#1000dayalbumchallenge — Public Fediverse posts

1000 Day Album Challenge (#98) The Complete Stax-Volt Singles 1959-1968 (1991) [07.04.24]

in the beginning, you really loved me / but I was too blind and I couldn't see
but now you've left me, oh, how I cry
you don't miss your water, till your well runs dry…

if I’m not mistaken, I bought this as a Christmas present to myself back in 1991. I think it was the first big box set that I bought. this is a nine disc collection that includes close to 250 songs. it is essential listening to appreciate southern soul in 1960s. in terms of both quality and volume, Stax Records was second only to Motown in releasing soul music in the 1960s.

the artists featured on this set include Otis Redding, Booker T & The MG’s (the label’s house band), Sam & Dave, Rufus & Carla Thomas, William Bell, Albert King, Johnnie Taylor, and Eddie Floyd along with dozens of other artists. I remember I listened start to finish when I first bought the collection. I’m not sure if I ever did that again, but I might have. at a minimum, I’m sure I intended to.

this includes the a-side, as well as some of the b-sides of every single from the Stax/Volt catalog from 1959 to 1968. I probably already had all or most of the Otis Redding songs in my collection, but I had very little of the rest. maybe I had all of the Sam & Dave on a compilation.

it’s a nine CD history lesson that is worth more than the price of admission.

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #TheCompleteStaxVoltSingles

[still in catch up mode. life has gotten in the these last ten days. three different countries, four different beds, and @marymacsjds falling and breaking her should two days ago. this night take me more than a few days to get back on pace. we’ll see how it goes.]

1000 Day Album Challenge (#97) The Feelies: Crazy Rhythms (1980) 
[06.04.24]

there′s a kid I know but not too well / he doesn't have a lot to say
well this boy lives right next door and he / never has nothin′ to say…

as I listen to Crazy Rhythms today I wonder why I didn’t obsess over this album in college. this feels right down the middle of the plate for so much of the music I embraced during the eighties. I owned a white vinyl version. I  dug it and it was certainly something I listened to a fair amount. there just happened to be so many artists, bands and albums I obsessed over during the eighties. 

I love their version of Everybody’s Got Something to Hide (Except Me and My Monkey) for The Beatles White Album. sometime I after I aged into being a genuine Beatles fan which did not begin to take hold until my late twenties. I never disliked The Beatles, but I never bought any of their records so my experience with listening to them was quite a bit random. I never took that deep dive.

The Feelies were one of those bands that you had to dig a little bit deeper to discover. since I was always digging at the time they were an obvious discovery for someone like me, but they easily could have been one of those bands that would have fallen through the cracks for me. for example, one would assume that I fully checked out The Fall, as a number of my friends at the time did. I did not. I guess it’s impossible to listen to everything. one of the things that fascinates me about music is that I could listen to music every waking hour and never hear all of the music that has been created that I would love given the right circumstances.

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #TheFeelies #CrazyRhythms

1000 Day Album Challenge (#96) Keith Richards: Talk is Cheap (1988)
[05.04.24]

you made the wrong motion / drank the wrong potion
you lost the feeling / not so appealing…

when it comes to The Stones I’ve always been a Keith guy. isn’t everybody? I was aware of Mick’s earlier solo efforts, but didn’t really pay much attention to them. I was immediately interested when Keith put out a solo album.

I would never suggest Talk is Cheap should rank alongside any of the best albums by The Stones, but it solid enough to rank above their worst and for a band that has been making music as long as they have their batting average is super high.

if I were putting together a playlist of my favorite Stones’ songs I would include Take It So Hard and Keith’s poisoned love letter to Mick, You Don’t Move Me. I love You Don’t Move Me and have been known to give it multiple consecutive plays. I would slot it with Happy and Before They Make Me Run as the greatest Keith songs.

ultimately I would have to say that Talk is Cheap is a worthy supplement to any Stones’ fan’s obsession.

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #KeithRichards #TalkIsCheap #TakeItSoHard

playing a little catch-up. Mary Mac and I have had a long day of traveling on Wednesday into Thursday. we have been chilling out at a little ecolodge at Playa Manzanillo in Costa Rica for a few days before returning to San Juan del Sur. I will be making four posts today or five over today and tomorrow to get back on pace.

1000 Day Album Challenge (#95) Graham Parker & The Rumour: Squeezing Out Sparks (1979) [04.04.24]

ain't got no idols for the screen today
although they make a lot of noises they got nothing to say
I try to look amazed but it's an act
the movie might be new but it's the same soundtrack…

Squeezing Out Sparks came out during the spring of my sophomore year of high school. I doubt there were more than a handful of albums that I listened to during high school and college as much or more than it. London Calling is the only one that comes to mind.

I remember being excited at the time that it finished #1 in The Village Voice’s Annual Pazz & Jop Critics’ Poll. there were more than a few great records that could have easily won the poll that year – the U.S. version of The Clash, Elvis Costello’s Armed Forces, Nick Lowe’s Labour of Lust, The Buzzcock’s Singles Going Steady. in hindsight, my personal choice would be Rust Never Sleeps by Neil Young & Crazy Horse.

I don’t return to Squeezing Out Sparks nearly as often as London Calling. I’m not sure why. do I think it won’t live up to my memories? yet each time I listen I love it start to finish. somehow I’m actually more likely to listen to Howlin’ Wind (1976) or Heat Treatment (1976). maybe I burned myself out on it. I know I didn’t listen to either Howlin’ Wind or Heat Treatment nearly as much when I was a kid.

all I know for sure is that Squeezing Out Sparks is a far better record than most of the big albums of 1979. I checked out a list of the albums that hit #1 that year and this is vastly superior to all of them except Bad Girls by Donna Summer. the total duds (from my perspective) that I’m sure plenty of people in my age range still enjoy and/or look back upon fondly – 52nd Street (Billy Joel), Blondes Have More Fun (Rod Stewart), Minute By Minute (Doobie Brothers), Breakfast In America (Supertramp), and The Long Run (The Eagles).

it is not my intention to judge anyone else’s musical tastes. I feel like I’ve been done with that for more than two decades now. prior to that the meme about judging people based on their record collections was a dead center bullseye for me. I’m just laying out some of the boundaries of my musical interests. I never quite rejected the mainstream, but especially from about 1978 into the 1990s let’s just I actively chose not to engage.

in my little word, Squeezing Out Sparks was a multi-week or maybe even multi-month #1 record. the 16 year-old version of me couldn’t understand why this wasn’t a big hit. I guess the 60 year-old version can’t understand that one either.

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #GrahamParker #GrahamParkerAndTheRumour #SqueezingOut Sparks

1000 Day Album Challenge (#94) John Lennon / Yoko Ono: Double Fantasy / Stripped Down (1980 / 2010) [03.04.24]

this one’s for Gene, Eddie, and Elvis…and Buddy…

I never bought Double Fantasy when it was current. I might not have owned it until my forties. I can’t say I disliked the music at the time, it was just that I was pursuing other musical interests. John Lennon was not really on my personal musical radar until later and even then it was more about Plastic Ono Band (1970) and Imagine (1971).

when I finally bought Double Fantasy I found it quite listenable. yes, I dug John’s cuts more than Yoko’s but it’s not like I would skip through the album to only listen to John’s music.

apparently, John was always self-conscious about his vocals so they were always heavily processed. when the Stripped Down version of Double Fantasy was released in 2010 I loved hearing John’s vocals without reverb and other effects.

I also loved hearing a lot of the studio chatter between takes. this version feels very personal to me. I was surprised as I did a bit of research this morning to find out that Stripped Down is not universally preferred. it seems like there are quite a few who prefer the original 1980 release.

I’m also a fan of Let It Be…Naked (2003). what can I say?

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #JohnLennon #YokoOno #JohnLennonYokoOno #DoubleFantasy #StrippedDown

1000 Day Album Challenge (#93) Kiss: Alive! (1975) [02.04.24]

you wanted the best and you’ve got it! the hottest band in the land – Kiss!

there was a time when Kiss was my favorite band and this was my favorite record. that time probably didn’t last until even my sixteenth birthday, but my love for kiss burned hot and furious for several years during my teens.

they were the first band my brother, Steven and I saw live. it was sometime in 1977, not long after our family had moved to a house in the North Jersey suburbs. my dad and one of the regulars at the family bar took us to see them at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island.

I can’t say that I have any distinct memories of the show itself. I do remember the story my dad told about taking us to the show. the guy who took our tickets as we entered the arena asked my dad if he had ear plugs with him. my dad answered, “no. why?” the ticket guy responded, “you’ll see.”

I wanna rock and roll all nite and party every day…

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #Kiss #Alive #RockAndRollAllNite

1000 Day Album Challenge (#92) The Rolling Stones: Aftermath (1966) [01.04.24]

spendin' too much time away / I can't stand another day
maybe you think I've seen the world / but I'd rather see my girl…

Aftermath began the Stones creative peak that would continue through Exile On Main Street (1972). it was the their fourth British studio album and the first to include all Jagger and Richards originals. it was the sixth album in the U.S. as was the practice at the time, the record company would take some of the tracks from the British original and then add singles to the mix. Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967) was their first album with the same release date and track listing in both the U.K. and the U.S.

Paint It Black was a bit of a soundtrack for me to a particularly memorable acid trip from college. I was with my roommate Laurie and her good friend Karen. we had rented some videos and a VCR. no one at college owned a VCR and they were readily available at the video store at the time. one of the videos was a collection of performances from the British TV show, Ready, Steady Go, which I was aware of from the Generation X named after the show. in addition to Paint It Black we watched Baby Please Don’t Go by Them on constant repeat. we ended up taking a long walk through town that concluded with us hanging on a swing-set for quite a stretch.

side one is filled with a number of hits and highly recognizable Stone songs like Paint It Black, Stupid Girl, Lady Jane (the tune borrowed by Neil Young), and Under My Thumb. even with all these well known songs it was the virtually unknown, Think that had me dancing around the kitchen this am.

Going Home which closes the U.S. version of Aftermath was the revelation to me when I bought the album. I’m almost certain that I had neither heard it or read about it at the time. it is an 11-minute blues inspired jam. it’s the longest song the band ever recorded. I instantly dug it. I think my initial reaction was along the lines of, “WTF is this?!”

I guess they could have been a pretty decent jam band in addition the Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World.
#1000DayAlbumChallenge #TheRollingStones #Aftermath

1000 Day Album Challenge (#91) Minutemen: Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat (1983) [31.03.24]

a ton of white boy guilt, that's my problem…

SST Records, started by Black Flag guitarist, Greg Ginn, was among the most important labels in my personal musical world at the time. three of the five bands (Black Flag, Minutemen, and Hüsker Dü) who had released records on SST by this time were or would soon be among my faves.

I likely had heard of the Minutemen before this record but I don’t believe my curiosity had been piqued until then. I’m pretty sure I didn’t buy any of their previous records until after their final studio album, 3-Way Tie For Last (1985) was released.

listening to Buzz or Howl… now I think I was attracted to the controlled chaos of the band. to some extent I heard them as Talking Heads with an edge, both musically and politically. while Talking Heads pursued an interest in African rhythms I feel like the Minutemen had more a thing for jazz which was cool with me.

I’m certain that I was ready for more after Buzz or Howl… and I think they were too. their ambitions certainly reached beyond the hardcore scene out of which they grew.

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #Minutemen #BuzzOrHowlUnderTheInfluenceOfHeat

1000 Day Album Challenge (#89) Manu Dibango: Soul Makossa (1973) [29.03.24]

mama ko mama sa maka makossa / mama ko mama sa maka makossa
mama ko mama sa maka makossa…

I believe this record entered my life during my late thirties or early forties. I felt like I remembered the song from when I was a kid, but that memory seemed too fleeting to be certain that it was genuine. if I heard it I certainly didn’t recall that the artist was Manu Dibango, a saxophonist from Cameroon.

Soul Makossa is one of the most important records in the development of disco and dance culture. it was the first record to break in the clubs and then become a Top 40 hit. it reached #35 on the Billboard charts. it was unearthed by the legendary David Mancuso, who discovered it in a small record store in a West Indian neighborhood in Brooklyn. it became a staple at his party, The Loft, and was subsequently played by the Chief Rocker, Frankie Crocker on WBLS.

subsequent generations might recognize it because of Michael Jackson interpolating the soul makossa chant within Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ featured on Thriller. that section was then sampled by Rihanna in Don’t Stop the Music. it has gone onto be sampled dozens of times.

New Bell is the other can’t miss track here. I don’t mean to be dismissive to say that it follows the same formula as Soul Makossa. when a formula works it worlds. New Bell has a driving rhythm with some fantastic sax played over the top of it. for a dancefloor it should be like honey to a bee.

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #ManuDibango #SoulMakossa #DavidMancuso #TheLoft

1000 Day Album Challenge (#88) King Sunny Adé & His African Beats: Juju Music (1982) [28.03.24]

call me darling, that's my number / tell me anything you want from me
only you have to give your love to me / 365 is my number now…

King Sunny Ade’s Juju Music was my first foray into African music. his sound is sweet, gentle, and compelling. I ended up buying all three of the albums he released in this period on Mango, an Island Records subsidiary. the other two were Synchro System (1983) and Aura (1984). I think because it was my first this was the album I’ve returned to the most often.

I saw King Sunny & His African Beats live in NYC sometime during this period. I believe it was in the summer of 1984 at either The Ritz or Irving Plaza, two venues that I’ve seen more shows at than any others. it was a very long show. I’m not sure if my memory is exaggerating the length, but I believe it was three to four hours.

years ago, I remembering reading an article about King Sunny in which he as quoted as saying that the band’s shows in the West were quite short compared to their shows back in Nigeria. he said something to the effect of “back home we are just getting warmed up around the four hour mark.”

what I remember clearly is that it was hypnotic. the band size was 20+ and a rather large number of members were drummers and percussionists. I had never experienced the power of talking drums in person. I don’t specifically recall, but I imagine I spent a great deal of time with my eyes closed. with that many people I stage one loses the need to focus on what individual players are doing.

just before I typed that line my eyes were closed as I got lost in Ma Jaiye Oni, the lead track on side two of the vinyl version of Juju Music. (which is not to say I’m listening to it on vinyl. I’m streaming it on YouTube Music.)

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #KingSunnyAde #KingSunnyAdeAndHisAfricanBeats #JujuMusic

000 Day Album Challenge (#87) Gang of Four: Solid Gold (1981) [27.03.24]

they say our world is built on endeavor / that every man is for himself
wealth is for the one that wants it / paradise, if you can earn it…

during my college years I only began to dabble in the funk that would become a much larger part of my musical landscape after graduating. I was more ensnared by the angular funk of bands like Gang of Four.

as much as I love their debut, Entertainment!, this is without a doubt the funkier record. I think I was more likely to listen to this all the way through at the time. I think I did a lot more needle dropping on Entertainment! – Damaged Goods, I Found That Essence Rare, and At Home He’s A Tourist, in particular.

Dave Allen’s bass keeps driving this record from one tune to the next. even though I’m also a fan of their next album, Song of the Free, they were never as great without Dave Allen who left the band after this album. he went to for Shriekback, who I’m sure will also make this list at some point. his funky bass lines are one of the keys to their appeal too.

key tracks: Paralyzed, What We All Want, Outside the Trains Don’t Run On Time, Why Theory?, and He’d Send in the Army

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #GangOfFour #SolidGold

1000 Day Album Challenge (#85) The Mekons: The Mekons Rock 'n' Roll (1989) [25.03.24]

destroy your safe and happy lives before it is too late
the battles we fought were long and hard
just not to be consumed by rock n' roll
capitalismos, favorite boy child, we must apologize

Fear and Whiskey (1985) was my entry point into the Mekons world and if you say that is The Mekons best album I’m not gonna argue, but as time has passed, The Mekons Rock 'n' Roll, is the album that I’ve returned to most often. it is a truly great punk rock album.

I can do no better than the liner notes to the 2001 rerelease:

“The first cut, "Memphis, Egypt," which anyone not examining the package thinks of as "Rock 'n' Roll," confronts the beast and calls it a beast--"the Devil," to be precise, "Capitalismos, favourite boy child," his "foul breath" like "fine perfume." Was it really that parlous, that soul-consuming, that bad? Nah, but that's how it felt, and so Steve Goulding keeps pounding and Jon Langford keeps declaiming and the feedback keeps yowling till it swallows Tom Greenhalgh's recitation and everything else in its wake. Segue to Sally Timms reminiscing about a more literal prostitution in "Club Mekon," and then to Greenhalgh, who seems to give it up to the forces of evil with "Only Darkness Has the Power"--which is in fact the nakedest love song the Mekons ever recorded, one of the nakedest love songs anyone ever recorded, candid and vulnerable and romantic and doomed.
If I say the album never gets any better, don't be too hard on the Mekons, who we know have never made a fetish of consistency--those are three of their best tracks ever, yet Rock 'n' Roll is so strong it nearly matches them anyway. My nominations would be the closing "When Darkness Falls," a grim answer song to "Only Darkness Has the Power"; "Amnesia," where a slave ship "takes rock 'n' roll to America"; the nihilistically devil-may-care "Blow Your Tuneless Trumpet"; and the Greenhalgh-shouted live staple "Heaven and Back," left off the U.S. major-label debut by the arbiters of taste at A&M but included on the Blast First version and this one. Lesser songs nip at the beast's heels in an exuberantly embittered celebration/critique of capitalism's big beat--cf. "Someone," where "the studio's empty but the beat goes on"; "Learning to Live on Your Own," with Timms throwing "rock 'n' roll songs on the fire" in her existential rue; and the failed liberation scenarios of "Cocaine Lil" (drugs) and "Empire of the Senseless" (culture). If the Mekons were going to serve the false god of rock 'n' roll, they were going to give him what for in the bargain." (https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cdrev/mekonsro-not.php)
#1000DayAlbumChallenge #TheMekons #TheMekonsRockNRoll

1000 Day Album Challenge (#84) Al Green: The Belle Album (1977) [24.03.24]

don't make no difference to you / well, it's all right with me…

despite not being a believer I have frequently been moved by singers who feel the presence of the Lord – Aretha, Prince, and my personal fave, Al Green. The Belle Album was Reverend Al’s last great album of the seventies and one of his last primarily secular album for years. it plays out as his personal struggle between the sins of the flesh and his love for Jesus.

I am personally more likely to believe and appreciate someone’s religious impulses when I feel that struggle is genuine. Prince is the only other artist who makes me feel like the carnal and spiritual share equal footing for them.

Al makes that tensions quite clear in the lead track, Belle: “leaving him has never ever really crossed my mind / let me say just one thing / I'd never go so far
cause it's Him no matter who you are / Belle / oh it's you that I want, but it's Him that I need.”

I’m not sure this is the album to win over any new converts, but if you love his classics - Let’s Stay Together, I’m Still in Love with You, Call Me, Living for You - then you really need to discover The Belle Album. it’s underrated and not discussed nearly enough.

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #AlGreen #TheBelleAlbum

1000 Day Album Challenge (#82) The Harder They Come (Original Soundtrack Recording) (1973) [22.03.24]

many rivers to cross / but I can't seem to find my way over…

this was the reggae album I knew best when I headed to college in the fall of 1981. I knew Bob Marley well enough, but didn’t own any of his records at the time. I had seen Peter Tosh live in Central Park the summer before my junior year of high school. so I was already developing a taste for reggae.

I always filed The Harder They Come under Jimmy Cliff in my record collection even though it is technically a compilation. six of the twelve tunes were his and only Toots & The Maytals scored more than one other than Cliff.

I still think it’s a wonderful introduction to early reggae. I also highly recommend the film that Cliff starred in. I saw it twice in and around my college years - once with subtitle and once without. I suggest subtitles just in case. I recall struggling a bit without the subtitles.

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #TheHarderTheyCome #JimmyCliff #TootsAndTheMaytals

1000 Day Album Challenge (#81) New York Dolls: New York Dolls: (1973) [21.03.24]

when I say I'm in love / you best believe I'm in love / L-U-V!

if you are or have ever considered yourself a punk rock fan and don’t know the Dolls then you have a lot of catching up to do. the Dolls were a bit too early for the scene at CBGBs that was ground zero for the birth of the punk rock movement, but they are still very much an essential band on that musical continuum.

in a sense they were the Rolling Stones of punk rock before it even existed. David Johansen and Johnny Thunders were the crossdressing versions of Mick and Keith. whereas the Stones began with a near slavish devotion to the blues and Chuck Berry the Dolls touchstone was the Girls Group sound of the sixties filtered though their outer boroughs trash aesthetic.

in addition to their own songs, they transform Bo Diddley’s little known Pills (1961) into their very own. I don’t think I knew Pills was a cover until much later. I doubt I heard the Diddley original until his Chess Box compilation was released in 1990. I fell in love with Bo Diddley during my college years, but I think one would have to be a Bo Diddley obsessive to prefer the original.

debut albums has become a bit of a theme here. It was not my intent when I started this project to focus on debut records but it’s where we’re at. New York Dolls is one of the very best and not to be missed.

I have three absolute faves – Personality Crisis, Looking for a Kiss, and Trash. as the times have changed they have each graced MixTapes, Mix CDs, and playlists I’ve made.

for fans, I would recommend Personality Crisis: One Night Only, the David Johansen documentary, directed by Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi. Mary and watched it about six months ago and both enjoyed it.

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #NewYorkDolls #PersonalityCrisis #LookingForAKiss #Trash #Pills #BoDiddley #MartinScorsese

1000 Day Album Challenge (#80) The Jesus & Mary Chain: Psychocandy (1985) [20.03.24]

listen to the girl / as she takes on half the world
moving up and so alive / in her honey dripping beehive…

Ramones + Beach Boys + Feedback = Psychocandy or at least that’s what it seems like to me now. I don’t if I was too young to view it that way at the time. I just know the concept of that formula didn’t strike until years later. better still Jesus & Mary Chain are AM radio Top 40 hitmakers in a world in which the Velvet Underground were as big or bigger than The Beatles.

I certainly know that’s a world in which I would like to live. give Just Like Honey, The Living End, Taste the Floor and Taste of Cindy a listen and then tell me I’m wrong.

#1000DayAlbumCHallenge #JesusAndMaryChain #Psychocandy

1000 Day Album Challenge (#79) Marshall Crenshaw: Marshall Crenshaw (1982) [19.03.24]

well I'll know right away by the look in her eye
she harbors no illusions and she's worldly-wise
and I'll know when I give her a listen that she's
she's what I've been missin', what I've been missin'...

pop perfection. is there such a thing? I’ve used that phrase to describe many songs in my life. every once in a while it even seems apt to describe an album that way. Marshall Crenshaw’s eponymous debut happens to be one of those.

I don’t think it’s a stretch to believe that in a just world about half the songs on this lp should have been big big hits. maybe my tastes don’t match up well with those of the general public. likely he just didn’t receive enough support from the hype machine.

trust me, if you grew up listening to the radio in sixties, seventies, eighties, and maybe even the nineties I don’t see how you couldn’t respond to these tunes. they are well written and catchy as hell. even after all these years I can still sing along to most of these.

Marshall Crenshaw is one of those artists who seems to fallen through our pop cultural cracks. I can’t imagine that most people in the thirties or younger have even heard of him.

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #MarshallCrenshaw #PopPerfection

1000 Day Album Challenge (#77) Tony Allen with Afrobeat 2000: N.E.P.A. (Never Expect Power Always) (1985) [17.03.24]

when one road close another one go open..

afrobeat combines traditional elements of Nigerian music with elements of jazz, funk, and soul. it is safe to say that Fela Kuti with Tony Allen as his drummer for all intents and purposes gave birth to the genre from mid-196os through the 1970s.

I’m not sure when I first truly encountered Fela Kuti’s music but I bought N.E.P.A. in the mid-1980s at St. Mark’s Sound in NYC. in my mind’s eye I can still still see the iconic St. Mark’s Sound price label on the cover of my copy. I don’t think I bought my first proper Fela record for another 15 years or so.

I’m not sure I was ready at the time to fully embrace Allen’s electro funk take on the afrobeat sound. I certainly listened to it enough to remember it’s sound when I heard it sampled in the late 90s in the Rainer Trüby Trio Remix of Bobby Matos' Guiro Electro. as soon as I heard that record I thought “hey I recognize that.” I’m not sure how long it took me to peg it as as Road Close Dance Dub on the second side of this record, but I did soon enough.

when I returned to N.E.P.A. I was more than ready to dig these sounds. there were several landmarks along the way for me – finding the funk in the spring of 1989 which is a post for another day involving the JB’s Doing it to Death and getting turned onto House Music during my days in San Francisco which let me to embrace all kinds of electronic music.

for me this record is all about the two dub versions of the main tracks. at least for me, they are more expansive and both draw me immediately. I can listen to each over and over.

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #TonyAllenWithAfrobeat2000 #NEPA(NeverExpectPowerAlways) #StMarksSound

1000 Day Album Challenge (#76) Pretenders: Pretenders (1980) [16.03.24]

you asked me for advice I said use the door /
but you're still clinging to somebody you deplore…

this was not part of the plan at all. on the first when I posted Marcus Garvey I decided to to create a file with 30+ album covers for the month of March. I even planned out the first 15 in advance. so I didn’t have a specific album chosen for today but I had more than 15 from which to choose. then earlier today I was cleaning up a generic 1980s rock playlist that I created ages ago. I came upon a chunk of this album in the playlist and started listening and was immediately drawn in. so here we are.

I have memories of listening to Pretenders on cassette in my friend Jeff Cohen’s car in the senior parking lot at Newark Academy. I don’t know if I actually bought the LP while I was in college or later. I’m pretty sure the first Pretenders album I bought was their third, Learning to Crawl which came out during my junior year of college. still this was the album that got me into the band.

not an all-time great debut. maybe just a notch below. still this rocks quite hard, harder than most New Wave bands of the era.Chrissie Hynde’s got more tough sexy swagger than just about any Mick Jagger wannabe I can come up with off the top of my head.

great song writer. great band. charismatic singer. as a great modern philosopher once said, “it’s only rock & roll, but I like it.”

added bonus: a great cover of a song written by her future Baby Daddy.

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #Pretenders #StopYourSobbing

1000 Day Album Challenge (#75) No Rights Given Or Implied: The Original Samplers (1993) [15.03.24]

and say children what does it all mean?…

I don’t know when I first heard Double Dee & Steinski’s The Payoff Mix (Mastermix Of G.L.O.B.E. And Whiz Kid's Play That Beat Mr. D.J.). I must have heard it half a dozen times or so on the radio when I was home from school. I was blown away and knew I had to have it.

in 1983 Tommy Boy had sponsored a contest to remix G.L.O.B.E. and Whiz Kid’s electro jam of the past summer, Play That Beat Mr. D.J. Douglas DiFranco and Steve Stein submitted their cut & paste masterpiece. if you have heard it then you knew the contest was over when ever the judges first listened to it. for a brilliant discussion of this check out Robert Christgau’s Down by Law: Great Dance Records You Can't Buy (https://robertchristgau.com/xg/rock/steinski-86.php)

Tommy Boy released The Payoff Mix and Lessons Two: James Brown Mix and Three: History of Hip Hop Mix as a promo-only record in 1985. each mix is constructed from dozens of samples and clearly stand alone as new pieces of music worthy of repeated listening and great attention. I don’t believe I have ever scene a copy in the field. it is the one record for which I ALWAYS kept an eye open.

finally in 1993 or 1994, I came across this bootleg CD released in 1993, No Rights Given Or Implied: The Original Samplers. it featured the Lessons as well as other brilliant examples of cut n’ paste productions – two other Steve Stein works credited to Steinski & Mass Media, Afrika Bambaataa’s Fusion Beats, The Latin Rascals’ Big Apple Production Vol. II - Genius At Work, Danny Krivit’s Feelin’ James and Say Kids (What Time Is It?) and Beats & Pieces by Coldcut (British DJs and producers, Jonathan More and Matt Black).

I couldn’t believe it. even though I was always on the lookout for The Lessons I had given up on ever owning them. I never really made the transition to CDs. at the time I might have owned no more than a dozen or two. I was strictly a vinyl guy. so even though I would have preferred to own Double Dee & Steinski’s The Lessons on vinyl I was fine with settling for a bootleg CD compilation that gave me ready access to these brilliant songs.

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #NoRightsGivenOrImpliedTheOriginalSamplers #DoubleDeeAndSteinski #TheLessons #CutNPaste

1000 Day Album Challenge (#74) The Headhunters: Survival of the Fittest (1975) [14.03.24]

you know some people pray for wealth / but I don′t even own my health
and when I get on my knees and pray / 'cause the only thing I can say
that God, God… / God make me funky…

God Make Me Funky!!

there’s a reason it’s been sampled hundreds of times. if you don’t know now is the time to fund out.

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #TheHeadhunters #SurvivalOfTheFittest #GodMakeMeFunky #HerbieHancock

1000 Day Album Challenge (#73) Jumpin' 2: Classics From The Original Disco Underground (1998) [13.03.24]

it ain't a fault it's a fact / I was born this way
now I won't judge you / don't you judge me
we're all the way nature meant us to be…

the late nineties was when I really began digging into disco. like anyone who grew up in the seventies and eighties I was well aware of the hits that made in on the radio. many of the songs are familiar to people far younger than myself. I was unfamiliar with how broad and deep the disco palette was. Jumpin’ 2 was my introduction to most, if not all the songs, on this compilation.

despite there being a dud or two, I absolutely love this record. I adore about half the songs on Jumpin’ 2 and have added them to many a playlist. two of the songs included are in the running for my favorite disco song ever.

let’s start with the lead track You Can’t Hide From Yourself by Teddy Pendergrass, former lead singer of Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes. prior to hearing this I had been a big fan of DJ Sneak’s house classic, You Can’t Hide From Your Bud. it was clearly built around a sample, but had no idea what until I heard the Teddy Pendergrass song.

at first, I preferred DJ Sneak’s rework, but after repeatedly listening to TP’s original it wasn’t too long before I fell even more in love with it. often times a producer rescues a great element or two from a mediocre or even shitty song. when they construct a new great song from element(s) of an excellent original I feel like I tend to end up preferring the original. no matter how much I like the new tune I’m always grateful when it turned me on to a song I hadn’t known before.

the other song that is an all-time disco fave for me is Over and Over by Sylvester. I was already well aware of his biggest hits, Dance (Disco Heat), You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real), and Do You Wanna Funk (credited to Patrick Cowley featuring Sylvester). Ashford & Simpson wrote and recorded the far weaker original version of Over and Over. according to the wonderful database Who Sampled (https://www.whosampled.com/Sylvester/Over-and-Over/sampled/) Over and Over has been sampled dozens of times, but I am unfamiliar with any of the songs that have sampled it.

I should also touch on Carl Bean’s gay anthem, I Was Born This Way, which was somehow released on Motown in 1977. it was never a huge hit, but was big in the clubs and was remixed to perfection in 1986 by Bruce Forest and Shep Pettibone. Lady Gaga cited it as an inspiration for her worldwide Number One, Born This Way. in 1990, Pal Joey built Dance around a sample from I was Born This Way for his Earth People project.

trust me, if you dig House Music and you don’t know your disco you’re missing out on some phenomenal music.

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #Jumpin2 #DiscoUnderground #TeddyPendergrass #YouCantHideFromYourself #DJSneak #YouCantHideFromYourBud #Sylvester #OverAndOver #CarlBean #IWasBornThisWay #LadyGaga #PalJoey #EarthPeople #Dance

1000 Day Album Challenge (#72) Marianne Faithfull: Broken English (1979) [12.03.24]

at the age of thirty-seven she knew she'd found forever
as she rode along through Paris with the warm wind in her hair…

I was today years old when I discovered that Marianne Faithfull had not written or recorded the original version of The Ballad of Lucy Jordan. frankly, I couldn’t imagine another version – the lyrics, the raspy vocals, the throbbing synth line are just so right. I was surprised but not shocked that it was written by cartoonist and songwriter, Shel Silverstein. I was horrified to listen to Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show’s original version. I feel like I did so that you don’t have to.

at the time of Broken English’s release, Marianne Faithfull was best known for having recorded the original version of The Stones’ As Tears Go By and a songwriting credit on Sister Morphine. Broken English was very much a comeback for Faithfull who had spent years addicted to heroin and sometimes living homeless on the streets of London. it was her first major label release in over ten years.

I’m guessing that I knew little or nothing about her at time of its release. it’s vibe fit very much into the punk and new wave I was listening to at the time. Broken English, Brain Drain, The Ballad of Lucy Jordan, and the blistering Why D'Ya Do It are the standout tracks for me.

I don’t think I saw this album as “a punk-disco fusion” (Robert Christgau) until finding out years later that Why D'Ya Do It was a Paradise Garage classic for Larry Levan. I listened with new ears and realized how this bitter response to infidelity would work for an open-minded dance floor which was common in the pre- and early-house music era.

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #MarianneFaithfull #BrokenEnglish #TheBalladOfLucy Jordan #WhyDYaDoIt

1000 Day Album Challenge (#71) Howard Tate: Howard Tate (1969) [11.03.24]

once I had a good woman / but I did not count my blessings
wish she could hear me / I've learned a better lesson…

I’ve been racking my brain trying to remember the name of the record store I frequented in the early nineties on San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito, California where I bought this record. it was the first record store I had been in that had a turntable to preview records. the focus was R&B, funk, and soul. I bought a bunch of 7” singles there on James Brown’s label, People, by the man himself and many JB-related artists. I bought more singles there than albums. most of the albums I would have bought were too rich for my blood.

this Howard Tate album which was a reissue of his 1967 debut, Get It While You Can, was an excellent purchase. I’m gonna guess that it was no more than $12 only because I don’t think I would have paid more than that at the time. Howard Tate is one of the great lost soul men from the late sixties and early seventies. his feel is quite bluesy. he would have fit right in with some of the shows I saw at Eli’s MiIe High Club when I was living in Oakland.

some of the best songs on this album have better known versions by other more well known artists. I knew both Ain’t Nobody Home and Everyday I Have the Blues as B.B. King songs before I ever heard Howard Tate’s original versions. without a doubt I rate the original of Ain’t Nobody Home as the definitive. not sure which version I would take of Everyday I Have the Blues. I’m pretty sure I give Janis Joplin the nod on Get It While You Can, but that might only be because I heard it first and already knew it so well before I heard Tate’s version.

trust me when i say that music history is littered with artists like Howard Tate who had a little bit of success, but who have been mostly forgotten as time as moved on. me, I have always loved finding older artists who most people don’t know and discovering that they have made some absolutely great music that deserves to be cherished and preserved.

for me it started in college when I felt like I was looking forward and backward simultaneously. I always wanted to hear the newest thing, especially artists that were likely to be ignored by mainstream culture. I also wanted to hear what came before. what inspired some of the artists that I loved. I read a great deal about music in books and magazines because to find both the new and the old. I guess I still do on the Internet now, but my appetite is not nearly as voracious as it was in my teens and twenties.

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #HowardTate #AintNobodyHome #GetItWhileYouCan #EverdayIHaveTheBlues #BBKing #Janis Joplin

1000 Day Album Challenge (#70) Ramones: Rocket to Russia (1977) [10.03.24]

up on the roof, out on the street / down in the playground the hot concrete /
bus ride is too slow / they blast out the disco on the radio…

gonna be another quickie today. I’m wiped out from all of the wedding planning and the event itself. I figured I would pick an obvious one that plenty of my social media friends also love. in my mind I kinda group the first four Ramones’ albums together. I love them all, but Rocket to Russia is and was my fave.

I imagine the Ramones don’t sound so revolutionary to 21st century ears, but believe me they really were at the time. the Ramones were a template for so much that followed. they were very much one of the most important bands of the 20th century.

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #Ramones #RocketToRussia

1000 Day Album Challenge (#69) Los Lobos: How Will the Wolf Survive? (1984) [09.03.24]

last night I got loaded / on a bottle of gin, on a bottle of gin…

not many words this morning Mary Mac and I have quite the busy day in front of us. I chose Los Lobos’ Slash Records debut because I know that Mary Mac is also a fan. the album she truly loves is Los Lobos del Este de Los Angeles (Just Another Band from East L.A.) (1978). I don’t know that album well enough to include it here. we intend to have a long life together so maybe I can rectify that situation.

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #LosLobos #HowWillTheWolfSurvive #MaryAndGlennWeddingDay

1000 Day Album Challenge (#68) Elvis Costello & The Attractions: Armed Forces (1979) [08.03.24]

but they keep you hanging on / they say you're so young /
your mind is made up but your mouth is undone…

I think this was the first Elvis Costello album I bought myself. I already knew his first two albums, My Aim is True (1977) and This Year’s Model (1978) quite well. I think I had a number of friends who owned those albums, whether on vinyl or cassette. I had also seen his infamous performance of Radio, Radio on Saturday Night Live five months before the song would be released on the U.S. version of This Year’s Model. Lorne Michaels “banned” him from the show until of course he recreated the event during the 25th Anniversary Special by interrupting the Beastie Boys performance of Sabotage.

I loved this album. I played it frequently during both high school and college. I’m sure I could at least credibly fake singing along with the whole thing even now. still what stands out is the live 7” single that was included in the package. it was EC & The Attractions Live at Hollywood High from June of the previous year. there were three tunes – Accidents Will Happen, one of the highlights and lead tracks from the new album plus Allison and Watching the Detectives from his debut, My Aim is True.

I’m not sure I owned many singles at the time. I certainly had some. I first started buying singles when I was nine or ten years old. I think I kept the single inside the album sleeve at first. it was not until I had built a decent collection of singles that I kept this bonus single with the rest of my 7 inches.

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #ElvisCostello #ElvisCostelloAndTheAttractions #ArmedForces #AccidentsWillHappen

1000 Day Album Challenge (#67) Pavement: Slanted and Enchanted (1992) [07.03.24]

I was dressed for success, but success it never comes /
and I'm the only one who laughs at your jokes when they are so bad /
and your jokes are always bad / but they're not as bad as this…

iit seems to me that Pavement is the last rock band with whom I truly fell in love. hard to imagine given that it was over 30 years ago, but I think it’s true. it’s also possible that some day it will hit me, “I forgot all about them!” well, not Them, I fell for them during college, but you know them…

I saw Pavement live at the Kennel Club in San Francisco just after Slanted and Enchanted was released and then again later that fall at The Warfield. as I recall, both great shows. I already knew Pavement before this because I had bought both of their 7 inches – Slay Tracks: 1933–1969 and Demolition Plot J-7. I think I bought them at the same time. not sure, but it’s likely.

Pavement successfully straddles the tune / noise divide that from the perspective of the continuum of underground rock was first successfully mastered by the Velvet Underground. something about that balance has always appealed to me. many bands I love seem to stake a claim in this particular part of the musical spectrum.

Slanted and Enchantment was easily my favorite album of the year. I would also place it on any list of greatest debut albums ever. I’ve touched up on a few others already on this list – The Rolling Stones, The Clash, 3 Feet High and Rising, #1 Record, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, and Cymande. I’m sure there are more to come.

warning: some people might find Pavement lyrics self-consciously arty. in fact, I’m sure I’ve leveled this criticism against plenty of artists, at least inside my own head, if not out loud. I’m not skilled enough at expressing my own personal aesthetic to explain why here I find Pavement lyrically playful and am not bothered by the artiness in the least. even if I can’t figure out what the fuck they’re singing about.

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #Pavement #SlantedAndEnchantment #KennelClub #TheWarfield

1000 Day Album Challenge (#66) Pete Townshend: Who Came First (1972) [06.03.24]

find it, I got to hear it all again / my heart has heard the sound of harmony /
blind to it, as my tears fall again / it's only by the music I'll be free…

I’m not sure exactly when I sought out Who Came First. it was probably when I was in college, but it might have been later. it was the type of record one had to seek out. I’m sure I would see it from time to time in record stores, but not often. when Pete Townshend’s Empty Glass (1980) came out it seemed like many thought this was his debut solo effort. Who Came First was all but forgotten which probably added to its appeal for me.

I believe I was already familiar with Pure and Easy before buying this. I think it was played from time to time on WNEW-FM, based in NYC, which played a huge role in my high school and college music-listening experience. I had also likely heard The Who’s version of Nothing Is Everything (Let's See Action), simply titled Let’s See Action. they had released it as a single in 1971 and it later appeared on their Odds & Sods (1974) compilation. I prefer Pete’s solo take.

Who Came First has the feel of a record made by someone who needed to step away from the madness of The Who. it is a far more relaxed effort than any Who album. as far as I’m concerned it is easily his finest solo album and well worth seeking out if you have not heard it before. half way through my second play of the album this morning, I am learning that it is also well worth a rediscovery too.

Townshend had already self-released, in tiny quantities, a couple of collaborative albums – Happy Birthday (1970) and I Am (1972) – dedicated to his guru, Meher Baba (the Baba in Baba O’Riley). Who Came First was his first proper solo album. it was also dedicated to Meher Baba. two large photos of him are featured inside the gatefold of the original release.

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #PeteTownshend #WhoCameFirst #PureAndEasy #LetsSeeActio

1000 Day Album Challenge (#65) Run-D.M.C.: Run-D.M.C. (1984) [05.03.24]

two years ago, a friend of mine / asked me to say some MC rhymes / so I said this rhyme I'm about to say…

Run-DMC were very much a turning point in the development of hip hop and rap. prior to their debut single It's Like That / Sucker MC's (1983) hip hop was grounded in the sounds of disco and funk. before their producer, Larry Smith’s use of the Oberheim DMX drum machine to power Run-DMC’s new sound rappers primarily rapped over replayed hooks and grooves from old disco and funk tunes. we wouldn’t hear our first electronically sampled drumbeat until later that year when Trevor Horn sampled Funk Inc.’s Kool is Back for Yes’ Owner of a Lonely Heart.

Rock Box, the third single, from Run-DMC, all predating the album’s release, was the first rap video to be played on MTV. well before the Beastie Boys started sampling rock beats on Licensed to Ill, Run-DMC was featuring Eddie Martinez’ heavy metal guitar on Rock Box. “The distorted guitar sound that runs through the entire Rock Box record was one Questlove deemed the sound of the 1980s that connected Prince and Def Leppard to hip hop songs such as LL Cool J’s I Need A Beat and Fat Boys’ Jailhouse Rap.” (https://www.okayplayer.com/originals/songs-that-shook-america-episode-three-run-dmc-rock-box.html)

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #RunDMC #ItsLikeThat #SuckerMCs #RockBox

1000 Day Album Challenge (#63) Cymande: Cymande (1972) [03.03.24]

time has been lost in trying / we have been left outside / looking at passions dying / emotions grow strong all the time…

if you’re a fan of groove-oriented music and don’t Cymande the time has come to change that. Cymande were a black British funk outfit whose sound featured elements of funk, soul. rock, and African music with strong undertones of Rastafarianism. their particular groove tends to be slow, but hypnotic.

there are three tunes on their debut that people might recognize without ever hearing the band because Dove, Bra, and The Message have each been sampled dozens of times by acts such as De La Soul, Gang Starr, Def Jef, MC Solaar, Masta Ace, The Coup, Fugees, Wu-Tang Clan, and EPMD.

I truly appreciate the impact that Hip Hop’s sampling aesthetic has had on the breadth and depth of my musical interests and tastes. Cymande is one of those bands that would have likely fallen through the cracks for me if their music had not been kept alive and reinvigorated by the producers who sampled them. without them I might never had sought out their music.

Stetsasonic put it perfectly on their classic tune Talkin’ All That Jazz, “tell the truth, James Brown was old / ‘til Eric and Rakim came out with I Got Soul / rap brings back old R&B / and if we would not, people could've forgot”

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #Cymande #Dove #Bra #TheMessage #Stetsasonic #TalkinAllThatJazz

1000 Day Album Challenge (#55) Michael Jackson: Got to be There (1972) [24.02.24]

got to be there, bring her good times / and show her that she's my girl…

sure I remember Got to be There and Rockin’ Robin from when I was a kid. both were Top Five hits at the time. I likely didn’t distinguish them as Michael Jackson songs as opposed to Jackson 5 songs. maybe I did, but I doubt it.

this made the list because of the cover of AIn’t No Sunshine. it was such a revelation when I first heard it not long before I left the states for Costa Rica in 2006. it was the opening track of a mix I had stumbled across online by a dj I had never heard of before and whose name I can no longer recall.

as I recall, “is this Michael Jackson?” was my immediate reaction. it probably didn’t take that much poking around to confirm and find out what record it was on. I’m pretty sure it was pretty cheap to buy at the time. if it had been over $4 or $5 I would probably remember. other than thrift store purchases (which were under $2) most of my used record purchases were in the $2 - $5 range.

this solo debut by MJ was well worth it. besides the Ain’t No Sunshine cover I love Got to be There and I Wanna be Where You Are. I’m sure I can live without Rockin’ Robin, but there is a bit of nostalgic value there too.

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #MichaelJackson #GotToBeThere #AintNoSunshine

1000 Day Album Challenge (#54) Amp Fiddler: Waltz of a Ghetto Fly (2003) [23.02.24]

deep in my mind I believe everything is possible…

Waltz of a Ghetto Fly is one of the albums of the oughts as far as I’m concerned. it is filled with sweet funky soulful grooves. Amp Fiddler’s debut was well hyped in the music media I was checking out at the time. it reminded me of the hype for Erykah Badu seven years earlier and as it was with her the hype was more than warranted. Waltz of a Ghetto Fly really hits my sweet spot.

Amp Fiddler, who died of cancer this past December at 65, is a Detroiter through and through. he played keyboards and toured with George Clinton and P-Funk from the mid-80s through the mid-90s. he mentored beatmaker extraordinaire, J Dilla, on the MPC and also introduced him to Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest.

in the early 2000s, he began working with House Music legend, Moodymann (Kenny Dixon Jr.). I first encountered Amp’s music on his classic Deep House collaboration with KDJ, Amp Dog Knight’s I’m Doing Fine (2002). he also played on techno wizard, Carl Craig’s jazz project, The Detroit Experiment.

Superficial is the one tune here geared toward the dancefloor, but as I like to say the rest of the album knows were the dancefloor is located. all of this record will have you moving, swaying and tapping your foot. for anyone who hasn’t checked Amp Fiddler out this is an excellent place to start.

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #AmpFiddler #WaltzOfAGhettoFly #GeorgeClinton #PFunk #JDilla #QTip #Moodymann #KennyDixonJr #KDJ

1000 Day Album Challenge (#53) Jackie Wilson: The Jackie Wilson Story (1983) [22.02.24]

Jackie Wilson said / it was "Reet-Petite" / kinda love you got / knock me off my feet…

I feel like Jackie Wilson is one of those important artists who has been all but forgotten as time has passed. to give you a sense of his historical standing, in 1987, he was a member of the second class inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame back when it meant something. his class included such luminaries as Bo Diddley, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Aretha, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, and Muddy Waters.

back in the fifties and early-sixties he helped drive the transition from R&B into Rock & Roll. some people referred to him as “The Black Elvis.” Elvis commented, "I guess that makes me the white Jackie Wilson." many of his early songs would slide just as easily into a Rock & Roll compilation as they would one focused on R&B.

“Mr. Excitement” was his most comment moniker for he was one of most dynamic and exciting showman of his or any era. he drove crowds to a frenzy just as White Elvis did.

I first discovered Jackie Wilson through a college course. either my junior or senior year I took a multi-disciplinary course called, The Sixties. it was jointly taught by four professors from the History, Music, Art and Rhetoric departments. Reet Petite was included on a tape we were required to check out and listen to in the library featuring influential music predating the sixties. I loved it and knew I needed to hear more.

for me, there are a number of essential tunes on The Jackie Wilson Story including Reet Petite, Lonely Teardrops, I’ll Be Satisfied, and Baby Workout. the song I’ve come back to most often during the course of my life is Your Love Keeps Lifting Me (Higher And Higher) which I knew from Rita Coolidge’s late-seventies hit version. all I’ll say is that the original is definitive.

just as it is with Elvis schlock is a part of the deal with Jackie Wilson. some of the schlock I merely tolerate and some of it I would miss like To Be Loved and A Woman, A Lover, and A Friend.

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #JackieWilson #TheJackWIlsonStory

1000 Day Album Challenge (#48) John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band: John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band (1970) [17.02.24]

as soon as you're born they make you feel small / by giving you no time instead of it all / 'til the pain is so big you feel nothing at all…

there are times in my life that I certainly would have named Plastic Ono Band as my #1 album. now I guess it just one of a group of maybe 10 or 12 that I would be comfortable taking that top spot. John has always been my favorite Beatle and this has always been my favorite solo Beatle album.

it’s raw and personal and can be a very difficult listen depending on how closely one is paying attention. let’s just say John is working through his shit on this one. I think that would be obvious of any album that opens with Mother and closes with My Mummy’s Dead and has songs like Hold On, I Found Out, Isolation, and Look At Me between those bookends.

Plastic Ono Band was not John’s first album outside of The Beatles. the first three, recorded and released while The Beatles were still together, were experimental albums credited to he and Yoko: Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins (featuring John and Yoko naked on the cover), Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions, and Wedding Album.

this feels very much like a post-Beatles statement. a recognition that The Beatles are over and that he has moved onto another stage whether he likes it or not. I can imagine some people wouldn’t like this record very much. I can also imagine that some might find it very moving, but choose not to listen very much. it’s just that kind of record.

I have listened to it frequently and imagine I will continue to do so.

+++and so, dear friends / you'll just have to carry on / the dream is over+++

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #JohnLennon #PlasticOnoBand

1000 Day Album Challenge (#41) XTC: Drums and Wires (1979) [10.02.24]

life begins at the hop, boys and girls…

my favorite XTC album bar none. I associate Drums and Wires with my freshman year at Bates College. I owned it before I showed up in the fall of 1981. I probably bought it my senior of high school, but my memory tells me it was not until college that I started playing Drums and Wires again and again.

I was thrown off listening to this on YouTube Music. it opened with Making Plans For Nigel, one of the best songs on the record, but it seemed out of place. then I reached the third song, Day In Day Out, which I didn’t know at all. I checked things out and realized this was not the version as released in the U.S. in 1979. this was the original British version with Life Begins at the Hop added as a bonus track.

I started again with Life Begins at the Hop as I remembered it. all is again right with the world. as each song ends I’ve returned to the app to hit play on the proper next song. I guess I could create a playlist, but so far I haven’t felt like it so far.

without a doubt I listened to side one more frequently. those songs – Life Begins at the Hop, Helicopter, Making Plans For Nigel, Ten Feet Tall, When You’re Near Me I Have Difficulty, and That’s The Way – seemed to be permanently printed on my consciousness. side two I remember but not quite in the same way. each new song is a bit of a surprise. I’ve reached the first dud and one I feel I have no recollection of at all - Roads Girdle the Globe. not bad though. they’re batting 9 for 10. hard to beat that.

two more tunes coming up. Complicated Game, the final tune, is another one I love and remember well. Drums and Wires is funny, catchy, quality pop. if that’s your thing you should check it out. and for those who haven’t listened in a while you will glad you do if you cue up this up. Drums and Wire is an excellent pop album.

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #XTC #DrumsAndWires

1000 Day Album Challenge (#13) The Rolling Stones: The Rolling Stones (1964) [13.01.24]

I hear the knock on my door that never comes / I hear the telephone that hasn't rung…

The Rolling Stones released their stunning debut in the UK in April of 1964. nine out of twelve tunes were covers of primarily Rock & Roll, Blues and R&B songs. I had already been lured in by The Stones fertile peak of 1968 through 1972 which consisted of four stone cold classics - Beggar’s Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile On Main Street.

in certain respects this album is an introduction to who The Stones love. leading off with the definitive version of Route 66, originally recorded by the Nat King Cole Trio, they proceed to cover Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed, Bo Diddley, Slim Harpo, Chuck Berry, Marvin Gaye, Gene Allison and Rufus Thomas. all of these versions are good to great and I would even choose their take on Carol over Chuck Berry’s.

without I’m A King Bee on this album and Shake Your Hips on Exile I might never have even checked out Slim Harpo. my musical world would be at least a little bit lesser for that.

the U.S. version of their debut (England's Newest Hit Makers) replaces Bo Diddley’s Mona (I Need You Baby) with their cover of Buddy Holly’s Not Fade Away and gives it the poll position on the release. just like their version of Route 66, this is the definitive as far as I’m concerned.

I don’t think The Beatles made an album on this level until their third release, A Hard Day’s Night. yes The Beatles were writing most of their own music from the start, but this album for me is undeniable.

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #TheRollingStones #Route66 #NotFadeAway #SlimHarpo #ImAKingBee #HipShake

1000 Day Album Challenge (#10) Toots & The Maytals: Funky Kingston (1975) [10.01.24]

almost heaven, West Jamaica true ridge mountains, shining down the river…

if I had to guess, I would say the soundtrack to The Harder They Come is the only reggae album I’ve listened to more than Funky Kingston. I think because of my love for The Clash I began listening to reggae artists beyon Bob Marley & The Wailers just about from the start. they covered a number of reggae tunes including Junior Murvin’s Police & Thieves, The Rulers' Wrong Emboyo, Danny Ray & The Revolutionaries’ Revolution Rock, and Willi WIlliams’ Armagideon Time.

I first heard Sweet and Dandy and Pressure Drop by Toots & The Maytals on The Harder They Come soundtrack. still it was likely The Clash’s cover of Pressure Drop on their 10” compilation, Black Market Clash (1980), that really piqued my curiosity.

Toots Hibbert arguably had the greatest voice in all of reggae. it was both rugged and soulful. Robert Christgau aptly compared him to Otis Redding describing him as, “the nearest thing to Otis Redding left on the planet: he transforms "do re mi fa sol la ti do" into joyful noise” (https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=4020)

Funky Kingston is a great listen. Sailin’ On, the final tune, is playing in my AirPods as I type this. there is not a dud in the bunch. my personal faves that have made it into multiple playlists for me are: Time Tough, Funky Kingston, Country Road, Pressure Drop and Sailin’ On.

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #TootsTheMaytals #TootsHibbert #reggae #TheHarderTheyCome #TheClash #RobertChristgau

1000 Day Album Challenge (#1) Brian Eno: Another Green World (01.01.24)

all the words float in sequence…

I think I’ve listened to Another Green World more than any other album. My first listen might date back to high school, but it was probably not until college that I really dug in. throughout the 80’s and 90’s I often listened to this on repeat too many times to count. it is just that kinda album for me.

Another Green World is a genre unto itself. It deftly straddles a sound that somehow embodies both pop and ambient sensibilities. this was Eno’s third solo studio album and marked a move away from the quirky pop/rock sound of Here Comes the Warm Jets and Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy).

while writing this piece I’m listening to AGW and realizing that one of the reasons that I have listened to it over and over so many times is that it seems to pass too quickly.

[In case you were wondering I just cued it up to start all over…]

#1000DayAlbumChallenge #BrianEno #Eno #AnotherGreenWorld