With apologies to Lady Gaga, it may be British band 10cc that's most worthy of the term "art pop." The multifaceted group yielded 11 Top 10 hits in their native England, including the No. 1s "Rubber Bullets," "I'm Not In Love" and "Dreadlock Holiday"; the group even crossed over into the U.S. charts with "I'm Not In Love" and "The Things We Do for Love," both Top 5 hits. By an amazing coincidence, not one, not two, but three 10cc-related catalogue collections are hitting stores starting next
Ace is saying "All Aboard!" with a pair of recent releases spotlighting the label's pursuit of the diverse sounds of music. The London American Label Year by Year: 1966 continues Ace's long-running survey of the American sides issued on London Records in the U.K. between the 1950s and the 1970s while All Aboard! 25 Train Tracks Calling at All Musical Stations spotlights (you guessed it!) "train songs." The eleventh volume of Ace's The London American Label series is here, with 28 selections
Jimi Hendrix, The Cry of Love and Rainbow Bridge: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Experience Hendrix/Legacy) Legacy and Experience Hendrix have reissues of Jimi Hendrix's first two posthumously-released albums, both from 1971; The Cry of Love is long out-of-print on CD, while Rainbow Bridge makes its first authorized appearance in the CD format. Both titles have been freshly remastered by Bernie Grundman from the original analog masters. The Cry of Love: Amazon U.S. / Amazon
Between August 1972 and May 1981, late night television was a little more rockin'. Producer Burt Sugarman's The Midnight Special followed Johnny Carson's Tonight Show on Friday evenings, welcoming viewers with Johnny Rivers' rousing rendition of the traditional tune (a Top 20 hit for Rivers in 1965). Over the course of 450 episodes, The Midnight Special presented a staggering array of music's top talent on network television with most songs performed live for the majority of its run. The
Booker T. & the MGs, Green Onions (Concord/Stax) The 1962 album from the Stax legends is expanded with two previously issued, live bonus tracks from Los Angeles in 1965. Read more here. David Cassidy, Cherish / Rock Me Baby (7Ts/Cherry Red) The Partridge Family star was on top of the world when he released his first two solo albums in 1972. They arrive on American shores today as one two-fer! Read more here. The Guess Who, # 10 / Road Food (Iconoclassic) Iconoclassic’s series of
Chubby Checker, It's Pony Time/Let's Twist Again/Durocs, Durocs/Terry Knight and the Pack, Terry Knight and the Pack/Reflections/The Orlons, The Wah Watusi/South Street/Various Artists, Remember Me Baby: Cameo Parkway Vocal Groups Vol. 1 (Real Gone Music) The latest group from Real Gone Music includes classics from the vaults of Philadelphia's Cameo-Parkway label plus power-pop from San Francisco's Durocs! Isaac Hayes and Dionne Warwick, A Man and A Woman/Cissy Houston, Presenting Cissy
From “Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen” to “Breaking Up is Hard to Do,” Neil Sedaka drew on a seemingly endless well of onomatopoeic hooks to enliven his early rock-and-roll records, leaving no Tra-la-la or do-be-doo untouched. The Juilliard-trained musician and native of Brooklyn, New York was one of the relatively rare few rockers of his generation equally adept at both performing and songwriting. As active members of Don Kirshner’s Aldon Music stable (alongside Carole King and Gerry Goffin as
When The Monkees' Instant Replay was released in February 1969, less than three years had passed since the band's vinyl debut in October 1966. But the pop world of 1966 might have been a lifetime ago. Five days before Instant Replay's February 15 release, The Beach Boys unveiled the album 20/20, on which America's band surreptitiously recorded a song by Charles Manson. Two days after, The Temptations skyrocketed to Cloud Nine, meeting psychedelia head-on. By the year's end, the dream of
Doo doo doo down doo be do down down/Come a come a down doo be do down down… One year before “Da Doo Ron Ron,” eleven before “Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)” and eighteen before “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da,” Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield taught the world that “Breakin’ Up is Hard to Do” with their immortal wordless refrain. Sedaka went on to become the king of the “Tra-la-las” and “shoo-be-doos” with his early rock-and-roll records, and the Juilliard-trained musician was one of the
Neil Sedaka famously proclaimed that "The Tra-La Days Are Over" as the title of his (unfortunately out-of-print) 1973 album. But thanks to Wounded Bird (as if the label hadn't announced a big enough bonanza for reissue fans already!), fans of rock and roll's golden age have another chance to enjoy Sedaka's days as king of the shoo-be-doos and tra-la-las. Little Devil and His Other Hits/The Many Sides of Neil Sedaka is set for release on September 7 according to Pause and Play. For an artist with