cliff,  Draw Your Brakes  -  Scotty,  Rivers of Babylon  -  The Melodians,  Many Rivers To Cross  -  Jimmy Cliff,  Sweet and Dandy  -  Toots & the Maytals,  The Harder They Come  -  Jimmy Cliff,  Johnny Too Bad  -  The Slickers,  007 (Shanty Town)  -  Desmond Dekker,  Pressure Drop  -  Toots & the Maytals,  Israelites  -  Desmond Dekker & the Aces,  My Conversation  -  The Uniques,  Viet Nam  -  Jimmy Cliff,  I Can See Clearly Now  -  Johnny Nash,  Reggae Hit the Town  -  The Ethiopians,  Double Barrel  -  Dave & Ansel Collins,  It Mek  -  Desmond Dekker & the Aces,  Let Your Yeah Be Yeah  -  Jimmy Cliff,  54-46 (That's My Number)  -  Toots & the Maytals,  Pomp & Pride  -  Toots & the Maytals,  Guava Jelly  -  Johnny Nash
FACT SHEET:  THE HARDER THEY COME is a soundtrack album for the 1972 film starring Jimmy Cliff and directed by Perry Henzell.  The Uniques' "My Conversation" was used in the LOST episode "Everybody Hates Hugo".

BIG PIMP'S KUNG FU STUDIO   -   Big Pimp Jones

YEAR:  2003

LABEL:  Bad Funkmatron

TRACK LISTING:  Dunk It Down Chocolate Thunder (Clarence Foster and the Internal),  Evil Never Dies (Goliva),  K.R.O. Is On the Mix Tonight (K.R.O.),  Power Man and Iron Fist (Lucas Cage),  U.F.hO (Big Pimp Jones),  Slip N Slide (House Band of the Apocalypse),  Takin' Off (Will Cedeno),  Through the Planets (Jean Clique),  Funky Santa (Slickness),  The Alley (Skeeter Angieri),  Jam #42 (Artist Unknown),  Turn It Out (K.R.O.),  Stroll ("Velver Shmoov" Soundtrack),  White Backup Center Beat (K.R.O.),  Theme from "Deadly Disemboweling Crane Strike" (Dancing Viper St),  Booty Magnets (House Band of the Apocalypse),  Funkiest Ever (Moon Patrollers),  Illuminati Trilogy (Nihilism),  Skills Test (Legion of DJ) + Three Color Collar (Nosotros Pimpam),  Sex Fiesta Grande (House Band of the Apocalypse),  Cocoa Butter (The Chefs),  Sunday Afternoon (Smooth Vibes) + Drum Break (Nihilism),  Car Chase Theme from "Funk 92" (Artist Unknown),  Fry Chicken In Your Hot Pants - Valve

IMPRESSIONS:  We'll let Big Pimp speak for themselves:  "

All we've wanted to do since we started this stuff is take some hip-hop lyrics and put them on top of funk. And not just that funk where you're at a party with your people and some joint goes on, and you start nodding your head and quickly interrupt YOURSELF (since you're macking it someone) to say something like 'oh hey, this is a dope song'. NO. That ain't the kind of funk we're talking about. We're talking about that funk where you interrupt yourself to say something like "aaaaawwwwwWWWW YEAH!", stop macking, then run across the room to the DJ booth to see what that funky-ass record is, cause you GOTTA have it! That's what we're going for. We've been doing this for 12 years now, doing our best to give some funk back to hip-hop (since hip-hop's been in a taking mood with the funk) - 1) throwing some old school funk down on tape then 2) throwing some old school and new school verses and 3) going from there. And by 'going from there' we mean drink malt liquor, preferably Hurricane."
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  Has to be all of 'em because the album is edited together with no track spaces and is meant to be one continuous funk fest.

FACT SHEET:  BIG PIMP'S KUNG FU STUDIO is a collection of old and new instrumentals from Big Pimp Jones aka the band formerly known as K.R.O. and the House Band of the Apocalypse.  Originally intended to be released as a "fake compilation" disc and gives the names of imaginary bands in parentheses after the song titles; however, all music is by Big Pimp Jones.  The group consists of Keith aka K.R.O. aka Jo Jo Shorty (vocals), Chris aka Madd Ruckus aka Pooky (bass), Greg aka Chaos aka Vick Damone (guitar), Steve aka Sweet Toof (drums) and Jay aka Tondef (DJ).  "BONUS: 20 things you can do after you pop in Big Pimp's Kung Fu Studio

1. We ain't saying nothing, but the ladies get freaky for it.  2. Turn the volume down on the TV while you're playing your videogames and get the videogame soundtrack you've always been waiting for.  3. The Funky Chicken  4. Spice up kung fu fight scenes with the funk.  5. Barbecue some DAMN good chicken.  6. Watch the gas pedal, pardner, but be sure to pop in the uptempo sh*t for some drivin' music.  7. Pimp. You can pimp with this as your pimpin' soundtrack.  8. We ain't saying nothing, but the ladies take off all their clothes whenever these jams are played at a public swimming facility.  9. Do your damn housework. Nothing gets you through housework like the funk.  10. Watch action clips of Boba Fett. 1 1. Put the sound down and watch some golf on television. Seriously, it's ill.  12. (***NOTE: We are pimping our own stuff here***) Read that kick-*ss superfunk zine The Old School Beat.  13. Take your box out to the park with this in it, crack open a fine beverage, chill and catch some rays.  14. Practice your freestyle rhyming ability, there are 20+ tempos on this joint so you can hone battle skills at all tempos.  15. Break in your brand new $1000 Numark CD turntables by rocking and scratching two copies of this baby. Nothing beats a constant hour and a half of 'Dunk it Down Chocolate Thunder'.  16. Take the vocal samples and dump them into your computer. Imagine having your 'e-mail arriving' sound be a slick bassline from Madd Ruckus instead of that annoying bell tone.   17. Call up Bad Funkmatron Records and tell us you can rhyme better. Sh*t, prove it on the answering machine with one of the tracks. It'll cut you off after one minute, though, so you better make it count.  18. The Freak  19. You won't want to, but you'll probably slap your momma because the music forced you to - just all of a sudden, 'Momma?' - WHAP!  20. Just put it on as background music for some winter chilling."

SOUL & BOSSA   -   Lisa Ono

YEAR:  2007

LABEL:  Avex/Universal

TRACK LISTING:  For Once In My Life,  (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay,  You've Got A Friend,  Family,  Overjoyed,  Georgia On My Mind,  I Got You (I Feel Good),  Nada Mais/Lately,  I Can't Stop Loving You,  Unchain My Heart,  What's Going On

BONUS TRACK:  Eu Voce (for Asia only!)

IMPRESSIONS:  The current queen of bossa nova!  The word I've seen applied to this album which most fits is probably "dulcet".  Here we have Japanese/Brazilian bossa nova champ Lisa Ono singing mostly (but not all) covers of well-known songs.  My absolute favourite song on the album is Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" which is almost better than the original.  Surprisingly, Ono even transforms James Brown's "I Got You (I Feel Good)" into a legitimate bossa nova song!  The only misstep on the album is her too-chirpy version of "Georgia On My Mind".  Other than that, this easy, laid-back bossa nova album sounds like a modern-day Astrud Gilberto recording. 

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  For Once In My Life,  (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay,  You've Got A Friend,  Family,  Overjoyed,  I Got You (I Feel Good),  Nada Mais/Lately,  Unchain My Heart,  What's Going On

FACT SHEET:  SOUL & BOSSA is Lisa Ono's 23rd album.  Born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Lisa Ono moved with her family to Tokyo, Japan at the age of ten.  Since then she has spent half the year in Japan and the other half in Brazil.  She acts as something of an ambassador of Brazilian music ("MPB") to Japan.  Her father opened a Brazilian restaurant in Japan in which she sang mostly bossa nova and samba.  Ono recorded her first album ("CATUPIRY") in 1989 and has released about an album a year since then mostly in Portugese.  The Stevie Wonder song "For Once In My Life" was written by Ron Miller and Orlando Murden.  Steve Cropper and Otis Redding wrote "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay".  Carole King wrote "You've Got A Friend".  Stevie Wonder wrote "Overjoyed" and "Lately"; the latter song was here adapted by Romero Bastos.  Stuart Gorrell and Hoagy Carmichael wrote "Georgia On My Mind" (and NOT Johnny Mercer).  James Brown wrote "I Got You (I Feel Good)".  Don Gibson wrote "I Can't Stop Loving You".  Bobby Sharp and Teddy Powell wrote "Unchain My Heart".  "What's Going On" was written by Al Cleveland, Marvin Gaye and Renaldo Benson.  "Family" was written by Lisa Ono and Bill Cantos.

RIOT!   -   Joe Bataan

YEAR:  1968

LABEL:  Fania

TRACK LISTING:  It's A Good Feeling (Riot),  For Your Love,  Muñeca,  Pa Monte,  What Good Is A Castle,  Daddy's Coming Home,  Mambo de Bataan,  My Cloud,  Ordinary Guy

IMPRESSIONS:  Joe Bataan, the self-styled "King of R&B" has provided us with something of a United Nations on this album.  Of course, Bataan himself is Filipino-African American who specializes in "Latin Soul" music.  However, on this album (a gold record smash), Bataan has a different style of music on nearly every track:  from conga, mambo and bossa nova to 50's doo-wop and 60's soul ballads.  Listen to this album now one hears early echoes of the crossover successful that would be had by Miami Sound Machine and Santana while also sometimes evoking Gil Scott-Heron (on "What Good Is A Castle".   

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  It's A Good Feeling (Riot),  Muñeca,  Pa Monte,  Mambo de Bataan,  My Cloud,  Ordinary Guy

FACT SHEET:  RIOT! is Joe Bataan's third album.  Born in Spanish Harlem in New York City as Bataan Nitollano, Bataan briefly led a Puerto Rican street gang called "The Dragons" before being sent to Coxsackie Correctional Facility for a stolen car charge.  After release, Bataan devoted himself to music (particularly his main influences Latin boogaloo and doo-wop) when Fania records signed him in 1966.  Bataan released a cover of Curtis Mayfield & the Impressions' "Gypsy Woman" in a Latin dance version in 1967.  After leaving the Fania label over monetary disputes, Bataan would coin the phrase "salsoul" and co-found Salsoul Records label with the Cayre Brothers.  Bataan was also a seminal influence in hip hop/rap when he recorded one of the first rap singles in 1979:  "Rap-O Clap-O".  After his 1981 album "Bataan II" (containing his rap single "Ling Ching Tong", Bataan would retire from music to devote time to his family and work as a youth councelor.  Bataan is the father of Asia Nitollano; the winner of TV reality show "Pussycat Dolls Present:  The Search For the Next Doll".

MOVING PICTURES   -   Rush

YEAR:  1981
LABEL:  Mercury
TRACK LISTING:  Tom Sawyer, Red Barchetta,  YYZ, Limelight,  The Camera Eye,  Witch Hunt,  Vital Signs
IMPRESSIONS:  The monumental Rush album which put them into the stratosphere with its more radio-friendly collection of shorter songs (no album side-long song suites here).  Whether you are a long-time Rush fanatic (like I am) or a late band wagon jumper, you've gotta love this album.  This past year the band celebrated the 30th anniversary of MOVING PICTURES' release by performing the entire album live on their "Time Machine" tour. 
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  How dull of me . . . all of 'em.
FACT SHEET:  MOVING PICTURES is Rush's eighth album.  Certified quadruple platinum, it was Rush's biggest selling and most commercially successful album.  "Tom Sawyer" derived from a tune Geddy Lee used to set up his synthesizers.  "Red Barchetta" is named after a Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta and was inspired by a short story entitled "A Nice Morning Drive" by Richard S. Foster.  The instrumental "YYZ" derives its odd "dot-dot-dash" tempo from the IATA Airport Code for the Toronto Pearson International Airport; the band would hear this on their airplane and know they were very near home.  "Limelight" is an autobiographical description of lyricist/drummer Neil Peart's unease with fame and fan recognition.  "The Camera Eye" derives its title from a lyric in the song "Limelight" and attempts to capture the "enrgy and mood" of New York City (in the first verse) and London (in the second verse). 

UNHALFBRICKING - Fairport Convention

YEAR: 1969

LABEL: Hannibal (originally Island/A&M)

TRACK LISTING: Genesis Hall, Si Tu Dois Partir, Autopsy, A Sailor's Life, Cajun Woman, Who Knows Where the Time Goes?, Percy's Song, Million Dollar Bash

IMPRESSIONS: Of the classic trilogy of Fairport Convention albums (mentioned below), I'd have to say UNHALFBRICKING is my favourite. The first of the 1969 Fairport albums ("HOLIDAYS") contains one of my favourite songs ("Fotheringay") and the final of the 1969 albums is the much-praised monolith "LIEGE & LIEG" however UNHALFBRICKING is the one I listen to all the way through most often. Along with "Fotheringay", my favourite Fairport Convention songs are to be found here: "Autopsy" and "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?". From the beautiful album cover photo (taken only shortly before drummer Martin Lamble would be killed in a car crash) to the almost-lilting mood of the songs chosen for the album to the back cover photo of the band sitting at a darkened dinner table, this is the album which sums up the "Sandy Denny"-era Fairport Convention for me. . . and it's one I listen to again and again.

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: Genesis Hall, Si Tu Doir Partir, Autopsy, A Sailor's Life, Who Knows Where the Time Goes?, Percy's Song

GUEST ARTISTS: Iain Matthews (backing vocals on "Percy's Song"), Dave Swarbrick (fiddle on "Si Tu Dois Partir", "A Sailor's Life" and "Cajun Woman", mandolin on "Million Dollar Bash")
FACT SHEET: UNHALFBRICKING is Fairport Convention's third album. The group consisted at this time of Richard Thompson (guitars), Sandy Denny (vocals), Ashley Hutchinson (bass), Martin Lamble (drums) and Simon Nicol (guitars). This is the middle of a classic trio of albums released in the year 1969 beginning with "WHAT WE DID ON OUR HOLIDAYS" and concluding with "LIEGE & LIEF" which saw the band moving from American-based folk to an English folk rock sound. Two months before the album's release on May 11, 1969, drummer Martin Lamble and Richard Thompson's girlfriend Jeannie Franklyn were killed in a car crash as the band was returning from a Birmingham concert. The band considered breaking up at this point but decided to continue. "Si Tu Dois Partir", "Percy's Song" and "Million Dollar Bash" are all Bob Dylan's songs the band decided to cover for this album after hearing an advance copy of Dylan's "Basement Tapes". "A Sailor's Life" is a traditional folk song which is seen as "pivotal" in the development of English folk rock and Fairport Convention's future direction. "Genesis Hall" and "Cajun Woman" were written by Richard Thompson and "Autopsy" and "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" were written by Sandy Denny. The cover photo was taken by Eric Hayes and features Sandy Denny's parents Neil & Edna standing outside their home in Arthur Road, Wimbeldon, South London with the shaggy band members visible in the background through the iron fence; St. Mary's Church is also visible on the skyline. The album cover didn't feature the band's name nor the album title. The title UNHALFBRICKING was derived from a game of "Ghosts" in which the object is to "avoid completing a word"; the word "unhalfbricking" was coined by Sandy Denny.

MY SON, THE FOLK SINGER - Allan Sherman

YEAR: 1962

LABEL: Warner Bros.

TRACK LISTING: The Ballad of Harry Lewis, Shake Hands With Your Uncle Max, Sir Greenbaum's Madrigal, My Zelda, The Streets of Miami, Sarah Jackman, Jump Down Spin Around (Pick A Dress O' Cotton), Seltzer Boy, Oh Boy, Shticks and Stones

IMPRESSIONS: Here we have a comedy album I've been listening to my entire life. It is one of those albums which, whenever I hear it, catapult me back to my yellow bedroom in Maple Surple; I'd be sitting on the floor listening to my portable black record player spinning this album, all those old Bill Cosby comedy records and "THE FIRST FAMILY" album along with many others. At this young age, I had no idea what "Yiddish humour" was but I thought MY SON, THE FOLK SINGER was wonderful! The hilarity of the live studio audience was infectious and Sherman skewered the folk songs with a twinkle in his eye you could hear over the speakers.

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: My Zelda, Sarah Jackman, Jump Down Spin Around (Pick A Dress O' Cotton), Seltzer Boy, Oh Boy, Shticks and Stones

GUEST ARTISTS: Christine Nelson (vocals on "Sarah Jackman")

FACT SHEET: MY SON, THE FOLK SINGER is Allan Sherman's first album; it reached number one on the Billboard record charts and parodies the contemporary folk music boom. "The Battle of Harry Lewis" parodies "The Battle Hymn of the Republic". "Shake Hands With Your Uncle Max" is to the tune of "Dear Old Donegal". "Sir Greenbaum's Madrigal" is parodies "Greensleeves". "My Zelda" is to the tune of the Harry Belafonte song "Matilda". "The Streets of Miami" parodies "The Streets of Laredo". "Sarah Jackman" is to the tune of "Frere Jacques". "Jump Down Spin Around (Pick A Dress O' Cotton)" parodies "Bale of Cotton". "Seltzer Boy" parodies "Waterboy". "Oh Boy" is to the tune of "Chiapanecas (The Hand-Clapping Song)". "Shticks and Stones" is a medley containing parodies of many folk songs including "Jimmy Crack Corn (And I Don't Care)", Harry Belafonte's "Jamaica Farewell", "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho", "I Gave My Love A Cherry", "The Yellow Rose of Texas" and many more.

MONTY PYTHON'S HASTILY COBBLED TOGETHER FOR A FAST BUCK ALBUM - Monty Python's Flying Circus

YEAR: 1981

LABEL: None/Bootleg

TRACK LISTING: An Announcer, Here Comes Another One (A Clockwork Orange Version), I'm So Worried (Country/Western Version), Mrs. Particle and Mrs. Velocity, Otto and the Suicide Squad/Otto Song, Rooting Around In My Attic, Psychopath, Olympic Shopping, Bunn Whackett Buzzard Stubble and Boot, Talking Science (DNA), School Song (Play Up!), Headmaster/Dead School Boy, Laughing at the Unfortunate, Rainy Day In Berlin, I've Got Two Legs, Leg Amputation, Re-Assuring You About the Doctor, Deep-Sea Insurance Agent/Accountancy Shanty, Indian Restaurant, Minister of Defence, Freelance Undertaker, Rudyard Kipling, Apology, Memory Training, Acronyms, Hi-Fi Shop

IMPRESSIONS: As hinted at in yesterday's post, MONTY PYTHON'S CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATION ALBUM wasn't quite the final word in Python album releases that we all thought it was. Although HASTILY COBBLED was never an official release (despite engineer André Jacquemin's best efforts), this is like the final Monty Python album that never was. Sure, it consists of material the Pythons thought weren't good enough to make it onto their CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATION ALBUM but the stuff is still a gold mine for any Python fan and actually contains some good stuff. And any time we get to hear something previously unheard from the Python's peak creative years is cause for celebration.

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: Here Comes Another One (A Clockwork Orange Version), Mrs. Particle and Mrs. Velocity, Rooting Around In My Attic, Psychopath, Olympic Shopping, Bunn Whackett Buzzard Stubble and Boot, School Song (Play Up!), Headmaster/Dead School Boy, Laughing at the Unfortunate, Rainy Day In Berlin, I've Got Two Legs, Leg Amputation, Re-Assuring You About the Doctor, Deep-Sea Insurance Agent/Accountancy Shanty, Minister of Defence, Freelance Undertaker, Rudyard Kipling, Apology, Memory Training

GUEST ARTISTS: André Jacquemin (as the "Announcer")

FACT SHEET: THE HASTILY COBBLED TOGETHER FOR A FAST BUCK ALBUM is a bootleg recording of unused material recorded by Monty Python's Flying Circus during their Charisma Records sessions which produced their previously released albums. The material was culled together by the Pythons' engineer/record producer André Jacquemin in 1981 which was never officially released. In 2005, EMI announced they were going to released the album officially but the project was eventually shelved.

MONTY PYTHON'S CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATION ALBUM - Monty Python's Flying Circus

YEAR: 1980

LABEL: Charisma/Arista

TRACK LISTING: Sit On My Face, Announcement, Henry Kissinger, String, Never Be Rude to an Arab, I Like Chinese, Bishop, Medical Love Song, Farewell to John Denver, Finland, I'm So Worried, I Bet You They Won't Play This Song on the Radio, The Martyrdom of St. Victor, Here Comes Another One, Bookshop, Do Wot John, Rock Notes, Muddy Knees, Crocodile, Decomposing Composers, Bells, Traffic Lights, All Things Dull & Ugly, A Scottish Farewell

IMPRESSIONS: The last thing anybody ever expected in the year 1980 was for Monty Python's Flying Circus to suddenly release another album. However, that's what astonished fans got when they group was obliged to provide a final album for their record label after all those years. Luckily for us, the material was not just dashed off but in fact stands quite well with Python's previous recorded output. This album more music-heavy than previous Python albums and, while some of the songs don't quite match up to their usual standards, many are now beloved classic Python tunes. Each of the non-musical comedy sketches also has a lot to recommend them and hold up for me very well; even the couple which are not particularly hilarious are still well-worth listening to and I hold them all close to my heart. This was, in fact, the first new album of Python material I ever bought since everything else had already been released by the time I became a Python fan in the late 70s. And, with the possible exception of a couple new tracks included on the 1990s cd collection "MONTY PYTHON SINGS", this would be the final (non-soundtrack or "best of" collection) album the Pythons would give us. Or would it. . . ? Stay tuned for tomorrow's post for the surprising answer. . . .

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: Sit On My Face, Henry Kissinger, String, Never Be Rude To an Arab, I Like Chinese, Bishop, Medical Love Song, Farewell To John Denver, Finland, I Bet You They Won't Play This Song On the Radio, Here Comes Another One, Bookshop, Do Wot John, Rock Notes, Crocodile, Decomposing Composers, Bells, All Things Dull and Ugly, A Scottish Farewell

FACT SHEET: MONTY PYTHON'S CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATION ALBUM is Monty Python's Flying Circus' ninth album (not counting "best of" MONTY PYTHON'S INSTANT RECORD COLLECTION). It is, obviously from the title, an album made by the comedy troupe to fulfill a contractual obligation to produce one more album owed to Charisma Records. "Bookshop" was originally performed on "AT LAST THE 1948 SHOW" in 1967 by John Cleese & Marty Feldman. "Sit On My Face" uses the melody of Gracie Fields' "Sing As We Go" and was threatened with legal action for copyright infringement for using the tune without permission; however the song remained on the album. The same cannot be said however for "Farewell to John Denver" which was removed from subsequent pressings of the U.K. album on "legal advice" presumably because of threats from John Denver due to the use of "Annie's Song" without permission. Subsequent pressings of the album contain a spoken "Apology" by Terry Jones where the original song appeared. Original print advertising for the album by Charisma Records contained the tagline: "Now A Major Lawsuit!". Since CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATION was released on Arista Records in the U.S., who also owned the copyright to John Denver's "Annie's Song", the track remained on U.S. pressings. The original U.K. pressing of the album contained an unintentionally out-of-sync mix of the song "I'm So Worried" which was corrected in subsequent pressings and never appeared on the U.S. release. "Henry Kissinger" and "Medical Love Song" exist in two versions: longer versions containing extra verses appear on the "MONTY PYTHON SINGS" cd. "Rock Notes" provided the name for late 80's-early 90's actual rock band Toad the Wet Sprocket"; the original occurrence of the group name actually pre-dates the CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATION album and appeared in Eric Idle & Neil Innes' mid-70's TV programme "RUTLAND WEEKEND TELEVISION" in a parody of "THE OLD GREY WHISTLE TEST".

SWINGIN' SOUNDS FOR THE JUNGLE JETSET - The Tikiyaki Orchestra

YEAR: 2009
LABEL: Future Primitive
TRACK LISTING: Bachelor #1, Tabu For Two, Singapore Swing, Bachelor #2, Dan-o's Day Off, Sunset On the Kona Kai, Tango Tahiti, Bali Hai-Ball, Makaha, Last Sampan to Kowloon, Bachelor #3, Poho Moku
IMPRESSIONS: After the mid-90's explosion in lounge music/exotica/space age bachelor pad music, quite a few groups released proto-lounge music. However, long after the lounge music fad has passed, only those of us who truly love that genre of music are left standing. And for our faithfulness we have been rewarded with Jim Bacchi and his Tikiyaki Orchestra: simply the best current lounge music group going! Evoking the spirits of such past lounge/exotica masters as Les Baxter, Martin Denny and Arthur Lyman, the Tikiyaki Orchestra stacks up favourably with all of 'em. From their own website, the Tikiyaki Orchestra's mission statement reads as follows: "The Tikiyaki Orchestra is a musical experience unlike any other today. Utilizing a unique combination of sounds...smooth, mellow vibraphone, twanging, reverb-drenched surf guitar, pulsating theater organ, lilting Hawaiian steel guitar, bongos, congas, and an arsenal of exotic perucssion from around the world, all set against the sounds of the ocean and jungle. The Tikiayki Orchestra transports the audience to a place and time when Cantonese food was "exotic cuisine" and people escaped the mundane with the aid of strong, sweet rum-based cocktails served in tiki mugs with little colorful umbrellas.. i.e. Waikiki in 1955."
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: Honestly all of 'em. How can you toss any aside when the entire album needs to play from start to finish?
FACT SHEET: SWINGIN' SOUNDS FOR THE JUNGLE JETSET is the Tikiyaki Orchestra's second album. The Tikiyaki Orchestra is conceived and lead by Jim Bacchi; former heavy metal guitarist for Attila as well as Hittman, the power pop bands Fuzzbubble and also Teen Machine. In 2007, Bacchi released a solo CD of exotica lounge music entitled "THE TIKIYAKI ORCHESTRA -- STEREOEXOTIQUE" on his own Future Primitive Label and later formed a group which now tours around Southern California.

SWINGING DORS - Diana Dors

YEAR: 1960

LABEL: Pye

TRACK LISTING: The Gentleman Is A Dope, That's How It Is, Come By Sunday, Imagination, April Heart, Roller Coaster Blues, Crazy He Calls Me, Namely You, Tired of Love, Let There Be Love, In Love For the Very First Time, The Point of No Return

IMPRESSIONS: Actress/sexpot Diana Dors only got to make on album but I think it's somewhat of a classic of it's sort. This is just the type of song she would sing in her cabaret or television appearances and I've always found the entire album a terrific listen. Dors actually has a respectable voice; nothing spectacular but definitely professional and not at all in the "golden throats" category. There's just something so damned likeable about this album as Diana croons without taking herself too seriously but also performing the songs straight. SWINGING DORS sounds like the album cover looks: sexy and playful. My favourite song on the album is probably "Come By Sunday" which features a slightly naughty twinkle in its eye; this song captures Diana Dors perfectly for me. And the fact that the orchestra is conducted by Wally Stott (the musical director of BBC Radio's classic groundbreaking "THE GOON SHOW" before becoming the future Angela Morley) is the icing on the angel food cake that is this album. Cocktails are called for when the needle hits this album's outer groove . . . and wonder of wonders, the album has actually (and at last) become available for download on itunes. How great is that?!?! To sum up: SWINGING DORS is like an audio smile!

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: All of 'em. After all, there are only 12 and how can you not want more and more?!?

FACT SHEET: SWINGING DORS is Diana Dors' one and only full-length album. The orchestra is conducted by Wally Stott.

I ROBOT - The Alan Parsons Project

YEAR: 1977

LABEL: Arista

TRACK LISTING: I Robot, I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You, Some Other Time, Breakdown, Don't Let It Show, The Voice, Nucleus, Day After Day (The Show Must Go On), Total Eclipse, Genesis Ch. 1 V. 32

IMPRESSIONS: This is the first Alan Parsons Project album I bought for myself after hearing their debut "TALES OF MYSTERY AND IMAGINATION" album as a kid at my parents' friend Ronnie's house and, subsequently after my parents bought the first album for themselves. Of course, I loved the Edgar Allan Poe theme of the first album and the "robotic" science fiction theme of "I ROBOT" was sufficiently bizarre to make it interesting to me as well. Particular favourites are the ballads "Some Other Time" and "Day After Day" with their operatic bombast as well as one of my favourite Parsons instrumentals "Genesis Ch. 1 V. 32".

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: I Robot, I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You, Some Other Time, Breakdown, Don't Let It Show, Day After Day (The Show Must Go On), Genesis Ch. 1 V. 32

GUEST ARTISTS: David Paton (bass, acoustic guitar), Lenny Zakatek (lead vocals on "I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You"), Peter Straker & Jaki Whitren (lead vocals on "Some Other Time"), Allan Clarke (lead vocal on "Breakdown"), Dave Townsend (lead vocal on "Don't Let It Show"), Steve Harley (lead vocal on "The Voice"), Jack Harris (lead vocal on "Day After Day (The Show Must Go On)")

FACT SHEET: I ROBOT is the Alan Parsons Project's second album. Like Steely Dan, the Project consists of a core duo of producer/engineer/keyboardist Alan Parsons and the late singer Eric Woolfson with a rotating cast of regular sidemen and studio musicians. All the tracks on I ROBOT were written by Woolfson/Parsons except "Total Eclipse" written by Andrew Powell. The album was based on the "I, ROBOT" stories by Isaac Asimov; the noted science fiction author was actually contacted by Woolfson about the album and was enthusiastic. Because the Asimov books were already licensed to a TV/movie company, the comma was dropped from the title and the songs were made less specifically about Asimov's book and more generically about robots. The album cover features the band members inside the escalator tubes in Charles DeGaulle airport's Terminal 1 outside Paris, France. A descriptive paragraph in the album's liner notes reads: "I ROBOT...THE STORY OF THE RISE OF THE MACHINE AND THE DECLINE OF MAN, WHICH PARADOXICALLY COINCIDED WITH HIS DISCOVERY OF THE WHEEL...AND A WARNING THAT HIS BRIEF DOMINANCE OF THIS PLANET WILL PROBABLY END, BECAUSE MAN TRIED TO CREATE ROBOT IN HIS OWN IMAGE." The tital of the final instrumental track "Genesis Ch. 1 V. 32" implies that robots are "a continuation of the story of Creation" since the first chapter of "Genesis" in the Bible only has 31 verses. Pat Benatar covered "Don't Let It Show" on her "IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT" album.

STARS - Various Artists

YEAR: 1977

LABEL: K-Tel

TRACK LISTING: The Things We Do For Love - 10cc, Rich Girl - Hall & Oates, Year of the Cat - Al Stewart, Torn Between Two Lovers - Mary MacGregor, A Little Bit More - Dr. Hook, Love Me - Yvonne Elliman, So Into You - Atlantic Rhythm Section, Devil Woman - Cliff Richard, Slow Dancin' Don't Turn Me On - Addrisi Brothers, I'm Your Boogie Man - K.C. & the Sunshine Band, Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel (Pt. 1) - Tavares, Don't Leave Me This Way - Thelma Houston, Cool Town - Stanky Brown Group, The World Is A Ghetto - War, Theme from "Roots" - Quincy Jones, Hard Luck Woman - Kiss, Tryin' To Love Two - William Bell, Couldn't Get It Right - Climax Blues Band

IMPRESSIONS: In our last episode, we discovered the magic that was K-Tel and were left with the burning question: What did I eat for lunch that's affecting me like this? Be that as it may, STARS was the next K-Tel record I bought after HIT MACHINE; this was after moving from Maple Surple to our new house in Clay Town. I was all of 11 years old. I remember spinning this record many times on my portable black record player that folded up like a suitcase; especially because my favourite song at the time was on it: Thelma Houston's "Don't Leave Me This Way". Of course, these were the editted radio versions of the singles; however I still have a soft spot in my heart for some of these songs which aren't exactly too great but give me an incredible rush of nostalgia. It's also hysterical to me that K-Tel seems to have shoved some really OLD songs (at the time) onto their records both here and on HIT MACHINE. On STARS, War's "The World Is A Ghetto" is from the early 70s and Paul Anka's cheesefest "(You're) Having My Baby" was from 1974 and appears on the 1976 HIT MACHINE album. Ha!

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: The Things We Do For Love - 10cc, Rich Girl - Hall & Oates, Year of the Cat - Al Stewart, So In To You - Atlantic Rhythm Section, Devil Woman - Cliff Richard, I'm Your Boogie Man - K.C. & the Sunshine Band, Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel (Pt. 1) - Tavares, Don't Leave Me This Way - Thelma Houston, The World Is A Ghetto - War, Hard Luck Woman - Kiss, Couldn't Get It Right - Climax Blues Band

FACT SHEET: Once again, nothing really to say here. This is a K-Tel Records LP released in 1977.

HIT MACHINE - Various Artists

YEAR: 1976

LABEL: K-Tel

TRACK LISTING: (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty - K.C. & the Sunshine Band, Right Back Where We Started From - Maxine Nightingale, Moonlight Feels Right - Starbuck, Summer - War, When Will I Be Loved - Linda Ronstadt, Happy Days - Pratt & McClain, Our Day Will Come - Frankie Valli, (You're) Having My Baby - Paul Anka, Love Really Hurts Without You - Billy Ocean, Disco Duck (Pt. 1) - Rick Dees & His Cast of Idiots, Island Girl - Elton John, A Fifth of Beethoven - Walter Murphy & the Big Apple Band, Let Your Love Flow - Bellamy Brothers, Welcome Back - John Sebastian, Evil Woman - Electric Light Orchestra, Take A Hand - Rick Springfield, Rock and Roll All Nite - Kiss, I'm Not Lisa - Jessi Colter, Who Loves You? - Frankie Valli & the 4 Seasons, Disco Lady - Johnnie Taylor

IMPRESSIONS: Ahhhhhhh, K-Tel Records. Remember the days when you could pick up a K-Tel record and hear all the latest hit singles with sound quality worse than the actual albums? Apparently, the poorer sound quality was due to K-Tel cramming more grooves onto the record in order to fit more songs on it with a necessary loss in fidelity. But who cared back then? I was playing this on my portable black record player that folded up like a suitcase and was carried around by its handle! I do remember that this was the last LP I bought while still living in Maple Surple before we moved to Clay Town in January 1977. However, this would not be the last we'd hear from K-Tel Records . . . as tomorrow's post will show . . .

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty - K.C. & the Sunshine Band, Right Back Where We Started From - Maxine Nightingale, Moonlight Feels Right - Starbuck, Summer - War, Island Girl - Elton John, A Fifth of Beethoven - Walter Murphy & the Big Apple Band, Welcome Back - John Sebastian, Evil Woman - Electric Light Orchestra, Take A Hand - Rick Springfield, Rock and Roll All Nite - Kiss, Who Loves You - Frankie Valli & the 4 Seasons

FACT SHEET: There's nothing to tell, really, This is a K-Tel record released in 1976.

HOW DARE YOU! - 10cc

YEAR: 1976

LABEL: Mercury

TRACK LISTING: How Dare You, Lazy Ways, I Wanna Rule the World, I'm Mandy Fly Me, Iceberg, Art For Art's Sake, Rock 'n' Roll Lullaby, Head Room, Don't Hang Up

IMPRESSIONS: This is the "other" major 10cc album, along with "THE ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK" (mentioned elsewhere on this blog), during my childhood years. Altogether stronger as a cohesive album than the earlier one, HOW DARE YOU! features the odd characters and situations typical of 10cc songs along with the cracked rhythms which are impossible to dance to. Each song is like a mini-movie and the final track "Don't Hang Up" is a mini-opera on the level of their previous album's masterpiece "Une Nuit a Paris (One Night in Paris)" featuring many melded melodies and tempi. The four gentlemen in 10cc wrote songs more for the brain than the groin.

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: I Wanna Rule the World, I'm Mandy Fly Me, Iceberg, Art For Art's Sake, Rock 'n' Roll Lullaby, Don't Hang Up

FACT SHEET: HOW DARE YOU! is 10cc's fourth album; it is the final 10cc album to contain the classic lineup of Eric Stewart, Graham Gouldman, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme. The front and back cover art is by Hipgnosis; the same man and woman are seen in the background of all four cover "panels". "I'm Mandy Fly Me" refers to a contemporary National Airlines ad campaign; Eric Stewart changed the name to "Mandy". The intro to "I'm Mandy Fly Me" features an excerpt from earlier 10cc song "Clockwork Creep" meant to sound as if emanating from a small transistor radio.

MOOD MUSIC - Paul Weston & His Orchestra

YEAR: 1953

LABEL: Columbia

TRACK LISTING: When Your Lover Has Gone, My Silent Love, I'll Follow My Secret Heart, Moon Song, Yesterdays, One Night of Love, Under A Blanket of Blue, Stardust, All Alone, Then I'll Be Tired of You, What'll I Do, Among My Souvenirs

IMPRESSIONS: There is no better album to put on while mixing up some cocktails in your smoking jacket or lounging in a slinky dress on your zebra-skin sofa while candlelight glints off your diamond tiara. No seriously, I mean it. Paul Weston invented the "mood music" genre with his series of albums starting with "MUSIC FOR DREAMING" in 1945 at Capitol Records and continuing when he and his wife Jo Stafford moved over to Columbia in 1950. These albums sounds similar to the kind of thing Jackie Gleason and his orchestra were releasing; something I call "doctor's office music" or what others commonly call elevator music. Lush lush lush. And I'm referring to how the music sounds NOT the conductor's drinking proclivities. But now that I've mentioned drinks . . . let's head on over to the tiki bar and get us a couple while we listen to Paul Weston's "MOOD MUSIC"!

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: When Your Lover Has Gone, My Silent Love, I'll Follow My Secret Heart, Moon Song, Yesterdays, Under A Blanket of Blue, Stardust, What'll I Do, Among My Souvenirs

FACT SHEET: It's a little difficult to track these things but "MOOD MUSIC" is probably Paul Weston's 13th album. Weston worked as an arranger, songwriter (he co-wrote the standard "I SHOULD CARE" among others) and orchestra leader in films and radio as well as on record. He was tapped by Johnny Mercer to work for his fledgling Capitol Records label where he "invented" the lounge music genre of easy listening entitled "mood music" with his 1945 Capitol album "MUSIC FOR DREAMING". Weston married singer Jo Stafford in 1952. Together the couple secretly recorded and released some musical comedy albums as "Jonathan and Darlene Edwards"; Jonathan was said to have two left hands and played the piano atrociously while Darlene sang even worse. The identity of the pair was rumoured to be someone very famous in the music industry but it was a while before Stafford and Weston revealed their identities.

I CAN'T STAND THE RAIN - Ann Peebles

YEAR: 1974

LABEL: Hi

TRACK LISTING: I Can't Stand the Rain, Do I Need You, Until You Came Into My Life, (You Keep Me) Hanging On, Run Run Run, If We Can't Trust Each Other, A Love Vibration, You Got To Feed the Fire, I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down, One Way Street

IMPRESSIONS: As allmusic.com's Steve Leggett so aptly put it, Ann Peebles "...sings like a resilient but disappointed angel on this set of songs about the darker side of love." The sounds is pure Hi Records with the renowned Hi Rhythm Section providing a laid back but funky bed for Peeble's sultry vocals. There's a very good reason why this sounds like an Al Green album; it was produced by Al Green's Svengali Willie Mitchell. A hot slice of 70's soul! This is the perfect record to put on towards the end of a late night party.

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: All of 'em . . . hey, there's only ten.

FACT SHEET: I CAN'T STAND THE RAIN is Ann Peebles' fourth album. Peebles was discovered by Hi Records' Gene "Bowlegs" Miller: a bandleader who often helped artists including the Hi Rhythm Section get their start. Peebles began singing and co-writing hits with Hi Records staff songwriter Don Bryant; the couple married in 1974. The album was produced by Willie Mitchell.

COURT AND SPARK - Joni Mitchell

YEAR: 1974

LABEL: Asylum

TRACK LISTING: Court and Spark, Help Me, Free Man In Paris, People's Parties, The Same Situation, Car On A Hill, Down To You, Just Like This Train, Raised On Robbery, Trouble Child, Twisted

IMPRESSIONS: Praised critically and selling like gangbusters, Joni Mitchell seems to make her first inroads towards combining her folk-rock sound with some jazz influences. This is also the album which gave Mitchell her one and only top 10 single in "Help Me" which received heavy radio play. There's something about this album that makes me all warm and fuzzy when I put it on. The album also contains some of my favourite Joni Mitchell songs: Car On A Hill, Free Man In Paris and the title track. In fact, there's something about the laid back, easiness of the song "Court and Spark" which transports me to Joni-land; and that's a really nice place to be.

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: Court and Spark, Help Me, Free Man In Paris, The Same Situation, Car On A Hill, Down To You, Trouble Child, Twisted

GUEST ARTISTS: David Crosby (vocals on "Free Man In Paris" and "Down To You"), Graham Nash (vocals on "Free Man In Paris"), Robbie Robertson (electric guitar on "Raised On Robbery"), Jose Feliciano (electric guitar on "Free Man In Paris"), Cheech Marin (background voice on "Twisted"), Tommy Chong (background voice on "Twisted")

FACT SHEET: COURT AND SPARK is Joni Mitchell's sixth album and her most successful commercially reaching #2 on Billboard's charts and going double platinum. Besides writing, arranging and performing, Joni Mitchell also produced the album. "Twisted" is a cover of jazz singer Annie Ross' song; Ross was a member of the jazz vocal trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross.

RAISED ON RADIO - Journey

YEAR: 1986

LABEL: Columbia

TRACK LISTING: Girl Can't Help It, Positive Touch, Suzanne, Be Good To Yourself, Once You Love Somebody, Happy To Give, Raised On Radio, I'll Be Alright Without You, It Could Have Been You, The Eyes of a Woman, Why Can't This Night Go On Forever

IMPRESSIONS: I guess Steve Perry was right all along because this is my favourite Journey album. This might come as a shock to some Journey fans who dismiss it as Steve Perry taking over the whole show and firing two long time bandmates in order to turn Journey into a carbon copy of his solo album STREET PARTY. However, while there are some songs on here which sounds like they could've come from the solo album, most of them sounds very much like contemporary Journey songs (and ALL the songs on the album were co-written by Steve Perry, Jonathan Cain and Neal Schon together). The fact remains that this is the only Journey album which I listen to all the way through without skipping any songs; the two monster-selling previous Journey albums FRONTIERS and ESCAPE have very strong songs but also quite a few you need to skip over. So despite it all, I find RAISED ON RADIO to be Journey's most consistent album to listen to and it contains some of my all-time favourite Journey songs: "Positive Touch", "Raised On Radio", "I'll Be Alright Without You" and especially "Why Can't This Night Go On Forever". Besides these, there are also the almost-as-good "Girl Can't Help It", "Once You Love Somebody", "Happy To Give", "It Could Have Been You" and "The Eyes of a Woman" which shouldn't be missed. So in all actuality, RAISED ON RADIO isn't as much of a departure (heh heh...get it?) as some would like us to believe. A good, solid 80's rock album from Journey.

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: Girl Can't Help It, Positive Touch, Be Good To Yourself, Once You Love Somebody, Happy To Give, Raised On Radio, I'll Be Alright Without You, It Could Have Been You, The Eyes of a Woman, Why Can't This Night Go On Forever

FACT SHEET: RAISED ON RADIO is Journey's ninth album. After the firing of band members Ross Valory and Steve Smith, Journey consisted of Steve Perry, Neal Schon, Jonathan Cain and new members Randy Jackson (yes, THAT Randy Jackson) on bass and Larry Londin on drums (although Steve Smith did contribute to 3 tracks on the album). Steve Perry produced the album and also changed to title to RAISED ON RADIO from the original project title FREEDOM. The album reached #4 on the Billboard charts and went twice multi-platinum producing 4 top 40 singles: Girl Can't Help It (#17), Be Good To Yourself (#9), I'll Be Alright Without You (#14) and Suzanne (#17).