Small Faces – From the Beginning (Decca U.K.)
I’m back from vacation, and have resumed my raid of my four-years-neglected vinyl collection, having received a turntable as an X-mas present. This is a pure example of the kind of music that sounds (by far) best on vinyl; one of the hottest, yet lesser-known (here) records of the British Invasion ‘60s, as hot as anything THE WHO were turning out at the same time (1967). The cover of DEL SHANNON’s “Runaway” that opens this is devastating! And their originals (“My Mind’s Eye,” “That Man,” “Hey Girl”) smoke too.
Eddie Cochran – The E.P. Collection (See For Miles U.K.)
I bought this succinct and essential collection when it was compiled by Brit label See For Miles in 1989, part of an “E.P. Collection” series they did around then that was just invaluable. The tragic Cochran (killed in a 1960 car smash that also badly injured his friend GENE VINCENT) only had a few years to record, and this is his primo pioneering rock ‘n’ roll / rockabilly / R&B stuff to a ‘T.’ No rock ‘n’ roll collection is complete without “Nervous Breakdown” and “20 Flight Rock” let alone the venerated “Summertime Blues” and “C’Mon Everybody,” all of which he sang with abandon and real joy.
Brian Eno – Here Come the Warm Jets (Editions EG)
I’ve been strangely obsessed with this 1973 solo debut by Eno since first hearing it in my friend GEOFF HUTCHINSON’s basement five years later. (Thanks Geoff!) Proof that amazing things were happening in the early 1970s even if the commercial marketplace wasn’t paying attention. I don’t think I’ve ever once played “On Some Faraway Beach” without being compelled to sing along, and “Needles in the Camel’s Eye” is a classic. There’s nothing quite like this masterwork in Eno’s catalog thereafter, either, much as I like a few others he did that decade.
Bad Religion – Recipe For Hate (Epitaph)
As time has gone by, I’ve decided this is Bad Religion’s greatest LP as well as their most distinctive one, the only one in their otherwise awesome catalog that can be appreciated by folks who otherwise don’t go for them (or punk in general). After a string of fast and powerful punk records from 1980-1992, they totally opened up the approach here in 1993 with a bunch of new styles of post-punk and alternative rock, and the results were amazing! (See “All Good Soldiers,” “Watch it Die” and especially the astonishing “Struck a Nerve,” as well as the hyper-country genius of “Man With a Mission”). This is truly GREG GRAFFIN and BRETT GUREWITZ firing on all cylinders. If they hadn’t signed to Atlantic soon thereafter, they might have continued in this expanding direction instead of going back to more narrow straight punk (although Stranger Than Fiction was a pretty great record for that and went gold for them).
Sonny Boy Williamson – The Real Folk Blues (Chess)
Along with HOWLIN’ WOLF (also on Chess), (the second) Sonny Boy Williamson is my favorite bluesman of all time. His voice is commanding, and his backing tracks are always rough yet soulful. You want blues as the foundation of all ‘60s rock that came thereafter? And great songs to boot? Try “One Way Out” and “Too Young to Die” and “Dissatisfied.” This 1966 collection of his much older singles sides, compiled shortly after his death, is often combined on CD with its sequel More Real Folk Blues for even greater value. But again, the old blues sounds warmer and harder on vinyl.
The Buckinghams – Time and Charges (Columbia)
This is one of those LPs I bought at a yard sale for like $2 25 years ago that I’ve never stopped playing. This Chicago quintet were one of the best bands ever at using horns to spruce up their already stupendous songs before the whole concept got corrupted, and this 1967 pinnacle is nearly perfect start to finish—especially side one, with the smash hit “Don’t You Care” giving way to even better tunes such as “And Our Love” and “Why Don’t You Love Me.” Finally, the uncharacteristic, anti-Vietnam war closer “Foreign Policy” still sends chills up my spine with its sample of a speech by the only-four-years-dead Jack Kennedy. You bet I think about this song a lot in a time of war!
The Effigies –
For Ever Grounded (Enigma)
Speaking of Chicago, fast-forward 17 years, and this 1984 first LP (following two awesome EPs and a single) still crackles across the ages with full punk / post-punk fire. Although a couple songs made it on to their lone CD retrospective, Remains Nonviewable on Touch and Go, which otherwise compiled those earlier recordings, this is an LP that’s crying for reissue, if for no other reason than the world needs to hear the absolutely searing “Rather See None” again. JOHN KEZDY’s insightful looks at Chicago machine politics like “What’s the Beat” just make this LP even more enduring. And it’s great they’ve reformed and have been playing around the Midwest again!
Xavier Cugat and his Orchestra – Xavier Cugat Today! (Decca)
Am I mad? Maybe. This was in a stack of 50-some-odd LPs that my parents bought in the entire 1960s (along with a bunch of HERB APERT & THE TIJUANA BRASS and ANDY WILLIAMS, FRANK SINATRA, JOHNNY MATHIS, etc.) that I saved from being thrown out by my mom (!!!!!!) five years ago. I remember hearing this as a little boy, and there’s something rather charming about a cha-cha cover of DONOVAN’s then brand new “Mellow Yellow” just to lead things off, followed by samba, meringue, bolero, bossa nova, guaracha, and guarija versions by the famous bandleader of other contemporary hits, like “Winchester Cathedral,” “Born Free,” and “Music to Watch Girls By!”
Lush – Lovelife (Warner Bros.)
Am I the only one who misses this band, that understandably and sadly called it a day after the shocking suicide of good-guy drummer CHRIS ACLAND in 1997? They went out on what was hands-down their best LP, and a new direction for them in this 1996 LP. They held on to their former ‘dreampop’ tendencies, but married them here to a hot new wave/post-punk attack and their crispest and most direct melodies. For “Single Girl” alone, and the amusing kiss-off duet with PULP’s JARVIS COCKER, “Ciao,” this always finds its way into my thoughts and player year after year as does Lush in general. MIKI BERENYI, when you finish raising your children with KEVIN MCKILLOP from the also much-missed MOOSE, please come back and make more records!!! Please!!! We asked nicely!
Robert Pollard – From a Compound Eye (Merge)
OK, enough vinyl, enough old stuff. This soon to be released CD album (a double LP on vinyl, his first) marks the start of Pollard’s post-GUIDED BY VOICES life. As such, it’s a pity it’s not one of his very best, or for that matter, that’s it’s not as strong as his last four or five GBV LPs. And 26 songs could have been whittled down to a stronger 14 or 15, the standard complaint of double LPs. But as usual, there’s a half dozen tracks that make you glad he never runs out of ideas. No, we’re not sure why he doesn’t. He just doesn’t.
