Great Rock Albums of 1988: Steve Earle- Copperhead Road

Originally, I was going to post “Copperhead Road” by Steve Earle as a rock/metal album. The title cut of the album was my reason for it. I loved Steve’s image when I saw the video on television and the song proved that other instruments can be effectively included in hard rock and even metal. In this case, it was a mandolin. The song starts out with the mandolin and steel guitar and pedals giving it a country feel but then the guitar kicks in and takes it to a whole different level. The song itself is about a family of generations of moonshine makers and runners but the subject of the song, after he returns from Vietnam, decided to go into the weed farming business. It’s an excellent song.

Of course there are other great tracks on the album, although I have to agree with those who say that the first side of the album is better than the second. “Snake Oil” has a honky tonk piano combined with more great guitar riffs at the same time and talks about sitting president Ronald Reagan as a snake oil salesman. I agree with that sentiment. But Steve goes totally hard rock with the hidden gem on the album, “Back to the Wall.” It has a Tom Petty feel reminiscent of the “Damn the Torpedoes” album. There are some great guitar hooks on it and the best guitar solo on the album.

“The Devil’s Right Hand” is ahead of it’s time in the political music sense. The devil in the right hand Steve sings about is a pistol and this could be the first anti-gun song ever! Steve goes back to the returning veterans theme on “Johnny Come Lately.” In the song he contrasts how Americans treated servicemen returning home from World War II as opposed to Vietnam. It’s done to some great rockabilly music. My question is: Did Steve’s grandfather actually marry an English woman and bring her back home? Irish Celtic rock band The Pogues accompany him on this song.

As I said earlier, the second half of “Copperhead Road” isn’t as strong as the first half, although it’s by no means weak. The songs are less political and more love songs. I have no problem with that as they are done right. “Even When I’m Blue” sounds more like later Tom Petty and is some more good rockabilly. “You Belong to Me” sounds familiar but I can’t quite pick out the influence here. It’s a steady rocker with some good acoustic guitar as are the next two tracks. Things end with the rather tender ballad, “Nothing But a Child.”

Track Listing:

1. Copperhead Road
2. Snake Oil
3. Back to the Wall
4. The Devil’s Right Hand
5. Johnny Come Lately
6. Even When I’m Blue
7. You Belong to Me
8. Waiting On You
9. Once You Love
10. Nothing But a Child

Steve Earle

Steve Earle- lead vocals, guitar, mandolin, harmonica, 6 string bass

Danny Roberts- guitar, 6 string bass

Bill Lloyd- acoustic guitar, 12 string electric guitar

Bucky Baxter- pedal steel, lap steel, Dobro

Ken Moore- synthesizer, organ

John Barlow Jarvis- piano

Kelly Looney- bass

Kurt Custer- drums

Neil MacColl- mandolin on “Johnny Come Lately”

John Cowan, Maria MaKee, Radney Foster- backing vocals

Shane MacGowan- banjo, bodran

Daryl Hunt- bass

Andrew Ranken- drums

The Pogues on “Johnny Come Lately”

Telluride on “Nothing But a Child”

Here’s an amusing anecdote, I named a character in my second book, “He Was Weird,” after one from the title track. There is a John Peddlemore in the story. “Copperhead Road” further proved that there was lots of great alternative music out there and this was one American act I was glad came to Britain.

Next post: A Joint Effort

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Great Rock Albums of 1988: The Proclaimers- Sunshine on Leith

Technically, I’m a year late with The Proclaimers. They first came to the attention of Great Britain and mine in 1987 with their first single, “Letter From America.” When I heard it, I thought the song was quite amusing and better than the manufactured synth pop around at the time. However, KISS’s “Crazy, Crazy Nights” was also in the top ten at the time, therefore, that song didn’t get the attention from me as it should have.

One year can make a hell of a difference and when The Proclaimers again hit the charts with what is probably their biggest song, “”I’m Gonna Be (500 miles),” I was ready. I liked the thumping guitar intro to it. Plus, there is no question as to their Scottish nationality when these two twins sing. They say that twins have a bond and this is true in the case of Charlie and Craig Reid. Especially the way they sing the “den, den, den lendas” on it. It’s one of those songs which is still fondly remembered today.

What about the rest of the album? Well, I can safely say that The Proclaimers carry on their own version of Scottish folk rock throughout the album. On the second track, “Cap in Hand,” there is a “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” vibe on it. Yes, I’m talking about the Queen classic. Only two songs into the album and we already have the hit single and the hidden gem. “Cap in Hand” was used as a rallying song during the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum. That takes nothing away from “Then I Met You” which is has some good guitar hooks and an acoustic guitar solo to accompany the unique vocals provided by the twins.

“My Old Friend the Blues” proves that The Proclaimers were just as capable of turning about a ballad or two. What I didn’t know was that the song was written by Steve Earle, who will be getting a post on here in the not too distant future. They go from ballad to mid-tempo rock song on “Sean.” The guitar in the background makes the song and while I have already praised the vocals of the Reid twins, I think the guitar talents of Jerry Donahue need praising as well. He does deliver the goods on the album.

The title track closes out the first half of the album and it’s a mellow ballad. It seems to lament about a broken heart or possibly the depressing life many people in Scotland felt at the time. It’s definitely a melancholy ballad but it’s effective.

Maybe it’s probably best to listen to this album on vinyl or cassette. This way you get to prepare for the jump from melancholy ballad to the more upbeat “Come on Nature.” This would be a good sing-a-long track if you and friends were sitting around drinking beers, either in a pub or someone’s living room. Following that is the second single, “I’m On My Way,” which wasn’t nearly as successful as the first one but I really like it. Probably why it didn’t do as well. I love the tempo to this track and how the Craig and Charles bounce the “Uh huh’s” back and forth.

“What Do You Do” is another melancholy ballad but with a difference. The brothers Reid make their political feelings quite clear. My hypothesis is that the song was a reaction to the 1987 UK general election where the Labour Party basically swept Scotland but because the Conservative Party won big in England, especially in the South East, a Conservative government was elected. Furthermore, there was the North-South divide where the South of the UK seemed to be getting richer while the North was getting poorer. “It’s Saturday Night” is a tribute to those who go out and get drunk every Saturday night because that’s all there is to do. I do love the line “The drink that I had three hours ago has been joined by 14 others in a steady flow.”

“Teardrops” is an amusing acoustic number in which the twins have a lot of fun singing and I can say similar for the closer “Oh Jean.” It’s not acoustic but the song has a party feel but then maybe one of the brothers had a pleasurable experience from whoever Jean is. It ends the album very well.

Track Listing:

1. I’m Gonna Be (500 miles)
2. Cap in Hand
3. Then I Met You
4. My Old Friend the Blues
5. Sean
6. Sunshine on Leith
7. Come on Nature
8. I’m On My Way
9. What Do You Do
10. Saturday Night
11. Teardrops
12. Oh Jean

The Proclaimers

Craig Reid- vocals, percussion

Charles Reid- vocals, acoustic guitar

Additional Musicians:

Jerry Donahue- electric and acoustic guitars

Gary Hogan- steel guitar

Dave Whetstone- melodeon

Phil Cranham- bass

David Mattacks- drums, percussion

Paul Robinson- drums, percussion

What I realize now that I didn’t realize back in 1988 was how many decent non-metal rock acts there were. The Proclaimers definitely brought a unique sound to the music of the year as the album “Sunshine on Leith” shows.

Next post: Kansas- In the Spirit of Things

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com

To sign the petition for a knighthood for Bruce Dickinson, click the link: https://www.change.org/p/special-honours-committees-for-knighthoods-a-knighthood-for-bruce-dickinson

On a side note, a women’s wrestling match, Autumn Rose vs. Lady Lolita, which I contributed on the script to is available to buy and download here: https://promixedwrestling.com/downloads/

Great Rock Albums of 1988 (I Think): Michelle Shocked- Short Sharp Shocked

This post is going to be a little shorter than normal. It’s also telling me that I should have bought Michelle Shocked’s 1988 album, “Short Sharp Shocked” back in the day. I have tried to find the album on both Youtube and Spotify but it has been non existent on both. It has been suggested the reason for this is that many of Michelle’s music was taken down on account of supposed homophobic comments she made in 1990. Therefore, I am going to have to write this post on memory and the two songs which appear on Youtube, one of them being a cover done by someone else.

My introduction to Michelle came by the heavy metal hating Sun newspaper. Does anyone see a pattern here with the last three posts? The ‘critic’ was moaning that first there was Tracy Chapman, then Tanita Tikarim and now Michelle Shocked and the critic was tired of all these female protest folk singers. Maybe it was the fact that the social-political content of the lyrics of all three singers didn’t agree with the right wing politics of that paper.

Musically, my introduction to Michelle came from the single, “Anchorage.” If I can remember correctly, the song is about a young couple trying to make it in the Alaska but don’t take that as gospel. I do remember Michelle’s unique vocals and the folk rock sounding guitar. While I can’t say for sure, most of the songs on the album follow in the same folk rock vein.

The one song I was able to listen to on the Tubes of You was “The L&N Don’t Stop Here Anymore.” This tempo is very upbeat and the violin in the background accents the song very well. It also has a strong and pronounced thudding bassline while at the same time, Michelle laments the hard life of coal miners and their loss of livelihoods as the coal industry began to shut down in the late 1970s and early 80s. Her vocals are well suited to the songs. I speculate if this and “Anchorage” are typical of what Michelle does on the rest of the album, then it must be a pretty good one.

Track Listing:

1. When I Grow Up
2. Hello Hopeville
3. Memories of East Texas
4. (Making the Run to) Gladewater
5. Graffiti Limo
6. If Love Was a Train
7. Anchorage
8. The L&N Don’t Stop Here Anymore
9. V.F.D.
10. Black Widow
11. Fog Town (hidden track)

Michelle Shocked

Michelle Shocked- vocals, acoustic guitar

Pete Anderson- electric guitar, six string bass

Jeff Donovan- drums

Dominic Genova- electric and acoustic bass

Skip Edwards- piano, organ

Michael Tempo- percussion

Al Perkins- dobro

Byron Berline- mandolin

Don Reed- fiddle

Rod Piazza- harmonica

Kristina Olsen- hammered dulcimer

Banjo Jim Croce- banjo

Sophia Ramos- vocals

MCS- vocals on “Fogtown”

Apologies, I wish I could say more about “Short Sharp Shocked” but that’s not the case. I can say what I’ve heard from the album, I liked. If any of you have the album, feel free to further my education here.

Next post: Weird Al Yankovic- Even Worse

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Great Rock Albums of 1988: Tracy Chapman

With music seeming to go into the bubblegum pop of Stock, Aiken and Waterman camp or to heavy metal and even metal was beginning to fragment in 1988, Tracy Chapman’s self titled debut album breathed much needed fresh air into the music scene. She didn’t need all the modern synthesizer gadgets or heavy electric guitar power chords. Just basic instruments, a fantastic singing voice and songs which had great messages and accurately described the times. It was no wonder she shot straight to superstardom.

Some thought a metalhead like myself wasn’t supposed to like Tracy’s music. Furthermore, one woman I dated for a little while was quite surprised that a man would actually like her music. Both philosophies are total rubbish! But just in case, I had a quick look down and all the bits are still there. My counter is what is there about Tracy not to like? Like I said, her music is straight to the point and her fine voice conveys her social observations going on in 1988.

It’s the messages behind her songs which I really like. “Talkin’ Bout a Revolution” is a call for social change. It looks behind the smoke screen which was created by the American media machine and it makes you think. Some think the track, “Across the Lines” was a dig at apartheid in South Africa but it also highlighted the growing racial tensions in America and how nothing there becomes a problem until it hits middle class white suburbia.

Let us not forget the ultra number one hit, “Fast Car.” It’s about two young lovers escaping their sad surroundings and heading for a more promising life in the big city only to find that nothing had really changed and all the man had to offer was his fast car. A really disturbing track is the a cappella “Behind the Wall.” It’s about a woman suffering from domestic abuse but the police don’t seem to bother or can’t do anything because it’s a domestic issue. The lyrics are harrowing.

There is a calypso vibe to “Baby Can I Hold You.” This sounds like a genuine love song but there was no law that every song had to be a social or political commentary. That same vibe continues on with “Mountains O’ Things.” Tracy states she will be dreaming and the laid back rhythm makes this easy to do. On the subject of vibes, I get a Dire Straits one on “She’s Got Her Ticket.” Okay, the song sounds reggae but the lead guitar hooks had me checking the credits to see if Mark Knopfler had played on the song.

She goes back to more political lyrics with “Why?” and that’s another aspect of the album I love. Tracy’s songs stirred up some fear in the establishment. One critic poo-pooed this and “Talkin’ Bout a Revolution” on the grounds that Tracy was too good for left wing altruism. Even the right wing heavy metal hating UK newspaper, “The Sun” came out against her lyrics. Tracy was singing from her heart and what I believe is that then serving president, Ronald Reagan, had spent his entire presidency vilifying the 1960s and here come this black woman singing in the style that made protest music relevant back then. I think the establishment was a little scared.

Ronald Reagan

“For My Lover” is about a young wife trying to provide for her family while her husband is in jail and at the same time, trying to raise the bail money. It’s another moving song commenting about the times and is the climax to the album. The two remaining tracks are easy listening tracks which you can just float away to. A great way to end the album.

Track Listing:

1. Talkin’ Bout a Revolution
2. Fast Car
3. Across the Lines
4. Behind the Wall
5. Baby Can I Hold You
6. Mountain O’ Things
7. She’s Got Her Ticket
8. Why?
9. For Her Lover
10. If Not Now
11. For you

Tracy Chapman

Tracy Chapman- vocals, acoustic guitar, rhythm guitar, percussion

Ed Black- steel guitar

Paulinho da Costa- percussion

Denny Fongheiser- drums, percussion

Jack Holder- electric guitar, organ, piano, sitar, dulcimer, dobro

Steve Kaplan- harmonica, keyboards

Larry Klein- bass

David La Flamme- electric violin

Bob Marlette- keyboards

Tracy Chapman not only brought something different to the music scene of 1988, she brought a revolution of her own with her debut album. Once again, we had some simple, no nonsense music which conveyed thought provoking messages which both trendies and metalheads liked. She also paved the way for others, which I will be covering in the next few posts.

Next post: Tanita Tikarim- Ancient Heart

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com

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Tribute to Beru Revue- A Great Philadelphia Band

Beru Revue

Living in Southern New Jersey, I was very much influenced by what was happening in Philadelphia which was fifty miles away. I rooted for their sports teams, most of the time, except when the Phillies played the Dodgers, the Eagles played the Steelers or the 76ers played the Celtics. However, I have always been a die hard Flyers fan. Most importantly though, Philadelphia was where I went to see most of my concerts. Which is why most of the concerts in “Rock And Roll Children” take place at the Spectrum. Furthermore, Philadelphia radio stations were far superior to the one in Atlantic City, also I got treated to some of the bands coming out of there. One of these bands was Beru Revue.

The Philadelphia Spectrum, now sadly torn down.

Back in the mid 1980s, Beru Revue made several trips to South Jersey clubs and I was lucky enough to catch them three times. Their brand of rock, considered new wave by most was definitely unique. They combined great musicianship and if you listened to the lyrics, keen political awareness while maintaining a sense of humour. This gave them a pretty large cult following around the clubs of the Delaware Valley, (comprising Eastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey and Delaware.) One of their songs, “Hoods A Go Go For the 80s” got airplay on local radio, unfortunately, their fame never spread much beyond that. Although I did take two friends who were visiting from Rhode Island to see them and they were so impressed, they bought Beru’s EP.

Beru Revue:

Bob ‘Beru’ McCafferty- lead vocals

Greg ‘T-Bone’ Davis- guitar

Gerry Healy- guitar

Johnny Sacks- bass

Buzz Barkley- keyboards

Tommy ‘Sir Francis Drake’ Pinto- drums

This is my favourite Beru Revue song:

Hopefully, you’ve had a listen and agree with me that Beru Revue were far too good to be just a locally known band. Even to this day, I have cool memories of them. Maybe one reason they never made it nationally or internationally was the fact that Philadelphia has produced so many great musical acts over the years. One such band would get national attention in 1985, you’ll read about that in the near future and a year later, a Philly metal band would do the same. However, I lament as to what a great contribution to the music world Beru Revue would have been if they had been luckier.

Next post: 1985- The Backlash Begins

To download Rock and Roll Children for free, go to: http://allkindlecloud.com/register/14510967-Rock_and_Roll_Children_pdf_premi.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great Rock Albums of 1984: Big Country- Steeltown

After much contemplation, actually thirty plus years of it, I have arrived at the conclusion that Scottish rockers, Big Country have been given a bad rap by many in the rock world. I think that because of their first big hit “In a Big Country” from their 1983 album, “The Crossing,” which sounded a little new wave pop to some and the fact that MTV played the video to death. What also didn’t help them was that on this, their 1984 album, “Steeltown,” they went on tour with Hall and Oates, which led me and many others to conclude they were simply a top forty band. In truth, they weren’t and had some interesting sounds that metalheads and those not into trends could like together.

What they do so well on this album and their others as well is to blend the hard rock, new wave with their Celtic roots. Blended together, it makes a very interesting but enjoyable sound. The title track is the prime example of what I mean. One minute you are gently rocking away to it and the next you find yourself lost in the Celtic melody of the song. An added bonus is the political/historical message in the lyrics. “Steeltown” is about the town of Corby where many local Scots went to work in the newly opened steel mill in 1935 only to find themselves unemployed when it shut down in the early 1980s following the decline of the steelworks. The song was very apt for that time.

The rest of the album follows along in the same vein. Hard rock with great local melodies entwine themselves in every song. One thing I find on a personal note is that “East of Eden” was their only top 20 single from the album but I think that there are better songs on it and with me, that’s usually the criteria for a good album in my twisted mind. As far as singles go, I prefer the non top 20 reaching one, “Where the Rose is Sown.” That only made it to 29  but it has all the things I like on the album. “Come Back to Me” is also an interesting one. It’s kind of a ballad but it’s not but it does have some nice drum work on it. “Rain Dance” also stands out for me and “The Great Divide” is the hardest rock track but I can’t say there’s a bad song on here.

Track Listing:

1. Flame of the West
2. East of Eden
3. Steeltown
4. Where the Rose is Sown
5. Come Back to Me
6. Tall Ships Go
7. Girl With Grey Eyes
8. Rain Dance
9. The Great Divide
10. Just a Shadow

Big Country

Stuart Adamson- lead vocals, guitar, piano

Mark Brzezicki- drums, percussion, vocals

Tony Butler- bass, vocals

Bruce Watson- guitar, mandolin, sitar, vocals

For the reasons I mentioned at the start of the post, this album largely passed me by in 1984. Don’t worry, I’ve already given myself 40 lashes for it. It would be the next album when I would stop and say, “Hey wait a minute, these guys are pretty good.” Still, better late than never and I can say that this album is the real deal.

Next post:  REO Speedwagon- Wheels Are Turnin’

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Great Rock Albums of 1984: U2- The Unforgettable Fire

Unlike the Greg Kihn Band, after their successful 1983 album, “War,” followed by a successful live album, U2 didn’t vanish into obscurity. Maybe Greg Kihn should have released a live album. That’s all hindsight anyway. What is history is the fact that U2 followed up their success with the really cool album, “The Unforgettable Fire.”

I don’t think I’ve said this in previous posts about U2 but the one thing their music definitely did was appeal to Metalhead and Duranie alike. For those who don’t know, a Duranie is someone who was into Duran Duran and similar type music. Those people listened to U2 and did not feel that they were going too weird in their music tastes while Metalheads could do the same without any feeling of selling out and going mainstream. “The Unforgettable Fire” album continues this trend for the band as both of those groups bought this album up.

Reading the history behind the making of the album, the band has said that they were trying to steer a different direction with it as they didn’t want to be labeled as another arena rock band. Let me be totally honest here, I have never heard anything different in the sound of “The Unforgettable Fire” than what they had accomplished with their previous three studio albums. What U2 had been able to do very well with all four of their albums to date was make different sounding songs without having to change their overall style. I have always believed it was a case of more of this with the fourth album.

With “The Unforgettable Fire” the hits come out straight away, probably because I heard the first single, “Pride in the Name of Love” on the radio before I bought the album. History states that the single was released first so that’s probably why. Still, it ranks up their among my favourite U2 songs of all time. The second single, “Bad” is the second single released and that stands out as well while at the same time, you know it’s a good U2 song. I could never fathom why the title track never charted in North America as it’s a really cool track as well. If anything, I would rate it above “Bad.” But if you know me by now, albums aren’t about the singles on them and there has to be some hidden gem in the album. For me, that track is “Wire.” If I had my way, that would have been released as a single. I like the little guitar lick The Edge uses at the beginning before it goes into a good rocking song. In fact, The Edge shows his guitar skills all through the song. Actually, “Indian Summer Sky” is a really good song and that’s what you need for a good album.

The other thing which definitely appealed to me back in 1984 was U2’s use of politics in their music. This continues with this album, especially as two songs are dedicated to the late Martin Luther King Jr, one of them being the first single. “Bad” was about heroin addiction and the idea for the title track came when the band was visiting the war museum in Hiroshima, Japan. Put these things in with the music on the album and it’s no wonder why I liked it so much.

Track Listing:

1. A Sort of Homecoming
2. Pride in the Name of Love
3. Wire
4. The Unforgettable Fire
5. Promenade
6. 4th of July
7. Bad
8. Indian Summer Sky
9. Elvis Presley and America
10. MLK

U2

Bono- lead vocals,

The Edge- guitars, keyboards, backing vocals

Adam Clayton- bass

Larry Mullen Jr- drums

New feature: Seeing what has been done on other blogs and now that I know that I don’t have to pay WordPress ridiculous amounts of money for the privilege, with every album post, I will include a track from said album. Typical me, last on the bandwagon. In this case, since I have sung the praises of the track “Wire,” it will be featured here.

Heavy metal was going strong in 1984, so was U2. This album is clear evidence of that fact.

Next post: Steve Perry- Street Talk

To buy Rock and Roll Children, go to http://www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great Rock Albums of 1984: Jefferson Starship- Nuclear Furniture

For me in 1984, Jefferson Starship, being my favourite band in the world since 1977, would come to a cross roads with me in the form of the album “Nuclear Furniture.” As previously stated enough times that you’re all sick of reading it, my musical tastes were getting much heavier. With “Nuclear Furniture,” the band began to shy away from the hard rock of their previous three albums. However, I wasn’t going to demote them straight away and there was enough good material on the album to keep them at my number one.

First let us start out with the weak. The first single from the album, “No Way Out” while miles better than the vast majority of synth pop coming out at the time, it lacked the power chords I was now craving. Craig Chaquico does save the song with one of his decent guitar solos. Then again, he does it with many of the songs, even the ones where it’s not essential. The other songs that might fall into the same category as “No Way Out” have something else that makes them great, with the possible exception of  “Magician.” I was getting more and more politically aware in 1984 and seeking out music that reflected my beliefs. There are some great songs that do this. Two of them are about nuclear destruction, “Champion,” one of my favourites and “Showdown.” Grace Slick’s vocals make the latter song sound that much better. Again, lyrically, “Assassin” is a great song. It might have been better placed in the late 90s as it could be applied to school shootings. The song is about a stranger in the neighbourhood who turns out to be a killer. “Live and Let Live” speaks to me personally, not politically and without going into great personal detail, took a load of withheld anger from me. With the track, “Connection,” the song clearly trumpets my theory of what would happen if Jesus and Mohammed had actually met each other. While these songs might not be hard rockers, the lyrics really make you think.

Now for the rockers, “Shining in the Moonlight” is a straight ahead one of those bringing back memories of those previous three albums, “Freedom at Point Zero,” “Modern Times” and “Winds of Change.” The other two are not only cool rockers in my book but also have political lyrics I like. “Rose Goes to Yale” is a short but powerful rocker that makes a great point while rocking out to it. However, my favourite track on the album has to be “Laying It on the Line.” A great intro and even though it is a little synthed in places, I don’t mind. A cool guitar solo and to my knowledge, it is the only song anywhere to mention what had happened to my marine buddies in Lebanon some seven months earlier.

“Got US boys on foreign soil,

“Spillin’ their blood to keep the peace.” 

Track Listing:

1. Laying It On the Line
2. No Way Out
3. Sorry Me, Sorry You
4. Live and Let Live
5. Connection
6. Rose Goes to Yale
7. Magician
8. Assassin
9. Shining in the Moonlight
10. Showdown
11. Champion

Jefferson Starship

Mickey Thomas- vocals

Grace Slick- vocals

Craig Chaquico- lead guitar, backing vocals

Paul Kantner- rhythm guitar, vocals, banjo

Pete Sears- bass, keyboards

David Freiberg- keyboards, vocals

Donny Baldwin- drums, percussion, backing vocals

Paul Kantner- Jefferson Starship

In spite of “Nuclear Furniture” being a decent album, Jefferson Starship would cease to be my favourite band in 1984. This was because that Paul Kantner would leave the band shortly after the album’s release. Not only that, he would take the Jefferson moniker with him after a lawsuit. Like I said when I posted about Kantner’s death last year, it was always his songs on the albums I preferred the most. After he left, the band would morph into Starship and I definitely didn’t like what I heard on their next album. I want to like Jefferson Starship as I always have remembered them.

Next post: Greg Kihn Band- Khintagious

To buy Rock and Roll Children, go to http://www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rest in Peace Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen

With already so many great musicians, actors and producers going to the great gig in the sky this year, I was hoping that we could get through the rest of 2016 without any more sadness. I was wrong. It has come to my attention via my son of the passing of Canadian born novelist, poet and singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen. The exact details of his death are not known but a statement from his son states that Leonard died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Los Angeles.

Personally, I never owned any of his records though I often heard his name mentioned in many musical circles. Anyone who has heard the song “Hallelujah” will have heard him, even if they didn’t realize it was him singing. His work both musically and literary explored many topics including sexuality, politics, religion and relationships to name a few. Therefore it saddens me to read of his passing. May he Rest in Peace.

 

 

 

Great Rock Albums of 1983: Jackson Browne- Lawyers in Love

Proof of my Swiss cheese memory. I remember the album from Jackson Browne, “Lawyers in Love” quite well in 1983. However, it took me listening to this album after so many years to realize that during my tour of 1980, I missed out his then album, “Hold Out.” Thing is, I liked that album too and fondly remember the song “Disco Apocalypse” because it was talking about the death of disco, or at least that’s what I thought. Maybe it was just the fact that none of the songs on the mentioned album stuck out like the title track on “Lawyers in Love” did for me in 1983. It was the lyrics in the second verse that have lingered in the back of my mind for over thirty years.

“God sends his spaceships to America, the beautiful
They land at six o’clock and there we are, the dutiful
Eating from TV trays, tuned into to Happy Days
Waiting for World War III while Jesus slaves
To the mating calls of lawyers in love”

“Lawyers in Love” is more of a light rock sound. It doesn’t veer too far away from his best known single and my personal favourite, “Running on Empty.” While none of the songs reach the level of “Running on Empty,” there are still some good songs on it. “Tender is the Night” may give the impression that’s it going to be some sort of ballad, but the song does have a great hook with the guitar. It’s one of those songs you want to sing along to while you’re driving in the car or carrying out some mundane activity. It makes such tasks less so mundane. “Downtown” is a pretty cool song too. I have to say that while none of the songs are ones to bang your head to, there was enough of a rock hook to reel me in on just about all of them. The best rocker is probably the closer, “For a Rocker.”

Another thing which turned my ear more to Jackson Browne was he was getting more political with his music in the 1980s. In 1983, on account of my experiences in the marines and when I came out, I was getting more politically aware and paying more attention to such songs. “Say It Isn’t True” is probably the best example of this. While Jackson was called naive by some for this anti- war song, it made a statement. It didn’t make me go out and attend no nukes rallies but it made me think, as did the title track. But that’s just me.

Track Listing:

1. Lawyers in Love
2. On the Day
3. Cut it Away
4. Downtown
5. Tender is the Night
6. Knock on Any Door
7. Say It Isn’t True
8. For a Rocker

Jackson Browne

Jackson Browne- lead vocals, guitar

Craig Doerge- synthesizer, piano

Bob Glaub- bass, organ

Ross Kunkel- drums

Billy Payne- organ on “On the Day”

Rick Vito- lead guitar, vocals

While I was headbanging most of 1983 away, Jackson Browne’s album “Lawyers in Love” provided a light break in the action. It’s a good album to just listen to. Not a headbanger but has plenty of cool hooks that appealed to metalheads like me back in the day.

Next post: Joe Jackson- Night and Day

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