February 1987

4-22-10 February 1987

I somehow managed to successfully save a new release sheet from Music Week (the British equivalent of Billboard) dated 2/9 – 2/13, 1987. This was while I was still working at an importer in Los Angeles.

Be Bop Deluxe – The Best Of (EMI EMS 1130) LP

Dead Or Alive – Mad, Bad & Dangerous To Know (Epic EPC 450257) LP

Earth Opera – The Great American Eagle Tragedy (Edsel ED 215) LP re-issue

Love – Love (Edsel ED 218) LP re-issue

Steve Reich – Six Marimbas (Elektra/Nonesuch K 979138.1) LP

Ten Years After – The Best Of, Vol. 1 (See For Miles SEE 80) LP

Various Artists – The Psychedelic Snarl (Bam Caruso KIRI 024) LP

These are a few of the titles that caught my attention. I was never much of a Be Bop Deluxe fan, but I figured a “Best Of” might do the trick. I didn’t end up getting a copy – until many years later, and even that was a re-mastered CD. Ouch, never could stomach Dead Or Alive. Both Earth Opera and Love were Edsel licensings from the vaults of Elektra Records – classic albums, both. Not sure how long Steve Reich had been signed to Elektra / Nonesuch, but I was quick to snap this one up at the time. Doubt I ever saw the Ten Years After collection – I always look at stuff like that, because you never knew when the re-issue labels would dig up something I didn’t already have – and there’s a few stray TYA tracks lurking. Certainly never saw “The Psychedelic Snarl” – I wonder who’s on it? Bam Caruso could usually do a pretty good job of sifting out the crud from the gold.

There were a handful of other releases this week in England that might appeal:

Jimmy Cliff – Fundamental Reggae (See For Miles SEE 83) LP

Hot Chocolate – The Very Best Of (EMI / RAK EMTV 42) LP

Love Sculpture feat. Dave Edmunds – The Love Sculpture Years, Vol. 1 (EMI EMS 1127) LP

Various Artists – Four From The Madding Crowd: Buchido, Royal Family & The Poor, Intimate Obsessions, Ohama Meets Dania (Third Mind TMLP 16) LP

John Zorn – The Big Gundown (Elektra/Nonesuch K 979139.1) LP

I wonder what Jimmy Cliff material this was made from? Probably not Island label tracks. A TV-advertised Hot Chocolate collection – can’t forget “You Sexy Thing” and “Every 1’s A Winner”! This Love Sculpture collection got past me – I think I didn’t get their rarities until a See For Miles issue about 1990. The Third Mind label are the people who brought you Bill Pritchard, so this is of some interest – who were these artists? And John Zorn releases one in sequence after Steve Reich – with a straight face by WEA UK. I don’t have this one, as I only ever buy John Zorn titles that have John Lurie on them (like “Spillane”).

As we can see by this release sheet, it was not quite ‘CD Time’ as yet…

The Clash

4-21-10 The Clash

Even at the onset of punk / new wave – I was never terribly interested in The Clash. As a conflicted young adult, I knew even then that there was ‘more than this’ – so my enthusiasm for ‘new wave’ came along with Magazine and XTC. The Clash didn’t seem to have a sense of humor like, say…The Damned. And I wasn’t sure…was “White Riot” a racist song?

So, I didn’t need the Sex Pistols or The Clash. Eventually, I did, of course, hear a Clash song that caught my ear – because it sounded like it had actually been written: “Safe European Home” on their 2^nd LP, “Give ‘Em Enough Rope”. Didn’t take ‘em long to go the route: double album, then triple album – going on and on a bit.

A bit o’ Clash has creeped into my record collection anyway:

CD CLASH ON BROADWAY, THE (CD #1 only) COLUMBIA US EK 48708

1991 25 TRK Collection - disc 1 of boxed set

CD CLASH ON BROADWAY, THE (CD #2 only) COLUMBIA US EK 48709

1991 20 TRK Collection - disc 2 of boxed set

CD CLASH, THE EPIC JPN MHCP 520

1977 14 TRKS ('04 issue) kami sleeve

7" I FOUGHT THE LAW / WHITE MAN… EPIC US 9-50738

1979 2 TRKS no pic sleeve

Always mystified by people buying boxed sets and trading in ‘part of the set’ – but that’s what happened with “The Clash on Broadway” – first, I found Disc #1, and a few years later (somewhat recently), I found Disc #2 – which contains my favorite Clash song, as described above.

Then there’s the matter of the debut album, as a Japanese little paper album cover CD. I suppose the softening in my rigidness about 1977 punk rock gave rise to the notion that “Their first album can’t be all bad” – I have yet to play it all the way through. How nice – it came with a lyrics sheet, so – if I cared – I could determine in 2010 if “White Riot” was a racist song or not.

And I found an “I Fought The Law” US 45 in a giant stack a cheap 45’s for 29 cents each at a ‘pop-up outlet store’ – bulk 45’s! Yes, I probably have some Clash songs on punk / new wave compilation LP’s / CD’s, but…in sharp contrast to the groups I love and maintain a nicely manicured collection on…this is my Clash collection.

And if I ever discover that ‘I need more’ – Dorothy has the 2CD + DVD Legacy Edition of “London Calling”. I recall that video was not their selling point – the “Rude Boy” film was not very much fun – but I do remember a laser disc with a bunch of their music videos a little more fondly.

To be honest: I wouldn’t buy Disc #3 of their boxed set for $2. I am not interested in the “Rock The Casbah”-era of the works of The Clash.

Want Lists

4-20-10 Want Lists

I use printed Want Lists to help keep me on track, when I visit large record stores, such as the 3 x Amoeba Music stores in California. As Dorothy & I have often said, “You go in one of those places, and your mind goes blank!” It’s true. I can look at the entire A-Z of rock and I will probably end up buying something that catches my eyes, as opposed to what I went to the store with the intent of buying.

I have been working on my SACD collection since last August. Yes, it’s a failed format that seems to have lost to DVD-A ( = DVD Audio ), but I own a Sony SACD player and I like the discs that make the little lights come on. Truth of the matter: SACD’s seem to be mastered ‘differently’ – not just louder (with clear trays). Anyway…the availability of SACD’s has me in parts of Amoeba Hollywood that I am less familiar with: jazz, classical, folk etc. With my printed out Want List, no trouble remembering to check the Nick Drake bin (in ‘folk’) – bingo!

I think the earliest surviving “Want List” I have is from the mid-70’s. It’s typed on a yellow 8 ½” x 11” lined sheet of paper – with all the usual suspects: Ivor Cutler “Ludo” (I didn’t even know what label it was on), Gordon Haskell “A Sail In My Boat” (CBS UK LP) etc. No, I never got either of those titles (except as CD’s). In the 80’s, the lists tended to concentrate on newer material – I could read Melody Maker, NME, Music Week – and make lists of new releases – two-fold benefit: I knew what I managed to track down, and I also knew what to order from England at the distributor where I worked.

By the end of the 90’s, my want lists were back to the ‘format wars’ – is there an LP issue of “Psychoderelict” by Pete Townshend? “Far From Home” by Traffic? (Uh, ‘no go’ on those two, I suspect). And then there’s keeping track of all the 45’s…

It’s not a big crime for me to double-up on 45’s, if they’re cheap. But I have bought some tempting titles for as much as $5 each – to discover that I already had copies at home, nicely bagged and catalogued. So, now I have a handy list of which Elton John DJM UK 45’s I am still in need of etc. I find it really difficult to consult a printed list at a swap meet – if confronted with 5 x 200 count cartons of unsorted 45’s, however. I will usually only trot the list out if the 45’s are more than $1.

And along with printed want lists, I still carry my Palm Pilot M125 containing detailed lists of all of my music collections – artist / title / serial # / any distinguishing characteristics. It must’ve looked weird, me standing there with a stack of Sue Thompson 45’s and my Palm in the other hand – but it worked! And I added 8 x new Sue Thompson 45’s to my collection!

As I wander through my 50’s, I do not like to consider that my memory ain’t what it used to be. I mean, my memory is pretty dang good! But I simply can no longer remember absolutely everything about my own collection…as it approaches 25,000 titles.

Hugh Cornwell

4-19-10 Hugh Cornwell

I had the good fortune to see Hugh Cornwell play live in my home town at the end of last month, at Alex’s Bar on Anaheim Street. It was the 2^nd time I got to see Hugh Cornwell play a solo show, and my first visit to Alex’s Bar.

Hugh Cornwell – Guitar, vocals; Caroline Campbell – Bass, vocals; Chris Bell – Drums

They played almost all of the “Hooverdam” CD, maybe 9 of 10 songs (if not all 10). Also, they played many Stranglers songs: Sometimes, Life Shows No Mercy, Tank, Peaches, Walk On By, No More Heroes, Golden Brown, Hanging Around, Duchess, Nice ‘N Sleazy, (Get A) Grip (On Yourself), Down In The Sewer etc. All without keyboards!

I bought an LP version of “Hooverdam” from them for $10. Looks to be a nice European pressing. I had never seen an LP of it before! According to the booklet in the “Hooverdam” CD, Mr. Cornwell’s solo titles are:

1. Nosferatu (with Robert Williams)(1979); 2. Wolf (1988); 3. C.C.W. (1992); 4. Wired (aka First Bus To Babylon)(1993); 5. Guilty (1997) (aka Black Hair, Black Eyes, Black Suit); 6. Hifi (2000); 7. Footprints In The Desert (2002); 8. Sons Of Shiva (2002); 9. Beyond Elysian Fields (2004); 10. People Places Pieces (3CD set) (2006) which distills down to “Dirty Dozen” (2006); 11. Hooverdam (2008). And he only did 10 albums with The Stranglers! (Looks like they are no longer offering his live albums “Mayday” and “In The Dock” on Invisible Hands Records – they were in the booklet for “Beyond Elysian Fields”, but not in “Hooverdam”).

So, looks like I still need to find CD’s of “Footprints in the Desert” and “Sons Of Shiva”, his pair of 2002 albums. I only recently found an inexpensive copy of the “People Places Pieces” 3CD live set (I have had the “Dirty Dozen” live collection CD for a while, no longer necessary as I now have the full boxed set).

I did go to the trouble of getting all the UK Epic label Stranglers re-mastered CD’s – they did a good job, and all the B-sides (except for a few) are there. I have yet to do all of the EMI re-mastered CD’s. I got Japanese paper sleeve CD’s for the first 2 x Stranglers albums. I would like to find more of them!

I really appreciate the fact that he would do a US tour in 2010. His last few albums have not been released here, but he realizes that he has a decent fan base here. I thought that both Chris Bell and Caroline Campbell were great musicians – no doubt about it, she really has the Jean Jacques Burnel bass sound going on!

So, thank you for coming to Long Beach, Mr. Cornwell. I hope my friends in Portland and Seattle got the chance to see his shows there. I feel sorry for my friends down south – they only got as far East as Chicago this time.

Bee Gees

4-16-10 Bee Gees

When I last wrote about the Bee Gees in 2004, the deluxe 2CD versions of their first three albums did not yet exist. In 2006, Reprise US released the material licensed directly from the Gibb family. They wisely gave us both the mono and stereo versions of each album, along with B-sides and out-takes. For a Bee Gees fan, these 2CD volumes are miraculous.

CDx2 BEE GEES' FIRST REPRISE US R2 74766

1967 42 TRKS ('06 issue) (28 x bonus tracks) Deluxe edition

CDx2 HORIZONTAL REPRISE US R2 74119

1968 37 TRKS ('06 issue) (25 x bonus tracks) Deluxe edition

CDx2 IDEA REPRISE US R2 74121

1968 39 TRKS ('06 issue) (26 x bonus tracks) Deluxe edition

I have long sung the praises of the first three Bee Gees albums. I guess I first heard “Holiday” on the AM radio in 1967/8. I asked for and received a US pressing of their debut album (a stereo copy!) and was surprised at how much some of it sounded like The Beatles! Did I even know what a mellotron was when I first heard this album?

I have no idea how / why – but one could easily find copies of “Horizontal” and “Idea” in cut-out bins in 1968/9 – for considerably less than the $4.98 each these albums would’ve cost at Wallach’s Music City.

As I have also previously revealed, it was within these very albums that I began a life-long habit of staring at Atco Records LP inner-sleeves, picturing the various titles that were then available. Tom Sankey! Chickenman! Claude Borly & His Percussions!

All three of these albums are glorious 1967/8 British pop music. If you are a Beatles fan, you need to know and hear these LP’s/CD’s! They would be considered the classics they are, even if they had never released anything else afterwards!

It was never particularly fashionable to listen to the Bee Gees, and even less so once they got super-popular. I have remained a Bee Gees fan for over 40 years, not caring what the next person thinks of “Saturday Night Fever” or even the soundtrack to “Staying Alive” (which I happen to really like the Bee Gees material on).

“Sir Geoffrey Saved The World” is one of my all-time favorite English-language pop songs, full stop. I like it as well as “Dandelion” by the Rolling Stones or “My White Bicycle” by Tomorrow – and it belongs with those two songs!

I was lucky enough to have seen the Bee Gees perform live, I think I have at least one version of each of their (released) full-length group titles. R.I.P., Maurice Gibb. I sure wish Barry & Robin Gibb would consider making some more music using the Bee Gees name. I am a Bee Gees fan then, and a Bee Gees fan now.

Classical Music

4-15-10 Classical Music

I have never had a big interest in traditional “classical music”. I probably heard the “1812 Overture” as a youngster, and was amused by the cannons being fired. I remember trying an early CD of “Carmina Burana” by Carl Orff – and pronouncing the sound to be “too flat”. That pretty much ended my interest in classical music on the CD format. I did, however, avidly follow some 20^th century “classical music” – artists like Philip Glass and Steve Reich – on the CD format.

Well, lately one of my ‘failed’ formats has lead me towards “classical music”: SACD. Lately I have been able to find new / sealed classical CD’s in the SACD format for under $10! They are all traditional – and originally analogue recordings. From the “RCA Red Seal Living Stereo” series, I have purchased:

BERLIOZ – HAROLD IN ITALY; OVERTURES

MAHLER – SONG OF THE EARTH, THE

RAVEL – DAPHNIS ET CHLOE

STRAUSS – ALSO SPRACH ZARATHUSTRA

BARTOK – CONCERTO FOR ORCHESTRA

MUSSORGSKY / V.A. – PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION

CHOPIN – BALLADES & SCHERZOS

GOULD, MORTON – BRASS AND PERCUSSION

DVORAK – SYMPHONY No. 9 IN E MINOR, Op. 95

RIMSKY-KORSAKOV / STRAVINSKY – SCHEHERAZADE

BRAHMS / TCHAIKOVSKY – VIOLIN CONCERTOS

COPLAND / GROFE – BILLY THE KID; GRAND CANYON SUITE

BEETHOVEN – PIANO SONATAS

FOX, VIRGIL – ENCORES

These are mainly 50’s recordings, made for stereo LP’s of the late 50’s. The SACD multi-channel function is a matter of indifference to me, as I am not set to listen to multi-channel sound – the discs clearly warn 5.1 enthusiasts that “These are originally 3 track recordings – no sound will come from the rear channels!”.

I never heard of Fritz Reiner before getting these discs. Seems he could really get extraordinary performances out of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for the Living Stereo / Red Seal producers at RCA Records. The several Fritz Reiner-conducted titles I have found all came highly recommended from the SACD website (Bartok, Mahler, Ravel etc.)

And I certainly remember seeing LP’s by Virgil Fox, but I definitely never heard anything by him before this SACD. He’s an organ player of a fairly elevated caliber. Apparently, he was also a raving queen, which seemed to annoy some critics. Some of his performances describe him having ‘antics’ he got up to. Perhaps he wore a dress?

So, I guess I have become an RCA Red Seal snob now. These ancient recordings have a uniformly pretty good sound to them, as far as I am concerned. Everything’s very clear – just super recordings.

I was a bit surprised to see the Morton Gould title classified with the Fritz Reiner titles. Yes, Mr. Gould is approaching classical repertoire, but it reeks of the gimmicky stereo of late 50’s easy listening fare. At very least, it’s recorded really nicely. And all of these SACD’s are hybrid discs, which will play on a regular CD player, too!

Wire

4-14-10 Wire

I last wrote about Wire 2 years ago. I just listened to some more Wire stuff recently. My collection remains:

LP 154 HARVEST UK SHSP 4105

1979 13 TRKS LP + 7"

CD 154 re PINK FLAG US PF 13

1979 13 TRKS ('06 issue)

CD CHAIRS MISSING RESTLESS US 72361.2

1978 18 TRKS bonus tracks

CD DOCUMENT AND EYEWITNESS MUTE UK WIRE 80CD

1980 22 TRKS Live ('91 issue)

7" DOT DASH / OPTIONS R HARVEST UK HAR 5161

1978 2 TRKS with pic sleeve

7" I AM THE FLY / EX LION TAMER HARVEST UK HAR 5151

1978 2 TRKS with pic sleeve

12" IN VIVO MUTE US 75528-0

1989 5 TRKS with pic sleeve

CD IT'S BEGINNING TO AND BACK AGAIN MUTE US 73516.2

1989 11 TRKS

12" KIDNEY BINGOS MUTE US 72245-0

1988 5 TRKS with pic sleeve

7" MANNEQUIN / FEELING CALLED LOVE / 12XU HARVEST UK HAR 5144

1977 3 TRKS with pic sleeve

7" MAP REF. 41N 93W / GO AHEAD HARVEST UK HAR 5192

1979 2 TRKS with pic sleeve

7" OUR SWIMMER / MIDNIGHT BAHNHOF CAFE ROUGH TR UK RTO 79

1979 2 TRKS with pic sleeve

7" OUTDOOR MINER / PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT HARVEST UK HAR 5172

1978 2 TRKS with pic sleeve, white vinyl

LP PF456REDUX PINK FLAG UK PF 456REDUX

2003 16 TRKS vinyl-only?

7" QUESTION OF DEGREE, A / FORMER AIRLINE HARVEST UK HAR 5187

1979 2 TRKS with pic sleeve

CD5 READ & BURN 01 PINK FLAG UK PF 4

2002 6 TRK CD EP CD5

7" SONG 1 / GET DOWN (free 45 w/ “154”) HARVEST UK PSR 444

1979 4 TRK EP; no pic sleeve, promo-only

Even “154” (CD, re-mastered) sounded a bit ‘uneven’ as I listened to it recently. I guess I just like their singles more than their albums. I never had the chance to see Wire play live, and that may have something to do with why I am less enamored of them that, say, Magazine or Ultravox (both of whom I had the opportunity to see perform live).

Their material on Mute Records doesn’t seem to be of much interest these days, as many (all?) of those are $3 or less CD’s. Good to see that the Harvest 45’s are still really worth something.

I might like to try and find a re-mastered CD of “Chairs Missing”. I wish there was a good sounding CD of all the Harvest 45’s! I would definitely try more of their newer stuff, if I could ever find it cheap enough – the Pink Flag label stuff. “A Question of Degree” remains my favorite Wire 45. Why doesn’t the rest of “Chairs Missing” sound like that?

Avant Prog

4-13-10 “Avant Prog”

Another article in the April 2010 issue of Strange Days magazine from Japan is about “Avant Prog” – as part of their “40 Years of Progressive Rock” series. As I flipped the pages, staring at the list, I realized that this must be a sub-genre that I really had an interest in! I have almost everything on this list!

This list doesn’t look strictly ‘ordered’ to me, but… My comments after titles.

Can – Monster Movie (Took a few years for me to get this one, not my favorite Can LP)

Faust – “self-titled” (debut) (Love it, one of my favorite records)

Tangerine Dream – Phaedra (The first T.D. I ever got, and I probably still like it the best)

Klaus Schulze – Picture Music (I think I like the first 3 K.S. albums better)

Kraftwerk – Autobahn (I think I like the first 3 Kraftwerk albums better)

Brian Eno – Ambient 1: Music For Airports (I like it better now than I did then)

Can – Tago Mago (Probably picked for this list because Damo Suzuki is Japanese)

Can – Future Days (Probably my favorite Damo Suzuki-era Can LP)

Cluster – Sowiesoso (I think I like the first 2 Cluster albums better)

Popol Vuh – Affenstunde (Great, their best album, I think)

Faust – So Far (Love it, one of my favorite records)

Faust – The Faust Tapes (The one I started with, a fantastic album!)

Faust – Faust IV (Love it, one of my favorite records)

Tony Conrad with Faust – Outside The Dream Syndicate (Very Good, perhaps a bit less than a ‘proper’ Faust album)

Tangerine Dream – Electronic Meditation (I like Phaedra better)

Tangerine Dream – Alpha Centauri (I like Phaedra better)

Tangerine Dream – Rubycon (I like Phaedra better)

Tangerine Dream – Ricochet (I like Phaedra better)

Klaus Schulze – Irrlicht (My favorite K.S. album)

Klaus Schulze – Cyborg (My 2^nd favorite K.S. album)

Klaus Schulze – Moondawn (A very good K.S. album)

Klaus Schulze – Mirage (A very good K.S. album)

Kraftwerk – I (My 2^nd favorite Kraftwerk album)

Kraftwerk – II (My 3^rd favorite Kraftwerk album)

Kraftwerk – Ralf & Florian (The one I started with, a fantastic album!)

Kraftwerk – Radio-Activitat (A decent latter day Kraftwerk album)

Fripp & Eno – (no pussyfooting) (I didn’t like it at the time, but it’s OK now)

Fripp & Eno – Evening Star (Always did like this one a bit better than the first one)

Brian Eno – Discreet Music (Not bad for an Eno album without songs…)

Brian Eno – Music For Films (Maybe a bit better than “Discreet Music”)

Harold Budd & Brian Eno – Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror

Brian Eno with Daniel Lanois & Roger Eno – Apollo – Atmospheres & Soundtracks (I think this title is ‘too late’ for this list!)

John Lennon & Yoko Ono – Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins (Not to be filed under “Easy Listening”)

John Lennon & Yoko Ono – Unfinished Music No. 2: Life With The Lions (Perhaps a little bit better than “No. 1”)

George Harrison – Electronic Sound (The only LP that ever made Dorothy’s cat look up from his perch on the floor)

Third Ear Band – Alchemy (Not my favorite Harvest label band, I must confess)

Third Ear Band – “self-titled” (I like this one a bit better than “Alchemy”)

Pink Floyd – Ummagumma (Not my favorite Floyd LP, I must admit)

David Bedford – Nurses Song with Elephants (I have a UK original LP of this, must give it another listening one day soon)

Amon Duul – Psychedelic Underground (I’m strictly an Amon Duul II person, myself)

Ashra – The New Age Of Earth (A good latter day Ashra album)

Neu! – Neu! 2 (I like about ½ of this album real well…)

Ron Geesin & Roger Waters – Music from “The Body” (An interesting film, too)

Opus Avantra – Donella Del Monaco (Not a favorite Italian band)

White Noise – An Electric Storm (Love it, one of my favorite records)

Heldon – Un Reve Sans Consequence Speciale (Possibly my least favorite Heldon album – though I do like most Heldon albums)

Art Zoyd – Musique Pour L’Odyssee (Never really did them at all)

La Dusseldorf – Viva (Only recently got a CD of this title)

ZNR – Traite De Mechanique Populaire (I like “Barricades 3” a lot better)

Konrad Schnitzler – Blau (Never saw this one, never heard it)

I am really very OK with most of this list. I think I would’ve picked the first Neu! album, instead of “Neu! 2”, however. And this list doesn’t have any Lard Free on it, either!