The Power Station

The Power Station.  In terms of one-off (alleged super-)groups, I remain skeptical.  I do get confused:  The Power Station, The Firm - who can tell?  Comprised of singer Robert Palmer (who I saw live down at ISU in the fall of 1979), bassist John Taylor, guitarist Andy Taylor of Duran Duran, and former Chic drummer Tony Thompson.  My all-time favorite bass player Bernard Edwards (also of Chic) was in the studio as record producer.  Wiki told me that he also functioned as Power Station's manager.  Formed in New York City in late 1984 during a break in Duran Duran's relentless touring schedule, the band got its name from The Power Station, a recording studio where their album was conceived and recorded.  They cover "Get It On (Bang A Gong)" here, but not to my taste.  In March 1985, the band issued this album Power Station, produced by Bernard Edwards with some informal assistance from Nile Rodgers. Photo about is, I admit, a poor job of me using Photoshop's photomerge feature.  I've spliced together photos of the front and back covers (not a gate fold) so you can see what the entire album designer was going for.

Tim and Joan: Both Played at Woodstock

If you follow this blog - you well know how fascinated I am with the Woodstock festival I am.  I became interested in those Three Days of Peace and Music reading event founder Michael Lang's fantastic book.  So - here is the post.  The common thread here - both Tim Hardin and Joan Baez played at Woodstock.  Tim first.  Well, in short - he bombed.  According to reports, Tim Hardin played a short set at about 9 pm on Friday, 15th. That was to be folk music day, with the harder rocks acts scheduled for the actual weekend.  It was already dark.  Originally he was scheduled to play earlier, perhaps tapped as the festival's opening act, but the effects of drugs kept him down till after sundown. Joan Baez on the other hand provide the voice of an angel, as she tucked everyone in as the last act of the fest's first evening.  The distaff counterpart to Dylan, folksinger and anti-war protester  - Joan Baez, was the last act to come out Friday evening.  Starting at about 1:00 am (Sat. morning really), and qutie appropriately, she wished everybody a good morning.  In the film, besides his role as MC on the PA system, Chip Monck designed the stage lighting for Woodstock.  I think the best lighting of the show (on the film) is that of Joan.   According to reports - her lush song arrangements and set combined with her beautiful and skillful voice was a fine finish for a chaotic and exhaustive first day.

101 Strings Play Songs of France

101 Strings Play Songs of France.  According to Wikipedia, 101 Strings was a brand for a highly successful easy listening symphonic music organization, with a discography exceeding a hundred albums and a creative lifetime of roughly thirty years. Their LPs were individualized by the slogan "The Sound of Magnificence", a puffy cloud logo and sepia-toned photo of the orchestra. The 101 Strings orchestra was actually composed of 124 string instruments (all male except for the harpist) and was conducted by Wilhelm Stephan. The orchestra's famous official photograph was taken in the Musikhalle Hamburg.