WE'RE THE BANANA SPLITS  -  THE BANANA SPLITS

YEAR:  1968
LABEL:  Decca
TRACK LISTING:  We're the Banana Splits,  I'm Gonna Find A Cave,  This Spot,  Doin' the Banana Split,  Toy Piano Melody,  Soul,  The Tra La La Song (One Banana Two Banana),  Wait Til Tomorrow,  You're the Lovin' End,  In New Orleans,  Two Ton Tessie,  Don't Go Away -- Go-Go Girl
IMPRESSIONS:  In the interest of documentary truthfulness, this record actually belonged to my father.  Yep, that's right.  But he was a hippy so what can I say.  Naturally, as a kid I watched reruns of "THE BANANA SPLITS" show on UHF (it was on channel 48, I seem to recall) and loved the silliness -- even if I only saw it on my black & white TV for years.  The sound of the album (as were the songs featured on the TV show) have that bubblegum pop sixties flavour of the songs that were being written for the Monkees.  Hardly a surprise there since I'll bet more than a couple songwriters wrote for both.  And the shocking thing is that one or two of the songs (notably the surprisingly wistful "Wait Til Tomorrow") stand up as legitimate songs that any artist of the time would've been happy to record.  Mostly though, the songs are silly fun most suitable for a children's Saturday morning programme.  It is also recommended that you only listen to this album while wearing white go-go boots.
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  I'm Gonna Find A Cave,  This Spot,  Doin' the Banana Split,  Toy Piano Melody,  Soul,  The Tra La La Song (One Banana Two Banana),  Wait Til Tomorrow,  Two Ton Tessie,  Don't Go Away -- Go-Go Girl
FACT SHEET:  WE'RE THE BANANA SPLITS was the only album released by the session musicians who were masquerading as the Banana Splits.  Apparently the vinyl copy I own is the earliest pressing with a darker green cover and no copyright notice on the front cover; later pressings had a lighter green cover with a copyright notice in the bottom left corner.  The Banana Splits, of course, were a band of four musical animals:  Fleegle (the beagle), Bingo (the gorilla), Drooper (the lion) and Snorky (the elephant) who were played by actors in animal suits a la Disneyland.  Apparently vocals on "Doin' the Banana Split" were provided by Barry White (!), "Two Ton Tessie" by Gene Pitney and "You're the Lovin' End" by Al Kooper.  "We're the Banana Splits" was originally intended to be the TV show's theme song but the television executives and advertiser thought "The Tra La La Song" was catchier and the latter was chosen to open the show.     

MUSWELL HILLBILLIES  -  THE KINKS

YEAR:  1971
LABEL:  RCA
TRACK LISTING:  20th Century Man,  Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues,  Holiday,  Skin & Bone,  Alcohol,  Complicated Life,  Here Come the People In Grey,  Have A Cuppa Tea,  Holloway Jail,  Oklahoma U.S.A.,  Uncle Son,  Muswell Hillbilly
BONUS TRACKS:  Mountain Woman,  Kentucky Moon
IMPRESSIONS:  Described by Ben Eisen as probably the Kinks' last "great" album of their golden age, MUSWELL HILLBILLIES is relatively unknown compared to such other famous Kinks albums as SOMETHING ELSE, VILLAGE GREEN..., ARTHUR..., LOLA AND... etc.  After the phenomenal success of "Lola", this album seems more laid-back and less flashy.  It does share something in common with most of the previous Kinks albums in that it's something of a concept album if only obliquely; the subject matter of all the songs seems to be about working class lives.  The album is also, as Stephen Thomas Erlewine points out, "...a skewed, distinctly British, cabaret take on Americana..." with a pronounced bluesy, sometimes New Orleans feel combined with British music hall stylings Kinks fans are familiar with.  Apparently the album was also recorded using ten year old microphones in order to play up the "antique" feel and sound of it.  And "Holiday" must be Adam Sandler's favourite song?  While the album does illustrate the struggles of modern life, it never leaves its protagonists defeated.  I like that. 
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  20th Century Man,  Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues,  Skin & Bone,  Alcohol,  Complicated Life,  Here Come the People In Grey,  Have A Cuppa Tea,  Holloway Jail,  Oklahoma U.S.A.,  Kentucky Moon
FACT SHEET:  MUSWELL HILLBILLIES is the Kinks' ninth album.  This is the first album the Kinks released on RCA records after leaving their previous record label Pye.  Muswell Hill is a section of North London in which Ray & Dave Davies grew up.  The cover photo was taken at the Archway Tavern two miles from Muswell Hill.  The album only went to #48 in the US and didn't chart in the UK making it a significant failure after the success of "Lola".  However, critically it was a success winning "Stereo Review" magazine's "Album of the Year" in 1972 and called by "Rolling Stone" magazine Ray Davies' "signature statement" as a songwriter.  Allmusic.com's Stephen Thomas Erlewine calls MUSWELL HILLBILLIES "...one of the Kinks' best albums."

INNERVISIONS  -  STEVIE WONDER

YEAR:  1973
LABEL:  Motown
TRACK LISTING:  Too High,  Visions,  Living For the City,  Golden Lady,  Higher Ground,  Jesus Children of America,  All In Love Is Fair,  Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing,  He's Misstra Know-It-All
IMPRESSIONS:  Landmark album of his "classic period".  Ridiculously impressive.  Ridiculously prolific.  Ridiculously talented.  In just nine songs, Stevie runs the gamut of themes and subjects from love songs to politics and from hardcore funk to easy listening ballads.  During this period, Stevie would dominate the charts as well as the Grammy Awards with classic album after classic album.  And this album was almost his last.  Only three days after INNERVISIONS' release, Wonder was involved in a car accident when a car driven by his friend crashed into the back of a logging truck; a log smashed through the windshield and hit Stevie directly in the forehead.  The singer was in a coma for four days.  Only when friend and tour director Ira Tucker sang "Higher Ground" loudly into Stevie's ear did the singer begin to tap his fingers to the beat and begin to come around.  The cover painting has always been very strange to me since it practically foretells the car accident that would occur three days after the album's release; we see Stevie inside a shape with an opening that could be viewed as resembling a car windshield with another shape emerging from his forehead which also recalls the log which hit him in the exact same place. 
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  Too High,  Visions,  Living For the City,  Higher Ground,  Jesus Children of America,  All In Love Is Fair,  Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing
FACT SHEET:  INNERVISIONS is Stevie Wonder's sixteenth album.  The album won Grammy Awards for "Album of the Year" and "Best Engineered Non-Classical Recording" and "Living For the City" won the Grammy Award for "Best R&B Song".

STORIES FOR RAINY DAYS  -  FRANK LUTHER

YEAR:  196?
LABEL:  Vocalion
TRACK LISTING:  Jack and the Beanstalk,  The Tick Tock Shop,  The Raggleytaggletown Singers,  The Ugly Duckling,  Chicken Licken,  Sleeping Beauty
IMPRESSIONS:  Frank Luther has a really nice way with a children's story.  And how can an album utilizing the words "rainy day" fail to catch my interest.  I've found several Frank Luther recordings and they're all great listens.  Luther has some sort of simpatico with children (and even the adult listener); there is just something in his voice which is not only reassuring to children but also places himself on the same level as the children who are listening to him tell his stories.  Luther never talks down to his listeners.  Children hate that.  Frank Luther tells a story with such enthusiasm as if he's just learned of something really interesting and can't wait to share it with you.  If you have kids or know some, give 'em a couple Frank Luther records.  I'm sure they'd appreciate it.
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  Come on now . . . once you follow along with Frank Luther you've got to go along to the end.  All of 'em.
FACT SHEET:  It's impossible to determine an accurate discography of Frank Luther's records.  Even the date of "STORIES FOR RAINY DAYS" is uncertain although the best guest places it sometime in the early 1960's probably.  He started out as a country music singer and a big band vocalist but in the mid-30's he happened to record a couple 78s of nursery rhymes at Decca Records and suddenly he was a children's record phenomenon.  His children's records began to sell enormous amounts and pediatricians and child psychologists endorsed his recordings.  Decca at one point claimed in 1946 that 85% of all children's records sold in the English-speaking world were Frank Luther's. 

ISN'T THIS A LOVELY DAY  -  ROY CASTLE

YEAR:  1966
LABEL:  Columbia/Capitol/EMI Gold
TRACK LISTING:  Singin' In the Rain,  April Showers,  Pennies From Heaven,  Isn't This A Lovely Day,  Stormy Weather,  Soon It's Going To Rain,  Here's That Rainy Day,  Gentle Rain,  Everytime It Rains,  Where Do You Go,  February Brings the Rain,  Rain Rain (Don't Go Away)
IMPRESSIONS:  Biff Bailey strikes again!  Here we have Roy Castle's concept album; an album of songs about rain.  I just love the cover photo of a vaguely overcast day with Roy gazing wistfully upward and the earth-toned colour scheme of greens and browns.  The original title of the album was "SONGS FOR A RAINY DAY" (which I kinda prefer) and right there you know it's gotta hit a chord with me.  The song stylings are gentle jazz arrangements with Roy singing in a comfortable, breezy, laid-back style that would make Dean Martin proud.  There is even a nice variety of song styles from ballads to big, jazzy belters and swingin' sixties lounge music (and even a couple bossa novas).  This also isn't just some album of fluff; Castle is accompanied by some of the best British jazzmen of the era.  So if it's your day off and the rain is coming down all afternoon, put this album on (if you can FIND it, that is) as you settle down with a hot cup of coffee (or tea) and I guarantee a wonderful way to pass a rainy half hour.
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  Pennies From Heaven,  Isn't This A Lovely Day,  Stormy Weather,  Soon It's Going To Rain,  Here's That Rainy Day,  Gentle Rain,  Everytime It Rains,  February Brings the Rain,  Rain Rain (Don't Go Away)
FACT SHEET:  I believe ISN'T THIS A LOVELY DAY is Roy Castle's third album.  The album is arranged by Victor Graham and features Gordon Beck on piano, Jeff Clyne on bass, Leon Calvert on flugelhorn, Al Newman on saxophone, Ike Isaacs on guitar and Ray Swinfield on flute.  The album was originally released in 1966 as "SONGS FOR A RAINY DAY". 

THE VERY THOUGHT OF YOU  -  NAT KING COLE

YEAR:  1958
LABEL:  Capitol
TRACK LISTING:  The Very Thought of You,  But Beautiful,  Impossible,  I Wish I Knew the Way To Your Heart (Notorious),  I Found A Million Dollar Baby (In A Five and Ten Cent Store),  Magnificent Obsession,  My Heart Tells Me,  Paradise,  This Is All I Ask,  Cherie I Love You,  Making Believe You're Here,  Cherchez La Femme,  For All We Know,  The More I See You
BONUS TRACKS:  Don't Blame Me,  There Is No Greater Love
IMPRESSIONS:  Mellow, mellow, mellow.  This is the mellowest of mellow Nat King Cole; an album designed to be listened to by young lovers cuddled up on a couch in front of a roaring fire.  As allmusic's Scott Yanow rightly points out "...there is no piano playing or (sic) any hint of his jazz-oriented past..." on this album.  This, in fact, is a quintessential example of the 1950's LP; a vocalist standing in front of a microphone while a lush orchestra (heavy on the strings) wafts around him.  And this album packs in some of the King's best balladeering:  the gorgeous title track a magnificent opening salvo.  And besides that, I love the cover photograph of Nat in his dapper hat!
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  The Very Thought of You,  But Beautiful,  Impossible,  I Wish I Knew the Way To Your Heart (Notorious),  I Found A Million Dollar Baby (In A Five and Ten Cent Store),  Magnificent Obsession,  Cherie I Love You,  For All We Know,  The More I See You
FACT SHEET:  THE VERY THOUGHT OF YOU is Nat King Cole's ninth album (if you're counting 12" albums).  The album was arranged and conducted by Gordon Jenkins.  In addition to the two bonus tracks I have listed, apparently the 2007 CD reissue also included two more bonus tracks ("A Farewell To Arms" and "Happy New Year") which do not appear on my copy.  All four bonus tracks were recorded at the same sessions as this album. 

SIGNALS  -  RUSH

YEAR:  1982
LABEL:  Mercury
TRACK LISTING:  Subdivisions,  The Analog Kid,  Chemistry,  Digital Man,  The Weapon,  New World Man,  Losing It,  Countdown
IMPRESSIONS:  They could've made MOVING PICTURES PART 2 but they didn't.  Instead, they embraced early 80's technology with synthesizers taking a more central role (to the chagrin of Mr. Alex Lifeson).  The songs got were kept shorter (relatively speaking) and the lyrics were more concise.  And the album opens with probably my favourite Rush song ever.  As a high school student on the outskirts of popularity with self-esteem just south of a worm's navel, "Subdivisions" had (and still has) a tremendously-powerful connection with me personally.  And hey, the rest of the album and half bad neither!  The three members of Rush were self-confessed fans of the Police and you can certainly hear their influence on SIGNALS (hey, that's the second Police-influenced album in a row here!). 
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  Subdivisions,  The Analog Kid,  The Weapon,  New World Man,  Losing It,  Countdown
GUEST ARTISTS:  Ben Mink (violins)
FACT SHEET:  SIGNALS is Rush's ninth album.  Troy Hickman named his super-hero characters "The Analog Kid" and "Digital Man" in the comic book "COMMON GROUNDS" after the two songs from this album.  All lyrics were written by Neil Peart except for "Chemistry" which features lyrics by Peart, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson; this is the last time to date Lee and Lifeson have contributed to the lyrics of any Rush song.   

THE BRIDGE  -  BILLY JOEL

YEAR:  1986
LABEL:  Columbia
TRACK LISTING:  Running On Ice,  This Is the Time,  A Matter of Trust,  Modern Woman,  Baby Grand,  Big Man On Mulberry Street,  Temptation,  Code of Silence,  Getting Closer
IMPRESSIONS:  This was a huge album in my life at the time and it never fails to remind me of countless road trips with my friend Paul.  It features one of Billy's greatest ballads in "This Is the Time" and a couple of my favourite duets with "Code of Silence" and "Baby Grand".  Then there's the distinctive tinkling-icicle piano intro on the Police-inspired opener "Running on Ice", the drum-bashing hit single "A Matter of Trust" (which is one of my mother's favourites), the big-band sound of the "MOONLIGHTING"-inspired song "Big Man on Mulberry Street" and the "RUTHLESS PEOPLE" soundtrack denizen "Modern Woman".  This is a major "waning-days of Rustler" album and I never get tired of hearing it.
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  Running On Ice,  This Is the Time,  A Matter of Trust,  Modern Woman,  Baby Grand,  Big Man On Mulberry Street,  Code of Silence
GUEST ARTISTS:  Ray Charles (vocals on "Baby Grand"),  Cyndi Lauper (vocals on "Code of Silence"), Steve Winwood (vocals and Hammond organ on "Getting Closer"),  Ron Carter (acoustic bass on "Big Man On Mulberry Street"),  Michael Brecker (baritone saxophone on "Big Man On Mulberry Street")
FACT SHEET:  THE BRIDGE is Billy Joel's tenth album.  "Running On Ice" was heavily influenced by the Police.  "Big Man On Mulberry Street" was inspired by the television show "MOONLIGHTING".  The album cover painting is by Brad Holland.    

CALYPSO  -  LORD INVADER

YEAR:  1955
LABEL:  Folkways
TRACK LISTING:  Barrack-Room Scandal,  Reincarnation,  Brooklyn Brooklyn!,  Barbados,  Brown Skin Girl,  29 Port of Spain,  Labor Day,  Where Jonah Gone
IMPRESSIONS:  What we might consider more of an EP than an LP today, Lord Invader's album "CALYPSO" just barely tops 21 minutes.  However, those are some seminal minutes. The first time I heard the name Lord Invader was when Dave Guard of the Kingston Trio introduced a live version of "Zombie Jamboree" by saying it was by "Lord Invader and the 12 Penetrators".  Sadly, that song was actually first recorded by Lord Intruder and later covered by Lord Invader.  Be that as it may, Whoopi Goldberg taught Doogie Howser how to sing "Brown Skin Girl" in "CLARA'S HEART" so that's some cultural cache for Lord Invader, innit?  "CALYPSO" is an album almost evenly divided between Lord Invader's ties to the Caribbean ("Barrack-Room Scandal", "29 Port of Spain", "Barbados") and his frequent trips to the United States ("Brooklyn Brooklyn!" and "Labor Day").  I just love Lord Invader's raspy vocals and I can see why folkies like the Kingston Trio took him as one of their inspirations.
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  All dem.  Yah mon!
GUEST ARTISTS:  The Trinidad Caribbean Orchestra
FACT SHEET:  Who knows what number album this was for Lord Invader?!?  The album was recorded during one of Lord Invader's frequent trips to the U.S.   Lord Invader was born Rupert Westmore Grant in 1914 in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.  Grant was given this name by his tailor who told the ambitious singer that he should call himself "The Lord Invader" so that "when you go up to the city you be invadin' the capital".  While in Trinidad, American comedian Morey Amsterdam (of "The Dick Van Dyke Show" fame) heard Invader perform "Rum and Coca-Cola" and brought the song back to the U.S. where it would become a hit by the Andrews Sisters.  Grant sued Amsterdam in 1945 for plagiarism and the case (which Grant would eventually win) dragged on for years.  The Trinidad Caribbean Orchestra consists of clarinet, piano, guitar, steel drum, and percussion.  The album was recorded by Moses Asch for Smithsonian Folkways Records in New York. 

SNOWBOUND  -  SARAH VAUGHAN

YEAR:  1963
LABEL:  Roulette
TRACK LISTING:  Snowbound, I Hadn't Anyone 'Til You,  What's Good About Goodbye?,  Stella By Starlight,  Look To Your Heart,  Oh You Crazy Moon,  Blah Blah Blah,  I Remember You,  I Fall In Love Too Easily,  Glad To Be Unhappy,  Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most
IMPRESSIONS:  I first heard several of these songs on a packed cd called SARAH VAUGHAN:  THE ROULETTE YEARS (an extremely worthy compilation though probably out of print since I bought it circa 1990).  However, it wasn't until I heard the title track on one of those Christmas jazz compilation cds about a decade ago that I began actively searching for this album.  Naturally, the album was not available on cd and, for the most part, it's still not available . . . although it is.  Basically, if you search for it you'll find it on a (basically also out-of-print) "Two-On-One" cd pairing it with the equally delectable album "THE LONELY HOURS"; quite a natural and perfect pairing.  As the original liner notes for the vinyl LP aptly state:  "The wind blows cold outside, the night is clear and the moonlight plays tricks on the pure, white surface of the deep driven snow.  It's a night for the warmth of a fireplace and the warmth of love.  A night for flickering shadows and dreamy thoughts.  A night that finds you . . . snowbound."  There is very much that kind of feel about this album; look at the wonderful album cover art and you'll know immediately what the album sounds like.  Kicking off with the perfect album opener, the title track "Snowbound" conjures an almost visceral feeling of piling snowdrifts as one peers out a wintery window with the firelight flickering in the background and the cool, blue light cascading in through said windowpane.  You can almost hear that peculiar enveloping sound of a heavy snowfall which affects sounds like a warm blanket.  If that makes any sense.  If  you've ever noticed, there's a stillness which accompanies falling snow and the title track effortlessly conjures that up as one can almost see the snowflakes settling.  That's quite a lot to say about just one song on the album but the rest of the programme is no less evocative.  From the hit song featured in the classic 40's ghost film "THE UNINVITED" ("Stella By Starlight") to the relatively unknown Gershwin brothers tune ("Blah, Blah, Blah") and from Sassy's masterful rendering of the classic "I Remember You" even to the welcome inclusion of a moon song ("Oh, You Crazy Moon"); this is one my favourite Sarah Vaughan albums as well one of the most thematically satisfying.  As the original liner notes continue:  "When you're snowbound, there's not much you can do.  You can feel the warmth of that fireplace, cuddle close to that certain someone and . . . be touched by the voice of Sarah Vaughan."
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  Snowbound,  I Hadn't Anyone 'Til You,  Stella By Starlight,  Oh You Crazy Moon,  Blah Blah Blah,  I Remember You,  I Fall In Love Too Easily,  Glad To Be Unhappy,  Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most
BONUS TRACKS:  On the cd I managed to track down, the album is paired with the similar Roulette release "THE LONELY HOURS" which I will no doubt post here one day.
FACT SHEET:  SNOWBOUND is (likely) Sarah Vaughan's 24th album.  It is arranged and conducted by Don Costa.  The album emerged from the Divine One's short but productive few years with the Roulette label.  Allmusic.com's John Bush rightly calls the album "an overlooked gem from Sarah Vaughan's Roulette years" and it is indeed puzzling why this album is so difficult to come by and isn't readily available.  The album is generally given high marks and Bush continues with the observation:  "Despite the peaceful atmosphere and strolling tempo, Vaughan hardly treats the material as a cinch for her voice; all of these 11 songs find her searching for different ways to present timeworn standards. The opening title track is one of the warmest, most romantic songs on the LP, Vaughan plumbing the depths of her alto and nearly perfecting her humming vibrato."

CARIBOU  -  ELTON JOHN

YEAR:  1974
LABEL:  MCA/Rocket
TRACK LISTING:  The Bitch Is Back,  Pinky,  Grimsby,  Dixie Lily,  Solar Prestige a Gammon,  You're So Static,  I've Seen the Saucers,  Stinker,  Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me,  Ticking
BONUS TRACKS:  Pinball Wizard,  Sick City,  Cold Highway,  Step Into Christmas
IMPRESSIONS:  Happy 66th birthday, Sir Elton!  Sandwiched as it between between the monumental "GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD" and the much-loved "CAPTAIN FANTASTIC AND THE BROWN DIRT COWBOY", "CARIBOU" may seem like they're lesser cousin.  And in a way it is.  However, it is still a fantastic album filled with some of my favourite Elton songs.  Recorded apparently in a mere nine days under pressure from the record label, "CARIBOU" features my favourite Elton song of all time:  "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me" as well as the boffo hit single "The Bitch Is Back".  However, it also features some of Elton's strongest deep album cuts:  "Pinky" which is simply one of Elton's best ballads (and least known), the "random-shooting-in-a-bar" epic album closer "Ticking" (which is one of my dad's favourites) and even the delightfully silly throwaway (but catchy) nonsense of "Solar Prestige a Gammon".  However, it also contains some of Elton's more forgettable songs:  "Grimsby", "Dixie Lily" and "Stinker" among them.  Naturally, when pumping out an album in 9 days at the insistence of your record label, there's bound to be some filler.  But then, that's why God invented the skip button.
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  The Bitch Is Back,  Pinky,  Solar Prestige a Gammon,  Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me,  Ticking,  Pinball Wizard,  Step Into Christmas
GUEST ARTISTS:  Bruce Johnston (backing vocals on "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me),  Carl Wilson (backing vocals on "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me"),  Dusty Springfield (additional backing vocals),  Toni Tennille (additional backing vocals),  Tower of Power (brass/horn section),  Daryl Dragon (arranger)
FACT SHEET:  CARIBOU is Elton John's eighth album.  The title of the album derived from it having been mostly recorded at the Caribou Ranch recording studio.  The album was produced by Gus Dudgeon.  "Pinball Wizard" is a cover of the Who song written by Pete Townshend.  Elton's band consists of Davey Johnstone on guitars, Dee Murray on bass, Nigel Olsson on drums and Ray Cooper on percussion. 

ROUND 2  -  THE STYLISTICS

YEAR:  1972
LABEL:  AVCO
TRACK LISTING:  I'm Stone In Love With You,  If You Don't Watch Out,  You and Me,  It's Too Late,  Children of the Night,  You'll Never Get To Heaven (If You Break My Heart),  Break Up To Make Up,  Peek-A-Boo,  You're Right As Rain,  Pieces
IMPRESSIONS:  No, they're not the Impressions, they're the Stylistics, silly!  This is the only actual album (that's not a "greatest hits" collection) by the Stylistics that I own and I think it's well worth owning.  While critic Robert Christgau gives the album a B+ and thinks its not quite as good as the Stylistics' eponymous debut album, I think their sophomore effort is a classic early seventies soul album by the smooth-as-velvet Stylistics.  Just passing the 37 minute mark, ROUND 2 is sweet, soulful and satisfying.  While it's not a masterpiece, it is something akin to a perfect little listening experience that hangs around just long enough without overstaying its welcome; add a couple more songs of the same quality and the ears would begin to tire.  As it stands, however, ROUND 2 kicks out four hit singles ("I'm Stone In Love With You", "You'll Never Get To Heaven [If You Break My Heart]", "Break Up To Make Up" and {not-so-hit single}"Peek-A-Boo") as well as the exquisite ballad "You're Right As Rain" and a nice cover of Carole King's "Too Late" given a soul makeover.  Album tracks like the bouncy, Curtis Mayfield & the Impressions-sounding "If You Don't Watch Out", "You and Me" (which sounds like early-era Supremes) and "Pieces" (which sounds like later-era Supremes or Temptations) are very pleasant as is the album's obvious (by it's trumpeting appearance on the album cover) 7 minute epic "Children of the Night" (no, it's sadly not about vampires).  Also you've gotta love an album cover that looks so militant encasing an album which is filled with the sweetest soothing soul.  It's just a damn fine listen all around.
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  All of 'em. . .ain't if funny how these half hour albums seem to contain nary any filler whereas modern-day 75 minute albums . . . well . . .
FACT SHEET:  ROUND 2 is the Stylistics' second album.  The producer was Thom Bell and was recorded at Philadelphia's Sigma Sound Studios.  "It's Too Late" was written by Carole King and Toni Stern.  "You'll Never Get To Heaven (If You Break My Heart" was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.   

PLEASE PLEASE ME  -  THE BEATLES

YEAR:  1963
LABEL:  Parlophone
TRACK LISTING:  I Saw Her Standing There,  Misery,  Anna (Go To Him),  Chains,  Boys,  Ask Me Why,  Please Please Me,  Love Me Do,  P.S. I Love You,  Baby It's You,  Do You Want To Know A Secret,  A Taste of Honey,  There's A Place,  Twist and Shout
IMPRESSIONS:  50 years ago today, the Beatles first album was released and we've now had a half century of Beatlemania!  The importance of this album's released has been talked about and examined enough by others so that I need not really go into it here.  If you're reading this music blog at all, you don't need the likes of me to tell you why the first Beatles album is important.  Surely this album must be considered one of the "big bangs" in music history.  There would of course be much better Beatles albums but no other can stand as the first.
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  I Saw Her Standing There,  Chains,  Ask Me Why,  Please Please Me,  Love Me Do,  P.S. I Love You,  Baby It's You,  Twist and Shout
FACT SHEET:  PLEASE PLEASE ME is the Beatles' first album.  The album was quickly rushed out by their record label to capitalise on the band's singles-chart success; at the time the usual routine was to release an album only after enough hit singles existed to fill it.  It would mainly be the influence of the Beatles later in their career which would change the music industry from focussing on songs to emphasizing albums.  Eight of the fourteen songs on the album are composed by John Lennon & Paul McCartney with the remainder being covers.  In order to fill the album, George Martin essentially had the Beatles record their live song list.  The album was released in the U.S. on Vee-Jay Records as "INTRODUCING THE BEATLES" in 1964 and later on Capitol Records as "THE EARLY BEATLES"; it would not be issued as "PLEASE PLEASE ME" until it appeared on compact disc.  The cover photo is by Angus McBean and features the Beatles looking down the stairwell of EMI's London headquarters in Manchester Square.  In 1969, the Beatles asked McBean to recreate the cover photo for their "GET BACK" album but the photo would actually appear on their greatest hits collection "1967-1970".  In 2013, to mark the 50th anniversary of the album, a selection of modern-day artists re-recorded the entire album in one day (the time it took to record the original 50 years earlier) and the tracks were broadcast on BBC Radio 2 (with a "making of" documentary airing on BBC television).   

SUZI QUATRO  -  SUZI QUATRO

YEAR:  1973
LABEL:  Rak Records
TRACK LISTING:  48 Crash,  Glycerine Queen,  Shine My Machine,  Official Suburbian Superman,  I Wanna Be Your Man,  Primitive Love,  All Shook Up,  Sticks & Stones,  Skin Tight Skin,  Get Back Mama,  Rockin' Moonbeam,  Shakin' All Over
BONUS TRACKS:  Rolling Stone,  Brain Confusion (For All the Lonely People),  Can the Can,  Ain't Ya Somethin' Honey,  Little Bitch Blue,  Daytona Demon,  Roman Fingers,  Ain't Got No Home
IMPRESSIONS:  Speaking of Yanks who made it big in England but went nowhere in the U.S., we present Suzi Quatro.  Well-known and damn near beloved in England but practically unknown here.  Quatro is known primarily in the States as a character actor playing Leather Tuscadero occasionally on "HAPPY DAYS" and for having one minor radio hit with "Stumblin' In".  However, from the beginning Suzi Quatro hit it big in England with her raucous, glam-rock and this, her debut album, fit in perfectly with the year 1973 just as much as T. Rex's "ELECTRIC WARRIOR" did.  This is an album I would've loved had I had it when I was 8 years old.  I can just picture myself spinning the album on my black portable record player that closed up and could be carried like a suitcase.  After all, at the exact same time I was rockin' to "ELECTRIC WARRIOR" so here we have a lost opportunity for my formative years.  I only first heard Suzi Quatro's eponymous debut album decades later.  But who says you can't make up for lost time?
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  48 Crash,  Glycerine Queen,  Official Suburbian Superman,  I Wanna Be Your Man,  Primitive Love,  All Shook Up,  Sticks & Stones,  Skin Tight Skin,  Get Back Mama,  Shakin' All Over,  Can the Can,  Ain't Ya Somethin' Honey,  Little Bitch Blue,  Daytona Demon
FACT SHEET:  SUZI QUATRO is Suzi Quatro's first album.  The first pressing of the album in the U.K. omitted "Can the Can" and included "Rockin' Moonbeam"; subsequent pressings added the former when it became a hit single.  The album was entitled "CAN THE CAN" in Australia.  "I Wanna Be Your Man" is a Beatles cover written by John Lennon & Paul McCartney.  "All Shook Up" is an Elvis Presley cover written by Otis Blackwell & Elvis Presley.  "Shakin' All Over" is a Johnny Kidd & the Pirates cover written by Johnny Kidd.  "Ain't Got No Home" is a cover of a Clarence "Frogman" Henry song.