Bananarama: Robert DeNiro's Waiting

Mind if I just let the video clip of this one speak for itself...?  After the Go-go's and before Cyndi Lauper - we had Bananarama.  Although this is their second album - they use their band name for the title of the record.  Most times, a band uses the band name on the group's first record.  The name of their first album is Deep Sea Skiving.  Oh well.  The original vinyl release came in an embossed sleeve and included a poster which, as well as the album lyrics and a photo of each member of the group, contained the message: "Well, a year is a long time, people change & maybe we have too – hopefully for the better! Anyway here are results of our hard work over the past twelve months. This is for you – we hope you like it. Best Wishes, love Keren X, All the best, love Sarah x, and Lots of love, Siobhan xx".

Brick: Good High - TGIF

Brick - Good High.  Stay with me on this one.  What a song I just unearthed.  Buy a used record for .49 cents because frankly - the album cover is awesome.  Sample a few songs and voila - find a terrific song.  The gem of a song on this record is called Dazz. It' is bt Brick.  Not sure if Brick is tthe band name of this guy's name.  The song is like one you've heard before - but you are not sure when or where.  What is it: jazz, funk, disco, fusion, post punk?  Here is the story - "Dazz" was a hit song by R&B/funk band Brick. "Dazz" is a combination of the words disco and jazz. It was released in 1976 from their Good High album, it would become their biggest hit, spending four weeks at the top of the R&B singles chart and reaching number three on the Billboard Hot Hundred singles chart.  Ice Cube sampled the keyboard riff and lyric "Well alright" in his rap song called No Vaseline.  Some other rapper sampled the keyboard riff in a 1988 song "Cinderfella Dana Dane."  Allegedly this this song inspired the Flint, MI broadcaster Vernon Merritt to tag his new FM radio station with the call letters WDZZ.  Check out the song - it's really catchy.

Tatrum. Plus What is Wrong with Today's Digital Music Format

Tatrum...OK, it's a classic late '70's album cover photo.  Guys are pouting,  highwaisted tight pants on the guys - who are pouting.  Glas in aggressive poses - what's not to like?  This 7-member (really - that many?) rock group made just two albums, both on the Ovation label.  From Chicago, the had three female singers:
Pam Bradley, Sandy Caulfield, and Barb Erber. Plus guitarist Ray Sapko, keyboardist Phil Balsano, bass guitarist Bill Syniar (later in Surivior), and drummer Vern Wennerstrom.

I read today that Amazon is "excited to introduce Amazon Cloud Drive, Amazon Cloud Player for Web, and Amazon Cloud Player for Android. Together, these services enable customers to securely store music in the cloud and play it on any Mac, PC, or Android device wherever they are. All customers start with 5 GB of free storage, and all Amazon MP3 purchases saved to Cloud Drive are stored for free. Right now, customers can upgrade to the 20 GB storage tier for free with the purchase of an Amazon MP3 album."  Cloud this.  I could not care less.  That news is exactly why vinyl will remain viable and vibrant.  Go back and read what Jon Bon Jovi said about how Steve Jobs has killed music.

The Bee Gees - Main Course

The Bee Gees - Main Course and Fanny (Be Tender with me Love)...as I commented on my Youtube channel about this record - it has a odd if rather feint connection to Eric Clapton's masterpiece 461 Ocean Boulevard.  Yes. both records were recorded at the famed Criteria Studios in Miami.  But while the Brothers Gibb made and recorded this album - Main Course they too stayed at that rental house at famous address.  And what a great album they made.  461 and Main Course are both on the semi-quirky RSO label (subset of Atlantic.)  Speaking of Atlantic - Ahmet Ertigan gets a nod on the record jacket too.   Side one is just fabulous - I like playing that side start to finish.  It is one of those album sides with great song after great song.  They are all compositions by Barry and Robin Gibb except as indicated.  "Nights on Broadway," "Jive Talkin,'" "Wind of Change," "Songbird," and - my favorite song on the record - "Fanny (Be Tender with My Love)."

Brewer & Shipley: Tarkio

Tarkio is the third album by Brewer & Shipley. Released in 1970, the album (also known as Tarkio Road, as that title was printed on the labels of original pressings of the LP and pre-recorded tapes) yielded the hit "One Toke Over the Line" and "Tarkio Road."   On the duo's website - I just that their next gig is in downstate IL - is April 16th, at Edwardsville (SIU campus) where they are playing with Pure Prairie League - at Wildey Theater.

APR 16

Edwardsville, IL

Brewer & Shipley & Pure Prairie League

Wildey Theatre 250-354 Main Street

The cover is design is by Gary Peterson, Mort, & Bill Sandiford.  Also according to wiki - the "record title is from them leaving California in 1969 returning to the Midwest, this time to Kansas City, Missouri, where they played college towns in Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, and Kansas. One regular gig was Tarkio College in the small town of Tarkio, Missouri and being long-hairs at that time in that place it was essential not to stop in the small towns on the way back home. They found they could just make it from Tarkio to Saint Joseph, Missouri on a single tank of gas and took to calling the route "Tarkio Road".   And below is the gorgeous inside cover...