Various "The Legendary Sun Records Story: Volume 2" 1953-1962(rec) 2001(comp)***

I just finished watching "The Road To Memphis" an excellent documentary of the Martin Scorsese -curated series about the Blues featuring many musicians of the Beale Street scene (from famous like B.B. King and Ike Turner to Rufus Thomas and semi-forgotten ones like Rosco Gordon) as well as producer Sam Phillips, owner of Sun Records and better known as "the man who discovered Elvis Presley". He did much more than that, recording many blues musicians (e.g. Howling Wolf) before discovering rock'n'roll was the real goldmine and turning his full attention there. The series had me rushing to the drawers where my Sun Records CDs are, and sure 'nough here were all the artists. dead and alive, mentioned in the documentary. For some reason I chose The Legendary Sun Records Story: Volume 2 to present here. I like the way it encompasses the timeless and ephemeral, the stars and the never-have-beens. DISC ONE opens with a couple of red-hot rockabilly numbers, Billy Lee Riley's "Red Hot" and Jerry Lee Lewis' "Mean Woman Blues". Carl Perkins is represented with two of his best, and often-covered, songs ("Honey Don't", "Boppin The Blues"), Johnny Cash with C&W classic "Big River", Roy Orbison with the rockin' "You're My Baby", and Charlie Rich with the crooning "Stay". Presumably for copyright reasons, the studio's big star Elvis only appears as 1/4 of The Million Dollar Quartet (with Cash, Perkins and Jerry Lee) an unofficial jamming session with underwhelming results. Other notable songs include  Carl Mann's rockabilly dynamite "Ubangi Stomp", Ray Smith's novelty "Rockit Bandit", and Sonny Burgess' "My Buckets Got A Hole In It". Bill Justis' "College Man" is an almost-instrumental with nice sax. Apparently the singer took a nap during the proceedings, waking up during the last 20 seconds to hurriedly add a couple of lines. In Elvis' absence, we get Jerry Lee's version of "Jailhouse Rock", which is not so famous but has its own merrit nevertheless. 

***** for Honey Don't (Carl Perkins), Big River (Johnny Cash), Ubangi Stomp (Carl Mann), Boppin The Blues (Carl Perkins)

**** for Red Hot (Billy Lee Riley), Mean Woman Blues (Jerry Lee Lewis), My Buckets Got A Hole In It (Sonny Burgess), Move Baby Move (Billy 'The Kid' Emerson), Jailhouse Rock(Jerry Lee Lewis)

*** for You're My Baby (Roy Orbison), I Won't Be Rockin' Tonight (Jean Chapel), Rockit Bandit (Ray Smith), Walkin' Shoes (Onie Wheeler), College Man (Bill Justis), Gonna Romp And Stomp (Slim Rhodes), 

** for Stay (Charlie Rich), After The Hop (The Turks),  Treat Me Right (Cliff & Barbara Thomas), Sweet Sweet Girl (Warren Smith), Thats When Your Heartaches Begin (The Million Dollar Quartet)

DISC TWO features many of the same artists, just playing less famous songs. Highlights include Jerry Lee's "Lovin Up A Storm", Cash's "Oh Lonesome Me", Warren Smith's "Uranium Rock" (later covered by The Cramps), Gene Simmons' (no, not that one) "Drinkin' Wine", and Hayden Thompson's mid-tempo ode to a "Rockabilly Gal". One such gal here is Barbara Pittman ("I Need A Man"), while two of the afforementioned documentary's protagonists also appear: Rosco Gordon with his New Orleans-style piano (which he usually adorned onstage with a ...rooster) in "Shoobie Oobie", and Rufus Thomas with the original version of R&B stomper "Tiger Man (King Of The Jungle)" - later a hit for Elvis. 

**** for You Made A Hit (Ray Smith), Lovin Up A Storm (Jerry Lee Lewis), Uranium Rock (Warren Smith), Rockabilly Gal (Hayden Thompson), Tiger Man/King Of The Jungle (Rufus Thomas), Drinkin Wine (Gene Simmons), I Need A Man (Barbara Pittman), Oh Lonesome Me (Johnny Cash), Sadies Back In Town (Sonny Burgess)
*** for Your True Love (Carl Perkins),  Jumpin Jack (Cliff & Barbara Thomas), Wouldn't You Know (Billy Lee Riley), Sweet Woman (Ed Bruce), Sittin' And Thinkin'(Charlie Rich), Look At That Moon (Carl Mann), Shoobie Oobie (Rosco Gordon), I'm Feelin Sorry (Jerry Lee Lewis), It's Me Baby (Malcolm Yelvington)

** for Ballad Of A Teenage Queen (Johnny Cash), Softly And Tenderly (The Million Dollar Quartet)

DISC THREE features the usual suspects Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee and Johnny Cash, both individually and all together singing gospel with Elvis (as The Million Dollar Quartet). There are also some tearjerker ballads ("Tragedy"), country ("Muddy Ole River",  "I'm Comin' Home"), and blues (by Little Junior and The Jesters). On the whole this is a rich collection (60 tracks) which, together with no.1, provides a nice -though still uncomplete- overview of Sun Records' history. If only they could include some of The King's early sides for that label...

****for Mis Froggie (Warren Smith), Pearl Lee (Billy Lee Riley), You Better Dig It (Bill Johnson), Red Velvet (The Kirby Sisters), Little Queenie (Jerry Lee Lewis), Without A Love (Jimmy Isle), Walkin' And Talkin' (Mack Owen), Love My Baby (Little Junior's Blue Flames), Night Train From Chicago (The Jesters)

***for Pink Pedal Pushers (Carl Perkins), Restless (Sonny Burgess), Straight As In Love (Johnny Cash), Tragedy (Thomas Wayne), Sweet And Easy To Love (Roy Orbison), Hey Boss Man (Ray Smith), Muddy Ole River (Dane Stinit), Whirlwind (Charlie Rich), Hambone (Rayburn Anthony), I'm Comin Home (Carl Mann)

** for Just A Little Talk With Jesus (The,  Million Dollar Quartet)

Eric Burdon & War "The Black Man's Burdon" 1970*****

This was, for a long time, the record I had spent the most money ever for. You see, I started collecting Eric Burdon's records after witnessing the man give a soulful performance in one of my first rock concerts at Rodon Club in '88 (hard to believe it's been 30 years already). There sure was something special in the air - Burdon himself has mentioned Rodon as the best club he's ever played in, and his concerts there were historic enough for one of them to form the backdrop of Greek movie My Brother And Me. Some of his LP's were easy enough to get - for example 1967's Winds Of Change which became an instant favourite. It contained a psychedelic version of my favourite song, The Stones' "Paint It Black". I thought he had managed the impossible, to improve on what was already perfect. And then, I heard the Latin version on The Black Man's Burdon. Oh my God, could this be even better? I immediately decided I had to have it, but couldn't get it in any of the usual record shops. It hadn't yet been re-released on CD, as a matter of fact it had barely been re-released on vinyl during the previous 20 years. I had to search second-hand shops for an original copy, which I eventually found in Monastiraki for a budget-crushing 5000 drachmas, original U.S. vinyl being ridiculously rare in Greece at the time before internet shopping. With my allowance I could afford a nice-price LP per week (then 750 drachmas), two if I kept my expenses low, but 5000 drachmas? It took a few weeks to save the money, visiting the shop regularly to check if the record was still available and to hide it at the back of the row. 

War would later become famous on their own right, but when Burdon hooked up with them he was a pop star and they were an unknown live band called Night Shift, mixing black funk and latino music to promote brotherhood in the gang-ridden respective L.A. ghettos. I initially thought the title to be somewhat paternalistic on Burdon's behalf, but apparently it's a wordplay with The Black Man's Burden, a classic anti-racist book on slavery and white imperialism. The provocation continues with the risqué album art: Burdon poses with a black woman on the back cover, the black band with two naked white ladies in the inner gatefold. Imagine how that went down at the South, where even mixed-race bands like The Allman Brothers were a matter of contention.

The provocative inner gatefold

The music mix was then still unheard of: a melange of jazz, latin, blues, funk and rock. Instead of dominating as lead singer, Burdon just improvises while the band jams, singing. shouting or rapping along to the melody. It's all very rhythmical, which lots of percussion which brings it close to Santana territory albeit looser with less prominent guitar. "Paint It Black" is the album's jewel, a 13.5-minute medley in 7 parts. Some of them are percussion and flute solos, while another called "PC3" was apparently removed from certain U.K. copies as it contained an obscene spoken word fantasy about catching the Queen "with her knickers down". Another highlight was the "Nights In White Satin" medley, where the atmospheric Moody Blues ballad is interspersed with  improvised latin passages. "Spirit" is a jazz-soul piece with beautiful sax, "Bare Back Ride" the album's sole boogie rock and "Sun/Moon" an over-long slow number. "Home Cookin’" is an earthy ballad with nice harmonies and cool harmonica by Lee Oscar (the other white member of the band), while the album ends with the wonderful politically inclined gospel of lead single "They Can’t Take Away Our Music". The rest of the album is a series of Latin funk jams, best of which being the perky "Pretty Colors". Despite the evident good vibes, the musician's instinctive interaction and enthousiastic playing, the album wasn't a success - it peaked at No.82 while their debut had gone to No.18. It'd get minimal radioplay due to its long duration and absence of a catchy single like its predecessor's "Spill The Wine". War would later perfect their sound and become hugely successful, primarily but not exclusively with black audiences - their World Is A Ghetto LP was 1973's best-selling album of the year. The first two records with Burdon are often dismissed, although I personally find them very original and exciting. I wonder if they could have grown together or if War had to ditch the Brit in order to play some truly black soul music. Oh well, no point in talking about paths not taken...

***** for Paint It Black Medley (Black On Black In Black/Paint It Black I/Laurel & Hardy/Pintelo Negro II /P.C. 3/Black Bird/Paint It Black II), Spirit, They Can’t Take Away Our Music

**** for Nights In White Satin Medley, Pretty Colors, Gun, Jimbo, Bare Back Ride, Home Cookin 

*** for Beautiful New Born Child, Sun / Moon 

Xylouris White "Mother" 2018****

I have a somewhat erratic relationship to Cretan music: initially it was, next to rembetiko, the only form of Greek folk I liked - especially when sung in the spine-tingling voice of Crete's most famous singer Nikos Xylouris. But later it was all tainted by my experience of living at close quarters with a dozen young Cretan soldier-shepherds for a few weeks during my military service in Rethymnon. The boys were quite respectful to me (I was a good 7 years older, and a doctor, so I was spared the pranks new recruits are usually the victims of) but they spent the whole day blasting loud Cretan folk on the squad's portable stereo while playing with their service rifles (any child in the Cretan mountains knows how to dismantle and re-assemble a G3 in seconds, the region probably has a higher guns-to-inhabitant ratio than any in the US). Had they been playing someone like Psarantonis (Nikos Xylouris' younger brother and current Cretan folk paragon) it might have been OK - well it wouldn't have been, not at 18 hours per day, but it would have been preferable to what they were listening: bootleg cassettes, usually featuring a cousin or a synteknos, recorded at local festivals. I was always eager for the one slightly weird(er) boy's turn to come to choose music, because he constantly played the same cassette by Greek Black Metallers Rotting Christ. I mean, imagine that, black metal actually being a soothing aural experience. 

Owing to that traumatic experience I stayed clear of Cretan music for the next 20 years, but this CD (a present from a very dear friend) reminded me why I used to like it. It's not purely traditional, yet in some ways it is ancient. And formless, as if the rulebook hadn't been invented yet. The band consists of Psarantonis' son Giorgos Xylouris and Australian percussionist Jim White, formerly of Dirty Three as well as collaborator to, among others, Nick Cave, P.J. Harvey and Marianne Faithfull. Opener "In Medias Res" is an avant-garde droning instrumental which didn't prepare me for the following "Only Love", a fast-paced rousing piece that rocks harder than The Rolling Stones have in the last 40 years. Xylouris' singing (in Greek) is soulful and unrestrained while White urges him on with his nimble playing. "Motorcycle Kondilies" is closer to the medieval origins of this music, with two exceptions: the production (by Guy Picciotto of Fugazi) which enhances the "alternative" character of the duo, and the absence of lyra - nominally the main solo instrument in Cretan music. Xylouris plays laouto, which is usually a rhythm instrument, but both players have the virtuosity and instinctive empathy that allows them to sound like a full band, albeit with a single mind. In "Spud's Garden", "Woman From Anogeia" and "Daphne" (especially the latter, with its emotive vocal and forceful drumming) the charming melodies prevail over the experimentalism creating a result that would easily win over anyone with an ear for Mediterranean or Near-Eastern music. "Achilles Heel" and "Call and Response" are low, improvised, songs that evoke the soundtrack to some mysterious atmospheric movie, while the closing "Lullaby" is a hushed ballad. This music is at once modern and ancient, traditional and experimental, rooted in a particular mountain village (Anogeia) and universal. You should check it out - and, while you're at it, there's also an affecting documentary on the Xylouris music family that's definitely worth seeing.

. 

*****for Only Love 

**** for Spud’s Garden, Daphne, Woman From Anogeia

*** for In Medias Res, Motorcycle Kondilies, Achilles Heel, Call and Response, Lullaby

Various Artists "Propaganda" 1979***

I'll admit it, it was the hillarious cover art that caught my attention: an illustration of Mao Tse-tung and band rocking it out in front of an enthousiastic crowd of stylized Chinese workers, mockingly imitating the style of Maoist propaganda posters. Otherwise, a few live recordings by Police and Joe Jackson is not what I urgently needed right now. The compilers make their intentions clear in the album's subtitle "A Blatant Attempt to Influence Your Musical Taste". These relatively famous new wavers were meant to entice you into giving these other artists the label (A&M) was trying to promote a try. The fact that the Granati Brothers, Bobby Henry, David Kubinec, and Shrink haven't exactly become household names is a measure of this record's success: it has been languishing in bargain bins ever since it first came out. In reality, while totally inessential, it certainly has its merits. Especially the first "live" side which opens with The Granati Brothers playing an energetic boogie ("Go Crazy") and continues with sinewy, punky, performances by Joe Jackson ("Throw It Away", Chuck Berry's "Come On") and Police ("Landlord", "Next To You"). Side Two opens with "Joey" by The Reds, a promising new wave/hard rock hybrid. They could -probably should- have been bigger. Squeeze's "Slap & Tickle" from their 2nd LP Cool For Cats flirts with disco. Bobby Henry's "Head Case" and David Kubinec's "Another Lone Ranger" (the latter produced by John Cale) are faceless glam while Shrink's "Valid Or Void" is closer to punk. Interesting soung, too bad they never got to record a full LP of them. A hitherto unreleased Joe Jackson track "Don't Ask Me" is an agreeable but generic fast rocker. If you're into 70's punk/new wave, you may want to give this record a chance. It's typical of that style and era, plus some of you may be surprised to hear how vital Police used to sound before becoming pop hitmakers.

**** for Go Crazy (Granati Brothers), Throw It Away (Joe Jackson), Landlord (The Police), Next To You (The Police), Joey (The Reds), Valid Or Void (Shrink)

*** for Come On (Joe Jackson), Don't Ask Me (Joe Jackson), Slap & Tickle (Squeeze)

** for Head Case (Bobby Henry), Another Lone Ranger (David Kubinec)

The Godfathers "Birth, School, Work, Death" 1988*****

I know that dissing the 80's is a kind of automatic reflex - only last week I wrote about how bad it was: the music, the clothes, the haircuts. I should have known better, though, 'cause I've been there. Do I cringe when I look at my teenage self in those old photo's? (you know which...the paper ones. We used to stick them in albums?) Why, is there anything cringeable about a nice mullet? I won't even mention the clothes - or, rather, I'll just mention one item: I used to have a one-button single-breasted faded denim blazer... with shoulder pads! I wasn't crazy about the pads, but have you ever tried to find a blazer without shoulder pads in the 80's? Try to remove them, believe me it only makes things worse. As for the rest of my wardrobe, thankfully I discovered at some point that you can match black with black: problem solved - from that moment on, I looked cool as fuck. Or rather I would have, if it wasn't for the mullet. But when nostalgia takes me back to my LP racks, I find evidence that the 80's weren't half as bad as they are supposed to have been: My record collection of the late 80's consisted of albums by The Ramones, Wipers, Violent Femmes, Cramps, Sunnyboys, Godfathers etc. I pull one record out, place it on the stereo, drop the needle and...

Boom! I just can't resist turning the volume up and shouting together with Peter Coyne: Birth! School! Work! Death! Birth! School! Work! Death! over and over again... because there was some awesome rock'n'roll going on in the 80's, which no-one's ever told you about. And if you think these youtube videos are good, let me tell you they're shit compared to seeing the Godfathers live at the Rodon Club, looking cool in their mobster suits, swinging their guitars while a throbbing sweaty crowd sings the chorus back to them. I've seen lots and lots of bands play live, and they were second to none. I mean, sure, The Rolling Stones can rock a stadium, but you'd have to see them at the Marquee Club in 1965 to get the same vibe The Godfathers were emanating during the late 80's to early 90's. Radio Birdman or Dr. Feelgood would probably be a better comparison: No-nonsense R&B coupled with punk's defiant sneer, irreverent lyrics, razor sharp riffs, short guitar solos and loud drums. The clean production tempers the attack, making it just easy enough on the ears to ensure radio play - the album is, after all, full of catchy tunes. Each side starts with a high energy dynamite ("Birth, School, Work, Death", "Cause I Said So") and the singer shouting rather than singing, while the chorus sounding like a slogan in a demonstration. "If I Only Had Time" is another strong rocker with melodic backing vocals, "Tell Me Why" a fast new wave number with energetic drumming, and "It's So Hard" a folk rocker reminiscent of Tom Petty. Side 1 closes with the druggy Velvets-like "When Am I Coming Down", while side 2 is slightly less impressive: no instant classics, with the exception of thuggish opener "Cause I Said So". "Obsession" is a similarly aggressive number but lacks hooks, while there are some nods to rock's past (60's Who in "The Strangest Boy", rockabilly in "S.T.B.") and present: "Just Like You" and "Love is Dead" are closer to the kind of indie pop one might hear at 80's college radio stations. They even show the band's romantic streak to counteract the nihilistic politics and drug references of the faster songs. Special mention goes to the album cover, depicting the 4 stages of existence according to the bleak Godfathers worldview. This LP should convince you it's time for you to re-discover the 80's, too. I mean, look! even my old denim jacket has made a comeback - except for the shoulder pads, that is. Shoulder pads and dinosaurs are two things that must never ever be resurrected, haven't you seen Jurassic Park?

***** for Birth School Work Death, If I Only Had Time, When Am I Coming Down, Cause I Said So

**** for Tell Me Why, It's So Hard, The Strangest Boy, S.T.B., Just Like You, Love is Dead

*** for Obsession

"And I don't need no PhD cause I'm ten times smarter than you'll ever be! Cause I said so! Cause I said so! Cause I said so! Cause I said so!"

"I cut myself but I don't bleed /'Cause I don't get what I need/Doesn't matter what I say/Tomorrow's still another day/Birth! school! work! death!"

KBC Band "KBC Band" 1986***

I just read on MOJO magazine's obituaries about the death of Jefferson Airplane co-vocalist and songwriter Marty Balin. He started as a minor teen idol before co-founding Airplane, getting gradually marginalized in his own group by the flamboyant personality of co-singer Grace Slick and radical political direction pursued by bandmate Paul Kantner. This  album isn't among his best, but deserves to be rescued from oblivion nevertheless. It comes from 1986, a bad year for music - as well as for hairstyles, fashion and whatnot. Not as bad, though, as 1985, the year that the Airplane's successors, Starship, had hit big with "We Built This City" - a tune that often tops "worst songs ever" lists. It supposedly celebrates "real rock" as opposed to playing "corporation games" - a song nevertheless propelled by heavy rotation on MTV, and written by hired guns for a band that had started as 60's counter-cultural icons Jefferson Airplane. By that time, of course, only Grace Slick was left from the original Airplane - her former boyfriend and bandmate Paul Kantner having quit, disappointed by the commercial direction of it all. Pretty soon he joined his former bandmates Marty Balin and Jack Cassady in new band KBC. Their (sole) album contains three Kantner/Balin compositions where they share the vocals and which partly revive the rebel spirit of the 60's with their anthemic choruses and harmonies, as well as with their lyrics. Opener "Mariel" sports some upbeat percussion and a rocking guitar solo (lead guitarist Mark Aguilar is a big asset for the band), but the lyrics speak about the murder of Chilean songwriter Victor Jara at the hands of a CIA-backed dictatorship, and warn that "if we don't care now/Chile could happen here". Likewise "America" echoes the call-to-arms of 1969's "Volunteers" (albeit with shiny 80's studio sheen), the dream of a U.S. without fear, poverty and warmongering. It's actually a catchy, uplifting tune with a strong chorus and nice guitar and sax solos. Their 3rd co-write "Dream Motorcycle" is a melodic rocker marred by the excessive use of sax and synths. The rest of the album was written by outside collaborators. The best of these songs is lead single "It's Not You, It's Not Me", which sports a strong vocal performance by Balin and music reminiscent of contemporary hits by Asia, Boston, Journey etc. It's no coincidence that Boston producer John Boylan co-produced AOR tracks "No More Heartaches" and "When Love Comes". Despite Kantner's professed disappointment with Starship's commercial direction (but then again, Balin was always more commercial-oriented) KBC utilizes all of the studio and songwriting tricks of the time to obtain a hit: big choruses, danceable rhythms, cheesy synths - it even often (e.g. "Wrecking Crew") veers close to disco. The obligatory power ballads (3rd single "Hold Me", Sadistic Mika Band cover "Sayonara") are also here. For whatever reason, this album wasn't the success they must have hoped for and Kantner, Balin and Cassisy soon joined Grace Slick in an almost full reunion of the original Jefferson Airplane, even cutting an album under that moniker. KBC are largely forgotten now, but if you are a fan of 80's AOR music you'll find there's a lot to like here. It certainly holds up much better than the more successfull Starship LP's of that era...  P.S. this is probably the only LP I have where the sleeve is also printed on the inside. You'd have to tear it at the seams to open it and see what the picture inside is. I didn't, but internet search reveals it shows a car floating down a desert highway with a sign in the distance saying "Life is a test. Had this been a real life, you would have been told where to go and what to do". Ha! 

**** for Mariel, It's Not You It's Not Me, America

*** for Hold Me, No More Heartaches, When Love Comes, Dream Motorcycle, Sayonara

** for Wrecking Crew

Prog Magazine's 100 Greatest Artists Of All Time

I was rummaging through my old magazines in the attic when I came across this issue of Prog Magazine entitled "The 100 Greatest Artists Of All Time". Now if you think they mean the likes of Da Vinci or Mozart, you've obviously never read the magazine. Forget the "artists" in general and the "all time" label, we're talking strictly rock groups and solo musicians here. Can you guess who's Number 1? Yes... Not as in "yes, you guessed right, of course it's The Beatles" but as in the band Yes. One would have thought that they meant to name it "the greatest strictly prog rock bands and musicians" in which case it might be alright, but no... keep reading and way down near the bottom of the list at no.80 you'll find... The Beatles! The Grateful Dead barely made the list at no.94 while Frank Zappa fares better at no.18. None of those artists can be considered prog in any sense of the word, so what gives? This is by far the craziest list I've ever seen: suppose Yes themselves compiled a "greatest artists" list, I can't imagine they'd place themselves 79 places above The Beatles. And that's not all. Marillion actually feature 3 times: as a band at no.6, while their original singer Fish is at no.60, and his replacement Steve Hogarth at no.76. Jeez, can any of you even name one Hogarth solo album? More duplicates ensue: Jethro Tull/Ian Anderson, Steven Wilson/Porcupine Tree, Pink Floyd/Roger Waters, VDGG/Peter Hammil, King Crimson/Robert Fripp etc. A band called The Cardiacs (ever heard of them?) sits directly above Porcupine Tree, Opeth, Peter Gabriel and Zappa. I wonder in what way are they more culturally significant than them. But they're not the only ones - at least a dozen unknowns feature between bands that either sold millions of records or revolutionized prog rock. Make up your mind, gentlemen, is it a cult heroes list, a giants of prog list, or what? Here's the list for your own information, and possible comments:

1-Yes

2-Genesis

3-Pink Floyd

4-King Crimson

5-Rush

6-Marillion

7-Jethro Tull

8-Steven Wilson

9-ELP

10-Gentle Giant

11-Dream Theater

12-Camel

13-VDGG

14-Cardiacs

15-Porcupine Tree

16-Opeth

17-Peter Gabriel

18-Frank Zappa

19-Transatlantic

20-Kansas

21-Kate Bush

22-Anathema

23-Tool

24-Big Big Train

25-Hawkwind

26-Gong

27-Renaissance

28-Steve Hackett

29-Spocks Beard

30-Moody Blues

31-Soft Machine

32-Riverside

33-Flower Kings

34-Caravan

35-Focus

36-IQ

37-Neal Morse

38-Thinking Plague

39-Magma

40-Gryphon

41-Haken

42-The Enid

43-Henry Cow

44-Mike Oldfield

45-Pain Of Salvation

46-Supertramp

47-UK

48-Brian Eno

49-Pendragon

50-PFM

51-Robert Fripp

52-Alan Parsons Project

53-Peter Hammill

54-Rick Wakeman

55-Arjen Lucassen

56-Mahavishnu Orchestra

57-Mastadon

58-Nektar

59-Roger Waters

60-Fish

61-Muse

62-Tangerine Dream

63-The Nice

64-Anglagard

65-Arena

66-Eloy

67-Enchant

68-Oceansize

69-Saga

70-Strawbs

71-The Mars Volta

72-Anekdoten

73-Ayreon

74-Devin Townsend

75-Knifeworld

76-Steve Hogarth

77-The Plastic People Of The Universe

78-Mostly Autumn

79-Sigur Ros

80-The Beatles

81-Asia

82-Grpbschnitt

83-Haze

84-Magenta

85-Ne Obliviscaris

86-Public Service Broadcasting

87-Robert Wyatt

88-Sanguine Hum

89-William D Drake

90-Can

91-Dave Stewart

92-Frost

93-Galleon

94-Grateful Dead

95-It Bites

96-Ian Anderson

97-Pallas

98-Queensryche

99-And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead

100-Amon Duul II
Some entries will open to relevant posts in my blog, expect more of them in the future as I continue to present my record collection. Prog or not, I have albums from most of these artists.

The Vietnam Veterans "Green Peas" 1985***

The Vietnam Veterans were one of my favourite bands during the late 80's/early 90's, and the subject of my first piece of rock writing: Some 20 years ago I wrote an article on their second LP Crawfish For The Notary for ZOO, a fantastic but short-lived Greek publication reminiscent of MOJO. It was for a column called "Record Hunting" where the readers presented a record together with the story of how they acquired it - winning entries (such as mine) got published and secured their writers a year-long subscription to ZOO. I kept the magazine for a long time, but unfortunately don't know where it is anymore. It is a pitty, as it was -from what I remember- a brilliant and insightful piece of writing, highly praiseful of the band and especially of the singer (Mark Enbatta) for his out-of-time adherence to the long-forgotten hippie ideals. I'm afraid I'm not that eloquent (or maybe not that enthusiastic) any more, so this review will be a more pedestrian affair. For those unfamiliar with the band (which includes, I guess, most people) the Vietnam Veterans were a French garage/neo-psychedelic band from a small town called Chalon-sur-Saône. Like most of their peers, they took their cues from 60's legends like The Seeds, Electric Prunes, Jefferson Airplane etc. One distinguishing characteristic, though, was Lucas Trouble's keyboards, whose ghostly organ sound fell halfway between The Doors' Ray Manzarek and the Phantom Of The Opera (the actual phantom, not Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical). Enbatta's voice was equally distinctive: certainly not the prettiest in rock but with a rare passion and wide-eyed quality. Dylan, Donovan and Sky Saxon come to mind. This live album was recorded during their first two performances abroad (Germany, June 1985) by their friend (and Music Maniac label boss) Hans Kesteloo. It was actually the album that started Music Maniac and, apparently, the Veterans' best seller. Either because their former label Lolita did not promote their previous 2 albums (I searched record stores for years for a copy of Crawfish...) or -most likely- because people wanted a souvenir of their incediary live performances. On the evidence of this record, the band were really confident onstage, with great chemistry that allowed them to tear through the more aggressive numbers and improvise on the more psychedelic ones. Disc one contains their more concise songs, some of which came from their first two studio albums for Lolita and others that would feature in their next Music Maniac album In Ancient Times. The performances here are tight and running times are not stretched. In comparison to the studio versions, these are faster and noisier with more feedback. Songs like the mid-tempo "You're Gonna Fall" and "Dreams Of Today" from their debut, which was somewhat folkier and thin-sounding, benefit the most from this treatment. Other highlights include their dynamic signature song "Curanderos", garage dynamites "Is This Really The Time" and "Don't Try To Walk On Me" as well as early versions of, then still unreleased, "Wrinkle Drawer" and "Tower Of Babel". Disc two is where it really gets interesting for completists like me. This contains 3 improvised jams that remain unreleased in studio form: "Human Love", "Peas On Earth" and a freak-out medley of  Kim Fowly's "The Trip" and Enbatta's "Dreams Of Today". If you're new to the band, this LP has the advantage of containing some of their best songs and being relatively easier to get (though, nowadays with discogs etc, everything is a few clicks away). On the other hand, the recording quality isn't the best, which is why I'll give it 3* instead of 4*.

**** for Dreams Of Today, Curanderos, Wrinkle Drawer, Is This Really The Time, The Medley: The Trip/Dreams Of Today

*** for You're Gonna Fall, Dogs, Tower Of Babel, Don't Try To Walk On Me, What Are You Hiding, Out From The Night

** for Liars, Critics, Human Love, Peas On Earth

Scorpions ‎– Hot & Slow (Best Masters Of The 70´s) orig.1974-1976, comp.1998***

I recently bought this scratched-up CD from a discogs dealer for 50 cents, together with some other stuff. He asked me if I noticed that he rated it "condition:poor" to which I replied "It's a CD, it'll either play perfectly or skip. It's worth the gamble". Well...it plays perfectly on my blu-ray at home but a few songs skip when played in my car stereo. I kinda wish it was the other way round, it's that kind of record. I went to highscool during the 80's, and Scorpions were probably the most popular rock band of the time; you could bang your head along to the likes of "Rock You Like A Hurricane" or make out with your girl listening to "Still Loving You" - what more can you ask? Nevertheless, I wasn't a huge fan. To this day they remain one of the few famous bands I haven't seen live despite having many opportunities to do so. I do have a live DVD and a few of their albums, from 1979's Lovedrive and afterwards. This compilation provided a cheap way to close a gap in my collection, as it includes the bulk of the 3 albums they made between 1974-1976. It contains a few classics, as well as some relatively unknown deep album cuts. Let's take them chronologically: 1974 saw the release of Fly To The Rainbow, The Scorpions' second LP after Lonesome Crow. Boy-wonder Michael Schenker had just left for UFO and was replaced by another hot-shot guitarist, Uli Jon Roth. His guitarwork and vocal (non-) skills are up front on "Drifting Sun" a Hendrix pastiche that sounds nothing like the Scorpions I knew from the 80's. 2nd guitarist Rudolph Schenker takes over lead vocals on "They Need A Million" consisting of an acoustic intro and prog/hard rock body. "Fly To The Rainbow" is another (excellent) proggy piece with a nice baroque intro and intricate solos, but at 10 minutes it overstays its welcome, especially during the slow interlude. Two other songs included here do sound like The Scorpions, the proto-metal dynamite "Speedy´s Coming" and mid-tempo "Far Away", both thankfully sung by Klaus Meine. The title song from 1975's In Trance needs, I hope, no introduction as it is one of the classics of its era, from the emotive intro to its epic chorus. "Robot Man" is another metallic (literally!) rocker while "Dark Lady", sung by Uli Jon Roth, sounds like a cross between Hawkwind (vocals) and Hendrix (guitar). "Top Of The Bill' and "Longing For Fire" are typical Scorpions rockers while "Evening Wind" sports some blues guitar for a change. 1976's Virgin Killer is the last album represented here. I'll spare you the talk about the album cover controversy and go straight to the music, which is by now recognizably The Scorpions. The K.Meine/R.Schenker songwriting team has hit its stride, offering the anthemic "Pictured Life" and "Catch Your Train" as well as (their future specialty) power ballads "In Your Park" and "Crying Days". Roth adds the screaming metal of "Virgin Killer" and a different kind of ballad, the quiet and introspective "Yellow Raven" - not to mention some dazzling solos. It is a pity he left the band just before they hit the big time - or maybe not. Imagine if he'd insisted on doing more singing on their records. Not his strong suit. But you can hear some of his best guitar moments on this compilation: 17 early Scorpions songs in a single budget CD, not a bad deal!

***** for Speedy´s Coming, In Trance

**** for Fly To The Rainbow, Pictured Life, In Your Park, Yellow Raven

*** for Drifting Sun, They Need A Million, Far Away, Dark Lady, Robot Man, Top Of The Bill, Longing For Fire, Evening Wind, Virgin Killer, Catch Your Train, Crying Days

Hollywood Vampires "Hollywood Vampires" 2015***

As all-star jam bands go, The Hollywood Vampires' line-up isn't what you'd call "a rock'n'roll Dream Team": Sure, Aerosmith's Joe Perry is guaranteed to lay down some nice solos, but who the hell wants to listen to Johnny Depp playing his guitar? As for Alice Cooper, well, we all love him when he's being his plain-old shock rocker self, but do we really want to listen to him covering oldies by Led Zeppelin and The Who? Aaaa... but there's a twist! The album is a celebration of dead rockers whom excess -particularly excessive love of booze- has led to an early grave. Many of them were Alice's friends and drinking buddies from the 70's, his dissolute years when he used to preside over an LA "drinking club" called The Hollywood Vampires. Members included, among others, Harry Nilsson, Keith Moon, Elton John's lyricist Bernie Taupin, The Monkeys' Mickey Dolenz, and John and Ringo from The Beatles - during Lennon's low point, the 1,5 year Yoko-less boozing period usually referred to as "the lost weekend". Many other rockers not residing in L.A. were considered "honorary" members, a title that could only be obtained by outdrinking everyone in the room. Alice himself hit the brakes on drinking after waking one day in the 80's puking blood and being told by the doctors that he had drunk himself to the threshold of death. Depending on one's cynicism level, this album is either a heartfelt tribute to his "dead drunk friends" or a calculated move to profit from the legend of The Hollywood Vampires which keeps getting bigger as more stories from those days see the light of day in music magazines and rock biographies. Based on the energy and good-time vibes of the project, I'd like to think it's the former. The first song (after a suitably creepy spoken intro by the one and only Christopher Lee) makes as much clear: "A sudden quick demise/And so the body dies/But the music stays alive/So let's raise the dead".
It predictably sounds like a cross between Alice Cooper and Aerosmith: a metallic rocker with a roaring chorus, and one of only two original songs in the album. The other one is called "My Dead Drunk Friends", a heavy mid-tempo piece more typical of Alice's theatrical horror rock-style with a drunken chorus that could come straight from The Pirates Of The Caribbean - maybe a Johnny Depp contribution? It goes like this "We drink and we fight/ And we puke and we puke/ And then we die/ My dead drunk friends". Irreverent, unsubtle and tasteless it is, but no-one ever accused Alice of being sensitive or subtle. The vibe of the album is of a big party where everyone is having fun, which makes up for the lack of any nuances: the band chooses to cover some of rock's most famous old warhorses, and to play them more or less straight rather than try to infuse them with their own personality. Famous guests include AC/DC's Brian Johnson, who is a powerful presence on "Whole Lotta Love" (Led Zeppelin, R.I.P. John Bonham) and Alice's own "School's Out" which also features Slash on guitar and which is played as a medley with Pink Floyd's "Another Brick In The Wall" (R.I.P. Richard Wright). Porno For Pyros' Perry Farrel guests on "I Got A Line On You" (Spirit, R.I.P. Randy California) and "One / Jump Into The Fire" (R.I.P. Harry Nilsson), while the latter also features David Grohl (Foo Fighters/Nirvana) on drums. Another high profile guest is "Sir" Paul McCartney on "Come And Get It", a song he had penned for Badfinger (R.I.P. Pete Ham). The Doors' Robbie Krieger guests on his old band's "Five To One / Break On Through" (R.I.P. Jim Morrison). Other songs tackled with success include "Cold Turkey" (R.I.P. John Lennon), "Jeepster" (T.Rex, R.I.P. Marc Bolan), "Itchycoo Park" (Small Faces, R.I.P. Steve Marriott), and "Manic Depression" (R.I.P. Jimi Hendrix).  Despite the overabundance of guitarists on the album, songs are kept short and lean (Perry and Depp are augmented by regular Alice Cooper guitarist Tommy Henriksen, studio hand Bruce Witkin, female guitar prodigy Orianthi, The Eagles' Joe Walsh, Krieger and Slash). Many more musicians appear on bass, keys, and drums (special mention here for Zakk Starkey, Ringo's son and current Who drummer) but it's impossible to mention them all. Suffice it to say, everyone joins in the fun with gusto, resulting in an enjoyable but ultimately forgettable album.

*** for Raise The Dead, My Generation, Whole Lotta Love, I Got A Line On You, Five To One/Break On Through, Jeepster, Cold Turkey, Itchycoo Park, School's Out / Another Brick In The Wall, My Dead Drunk Friends

** for The Last Vampire, One / Jump Into The Fire, Come And Get It, Manic Depression

Various "Velvet Revolutions:Psychedelic Rock From The Eastern Bloc 1968-1973" 2013(comp)**

To people who grew up listening to vinyl, like I did, cover art is an important part of a record. At a time before internet when we only had state radio in Greece which seldom played rock music, we relied a lot on the cover to figure out how the music must have sounded: how did the band look on it? what kind of instruments they used? which font did they choose? was the cover funny? serious? sexy? all that played a role. My first record was Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. I bought it because I'd heard "Temple Of The King", but above all I think because of the cover: a guitar castle out of fairy tales, what more could a 14-year old fantasy fan ask? During the CD era, covers shrinked and became less impressive but there was still a lot to be gathered by looking at them. I'm only starting my review with this because I'm looking at this CD cover and wondering how much ignorance has gone into it, and whether this can affect the way I feel about the album. Let's start with the title: "Velvet Revolution" refers to the regime change (from Communism to Western-style democracy) in Czechoslovakia in '89. Which means that the compilers missed the mark by only 20 years. Many of the bands here do come from Czechoslovakia but that's probably just a happy coincidence. I'd think they had confused the Velvet Revolution with the Prague Spring (1968) but I don't want to give them too much credit. That would imply they have at least some clue. Next, to the one that really irks me: the huge CCCP  means of course that the CD contains music from the Soviet Union. Right? I mean you don't put a huge USA on an album containing music from Guatemala - or Canada, for that matter. Nooo...apparently you do. Just to throw potential buyers off. To amplify the message they use a pseudo-Cyrillic font that renders the band names virtually unreadable. Why? Cyrillic is used mainly in Russia, Bulgaria and Serbia. You feature bands from Czechoslovakia, Hungary, East Germany and Poland. These countries all use the Latin alphabet. Do you just want to get on my nerves by making me strain my eyes to decipher your bullshit font? But then I realized: the compilers apparently believe that the Eastern Bloc was a single country (capital:Moscow) that existed in an unspecified time and place. That explains why the cover features World War II bombers (again, 25 years off the mark) and a Soviet soldier - because this is what eveyrone wore in those countries, right? uniforms and hats with red stars on them. Ah, and according to discogs, the tracklist on the back has no less than 4 spelling mistakes. Now, why am I not surprised? Do you know how much skill it takes to copy a title from a record label? At least the booklet seems to have been written by a different person, someone who can actually tell Poland from Mongolia.

Now let us go to the music, starting with the Hungarian bands: Opener "Visz A Vonat" by Illés is groovy, organ-heavy, soul-rock with female vocals. A second song by the same band is completely different, featuring male vocals and a folk sound akin to Incredible String Band. Another (as Illes Zenckar) has some nice hard rock guitar but is otherwise unimpressive. Neoton is also represented with 3 tracks: hard rockers "A Haz" (Deep Purple-influenced) and "Nehez Fiuk" (Hendrix-like) and ballad "Gyere Alom". Moving on to Czechoslovakia, "18 Minut" by Juventus starts off like typical 60's pop but turns into a freakout with the singer yelling and band attacking their istruments hard. Olympic were a hugely popular band (nicknamed The Czech Beatles). "Tobogan" is a Yardbirds-like rocker and "Ikarus Blues" reminds me of Traffic circa 1968 - including a Chris Wood-like flute solo. Blue Effect were a Matadors offshoot (We'll talk about the Matadors in another post). The Effect's "White Hair" has some nice guitar but otherwise sounds like an outtake from the musical Hair. Of the Polish bands, Czerwono Czarni offer their own take on The Electric Prunes' Mass in F Minor with the instrumental "Kyrie". No To Co's "Saturday To Sunday" is English language flower pop. The band even made an attempt for an international career by releasing a record at the UK, but failed to get noticed. By "international" I mean in the West. Most of these bands did have international careers within the confines of the "Eastern Bloc". Breakout's "We Have Told All" (sung in Polish, despite the English title) sounds a lot like Jullie Driscoll circa 1968-69. Rounding the compilation up, there are some East German numbers. East Germany had a great rock scene, evidence of which is the fantastic hard rock of Scirroco Combo (think Atomic Rooster), Joco Dev Sextett (Black Sabbath without the ultra heavy riffs) and Electra Combo (rather progish -  Jethro Tull meet Cream?). On the whole this compilation helps to dispel the myth that Eastern Europe was this backwards place where rock was unknown or banned. Despite their difficulties in dealing with the state, rock bands flourished and produced music at least equal to the one made on the other side of the Continent. Musically, this is probably worth 3,5 stars but I'm subtracting 1,5* because of the disrespectful cover art presenting all these countries as if they were nothing more than Russian provinces.

**** for Visz A Vonat (Illés), Wege Mit Gutem Namen (Scirroco Combo), Stapellauf (Joco Dev Sextett)

*** for 18 Minut (Juventus), Tobogan (Olympic), Du Bist Mir Nah (Joco Dev Sextett), The Story Of M (Illés), Ikarus Blues (Olympic), Kyrie (Czerwono Czarni), Saturday To Sunday (No To Co), We Have Told All (Breakout), Über Feuer (Electra Combo), Nehez Fiuk (Neoton)

** for A Haz (Neoton), Gyere Alom (Neoton), Menekilles (Illes Zenckar), White Hair (Blue Effect)

Eric Burdon "Power Company" 1983**

I used to have this LP, but I sold it during the great vinyl purge. Seeing it recently at a used records store brought a surge of nostalgia and I went and bought it again. I became a big Burdon fan since my late teens, after seeing him give a passionate performance at Rodon Club, Athens, back in '88 - one of my first rock concerts. He was no haughty rock star, more like a working musician earning his living by shouting the blues at the top of his lungs night after night, club after club. Which is, I guess, the way his black idols lived, back in the 50's and 60's. Among his peers in the British blues boom, Eric Burdon alone turned out to be a true bluesman, as opposed to someone just singing blues music. Whether he's playing blues, hard rock, funk or whatever, he brings that gritty intensity to the table. This album has The Voice, and a decent band backing him up. What it's missing is, as was often the case with Burdon's albums of that period, the songs. With the exception of "Power Company" a potent blue-collar R&B anthem in the vein of The Animals' "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place" and yet another version of "House Of The Rising Sun". Different than his other recordings of the song, solo or with The Animals, this one starts with a long acapella intro, followed by the familiar arpeggio and a short electric solo. It doesn't matter which way he sings it, the man may not have written the song but he sure owns it. Unfortunately, Burdon sings, screams, growls and raps his way through the rest of the album without managing to produce anything else memorable. Except if you count the profanity on heavy R&B "Who Gives A Fuck". The sinister "Sweet Blood Call" and "Devil's Daughter" have a more swampy feel, while "Do You Feel It" is a Status Quo-like boogie. "You Can't Kill my Spirit" and the rockabilly-ish "Comeback" feature some nice barroom piano, and "Wicked Man" and "Heart Attack" are closer to hard rock. This run-of-the-mill bluesy hard rock nature of the album reminded me why I chose to part with it in the first place. It's worth mentioning that about half of the album is recorded live and that it's apparently tied to a film project called Comeback, starring Eric Burdon in the role of a fading rock star making a comeback in the music scene - a bit autobiographic it seems: at the time Burdon retained a following in Holland and Germany, but couldn't get arrested anywhere else. Other English R&B singers of his generation were selling millions of records in the 80's, but to be honest, I prefer even a rough and unexceptional gutsy album like Power Company to any sterile big budget album by the Claptons and Rod Stewarts of that time.

**** for Power Company, House of the Rising Sun

*** for You Can't Kill my Spirit, Do You Feel It, Wicked Man, Sweet Blood Call, Comeback

** for Devil's Daughter, Heart Attack, Who Gives a Fuck

Eric Clapton "Forever Man" 1983-2014(rec) 2015(comp)****

It is a clear sign of the depreciation of the CD as a medium, that a well-curated compilation of a major artist was given away free with a Greek weekly newspaper immediately after its release. On the one hand this doesn't bode well for the value of my own collection (mostly CD's, following the great vinyl purge) on the other hand it was a cheap way to delve into the post-classic Clapton period, which is under-represented in my collection. The first "Studio" disc here does a good job of cherry-picking tracks from 16 (if I'm counting correctly) albums spanning a period of 31 years. Even so, there's little that's essential. Sure he had hits in the 80's, but they were mostly commercial pop with R&B leanings, comparable to what Robert Palmer or Joe Cocker did in the same period. "Forever Man" is probably the best of them while "I've Got a Rock N Roll Heart", "Pretending" and "Bad Love" are also typical of this style. "It's In The Way That You Use It" is more of the same, but I set it apart because of its use on The Color Of Money movie (that Martin Scorsese has a great taste in music). His 90's recordings are more interesting, as that decade found him clean and sober for the first time after a long while, even after fate dealt him a cruel hand: losing his 4-year-old only son in an accident, a tragedy that inspired his best-selling ballad "Tears In Heaven". Another -bittersweet- ballad, about their last father-and-son exit, was "Circus" while more slow songs from the same period include "Change The World" and "My Father's Eyes" - the latter not from personal experience: Clapton never knew his father who disappeared after leaving his teenage mother pregnant. He was subsequently raised by his grandparents, and was initially told that his mother was an older sister. With such a back-story, is it surprising he ended up playing the blues for a living? And it's on the blues covers that Clapton shines: songs like "Motherless Child" from the 1994 collection From The Cradle and "Little Queen Of Spades" from the 2004 Robert Johnson tribute Me And Mister Johnson, or the B.B.King duet "Riding With The King". More 00's recordings include the bluesy "Got You On My Mind" and "Travelin' Alone", his cover of J.J.Cale's "Call Me The Breeze", and "Anyway The Wind Blows" from their collaborative album Road To Escondido (2006). Rounding up the more recent recordings are the reggae-ish "Revolution" (2005) and soul rocker "Gotta Get Over" (2014) featuring Chaka Khan. Rich as Disc One is, though, it still doesn't justify the subtitle "Best Of Eric Clapton". That's where Disc Two comes into play: while the recordings come from the same period, they include live versions of his best 60's and 70's hits: "Badge", "Sunshine Of Your Love" and "White Room" from the Cream period (from 1991's 24 Nights), an acoustic version of Derek & The Domino's "Layla" which went on to become a huge hit, just like its parent album Unplugged (1992), "Presence Of The Lord" of his Blind Faith days, taken from Live from Madison Square Garden with Steve Winwood (2009), and great performances of solo hits "Cocaine" and "Wonderful Tonight". Unexpected treats include the funky Buddy Miles cover "Them Changes" from the aforemetioned collaboration with Steve Winwood, and an earnest cover of "Over the Rainbow" from The Wizzard Of Oz. The rest of the disc is comprised of blues covers ranging from exciting to nothing less than workmanlike. Say what you will about the man, he can really lay it down live..

STUDIO DISC
**** for Anyway The Wind Blows, Motherless Child, Little Queen Of Spades, Tears In Heaven, Call Me The Breeze, Forever Man, Riding With The King, It's In The Way That You Use It, Got You On My Mind

*** for Gotta Get Over, I've Got A Rock'n Roll Heart, My Father's Eyes, Pretending, Change The World, Circus, Travelin' Alone, Revolution

** for Bad Love, Behind The Mask

LIVE DISC
***** for Wonderful Tonight, Cocaine, Layla (Unplugged)

**** for Sunshine Of Your Love, White Room, Worried Life Blues, Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out (Unplugged), Them Changes, Goin' Down Slow

*** for Badge, Walkin' Blues (Unplugged), Presence Of The Lord, Hoochie Coochie Man, Over The Rainbow

David Bowie "Let's Dance" 1983***

I've been reading MOJO's account of the recording of Bowie's "Let's Dance" album and decided to take the old vinyl out for a spin. To me it was always Bowie's commercial pop LP: good for its time but not on a par with Ziggy Stardust. Re-listening to it now, it's obviously not as simple as that. Its elegant disco/funk rhythm was the obvious selling point, courtesy of the producer Nile Rogers (of Chic fame). Bowie approached him with a return to commercial hits in mind, and Nile successfully worked his magic to that effect. It's not surprising that I wasn't drawn to it back in the 80's. I wasn't above dancing as a teen, but I'd much rather play air guitar. If I had listened more carefully I might have marvelled at the restrained and tasteful licks by Stevie Ray Vaughan. He wasn't a guitar god then, just a talented young player singled out by Bowie at the Montreux jazz festival. But he injects just the right amount of rock into the proceedings to keep it from being a straight disco/new wave album - just like Eddie Van Halen did with Michael Jackson's "Thriller", the album that stole that year's Grammy right under Bowie's nose. SRV cuts especially loose on "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)", which is the saving grace of this particular version. 

Otherwise, the Giorgio Moroder-produced original from the Cat People soundtrack is a much stronger performance with a superior vocal. Which reminds me I've got to see the movie again and compare it to the film-noir 1942 original. Another feature of Let's Dance that I enjoyed more this time around is its jazzy saxophone, so prominent on tracks like opener "Modern Love" - as well as the doo-wop backing vocals. "China Girl" was a Bowie-Iggy Pop co-write from Iggy's '77 album The Idiot. Rodger's ultra-pop sheen took the single to no.2 at UK and no.10 at USA, but Iggy's performance is unsurpassed. "Let's Dance" has Rodgers' signature all over it. Apparently he took a "folky" demo and turned it into a discotheque staple. Being more familiar with the 7' single version, I found the one on the LP unnecessarily long. "Without You" is an elegant romantic tune and sounds curiously like a Roxy Music pastiche. With all four of the album's singles crammed on side one, side two is a more hodge-podge affair with the world music-influenced "Ricochet", throwaway disco of "Shake It", and a new wave cover of Metro's "Criminal World". I'm grateful for the alternative version of "Cat People" (I love both of them) but I'm sure it was recorded as a filler. Anyway, Let's Dance achieved its purpose to make Bowie a star again even though nowadays it isn't spoken of with the reverence everyone reserves for his earlier albums. It took a magazine article for me to really hear the R&B roots under the outdated disco production and re-appreciate it, but even so it's not among my favourite Bowie LP's.

***** for Cat People (Putting out Fire) 

**** for Modern Love,  China Girl, Let's Dance 

*** for Without You, Ricochet, Criminal World

** for Shake It