Big Blasts From The Past

THE 13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS Released Their Debut LP Today 60 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

Band: THE 13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS
Who: Psychedelic garage rock legends from
Austin, Texas fronted by renownded vocalist/guitarist
Roky Erickson (1947-2019)

Active: 1965-1969 / 3 LPs

Anniversary Album: THE PSYCHEDELIC SOUNDS OF THE 13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS
Released: 17 October 1966 – today 60 years ago.


Photo: Doug Hanners archive / Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · WebP conversion

The album showcases the earliest known use of the word ‘psychedelic‘ on an album title.

The tracks are described as exhibiting a dark, eerie quality. Roky Erickson‘s vocals have been likened to banshee wailing and have been described as sounding like yelping and howling like a man possessed.

Pitchfork in retrospect: “Erickson’s psychedelia was not passive aural wallpapers,
all pretty shapes and colors to listen to while tripping, but an active force of social,
musical, and psychological change.”

SINGLE

ALBUM


.
Discography
Story

THE HUMAN LEAGUE – British Electro-Pop Bigtimers Released Their Classic Album ‘DARE’ Today 45 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

16 October 2026

Band: THE HUMAN LEAGUE
Who: British electro pop bigtimers who got active in 1977.
They’re still touring constantly with frontman Philip Oakey (71 now)
as the original member. They released 9 LPs.

Anniversary album: DARE
Their 2nd one.
Released: 16 October 1981,
today 45 years ago.

NME said: “This sounds like the first Human League greatest hits collection.
Much more than ABBA or whoever you like, the Human League signify that
deliciously serious, sincerely disposable MOR music can possess style, quality
and sophistication.”

TUTV: Another clear-cut proof of the fact
that delightful pop tunes last for decades.

KEY SINGLE
More than 807 million
streams on Spotify

ALBUM


.
Linktree
Story
All Albums

PRINCE – Today 45 Years Ago The Late Genius 4th Album ‘CONTROVERSY’ Came Out

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

14 October 2026

The late genial PRINCE (1958-2016) released his 4th LP, named
CONTROVERSY on 14 October 1981, 45 years ago today.

He wrote and produced the entire album, except for one track,
and also performed most of the instruments on the recording.

It peaked at #3 in the US.

Rolling Stone said: “Prince’s first three records were so erotically self-absorbed
that they suggested the reveries of a licentious young libertine. On Controversy, that
libertine proclaims unfettered sexuality as the fundamental condition of a new, more
loving society than the bellicose, overtechnologized America of Ronald Reagan.”

SINGLE

ALBUM


.
Instagram
Linktree
All Albums

U2 Released Their 2nd Album ‘OCTOBER’ Today 45 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

12 October 2026

Irish rock jumbos released their 2nd album, named
OCTOBER on 12 October 1981, today 45 years ago.

The album was lyrically inspired by the memberships of Bono, the Edge, and Larry Mullen Jr. in a Christian group called the Shalom Fellowship, and consequently it contains spiritual and religious themes. Their involvement led them to question the relationship between the Christian faith and the rock and roll lifestyle, and threatened to break up the band.

Bono: “I remember the pressure it was made under, I remember writing lyrics on
the microphone, and at £50 an hour, that’s quite a pressure. The ironic thing about
October is that there’s a sort of peace about the album, even though it was recorded
under that pressure.

I think October goes into areas that most rock ‘n’ roll bands ignore.
When I listen to the album, something like ‘Tomorrow,’ it actually
moves me.”

TUTV: I’m a sizeable U2 fan but
this album is somehow a bit too
bombastic for my liking.

Singles.

– GLORIA –

– FIRE –


ALBUM


.
Instagram
Linktree
All Albums

DR. FEELGOOD – British R&B Rock Legends Released Their Steaming Live LP ‘STUPIDITY’ Today 50 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

10 October 2026

Legendary British R & B rockers DR. FEELGOOD, led by the late charismatic singer
Lee Brilleaux (1952-1994) and the late sensational guitarist Wilko Johnson (1947-2022) were one of the many pub rock bands such as Eddie & The Hot Rods, The Count Bishops
and Joe Strummer’s 101ers who paved the way for the punk generation.

Their fantastic live longplayer called STUPIDITY was
released on 10 October 1976, today 50 years ago.

AllMusic said in retrospect: “All the music on Stupidity is presented raw and
without overdubs, making it clear that the dynamic friction between guitarist
Wilko Johnson and vocalist Lee Brilleaux could propel the band toward greatness.”

It topped the UK album charts.
Their only No. 1 record.

If you never heard of them, then you really
need to check out their live force here.

ALBUM


.
Short Bio
All Albums


Back sleeve

BECK Released 10th Album ‘THE INFORMATION’ 20 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from the past

3 October 2026

Eminent singer-songwriter BECK (né Bek David Campbell 56 years ago in Los Angeles) released his 10th album THE INFORMATION today 20 years ago, on 3 October 2006.

It was produced and mixed by Nigel Godrich, with whom Beck recorded
Mutations (1998), Sea Change (2002) and his new one Ride Lonesome.

Beck: “It started out painless, and ended up being painful. It’s as if we made the album once, and we made it again, and we made it a third time. We started the record in 2003, and we got together annually, Nigel Godrich and I. We combed over everything, and got rid of the things we were tired of, the things that seemed trite.”

About the LP’s title: “The Information is the thing that occupies our minds, so we won’t have
to deal with silence which may make us think. The album was going to be called International Dreambag, but I thought it was too hippy, so at the last minute I named it after this. I generally have a rule against title tracks – I wanted to call it Colourforms, but it was trademarked.”

Rolling Stone said: “The Information is dense in its rhyme games, rhythmic details and overdub antics. But it is a compelling overload, combining the sample-delic bloom of Beck’s best-loved album, Odelay, and the folk-pop introspection of his least-understood, 2002’s
Sea Change.”

Turn Up The Volume: Most of the critics praised and lauded the LP,
but to my ears – except for some strong moments like Elevator Music /
Nausea / Dark Star / The Information – it’s a bit too much the Beck
we know for so long.

Singles.

– NAUSEA –

– CELLPHONE’S DEAD –

– THINK I’M IN LOVE –

ALBUM


.
Instagram
Linktree
All Albums

PUBLIC ENEMY Released Their Master Rap Attack Album ‘APOCALYPSE 91… THE ENEMY STRIKES BLACK’ Today 35 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

1 October 2026

Notorious rap rebels PUBLIC ENEMY released their master rap attack opus
APOCALYPSE 91… THE ENEMY STRIKES BLACK on 1 October 1991, today
35 years ago.

The album title is an allusion to the titles of the films
Apocalypse Now and The Empire Strikes Back.

It peaked on #4 on the USA Billboard 200, #1 on the hip-hop-rap charts.

The band would take a new direction with their sound, partly out of necessity.
The disks for every track they had been working on for the past four to five years
had been stolen. As a result, they had to rush to re-create their music and to
put out their album in a timely manner.

AllMusic/Stephen Thomas Erlewine said: “Arriving after two records – ‘It Takes
A Nation of Millions’ and ‘Fear Of A Black Planet’ – 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.”

Turn Up the Volume: My all-time favorite raiding-and-raving rap revolutionists.
Even a nation of millions can’t hold Public Enemy back from bringing on the noise
and shutting the racists, absolutists, and xenophobes down. For a long time they
were in every way the most important black squad in the world.

SINGLES

ALBUM


.
Linktree
All Albums

NEW ORDER – 40 Candles Today For Their 4th Album ‘BROTHERHOOD’

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

29 September 2026

Manchester’s synth-guitar-pop kingpins NEW ORDER released their 4th LP,
named BROTHERHOOD on 29 September 1986, today 40 years ago.

Brotherhood saw the band further exploring their mix of post-punk and electronic
styles, with the track listing being conceptually divided into “disco and rock sides“.

Stephen Morris (drummer) said: “The album was kind of done in a schizophrenic
mood that we were trying to do one side synthesizers and one side guitars”, which
he retrospectively stated “didn’t quite work”.

The album sleeve, created by Factory Records‘ house illustrator
Peter Saville, is a photograph of a sheet of titanium–zinc alloy

It peaked at #9 in the UK, #15 in Australia
and, oops, only at #117 in the US.

UNCUT Magazine (British music monthly) “There’s an increased tension between
the frequent beauty of the music and the band’s Northern self-consciousness. This was
New Order becoming New Order and if anyone was entitled to not be Joy Division, they
certainly were.”

SINGLE

The album’s only single, ‘Bizarre Love Triangle ‘, was the band’s breakthrough single
in the United States and Australia. It was the only track from the album released as
a single.

ALBUM


.

Linktree
NO Story
All Albums

STEVIE WONDER Released Monumental Double Album ‘SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE’ Today 50 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

28 September 2026

Soul/funk master STEVIE WONDER, born Stevland Hardaway Morris 76 years ago,
released his monumetal 19th LP SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE, a double one plus
one EP, on 28 September 1976, today 50 years ago.

It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 Chart, becoming only
the third album to achieve that feat, and the first by an American artist.

The album’s themes: religious beliefs, love, romance, nostalgia, parenthood,
inequality, music as a language, and racial discrimination. Wonder played, wrote,
and arranged the majority of the album.

Pitchfork: “Songs in the Key of Life” was the culmination of a historic period of creativity
for Stevie Wonder. Its ambition and scope were unprecedented, and he never approached
its caliber or impact again. The album was the culmination of a historic period of creativity,
a concentrated burst of music matched only by a handful of artists (mid-’60s Bob Dylan, early ’70s Rolling Stones, ’80s Prince).”

TUTV: Michael Jackson called himself the King of Pop.
I call Stevie Wonder the King of Soul.

Singles.

– SIR DUKE –

– I WISH –

– ISN’T SHE LOVELY –

ALBUM


.
Instagram
Stevie Story
All Albums

NIRVANA And RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS Released Both Blazing Albums 35 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

24 September 2026

Band: NIRVANA
Active: 1987-1994 / 3 studio LPs

Album: NEVERMIND
Released: 24 September 1991 – 35 years ago today

It was their second and global breakthrough album.
A seminal one for the future. Copies are still sold today.

It topped the US Charts and peaked at #7 in the UK.

TUTV: The magnum opus that made grunge a worldwide (commercial) phenomenon.
Nevermind the bollocks, Nirvana rocked their asses off while Kurt Cobain focused on
his life in his impassioned songs.

KEY SINGLE

ALBUM


.
Instagram
Story
Discography

Band: RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
Active: 1982–present / 13 LPs

Album: BLOOD SUGAR SEX MAGIK
Released: 35 years ago today, 24 September 1991

It was their 3rd and peaked at
#3 in the US, #25 in the UK.

TUTV: Mega punky/funky/groovy record for punky/funky/groovy parties.

KEY SINGLE

ALBUM


.
Instagram
Story
All Albums