januari 24, 2021

Cock Robin - After Here Through Midland (1987) - €7,99

No comments  
After Here Through Midland is the second album by Cock Robin and was released in 1987.
Again it was a big success in continental Europe as their first eponymous album, reaching the Top 10, but was largely ignored in the United States where the album reached only #166 in the Billboard 200. 
The single "Just Around the Corner" proved to be the biggest hit in Europe, and it remains a staple on adult contemporary and pop music stations in France. 

More mature, After Here Through Midland lacks the sparkle of Cock Robin's debut. 
The one time they engaged an American producer in Don Gehman (John Cougar Mellencamp, Hootie and the Blowfish), After Here has a more U.S. rock-country blend to it. 
Sometimes with a male lead vocal, and sometimes a female lead vocal, and usually delivered in an earnest, downbeat and almost melancholy style, the songs are pleasant mid-tempo pop-rock - sometimes in danger of being a little 'samey' and blending into one another. As such, it makes very good easy listening and background listening.
In the end, it achieved little in the States, again doing the business in Europe -- "Just Around the Corner," "The Biggest Fool of All," and "El Norte" notched up the U.K. singles chart. "I'll Send Them Your Way" could have landed them the U.S. hit they so deserved. "Another Story" is picturesque -- almost like an Edward Hopper painting of small-town America: small wooden house with porch, a deserted street, heavy grey sky, and one illuminated streetlight. 
"Nobody's home, so I'll go looking out for trouble," sings Anna LaCazio. Not their best but still better than most. 


Side A
A1.  Just Around The Corner  (4:12)
A2.  The Biggest Fool Of All  (4:21)
A3.  El Norte  (4:45)
A4.  I’ll Send Them Your Way  (4:12)
A5.  Another Story  (3:56)

Side B
B1.  Coward’s Courage  (4:45)
B2.  Every Moment  (4:04)
B3.  Precious Dreams  (4:25)
B4.  After Here Through Midland  (4:09)


Cock Robin

Additional musicians
  • Tod Yvega, Mark Binder: Synclavier operators
  • Tod Yvega, Mark Binder, Richard Gibbs: synthesizer programmers
  • Tim Pierce: guitars
  • Denny Fongheiser: drums, percussion
  • Dennis Herring: acoustic guitar on "The Biggest Fool Of All"
  • Brian Kilgore: conga on "Precious Dreams

Notes
Released: 1987
Genre:  Synth-pop
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Label:  CBS Records
Catalog#  CBS 450890 1

Vinyl:  VG
Cover:  G

januari 17, 2021

Jim Croce - You Don´T Mess Around With Jim (1972) - €3,99

No comments  
You Don't Mess Around with Jim is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Jim Croce, released in April of 1972.

The album was recorded over a three to four-week period for approximately $18,000, with most funding coming from the PolyGram Group in Baarn, the Netherlands on the basis of hearing an 8-song demo tape assembled by production team Cashman & West. The deal with PolyGram was made after team attorney Phil Kurnit approached a contact within the record company who then had PolyGram executives listen to the demo tape. 
After having the finished album rejected by up to 40 record labels, Croce was signed to ABC Records after Cashman & West had a chance meeting with ABC promotion man Marty Kupps. Kupps urged label head Jay Lasker to sign Croce after hearing cuts from a cassette tape of the finished album.

The record spent 93 weeks on the charts, longer than any other Jim Croce album. Due to the strong performance of the posthumous single release "Time in a Bottle" (#1 pop, No. 1 AC) Two singles were originally released from the album in 1972: (You Don't Mess Around with Jim) and "Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)" 

The lyrics of the title track concern the fate of a 'pool-shooting son-of-a-gun' by the name of 'Big' Jim Walker when his 'mark,' Willie 'Slim' McCoy, from South Alabama shows up to get a refund from being hustled or get revenge. The song is notable for the line "You don't tug on Superman's cape/You don't spit into the wind/You don't pull the mask off that ol' Lone Ranger/And you don't mess around with Jim." However, after the song ends with Jim being thoroughly thrashed by his victim ("he'd been cut 'n 'bout a hundred places/ and he'd been shot in a couple more"), the chorus now sings about how "You don't mess around with Slim."


Side A
A1.  You Don’t Mess Around With Jim - 3:00
A2.  Tomorrow’s Gonna Be A Brighter Day - 2:49
A3.  New York’s Not My Home - 3:05
A4.  Hard Time Losin’ Man - 2:23
A5.  Photographs And Memories - 2:03
A6.  Walkin’ Back To Georgia - 2:47

Side B
B1.  Operator (That’s Not The Way It Feels)- 3:45
B2.  Time In A Bottle - 2:24
B3.  Rapid Roy (The Stock Car Boy) - 2:40
B4.  Box #10 - 2:22
B5.  A Long Time Ago - 2:18
B6.  Hey Tomorrow - 2:40



Notes
Released:  1972
Format:  LP
Genre:  Folk Pop
Label:  ABC Records ‎ 
Catalog#  ABCX 756

Vinyl:  G
Cover:  Poor

Prijs: €3,99

januari 14, 2021

Emmylou Harris - Blue Kentucky Girl (1979) - €10,00

No comments  
Blue Kentucky Girl is an album by country music artist Emmylou Harris, released in 1979. 
The album features delving more traditional country than the country-rock sound of Harris' previous releases. 
 Songs include work by Willie Nelson and Gram Parsons. Rodney Crowell's "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" featured harmonies by Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt, and came out of the women's ill-fated 1978 recording sessions, where they first attempted to record a "trio" album (nearly a full decade before they actually succeeded in doing so).

The album won the 1980 Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. "Beneath Still Waters" became Harris' fourth No. 1 hit; covers of the Drifters' 1960 hit "Save the Last Dance for Me" and the album's title track (originally recorded by Loretta Lynn) were top ten hits on the US country charts.

 In response to criticism that her records weren't "country" enough, Harris recorded Blue Kentucky Girl, one of her most traditional outings. Relying on a more acoustic sound, the album largely forsakes contemporary pop songs in favor of standard country fare, including the Louvin Brothers' "Everytime You Leave" and Leon Payne's "They'll Never Take His Love from Me." The cover of Dallas Frazier's "Beneath Still Waters" earned Harris her fourth number one single. 

In 2006, the album ranked #20 on CMT's 40 Greatest Albums in Country Music.


Side A
A1. Sister’s Coming Home [with Tanya Tucker] - 2:52
A2. Beneath Still Waters - 3:41
A3. Rough and Rocky - 3:50
A4. Hickory Wind - 4:01
A5. Save the Last Dance for Me - 3:30

Side B
B1. Sorrow in the Wind [with Sharon & Cheryl White] - 3:28
B2. They’ll Never Take His Love From Me - 2:34
B3. Everytime You Leave [with Don Everly] - 2:58
B4. Blue Kentucky Girl - 3:17
B5. Even Cowgirls Get the Blues [harmony by Linda Ronstadt and Dolly Parton] - 3:56


Personnel

Technical

  • Brian Ahern – producer, engineer
  • Donivan Cowart – engineer
  • Bradley Hartman – engineer
  • Stuart Taylor – engineer

Notes
Release:  1979
Format:  LP
Genre:  Country
Label:  Warner Bros. Records
Catalog#  WB 56627

Vinyl:  VG
Cover: VG

Prijs: €10,00

Kim Carnes - Barking At Airplanes (1985) - €7,99

No comments  
Barking at Airplanes is the ninth studio album by American singer Kim Carnes, released on May 5, 1985 by EMI.

The album received some positive reviews, including from People magazine, which wrote that “Carnes has had plenty of moments before but she’s never recorded an album as pleasing as this.” Yet on the U.S. Billboard 200, it peaked at #48 and sold less than 200,000 copies. The track "Begging for Favors (Learning How Things Work)" features Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac playing guitar and singing backing vocals.

The album spawned two hit singles, "Crazy in the Night (Barking at Airplanes)" and "Abadabadango".

No matter how hard she tried -- and she tried very, very hard -- Kim Carnes couldn't get either Voyeur or Café Racers, her two follow-ups to Mistaken Identity, into the consciousness of the audience that flipped for "Bette Davis Eyes." 
There were some hits along the way, but they were minor ones. Clearly, it was time for a change, and for 1985's Barking at Airplanes, she broke from convention, stepping up to the boards to co-produce the record. This was the change that was needed, as it resulted in a cohesive, consistent album -- the best she made since Mistaken Identity. 
It wasn't a drastic shift in sound, so perhaps it's surprising that the record is markedly better than either of its immediate two predecessors, but the key is focus. Although there are elements of post-new wave pop, arena rock, adult contemporary, and dance evident throughout the album, they're fused together into a sleek, insistent sound. 
This isn't entirely different from what other artists of her style and era were doing at the time -- this, indeed, sounds like what adult-oriented pop of the mid-'80s sounded like -- but it fits Carnes very well, not just because her great voice sounds ideal in this setting, but because she does this music very well. For all of her hard work, Carnes was rewarded with a moderate hit -- an album that reached 48, while spawning a number 15 hit in the title track. 
It might not have been up to the standards of Mistaken Identity -- it was closer to Voyeur standards, really -- but it still qualified as a welcome comeback, and it's stood the test of time as one of Carnes' best records.


Side A
A1. Crazy in the Night (Barking at Airplanes) - 3:35
A2. One Kiss - 3:32
A3. Begging for Favors (Learning How the Things Work) - 4:52
A4. He Makes the Sun Rise - 4:28
A5. Bon Voyage - 4:44

Side B
B1. Don’t Pick Up the Phone (Pick Up the Phone) - 4:19
B2. Rough Edges - 4:44
B3. Abadabadango - 3:58
B4. Touch and Go - 4:48


Personnel

Companies, etc.

Credits

Notes
Release: 1985
Format: LP
Genre: Soft Rock
Label: EMI Records
Catalog# 1A064-2403381

Vinyl:  VG
Cover:  G

Prijs: €7,99

januari 13, 2021

Diane Dufresne - Turbulences (1982) - €4,99

No comments  
Diane Dufresne, CM CQ (born 30 September 1944) is a French Canadian singer and painter, and is known for singing a large repertoire of popular Quebec songs.

Dufresne was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She lived in Paris from 1965 to 1967 where she studied voice with Jean Lumière and dramatic art with Françoise Rosay. While there, she performed in noted boîte à chansons such as l'Écluse, l'Échelle de Jacob, and le Caveau de la Bolée. 

Diane Dufresne can be wildly eccentric at times, but her RCA release ‘Turbulences’ (1982) is both accessible and commercial. The production is reminiscent of the jazz-funk group ‘Shakatak’, who had hits such as ‘Nightbirds’ and ‘Invitations’ in 1982. 

A strong first side (as it was on vinyl) features ‘Seule dans mon linceul’ (Alone in my shroud) ‘Samedi soir’ (Saturday night) the poppy ‘La derniere enfance’ (The last childhood) and the pleasant title track.

Side two boasts the notable titles ‘Oxygene’, (Oxygen) and ‘Partir pour la gloire’ (Leave for glory). ‘Good-bye Rocky’ was an unlikely single release.

I already owned the up-tempo ‘Oxygene’ (not the 1991 Petula Clark song) and ‘La derniere enfance’ on compilations by the French-Canadian lyricist Luc Plamondon.
Diane’s voice is a flexible and powerful instrument which hits the high notes, and there are brass arrangements. Check out the impressive opening number ‘Seule dans mon linceul’ for example.
The grand dame of Quebec is on fine form on her sixth album ‘Turbulences’ (Turbulence) and your listening experience is likely to be a joyful one. 


Side A
A1.  Seule Dans Mon Linceul - 5:05
A2.  La Dernière Enfance - 3:07
A3.  Turbulences - 4:50
A4.  Samedi Soir - 2:53
A5.  Le Vieux Saxophoniste - 3:55

Side B
B1.  Oxygène - 4:51
B2.  Pour Un Ami Condamné - 4:14
B3.  Good Bye Rocky (Épitaffe Pour Un Toffe) - 3:35
B4.  Partir Pour La Gloire - 3:04
B5.  La Tourne Qui Groove - 3:05
B6.  Suicide - 3:21


Credits

Playbacks recorded at Studio Automated Sound, New-York.
Vocals recorded at Studio Tempo, Montréal.
Mixed at Studio Sound City, Los Angeles. 


Notes
Label:  RCA Victor ‎– NL 70206
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country:  France
Released:  1982
Genre:  Franstalig, Chanson

Vinyl:  VG
Cover:  VG