Big Blasts From The Past

RANDY NEWMAN Released His Great Longplayer ‘SAIL AWAY’ 50 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

Back in time

22 May 2022

Artist: RANDY NEWMAN
Who: Legendary songsmith from Los Angeles
Born Randall Stuart Newman 78 years ago
Active: Since 1961 / 11 studio LPs with Dark Matter,
five years ago, as his most recent one.

Anniversary album: SAIL AWAY
Released: 23 May 1972 – 50 years ago today

AllMusic/Mark Deming said: “On his third studio album, Randy Newman found
a middle ground between the heavily orchestrated pop of his debut and the more
stripped-down, rock-oriented approach of 12 Songs, and managed to bring new
strength to both sides of his musical personality in the process. Overall, Sail Away
is one of Newman’s finest works, musically adventurous and displaying a lyrical
subtlety that would begin to fade in his subsequent works.” Score: 5/5.

Turn Up The Volume: 5-star songwriting splendor for short people, long people
and all people in between. Despite widely raving critics the LP only got to #163 on
the US Albums Charts. Incredible. But afterward, when millions’ ears went open it
sold heavily. Don’t leave your hat on for this living legend

Key tracks: Sail Away / You Can Leave Your Hat On

– SAIL AWAY –

– YOU CAN LEAVE YOUR HAT ON –

Stream full album…

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RANDY NEWMAN: All Albums – Facebook

Prog-Psych Rockers URIAH HEEP Released ‘DEMONS AND WIZARDS’ 50 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

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19 May 2022

Band: URIAH HEEP
Who: Heavy prog-rock legends from London
Active: 1969-present / 24 studio LPs with
Living The Dream as the most recent one,
released in 2018.

Anniversary album: DEMONS AND WIZARDS – 4th LP
Released: 19 May 1972 – 50 years ago today
Score: #20 in the UK, #23 in the USA, #1 in Finland, #5 in Germany

Rolling Stone Magazine said: “These guys are good. The first side
of Demons and Wizards is simply odds-on the finest high energy workout
of the year, tying nose and nose with the Blue Öyster Cult…they may have
started out as a thoroughly dispensable neo-Cream & Blooze outfit, but at
this point Uriah Heep are shaping up into one hell of a first-rate modern
rock band”.

Singles/clips: Easy Livin’ / The Wizard

– EASY LIVIN’ –

– THE WIZARD –

Stream full album on Spotify

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URIAH HEEP: Story – All Albums

Two Big Blasts From The Past – ASSOCIATES And THE CLASH 40 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Back in time

17 May 2022

Band: THE CLASH
Album: COMBAT ROCK – 5th LP

Released: 14 May 1982 – 40 years ago
Score: #2 in the UK, #5 in New Zealand, #12 in Canada

Key single: Should I Stay Or Should I Go

Full album on Spotify…

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THE CLASH: All Albums
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Band: ASSOCIATES
Who: Scottish post-punk and art-pop duo featuring
otherwordly voice and songwriter Billy Mackenzie
and guitarist Alan Rankine.

Album: SULK – their 2nd LP
Released: 14 May 1982 – 40 years ago
Score: #10 in the UK

Single: Party Fears Two

Full album stream on Spotify…

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ASSOCIATES: All Albums

THE BLACK CROWES – Great 2nd Album ‘THE SOUTHERN HARMONY AND MUSICAL COMPANION’ Is 30

Posted on by JL

Back in time

14 May 2022

Band: THE BLACK CROWES
Named after a children’s book of 1907,
titled Johnny Crow’s Garden by painter/auteur
Leonard Leslie Brooke

Who: Celebrated blues rockers from Atlanta, Georgia founded
by the Robinson Bros (Frontman Chris and guitarist Rich)
Active: 1984–2002, 2005–2015, 2019–present / 8 studio LPs

Anniversary album: THE SOUTHERN HARMONY AND MUSICAL COMPANION

Released: 12 May 1992 – 30 years ago

Rolling Stone Magazine wrote: “The Crowes are a Southern band that plays rock,
so there is a buried blues base to their music… the Crowes didn’t learn to play at the feet of Howlin’ Wolf; they learned by listening to records by Humble Pie, the Faces, midperiod Stones, Mott the Hoople and the rest of the second-wave British Invasion from twenty years ago… The Crowes’ songs are a pose, just as singing about thirty days in the hole was a pose for Humble Pie. But it is a testament to the skill, intelligence and force behind the Crowes’ music to say that their posing doesn’t matter — or really, their posing is what matters most of all.” Score: 3.5/5.


Deinze, Belgium – 2 December 1992 – Top concert

Turn Up The Volume: Electrifying retro rock blues brought with Stones-esque swagger, full-energetic force and several sweaty & sultry highlights, fast and slow (Sting Me / Remedy / Hotel Illness / No Speak No Slave / Black Moon Creeping / Time Will Tell) and they were even nastier on stage, as I experienced a couple of times.

Singles: Sting Me / Remedy / Thorn In My Side

– STING ME –

– REMEDY –

– THORN IN MY PRIDE –

Stream the full album on Spotify…

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THE BLACK CROWES: Story – All Albums – Spotify

THE ROLLING STONES Released Double Masterpiece Album ‘EXILE ON MAIN STREET’ 50 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Back in time

13 May 2022

On 12 May 1972, 50 years ago, the imperishable midnight ramblers THE ROLLING STONES released their major double album EXILE ON MAIN STREET. It was the band’s 10th studio longplayer. Since it came out it appeared on countless best ever albums lists.

AllMusic wrote: “It’s the kind of record that’s gripping on the very first listen, but each subsequent listen reveals something new. Few other albums, let alone double albums, have been so rich and masterful as Exile on Main St., and it stands not only as one of the Stones’
best records, but sets a remarkably high standard for all of hard rock.” Score: 5/5.

Three of the many highlights…

– TUMBLING DICE –

– HAPPY –

– RIP THIS JOINT –

Stream full album…

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THE ROLLING STONES: Facebook – All Albums

Wild Boys Band DURAN DURAN Released ‘RIO’ Album 40 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

Back in time

10 May 2022

Band: DURAN DURAN
Who: Hits machine from Birmingham, UK
Active: 1978-present / 15 studio LPs with last
year’s Future Past as the most recent one.

Anniversary album: RIO – their 2nd longplayer
Released: 10 May 1982 – 40 years ago today
Score: #2 in the UK, #1 in Canada and Australia

Pitchfork said: “With Rio, Duran Duran became a group of ultra-proficient musicians,
capable of churning out chart-topping pop songs with effortless aplomb, as well as a teen-baiting boy band, setting schoolgirls’ hearts aflame with their sharp clothes and packaged personas. It was simultaneously style-over-substance and substance-over-style; even the album’s neon and pastel cover art became something of a shorthand for the gilded excess
of the ’80s.”

Turn Up The Volume: The glam and glitter boys band knew exactly how to
attract armies of fans worldwide. Looking flashy, sounding sickly sticking, and
acting like the coolest band on the planet is what DD all did back in the day.

Singles/clips: My Own Way / Hungry Like The Wolf / Save A Prayer

– MY OWN WAY –

– HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF –

– SAVE A PRAYER –

Stream full LP here…

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Not done yet.
All 2022 tour dates here

DURAN DURAN: All Albums – Facebook

CARTER THE UNSTOPPABLE SEX MACHINE Released Ace LP ‘1992: THE LOVE ALBUM ‘ 30 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Back in time

5 May 2022

Band: CARTER THE UNSTOPPABLE SEX MACHINE
The synth/guitar indie punk duo – Jim “Jim Bob” Morrison and guitarist
Les “Fruitbat” Carter – shortened their name later to CARTER USM
Active: 1987–1998, 2007–2014 / 6 LPS

Anniversary album: 1992: THE LOVE ALBUM
Released: 4 May 1992 – 30 years ago today
Score: #1 in the UK

AllMusic wrote: “What turned out to be Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine’s
shortest album, at a mere 36 minutes, was also its most commercially successful,
confirming the band as a massive draw… The European Union flag providing the
cover and title refers to the then-groundbreaking fusion of governments and policies
in the continent, but Carter’s appropriately sharp dedication, “to our friends
in ‘Yugoslavia’,” as that conflict spiralled out of control, shows where the album’s
questioning mindset was aimed.” Score 4,5/5.

Turn Up The Volume: Without a shadow of a doubt, their standout album.
An absolute powerhouse stunner, boiling from start to finish, with glorious
stories/lyrics. ACE. Btw, live Carter USM was a blast too, as I experienced
a couple of times.

Singles/clips: The Only Living Boy In New Cross / Do Re Me, So Far So Good /
Suppose You Gave A Funeral And Nobody Came

– THE ONLY LIVING BOY IN NEW CROSS –

– DO RE ME, SO FAR SO GOOD –

– SUPPOSE YOU GIVE A FUNERAL AND NOBODY CAME –
(Not a single, but it should have been.
Brilliant title, brilliant tune)

Stream the full album on Spotify…

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CARTER USM: Story – All Albums

Goth Icons THE CURE Released Their 4th Album ‘PORNOGRAPHY’ 40 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

Back in time

4 May 2022

Band: THE CURE
Anniversary album: PORNOGRAPHY
Released: 4 May 1982 – 40 years ago today

Sounds (legendary British music weekly) said: “Despite a genuine talent still
at work, Pornography has too much music too cluttered a backing for Smith’s
well-intended observance. He seems locked in himself, a spiralling nightmare
that leaves The Cure making pompous sounding music that is, when all’s said
and done, dryly meaningless.” Score: 3/5.

Turn Up The Volume: Not good enough to be a good Cure LP.

Single/clip: The Hanging Garden

Full album stream on Spotify…

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THE CURE: Story – All Albums

New Wave Legends MODERN ENGLISH Released 2nd LP ‘AFTER THE SNOW’ 40 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

Back in time

3 May 2022

Band: MODERN ENGLISH
Who: New wave legends from Colchester, Essex, England
Active: 1979–1987, 1989–1991, 1995–present / 8 studio LPs

Anniversary album: AFTER THE SNOW
Released: 3 May 1982 – 40 years ago today

AllMusic said: “Like contemporaries B-Movie and the Sound, Modern English
used punk and post-punk roots as a chance to introduce a haunting, beautiful
take on romance and emotion, while the contributions of Stephen Walker on
keyboard helped make the album both of its time and timeless.” Score: 4/5.

Hit single…

Full album stream on Spotify…

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TOUR 2022

MODERN ENGLISH: Story – Discography

Spine-Chilling NICK CAVE And THE BAD SEEDS Album ‘HENRY’S DREAM’ Released 30 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

Back in time

27 April 2022

NICK CAVE and his BAD SEEDS released HENRY’S DREAM,
one of my favorite Seeds albums, 30 years ago today, on
29 April 1992. Their 7th longplayer.


Rolling Stone said: “Provocative – albeit harrowing – music.” Score: 4/5.

Turn Up The Volume: Every time Cave returns from a visit to the dark side of his
mind he comes up with a spine-chilling work. From macabreness (Jack The Ripper) to
emotional disturbance (Papa Won’t Leave You Henry), from melancholia (Straight To You)
to madness (Christina, The Astonishing). Nine raw diamonds. Cave is the Agatha Christie
of haunting rock. Always thriller-ing.

Singles/clips: Straight To You / I Had A Dream, Joe

– STRAIGHT TO YOU –
(Timeless classic)

– I HAD A DREAM, JOE –

You were standing in the open
Your hands to the sky
Your mouth in foam
And needles
Fell in the leaves
Finger at me
Finger at me, pointing at me

Full album on Spotifyµ

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NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS: Facebook – All albums on Spotify