Big Blasts From The Past

THE PATTI SMITH GROUP Released ‘RADIO ETHIOPIA’ 45 Years Ago

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Back in time

15 October 2021

Artist: PATTI SMITH
This was the first LP labeled as The Patti Smith Group
Active: Patti started her career in 1967 (she’s 74 now)
and produced 11 albums so far, with Banga (2012) as her
latest. She also published multiple books/poems (much
more than LPs).

Anniversary album: RADIO ETHIOPIA
Released: 15 October 1976 – 45 years ago

AllMusic said: “Producer Jack Douglas gave “the Patti Smith Group,” as it was now billed, a hard rock sound… A schizophrenic album in which the many elements that had worked so well together on Horses now seemed jarringly incompatible, with Radio Ethiopia Smith and her band encountered the same development problem the punks would — as they learned their craft and competence set in, they lost some of the unselfconsciousness that had made their music so appealing.” Full review here. Score: 3.5/5.

Turn Up The Volume: It was nearly impossible to match, let alone improve, her debut masterpiece ‘Horses’, so I’m sure ‘Radio Ethiopia’ would have been more appreciated
if it had been her debut. Anyway, it’s still one of her electr-emo-fying best. Genuine passion, genuine heart and soul turmoil.

Highlights: Ask The Angels / Pumping / Distant Fingers / Radio Ethiopia

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PATTI SMITH: All Albums

Bluesy Rockers COLD WAR KIDS Released Captivating Debut Album ‘ROBBERS & COWARDS’ 15 Years Ago

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10 October 2021

Band: COLD WAR KIDS
Who Firm indie-rockers with bluesy
colors from Long Beach, California
Active: Since 2004 / 9 studio albums so far

Anniversary album: ROBBERS & COWARDS
Released: 10 October 2006 – 15 years ago today

AllMusic wrote: “Their evocative, oddly soulful vignettes contain
shades of Spoon’s sardonic, piano-driven rock; the insistent, jittery
feel of One Time Bells-era French Kicks; the poetic, rumpled ramblings
of the Walkmen; the stripped-down bluesiness of the White Stripes; and
in their more theatrical moments, a ghostly trace of Jeff Buckley, as well
as touches of folk and gospel… An exciting, accomplished debut album.”

Turn Up The Volume: Underrated band with
a feverish passion for emo songs and trippy guitars .

Singles/clips: We Used To Vacation / Hang Me Up To Dry

– WE USED TO VACATION –

– HANG ME UP TO DRY –

Full album…

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COLD WAR KIDS: Facebook

20 Candles For STARSAILOR And DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE

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9 October 2021

Band: STARSAILOR (Warrington, England)
Who: Guitar pop quartet
Active: 2000–2009, 2014-present / 5 studio albums

Anniversary album: LOVE IS HERE – debut LP
Released: 8 October 2001 – 20 years ago
Score: #2 in the UK

AllMusic said: They didn’t go for a grand bombast of crashing guitars
and angst-ridden stories similar to Oasis and Manic Street Preachers.
They go for something more positive as well — each song soars with
intricate musicianship and melodic lushness. Score: 4/5.

Key single: Good Souls…

Full Album…

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STARSAILOR: Facebook

Band: DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE
Who: Indie rockers from Bellingham, Washington
Active: 1997–present / 9 studio albums

Anniversary album: THE PHOTO ALBUM 3rd LP
Released: 9 October 2001 – 20 years ago

AllMusic said: “For once, a band’s popularity grew commensurate
with its maturation… The world needs more superb pop with brains
and heart and emotional complexity.” Score 3/5.

Key single: A Movie Script Ending…

Full album…

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DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE: Facebook

PUBLIC ENEMY – 30 Flaming Candles For Master Rap Work ‘APOCALYPSE 91… THE ENEMY STRIKES BLACK’

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1 October 2021

Band: PUBLIC ENEMY
Active: 1985-present / 15 studio albums (so far)

Anniversary album: APOCALYPSE 91… THE ENEMY STRIKES BLACK
Released: 24 September 1991 – 30 years ago, last week
Score: #4 on the USA Billbaord 200, #1 on the hip-hop-rap albums chart

AllMusic / Stephen Thomas Erlewine: “Coming down after the twin high-water marks
of ‘It Takes a Nation of Millions’ and ‘Fear of a Black Planet’, Public Enemy shifted strategy
a bit for their fourth album, Apocalypse 91… Arriving after two records where the words and music were equally labyrinthine, folding back on each other in dizzying, intoxicating ways, it
is a bit of a letdown to have Apocalypse be so direct, but there is no denying that the end result is still thrilling and satisfying, and remains one of the great records of the golden age of hip-hop.” Full review here. Score: 5/5.

Turn Up the Volume: My all-time favorite raging-and-roaring-rap motherfuckers.
They still beat them all today and a dangerous part of white America still fears a black nation. Even a nation of millions can’t hold Public Enemy back from bringing on the noise and shut the racists, sexists, and fascists down. Chuck D. and his loudmouthed gang ruled then, rule now and will do so in the future. Raise the roof!

Singles/clips: Bring The Noise / Can’t Truss It / Shut Em Down

– CAN’T TRUSS IT –

– SHUT EM DOWN –

Full album…

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PUBLIC ENEMY: Facebook – All Albums

PRINCE Released Topnotch Album ‘DIAMONDS AND PEARLS’ 30 Years Ago

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30 September 2021

Artist: PRINCE
June 7, 1958 – April 21, 2016
Made 40 studio albums with lost album
Welcome 2 America as the most recent one,
released last July.

Anniversary album: DIAMOND AND PEARLS – 13th LP
Released: 1 October 1991 – 30 years ago
Score: #1 in the US and Australia, #2 in the UK

Pitchfork said: “By 1991, Prince’s unsurpassed run of brilliance had ended, but he still
had a lot of great music in him. Diamonds and Pearls had a clutch of future classics along
with some odd experiments… As with all the greatest pop stars, Prince was a master at simplifying life’s most complicated emotions into catchphrases. He encompassed lust, jealousy, fear, spirituality, avarice, the impulse to run away, and the need to strip everything to its core—sometimes literally, sometimes figuratively. The man who believed in everlasting love died alone and childless, adored by almost the entire world. A song like “Diamonds and Pearls” illustrates why. For all the flamboyance and idiosyncrasy, Prince just wanted the same things as everyone else.” Full review here. Score: 8/10.

Turn Up The Volume: “One word. Genius”

Singles/clips: Get Off / Cream / Diamonds And Girls

– GET OFF –

– CREAM –

– DIAMONDS AND PEARLS –

Full album…

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PRINCE: All Albums – Website

NIRVANA Released Their Blustering Breakthrough LP ‘NEVERMIND’ 30 Years Ago Today

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24 September 2021

Band: NIRVANA
Active: 1987-1994 / 2 studio albums

R.I.P. Kurt Cobain
Aberdeen, 20 februari 1967 – Seattle, 5 april 1994

Anniversary album: NEVERMIND
Released: 24 September 1991 – 30 years ago today

Billboard says: “Nevermind took Nirvana to an entirely different plain. It’s heavy, yes.
It’s loud and aggressive, too. But it’s the songwriting and glossy pop production courtesy
of Butch Vig that set this album far apart from its contemporaries. Cobain’s innate sense of melody was front and center; his punk, you-can’t-fire-because-I-quit ethos were in your face; and the loud-soft dynamics served as barbed hooks, drawing listeners into his world. The lyrics were personal, opaque, and often dark, but also playful, and this dynamic gave Nevermind a familiarity to listeners, who felt as if they knew Cobain… The Seattle-based alt-rock trio hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 – unseating Michael Jackson – with its major-label debut and ushered in the age of grunge.”

Turn Up The Volume: The magnum opus that made grunge a worldwide (commercial) phenomenon. Nevermind the bollocks, Cobain and his mates rocked their asses off while Kurt Cobain wrote about his life in his songs.

Singles/clips: Smells Like Teen Spirit / Come As You Are / Lithium

– SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT –

– COME AS YOU ARE –

– LITHIUM –

Full album…

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NIRVANA: History – All Albums

An anniversary Deluxe Edition comes out on 27 May 2022. More info here

T. REX – Glam Rock Monument ‘ELECTRIC WARRIOR’ Came Out 50 Years Ago Today

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24 September 2021

Band: T. REX
Active: 1967-1977
4 studio LPs as Tyrannosaurus Rex
and 12 albums as T. Rex

R.I.P. Marc Bolan
30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977

Anniversary album: ELECTRIC WARRIOR
Released: 24 September 1971 – 50 years ag today
Producer: Tony Visconti (who worked a lot with Bowie
too and several other big-name musicians))
Score: # 1 in the UK

Pitchfork said: “Electric Warrior does contain the immortal “Bang a Gong (Get it On)”, but that’s neither the only nor the best reason to pick it up. What makes this record so enduring is its almost accidental emotional depth: When T.Rex is kicking out the jams, they sound like they’re having the most gleeful, absurd good time ever committed to wax. There’s nothing so glorious in rock and roll as hearing Bolan croon, “Just like a car, you’re pleasing to behold/ I’ll call you Jaguar if I may be so bold,” over his namesake boogie… The most significant aspect of Electric Warrior isn’t its arena rock confidence; it’s that Bolan allows his grinning mask to slip. With the incomparable aid of producer Tony Visconti, Bolan sketches a vast, empty room, where, after the party’s over, he resides alone, wide-eyed and desperate. On ballads like
“Cosmic Dancer”, “Monolith” and “Girl”, he speaks in the same gibberish as elsewhere, but
he’s clearly haunted by what we can’t say.” Full review here. Score: 9.5/10.

Turn Up The Volume: A natural-born rock star. Charisma, looks, clothes,
voice, and most of all tons of classic gems, slow and fast, glamorous and
moody. A genuine electric warrior. Icon 4ever.

Singles: Get It On / Jeepster

– GET IT ON –
(No 1 on the UK Singles Chart)

– JEEPSTER –
(Peaked at #2 on the UK Singles Chart)

Album in full…

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T.REX: Discography

PIXIES – 30 Candles For Their Fourth Longplayer ‘TROMPE LE MONDE’

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23 September 2021

Band: PIXIES
Who: Boston’s noise rock legends led by Black Francis
Active: 1986–1993, 2004–present / 7 studio albums (so far)

Anniversary album: TROMPE LE MONDE
Released: 30 years ago – in the UK on 23 September 1991
and in the US the day after

AllMusic / Heather Phares: “The title might be French for “fool the world,” but with
‘Trompe le Monde’, the Pixies weren’t fooling anyone: this was essentially Black Francis’
solo debut. It focuses on Francis’ sci-fi fascination and lacks any Kim Deal songs, even
her backing vocals are far and few between. Yet the band sounds revitalized on ‘Trompe
le Monde’, as if it were planned as their last hurrah.” Full review here. Score: 4/5.

Turn Up The Volume: It’s hard to top your first 3 albums as they all three were
brilliant, but Trompe Le Monde had some jawdropping moments – Planet Of Sound
(one of their best hammers ever) / Head On (JAMC cover) / U-Mass / Subbacultcha –
but their overall hard-hitting, melodic noise resonance became too familiar by
that time.

Anecdote: As mentioned above, ‘Trompe Le Monde‘ came out in the US
on 24 September 1991, the exact same date as the release of Nirvana‘s
masterpiece ‘Nevermind‘. I guess many of us know that Pixies were one
of Kurt Cobain‘s favorite bands

Singles: Planet Of Sound / Alec Eiffel / Letter To Memphis

– PLANET OF SOUND –

– ALEC EIFFEL –

– LETTER TO MEMPHIS –

Full album…

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All Albums – Website