Cheap Trick: Dream Police

The Police - Dream Police.

Rockford, IL's finest.  From 1979 - a magic year in music.

The front cover - unfolded.

Danny Joe Brown and the Danny Joe Brown Band

This record is called Danny Joe Brown and the Danny Joe Brown Band.  That would be like Bob Seger and and the Bob Seger Band.  DJB left Molly Hatchett (not sure why, but it was a mistake), to form this group in 1980.  I played bits of the record and though it has a southern rock feel - there is nothing on it any good, and nothing close to anything with Hatchett, like the classics Gator Country, Dreams, and Flirtin'.  The DJBB had Bobby Ingram in it as one of the guitar players and both later went back from whence they came - probably due to the typical inner band issues of either money or more money.   Hardly worth the effort to leave and go back to MH just to make this album.  Sadly, BJD died in 2005.   I was asked by my pal Skooter to "build" my all-star/all-'70's fantasy rock band.  Without any hesitation - he'd be that group's lead singer, not Bon.

Pilot: (ho ho ho it's) Magic

Pilot.  The band's eponymous first album, from 1974.  Pilot is/was a pop rock musical group, formed during 1973 in Edinburgh by some former Bay City Rollers members, David Paton and Billy Lyall.  Had no idea.  Plus - get this all you art rock fans - Alan Parsons is credited as Producer and also as one of the three Recording Engineers.  From this pop record all the over to Dark Side of the Moon - Alan Parsons is and has been a collaborator or album contributor or record maker in a wide variety of genres.  The photo on the left is of the back album cover.  It states: All songs composed by David Paton and Bill Lyall.  The band Pilot is those two, plus Stuart Tosh (shortened from MacIntosh).  A person named Tony Gilbert is credited as Leader - whatever that means.  But this band's one hit wonder is the bubblegum song Magic.  At age 14 in the summer of 1975, some guy Steve had a car we drove around in and that song was played nonstop on the AM dial on WLS the big 89 and Super CFL, AM 100 I think.

Gregg Allman Band: Playin' Up a Storm

The Gregg Allman Band: Playin' Up a Storm.  Not to be confused with the Allman Brothers...this is an interesting album cover - but the music contained is not his best work as a solo artist.  This one's from 1977, and he also had another record out that same year called Two the Hard Way - with Cher - during, I think, their brief marriage.  The cover art looks to be more of a painting than a photograph.  With the notable exception of his 1986 record, I'm No Angel, I have to think Gregg is just way better off, musically, in his original band The Allman Brothers.  I mentioned this record briefly in one of my new YouTube clips.  My YouTube channel is calinder403.