- Tracks 1, 4, 5, 6 published by Magazine Music.
- Tracks 2 & 7 published by Cyclus Music.
- Track 3 published by Peermusic.
- Tracks 8-11 published by Intersong.
- Arranged & Produced by Rolf Soja.
- Recorded by Günther Dyke & Günther Zipelius.
- Recorded at Polydor Studio & Studio Maschen
april 30, 2022
april 29, 2022
Long Tall Ernie & The Shakers - In The Night (Lp) (1976) - €10,00
Hadden overigens een status als enigzins gevaarlijke boys, maar dat was dus meer een act.
- Published By – New Dayglow Music
- Recorded At – Frans Peters Studio
- Produced For – Red Bullet Productions
- Bass – Ruud Van Buuren
- Cover [Photo] – Ronnie Hertz
- Design – Arno Arts
- Drums – Alan Macfarlane
- Engineer – Jaap Eggermont, Jay Denson
- Lead Guitar – Jos Jaspers
- Management – Rein Muntinga
- Organ – Tony Britnell
- Piano – Tony Britnell
- Producer [Produced By] – Jaap Eggermont
- Saxophone – Tony Britnell
- Vocals – Arnie Treffers
- Voice – Tony Britnell
- Written-By – A. Treffers, A. J. Britnell
april 26, 2022
Paul Santos - Paul Santos (Lp) (1977) - €15,00
- Phonographic Copyright (p) – CBS Grammofoonplaten B.V.
- Copyright (c) – CBS Grammofoonplaten B.V.
- Published By – Universal Songs
- Published By – Chappell
- Published By – Marsaint Music
- Recorded At – Soundpush Studios
- Recorded At – Metronome Studio, Stockholm
- Mixed At – Dureco Studio
- Backing Vocals – Anita Meyer, Hilda Vermeulen, Martha Hollestelle, Paul Santos, Tom Patrick Salisbury
- Bass – Wim Essed
- Cover, Design – CBS Studio Holland
- Cover, Photography By – Clouds Studios
- Drums – Kees Kranenburg
- Engineer – Jan Audier
- Engineer [Strings And Horns] – Lars Holmberg
- Guitar – Lex Bolderdijk
- Mastered By – Joop Niggebrugge
- Percussion – Malando Gassama
- Producer, Arranged By, Keyboards – Tom Patrick Salisbury
- Strings – Symphony Orchestra Of Radio Sweden, The
Notes
Release: 1977
Genre: Pop
Label: CBS Records
Catalog# 81625
april 23, 2022
John Miles - Stranger In The City (Lp) (1976) - €10,00
Containing three good singles, sadly for Miles, only one of them made the top 20 and that the bandwagon-jumping discofied “Slow Down”, while this, the related album stalled in the charts. Thereafter, he got lost in the crowd, as disco and punk / new wave combined to squeeze out either only the most established acts, many of whom were quick to ape aspects of both the fashionable new genres or those who raised their game to meet the challenge. On this perfectly likeable album, it’s apparent that Miles couldn’t quite hit the same heights as that promising debut. To take one contemporary example, clearly Queen could have backed themselves into a corner with the huge success of the unique “Bohemian Rhapsody” but came out punching straight afterwards with the more conventional but still high-quality “Somebody To Love”.
Miles first two singles from “Stranger In Town” were “Remember Yesterday”, a melodic, plaintive ballad and the Elton John-influenced flashy pop of “Manhattan Skyline” but neither broke into the top 30, thus highlighting Miles’s limitations not only in songwriting and vocalising, but also his lack of image. He’d been rather silly in following a James Dean-type persona to promote the first album, now he was trying to let the music stand on its own, but ultimately, it wasn’t quite up to the task.
Like I said, the three singles, in their own ways are perfectly serviceable and there are one or two other strong tracks supporting them, especially the album title track with its loping, vaguely noirish riff and the extended prog-rocky centrepiece “Stand Up And Give Me A Reason”, complete with ill-judged Jon Anderson-type scat-singing at the end. The rest however lean towards the dreaded album-filler category.
He even lets fellow-band member Barry Marshall contribute a song in the form of the hoedowny rather vacuous “Do It Anyway”, “Time” is a similarly empty attempt at a serious ballad, “Glamour Boy” is Steely Dan without either the biting wit or melodic flair and “Music Man” is a clunky album closer, its misjudged title, a bit too close to his biggest hit, an over-repetitive “What’s a star?” refrain and worst of all a melody which sounded too similar to the theme tune to the popular talent show of the day, “New Faces”.
There’s a lack of depth in the often clichéd lyrics and a similar want of verve in his melodies with Miles you suspect writing by rote rather than from inspiration and no amount of studio. proficiency, of which there is plenty, can make up for them. He has a pleasant light-tenor voice and considerable range at the top end of his register, but you wonder if his singing, like much of his other attributes, really has a defining identity.
In the end, with the relative failure of this set, Miles faded away to relative obscurity and instead became a hired gun for Alan Parsons and his various oProjects in the studio and for Tina Turner on the road as guitarist for hire.
One of his later songs was called “Nice Man Jack”. Sad to say Nice Man John turned out not to quite have enough in his locker to become a lasting star with the wider public. There’s some decent music here but listening to it, the lack of personality is palpable and he he was clearly just off the pace. Consequently, Miles, who sadly died recently, never really looked like reigniting his own career as an artist anytime after this, his career ironically following the trajectory he himself outlined in his superb debut single for Decca “Highfly”.
- John Miles – vocals, piano, guitar
- Bob Marshall – bass guitar
- Barry Black – drums
- Gary Moberley – keyboards
- Jimmy Maelen – conga, Latin percussion
- Rupert Holmes – producer, orchestral arrangements, conductor
- Technical
- Bob Clearmountain, James Guthrie, Mike Bobak - engineer
- Godfrey Diamond - mixing
- Hipgnosis - design, photography
april 22, 2022
Tee-Set - T5 (Lp) (1971) - €10,00
De band werd in 1965 opgericht door Peter Tetteroo, Gerard Romeyn, Polle Eduard en Carry Janssen. Deze bezetting is te zien op de hoes van de eerste single Early in the morning. Vervolgens voegt Robbie Plazier zich bij de groep als organist. Met Hans van Eijck als ondersteunende songwriter (hij levert vier nummers aan) wordt het eerste album Emotion opgenomen. Na het uitkomen van het eerste album wordt Plazier vervangen door Van Eijck als vast bandlid. Gerard Romeyn verlaat de band begin 1967 en treedt toe tot The Motions (als vervanger van Robbie van Leeuwen). Romeyn wordt vervangen door de Britse gitarist Ray Fenwick (Romeyn staat nog op de hoes van de single Don't you leave, maar Fenwick is te zien in een clip van het nummer uit het popprogramma Moef Ga Ga).
Een tweespalt tussen zanger Tetteroo en manager Theo Kuppens enerzijds en de andere bandleden anderzijds leidt tot ruzies in de band. De inkomsten die Kuppens opstrijkt met de hit Don't you leave (een oud bluesnummer dat door de manager onder eigen naam was geregistreerd) spelen hierbij een rol. Fenwick, Van Eijck en Eduard stappen op en formeren een nieuwe band After Tea. Carry Janssen is op dat moment al uit de groep gezet, zodat op de fotohoes van Now's the time weer een viermansformatie prijkt. Tetteroo trekt drie nieuwe muzikanten uit de Amsterdamse groep James Mean aan om Tee Set voort te zetten: Franklin Madjid (bas), Joop Blom (drums) en Ferdi Karmelk (gitaar). Jan-Pieter Boekhoorn wordt de nieuwe toetsenist en daarmee is de Tee Set weer een kwintet. Het einde van James Mean is daarmee een feit, want zanger Michel van Dijk vindt emplooi bij Les Baroques. Door de Tee Set wordt een eigen platenmaatschappij Tee-Set Records opgericht (voor het eerst in de Nederlandse muziekgeschiedenis), om de rechten in eigen beheer te kunnen houden. Na enige tijd wordt Boekhoorn vervangen door Peter Seilberger.
Met de terugkeer van Hans van Eijck in 1969 wordt een fase ingezet waarin Tee Set langzaam transformeert naar een popgroep, die makkelijk in het gehoor liggende liedjes brengt. Op het personele gebied blijft het rommelen: Dihl Bennink (ook wel gespeld als Dill, broer van Leo Bennink uit de JayJays en The Motions) wordt de nieuwe gitarist en Herman van Boeyen is enige tijd de drummer als opvolger van Blom.
De grootste hit uit de geschiedenis van de band wordt in 1969 uitgebracht: Ma Belle Amie. In het voorjaar van 1970 stijgt het nummer tot de vijfde plaats op de Amerikaanse hitlijst. Bennink wordt vervangen door Ferry Lever (ook uit After Tea). Op de LP The Morning of my days is het enige nummer te vinden dat op nummer een in de hitparade terechtkomt: She likes weeds. Inmiddels is Max Spangenberg de nieuwe drummer. Het nummer wordt echter in de Verenigde Staten geboycot, omdat het zou refereren aan drugsgebruik. De titel slaat volgens tekstdichter Peter Tetteroo echter op onkruid en is àfgeleid van een dialoog uit de film Funeral in Berlin (1966). Tetteroo vertelde destijds per abuis in diverse interviews dat de dialoog afkomstig was uit The IPCRESS File (1965), maar dat is de voorloper van deze film.
Tussen 1970 en 1975 heeft Tee Set een vaste bezetting. In 1975 wordt Lever vervangen door Polle Eduard, maar hits heeft de band niet meer. In 1979 is er nog een hit met het nummer Linda Linda, maar daarna is het vier jaar stil rondom de groep en gaan de bandleden ieder hun eigen weg.
- Liner Notes – Hans I. Kellerman, Joost de Draayer
- Producer – Peter Tetteroo
april 19, 2022
Wing And A Prayer Fife And Drum Corps. - Babyface (Lp) (1976) - €10,00
- Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Atlantic
- Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Atlantic Recording Corporation
- Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Wing And A Prayer
- Copyright © – Atlantic Recording Corporation
- Distributed By – Atlantic Recording Corporation
- Pressed By – Monarch Record Mfg. Co. – Δ20346
- Recorded At – Soundtek Studios
- Mixed At – Soundtek Studios
- Published By – New World (14)
- Published By – Leo Feist, Inc.
- Published By – Warner Bros. Music
- Published By – Chappell
- Published By – Irving Berlin Music
- Published By – Maclen
- Published By – Stone Agate
- Published By – George M. Cohan Music Pub. Co., Inc.
- Published By – G. Schirmer Inc.
- Published By – TRO-Essex
- Published By – WB Music Corp.
- Art Direction [Art Director] – Bob Defrin
- Bass [Fender] – Bob Babbitt
- Cello [Contractor] – Jesse Levy
- Design – Abie Sussman
- Drums – Alan Schwartberg
- Electric Guitar – Jeff Mironov, Jerry Friedman
- French Horn – Peter Gordon
- Harp – Margaret Ross
- Keyboards – Harold Wheeler
- Oboe [D'amour], English Horn, Ocarina, Recorder [Solos] – George Marge
- Percussion – Dave Friedman
- Photography By – Steinbicker-Houghton
- Producer [A Record By] – Harold Wheeler, Stephen Y. Scheaffer
- Tenor Saxophone [Tenor Sax], Baritone Saxophone [Baritone Sax], Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Piccolo Flute [Piccolo] – Lew Delgatto
- Trombone – Dave Taylor
- Trumpet – Alan Rubin
- Viola – Emanuel Vardi
- Violin – Guy Lumia, Max Pollikoff, Paul Gershman
- Violin, Concertmaster – David Nadien, Gene Orloff
- Vocals [Singers] – Arlene Martell, Helen Miles, Linda November, Vivian Cherry
april 18, 2022
Toyah - The Changeling (Lp) (1982) - €7,99
"Angel & Me" was influenced by seeing Jacob Epstein's sculpture The Archangel Lucifer in the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. Referring to the line "Why do you always cry when you come to see me? I always die to see you smile", Toyah revealed that the person she is talking to is her mother: "I was in hospital and my mum visited me, she'd always start crying. I am now [close to my mother], I didn't use to be. I always loved her very much, but she had a weird way of loving me back. I can never remember kissing and cuddling mummy and daddy when I was small. But I love them both, my father is one of my heroes".
Toyah has described "The Packt" as "a very dark song and it came from a very dark place. (...) It's often said within the deep, old, medieval scriptures of Wicca and witchcraft that when the end of the world comes you will see twin suns. So, I wanted to write something about this woman meeting the Devil and I wanted her to be a match for the Devil, (...) about using man's most sinister creation to fight the Devil back and that is kind of using the atom bomb to destroy the Devil. (...) It's about the power of femininity, it's about the Devil destroying femininity, but also I think it's quite a winning song, even though in the middle eight the nuclear bomb goes off and skin melts from our bones. (...) We are not skin and bones, we are much more. And we go beyond the physical, we go beyond the body, and I believe we are eternal. And I think the Devil is fixated with the flesh. So, we can conquer the Devil eventually".
Discussing "Life in the Trees", Toyah said that she "wanted to write a song about the fact that nature is the all-seeing, all-controlling organism, (...) has the power to completely control and reinvent new species. (...) The pecking order within nature is exactly what we mirror within our interactive lives. (...) We had TV and we had huge corporates, such as EMI and Decca, and they were all running our lives. It's just as dog eat dog as our normal lives are".
- Band members
- Toyah Willcox – vocals and noises
- Joel Bogen – guitar, additional keyboards, vocals
- Andy Clark – keyboards
- Phil Spalding – bass, vocals
- Simon Phillips – drums and percussion
- Additional musicians
- Simon Darlow – additional keyboards
- Nigel Bennett – backing vocals
- Phil Smith, Vince Sullavan, Dave Lord – brass
- Production
- Steve Lillywhite – producer
- Mark Dearnley – engineer
- Ashley Howe – additional engineering
- Neil Hutchinson – assistant engineer, tape operator
april 17, 2022
Superjones - Superjones (Lp) (1980) - €10,00
Over het algemeen lekker in het gehoor liggende nummers en nergens moeilijkdoenerij.
Van die wielen die iedere keer weer opnieuw worden uitgevonden. Heeft ook wel wat weg van Vitesse.
De single "Neon Lights" haalde in februari 1980 de tipparade en hoort tot de beste nummers net als Time en Roadie en I Gotta Go (waar ietwat funk en soul in is te horen).
Mooiste nummer is het enige rustige nummer en dat is The Night.
C.D.S. staat voor Computer Dating Service (was er toen blijkbaar ook al).
- Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Bovema Negram
- Marketed By – EMI
- Manufactured By – EMI
- Distributed By – EMI
- Recorded At – EMI Studios, Heemstede
- Arranged By – Superjones
- Bass Guitar [Fretless] – Steven Wienjus
- Drums, Percussion – Hans Boosman
- Engineer – Michael Beekman
- Graphics, Design – Sjef Nix
- Lead Guitar, Vocals – Han Bavinck
- Lead Vocals – Geert Westenbrink
- Management – Dick Vink
- Management [Road] – Fred Kabel
- Photography By – Fred Koster
- Producer – Paul Post
- Rhythm Guitar, Vocals – Tony de Bruine
april 16, 2022
Colin Blunstone - I Don´t Believe In Miracles (Lp) (1979) - €10,00
"This album is a collection of some of his best loved work, including five singles compiled from the first three solo and albums and was released on the Epic label in 1979"
As for the music, however, I'm quite pleased with what I hear on this collection. Nothing as amazing at the Zombies material, but some nice songs nonetheless.
- Phonographic Copyright ℗ – CBS Records
- Copyright © – CBS Records
- Pressed By – CBS, Haarlem – 02-31760
april 15, 2022
Dickey Betts & Great Southern - Dickey Betts & Great Southern (Lp) (1977) - €7,99
Great Southern
- Dickey Betts – electric guitar, slide guitar, lead vocals
- "Dangerous Dan" Toler – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, background vocals
- Tom Broome – keyboards, background vocals
- Ken Tibbets – bass
- Jerry Thompson – drums, percussion
- Donnie Sharbono – drums, percussion
Additional musicians
- Don Johnson – backing vocals on "Bougainvillea"
- Topper Price – harmonica on "Out to Get Me" and "Run Gypsy Run"
- Mickey Thomas – backing vocals on "Nothing You Can Do"
Production
- Produced by Dickey Betts
- Recording, production assistant: Steve Klein
- Assistant engineer: Stephen Hart
- Mixing: Johnny Sandlin, Buddy Thornton
- Mastering: George Marino
- Art Direction: Bob Heimall
- Photography: Benno Friedman
april 13, 2022
George Benson - Breezin´ (Lp) (1976) - €5,99
Breezin' marked the beginning of Benson's most successful period commercially, topping the Billboard Pop, Jazz and R&B album charts. It spun off two hit singles, the title song (which has become a fusion jazz standard) and "This Masquerade," which was a top ten pop and R&B hit. The album has since been certified as 3X multi-Platinum by the RIAA.
- George Benson – guitar, vocals
- Jorge Dalto – acoustic piano, clavinet, acoustic piano solo
- Ronnie Foster – electric piano, Minimoog synthesizer, Minimoog solo, electric piano solo
- Phil Upchurch – rhythm guitar, bass
- Stanley Banks – bass
- Harvey Mason – drums
- Ralph MacDonald – percussion
- Claus Ogerman – arrangements and conductor
- Tommy LiPuma – producer
- Noel Newbolt – associate producer
- Al Schmitt – recording, mixing
- Don Henderson – assistant engineer
- Doug Sax – mastering at The Mastering Lab (Hollywood, California).
- Ed Thrasher – art direction
- Robert Lockhart – art direction
- Peter Palombi – design
- Mario Casilli – photography
april 12, 2022
Alabama - Feels So Right (Lp) (1981) - €10,00
When I first encountered neo-traditionalism (specifically, '80s Steve Earle) I wondered, "what about this is traditional?" To me, it sounded very contemporary and fully aware of the trends in pop rock. At the time, I figured whatever Earle and his contemporaries were reacting against must be pretty slick indeed. Little did I know that one of the things they were reacting against was the one mainstream country band I was actually somewhat familiar with, Alabama.
There are tracks on this album that are identifiable as country music. Sometimes the country accent is thicker than on other tracks, for example. (Cook's one lead vocal sounds more "country" to me than Owen often does, for example.) Other times they play guitar like they are playing country music. The songs might even all pass as country if they were performed by a different band. I mean, there's an alternate reality in which this band has fiddles and pedal steel guitars and at least pretends it's a country band. (There is a fiddle on "Ride the Train" and maybe another song but there is no credit for it, which is weird.)
But, most of the time, this is a pop rock band (the emphasis being on the "pop") playing middle of the road contemporary pop rock that is "country" because of their voices and because there isn't any distorted guitar on the record. I have no idea what their previous records sounded like, as I'm pretty sure the records my dad owns (owned?) were all later than this. But numerous pop rock bands were playing this degree of country in the early '70s, only they weren't marketing themselves to the audience (or perhaps weren't able to). Is this music more country than the Eagles' early albums? Is it more country than the Flying Burrito Brothers? (The answer to the latter question is "No.") There's borderline disco on this record, for fucks sake ("Fantasy").
I am not opposed to musical fusion - I love musical fusion. However, fusing a genre with lame mainstream pop music is not what I like about fusion. It's something else.
I don't like discussions of artistic purity. They are mostly stupid and ways of gatekeepers trying to keep upstarts out of their clubs. But the idea that this is "country" music is kind of laughable. This is pop rock dressed up in country clothes in order to sell a massive amount of records. Yes, there are a couple actual country tracks, but they are few and far between. I didn't realize that the "arena country" that I detest was actually invented a decade (or more) earlier. Now I know. (I should have already known, but I was a kid when I first listened to this band.)
- Randy Owen - lead vocals, rhythm guitar
- Teddy Gentry - vocals, bass guitar, lead vocals on "Burn Georgia Burn"
- Jeff Cook - vocals, lead guitar, lead vocals on "See the Embers, Feel the Flame"
- Mark Herndon - drums
- Rick Scott - drums
- Arliss Scott - guitars
- Jack Eubanks - guitars
- David Humphreys - drums
- Leo Jackson - guitar
- Fred Newell - guitar
- Willie Rainsford - keyboards
- Billy Reynolds - guitar
- David Smith - bass guitar
- Strings arranged by Kristin Wilkinson
- Produced by Alabama, Harold Shedd and Larry McBride
- Engineers: Jim Cotton, Gene Rice, Harold Shedd
- Assistant engineers: Paul Goldberg, Ben Hall, Joe Mills
- Mastering: Randy Kling