What does it say about us that we’re still dealing with similar issues now (equality, environment, social justice, economic disparity to name a few) that we were facing in the ’60’s & ’70’s? Add to that this virus and our maddening reactions to it. We can spin ourselves psychologically into …
The Bureau is Andy Growcott (percussion), Pete Williams (bass/vocals), Rob Jones (guitar/trumpet/vocals), Archie Brown (lead vocals), Mick Talbot (keyboards/vocals), Paul Taylor (trombone), Steve Spooner (alto sax) and J.B. Blythe (tenor sax). Growcott, Williams, Blythe, Spooner & Talbot had left Dexys Midnight Runners after the release of Searching for the Young …
Blondie’s third album, Parallel Lines, came out at one of the most interesting times of popular music: the waning days of disco, the heyday of punk, and the emerging New Wave style. Parallel Line was released in September, 1978, seven months after the release of their second album, Plastic …
An awful lot of pop & rock songs get released annually. Some become famous & entrenched in our listening, many never hit our ears, and some have a comet-like life; they flash into our listening for a period of time, then disappear only to return now & again. I heard …
Sparks blazed into my musical psyche just like their music – fast, fun, creative & quirky. Kimono My House was released in May, 1974. Purposefully campy, having fun making fun of all sorts of stuff in the world. The lyrical messages were similarly witty & oddball as the first couple …
Squeezing Out Sparks was released in March, 1977 and marked a change in Parker’s style. He dropped his horn section and moved more in line with New Wave. The guitars & fast pace are front and centre. His songwriting excellence and gritty tone remain, though, and I think crank it …
Each year a wide variety of music is released, arguably with some years better than others. It’s interesting to look back and see what was released when. And memory being what it is, I’m occasionally surprised to be reminded of a song’s release date. I thought I’d look at 1984. …
I don’t know that there’s a golden age of pop music, but this era is special for me. Perhaps it’s because I was growing up in this time, and music accompanied many important moments. Perhaps it’s because this was occurring in parallel with & influenced by the psychedelic, progressive and …
Their first album was a great example of what was to come from The Cars. It almost serves as a “Best Of” album given the number of hits it contained (3 in Billboard Top 100) and airplay that the other songs received. If you’re familiar with the Cars, you will …
This album came out in 1977. This was an interesting time for me musically as we were in the heyday of disco & punk with an emerging New Wave. The heavy rock of the late ’60’s and early ’70’s was still there, but more in the background, perhaps a bit …
