Vinyl Disc Two: B-52s to The Beatles
As a reminder, this series of blog entries is an ode to all the vinyl albums I owned up until just recently. I am building a giant Spotify playlist with one song from every album. And there will be a blog post for every cd’s worth. So here’s the second. Oh, and lookee! I figure out how to embed the playlist. I will go back and edit the previous post to do the same.
The B-52’s
The B-52’s (1979)
Rock Lobster
God how I loved the B-52’s! The beehive hairdos. The goofy dance pop like some early 60’s novelty song. The whole back and forth between Fred and Kate and Cindy. Just a complete package. This is their first album, with the delightful “Rock Lobster”. And we’re off.
The B-52’s
Wild Planet (1980)
Devil in My Car
When this was released, I was living in a loft apartment just off Graham Road south of 71st street. In many ways, I liked this album better than the first. I presume most people would pick “Private Idaho” to represent Wild Planet, but I always got a kick out of “Devil in My Car”. Go to hell in my own Chevrolet!
The B-52’s
Party Mix! (1981)
Party Out of Bounds
An EP of remixes. Surprise!
The B-52’s
Mesopotamia (1982)
Deep Sleep
Another EP. Now this album was a real left turn. David Byrne did the producing, and it really shows. Lush production, including sythesizers, horns, you name it. A much richer sounding album. This song is a great example. So very different from the raw bouncy feel of their previous recordings.
The B-52’s
Whammy! (1983)
Whammy Kiss
If they didn’t start singing, you’d think this was a Devo song. Just listen to the intro. But it sounds like they’re having fun.
Bad Company
Bad Company (1974)
Bad Company
Another album that was purchased many years after it was released. Half the people in the dorm in college owned a copy, as did my first post-college roommate. Anyway, Bad Company were a couple of members of the band Free and one guy each from Mott the Hoople and King Crimson. And since Paul Rodgers was the singer for Free, for years I thought “All Right Now” was a Bad Company song. He was also the voice of the Firm, a band he formed with Jimmy Page in 1984. If you’re old enough, you remember their one hit “Radioactive”.
Joan Baez
Blessed Are…
Blessed Are
I certainly did not buy this when it came out. In 1971, I was grooving to “4 Way Street” by CSNY, “Ram” by Paul McCartney, and “Every Good Boy Deserves Favour” by the Moody Blues. I suspect I bought this around 1975, after spending some time that summer driving around Utah with my brother Jack. In those days, he was big into country music and older folk music. This album also includes Baez’ biggest hit, her version of The Band’s “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”, which I have grown to really dislike. Levon Helm’s vocals are far superior to Baez’, and I will fight you about this.
Bananarama
Bananarama (1984)
Cruel Summer
Let’s jump forward a decade to a hit by the pop new wave girl group Bananarama. I probably bought this influenced by the video on MTV. Did I mention I was really into new wave and the big beat sound of the eighties? This album will not be the only evidence of that.
Tony Banks
A Curious Feeling (1979)
Forever Morning
In 1973, I became aware of Genesis and never looked back, but that’s a story for another time. Suffice it to say, I bought everything the band put out, and anything by the solo members. This is keyboardist Tony Banks’ first solo effort. I did not know it at the time, but apparently “A Curious Feeling” is a concept album loosely based on “Flowers for Algernon”, one of the most depressing books ever forced on high school readers across the decades. The album itself is not super. This instrumental is possibly the least painful of all the tracks.
Tony Banks
The Fugitive (1983)
This Is Love
It should be clear by now that I never learn. Banks always wanted to write pop songs, but he just wasn’t very good at it. Nor was he the most accomplished vocalist, as is evident here. For this album, he decided to do the singing. Possibly not the wisest choice, he says charitably.
The Beatles
Rubber Soul (1965)
Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
This is not the first Beatles album I purchased. That would be “Magical Mystery Tour” in late 1967. This song, of course, includes the first ever appearance of sitar in western music.
The Beatles
Yesterday and Today (1966)
And Your Bird Can Sing
One note about Beatles’ releases in general. As a resident of the United States, my vinyl records were typically the versions available in the United States. Imagine that. This is a case in point. These days, “Yesterday and Today” is sort of considered a non-album, with tracks taken from the UK versions of “Help!”, “Rubber Soul”, and “Revolver”. Anyway, I always liked this song.
The Beatles
Revolver (1966)
Yellow Submarine
Not a whole lot to say about this album. But let me digress about how I used to listen to music back in the day. We had this cheap stereo record player that my dad got by joining a record club. I remember the first album he got was “Tom Jones Live”, but that’s not the point. Anyway, it was a simple exercise to set it up so that it would play the same album over and over. And that’s what I did. I’d listen to music and read. For years, every time I heard a song from “Revolver”, I would recall the science fiction stories in the collection SF12. McCartney’s “Ram” always reminded me of Tom Sawyer, which I had to read for school. Moving on.
The Beatles
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
A Day in the Life
Just a great song from a groundbreaking album. Actually it is a mashup of two songs, Lennon’s opening and closing sections, and McCartney’s bridge. Noteworthy for the long-resonating piano chord at the end. Oh, and I never heard the weird chanting at the very end until I got a digital copy, mainly because it was left off the US vinyl release.
The Beatles
Magical Mystery Tour (1967)
Strawberry Fields Forever
One good thing about US releases of Beatles albums: we got the singles. The Beatles had a policy that they would not put previously released singles on their albums, presumably so their fans wouldn’t have to pay for them twice. But if you were only buying the albums, it was nice to get the singles. All of side two of the US version of “Magical Mystery Tour” are previously released singles, and they are all killers! Good thing, says I, because side one is pretty weak. This album also triggers another memory for me. The single Hello Goodbye was released in late 1967, and was popular on the radio over the holiday season. I specifically remember this because I took my little transistor radio with me when we went to Dr. Baker’s house to watch IU in the 1968 Rose Bowl just so I could hear Hello Goodbye if they played it. Why did we go to the Baker’s for the Rose Bowl? My only guess is that they had a color tv. We didn’t get one until the spring of 1971. Oh, and the OJ Simpson-lead Trojans beat the Hoosiers 14-3.
The Beatles
The Beatles (1968)
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
The first Beatles album released on Apple Records. As far as I know, the first time the US version is the same as the UK version. If you wanted the single version of “Hey Jude” and “Revolution”, you had to buy it. I did. A monster album, The White Album is frequently uneven, but it is full of amazing creativity. This is when the breakup of the Beatles really began.
The Beatles
Let It Be (1970)
Two of Us
The last released Beatles album, which is really unfortunate, because it’s not that good. And it’s all Phil Spector’s fault. After recording the tracks in January 1969, it took Spector and the production crew until May 1970 to cobble the finished product together. In the meantime, the Beatles had reconvened with George Martin to record the far superior “Abbey Road”, which was released in late 1969. By all rights (and in my mind) “Abbey Road” is their last album, rather than this trainwreck. Anyway, it sures sounds like McCartney is addressing Lennon directly, and somewhat wistfully, with the lyrics in this song.
And that’s Disc Two