Big Blasts From The Past

PATTI SMITH Released Her Masterpiece Debut Album ‘HORSES’ 48 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

Back in time

10 November 2023

Living legend PATTI SMITH (now 76) released her solid gold masterpiece
album HORSES 48 years ago today, on 10 November 1975.

Rolling Stone wrote: “From its first defiant line, “Jesus died for somebody’s sins, but not mine,” the opening shot in a bold reinvention of Van Morrison’s Sixties garage-rock classic “Gloria,” Patti Smith’s debut album was a declaration of committed mutiny, a statement of faith in the transfigurative powers of rock & roll. Horses made her the queen of punk before it even really existed, but Smith cared more for the poetry in rock. She sought the visions and passions that connected Keith Richards and Rimbaud – and found them, with the intuitive assistance of a killing band (pianist Richard Sohl, guitarist Lenny Kaye, bassist Ivan Kral and drummer Jay Dee Daugherty) and her friend Robert Mapplethorpe, who shot the stark, beautiful cover portrait.”

Patti Smith: “I had a handful of records, but when I was 11 years old,
I liked Puccini as much as Little Richard. They both made sense to me.”

HORSES


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PATTI SMITH: All Albums

THE POLICE Released Their Debut Album ‘OUTLANDOS D’AMOUR’ 45 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

2 November 2023

The iconic trio THE POLICE released their debut longplayer
OUTLANDOS D’AMOUR 45 years ago today, on 2 Nov 1978.

The working title, ‘Police Brutality,’ was changed to make is sound more
romantic. The title loosely translates as ‘Outlaws of Love’ but the term
‘Outlandos‘ is actually a mix of the words for ‘Outlaws‘ and ‘Commandos.’

BBC Music: “‘Outlandos d’Amour’ is not only the first Police album, it’s their best.
Like many great works of art, the band’s debut LP initially flopped along with the single ‘’Roxanne’’. Impoverished, they set off across America in 1978. On their return, buoyed
by favourable reviews in the states they re-released the single which soon climbed to
number 12, and also taking Outlandos d’Amour into the album charts. After that,
there was no looking back for the threesome.”

Glorious single ‘Roxanne’

ALBUM


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THE POLICE: Instagram – Bio – Discography
TUTV: Facebook – Instagram – Twitter

THE STROKES Released Their Riff-Crazy Second Album ‘ROOM ON FIRE’ 20 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Back in time

29 October 2023

New York’s jingle jangle champs THE STROKES released their
2nd LP ROOM ON FIRE 20 years ago, on 28 October 2003.

NME review: “‘Room On Fire’ is a refining and tinkering with The Strokes sound,
a carefully calibrated attempt not to fuck up too early in the face of untold temptations.
The results are still sleek, sexy and thrilling, with a tantalising promise of even better
to come.”
Score: 4.5/5


Back sleeve

TUTV says: The Strokes jumped into an empty period of guitar rock bands
and scored big time with their jingle jangle firework on their first two LPs.
Riff-crazy from start to finish.

Singles/clips: Reptilia / You Talk Way Too Much / 12.51

– REPTILIA –

– 12.51 –

– YOU TALK WAY TOO MUCH –

ALBUM


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THE STROKES: Website – Facebook – All Albums

DAVID BOWIE Released His Covers Album ‘PIN UPS’ 50 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

19 October 2023

50 years ago today, on 19th October 1973, the late genius
DAVID BOWIE released his seventh album PIN UPS.

The album, which features then supermodel Twiggy on the front sleeve, is an LP of covers, of 12 of Bowie‘s favourite songs, including tracks by Pink Floyd, The Pretty Things, The Who, The Yardbirds and The Kinks. The longplayer hit the top spot of the UK Albums Chart.

TUTV‘s favorite one.

Original from 1965 by American band The McCoys

ALBUM


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DAVID BOWIE: Facebook – All Albums


Back sleeve

THE AFGHAN WHIGS Released Their Magnum Opus ‘GENTLEMEN’ 30 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

5 October 2023

Band: THE AFGHAN WHIGS (Cincinnati, Ohio, US)
Album: GENTLEMEN – 4th longplayer
Released: 5 October 1993 – 30 years ago today

Foreword by mastermind Greg Dulli

Pitchfork wrote: “Greg Dulli sings about some fucked-up shit on the Afghan Whigs’ fourth album and major-label debut, 1993’s Gentlemen, a harrowing song cycle chronicling the death throes of a relationship… This is an album that serves as an emotional exorcism, visceral and violent, played by a band not known for its squeamishness.” Full review here.


(Brussels 2015 -pic by TUTV)

TUTV: Pitch-black sentiments, bone-chilling tunes, spellbinding orchestrations.
As a fervid Whigs fan I can listen to Gentlemen every single day (already two times
today, and it’s only noon). It’s their magnum opus (note: Black Love, 65 and last year’s
How Do You Burn? are not far away).

This time the cliché ‘no fillers, all killers‘ is 150% accurate. Every song is humanly perfect.
I’m not a big fan of artists playing an album in full live, but Gentlemen is definitely a rare one I would travel a long way for to hear it for its 48 grand minutes. Having experienced their high-powered live exploits several times, I just know it would be an unforgettable blast/night. What do you think, Mister Dulli?

Track-by-track breakdown. Back in 2014 Greg Dulli
talked to Spin about every song. Read the feature here.

Singles/clips: Debonair / Gentlemen

– DEBONAIR –

– GENTLEMEN –

ALBUM


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THE AFGHAN WHIGS: Website – Facebook – All Albums

NIRVANA – Their 3rd And Final Album ‘IN UTERO’ Came Out 30 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Back in time

21 September 2023

NIRVANA released their 3rd and final LP IN UTERO
30 years ago today, on 21 September 1993

Rolling Stone wrote: “This is the way Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain spells success: s-u-c-k-s-e-g-g-s. Never in the history of rock & roll overnight sensations has an artist, with the possible exception of John Lennon, been so emotionally overwhelmed by his sudden good fortune, despised it with such devilish vigor and exorcised his discontent on record with such bristling, bulls-eye candor… ‘In Utero’ is a lot of things — brilliant, corrosive, enraged and thoughtful, most of them all at once. But more than anything, it’s a triumph of the will.”
Score: 4.5/5 – Full review here.

Turn Up The Volume: Heart-piercing eruptions. Emotional musings.
Profound sentiments. Deeply human. Unquestionably Nirvana‘s magnum
opus to my ears.

Three highlights: All Apologies / Heart-Shaped box / Scentless Apprentice

– ALL APOLOGIES –

– HEART-SHAPED BOX –

– SCENTLESS APPRENTICE –

ALBUM


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NIRVANA: Website – Facebook – All Albums

cobain
R.I.P.

BEASTIE BOYS Topped The UK Album Charts With ‘HELLO NASTY’ 25 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

Back in time

18 July 2023

Hip-rap-hop-rock heroes BEASTIE BOYS topped the UK Albums Charts
with their 5th longplayer HELLO NASTY, on this day 25 years ago.

ROLLING STONE wrote: “Imagine a sonic mix that’s about sixty-five to seventy percent the frenetic, sample-crazy hip-hop eclecticism of Paul’s Boutique and about twenty-five to thirty percent the funk-punk fun of III Communication. The Beasties, as innovative musicians and good citizens, contribute more to the hip-hop community than a lot of MCs.”
Score: 4/5.

Singles/clips: Intergalactic / Body Movin’ / Super Disco Breakin’

– INTERGALACTIC –

– BODY MOVIN’ –

– SUPER DISCO BREAKIN’ –

ALBUM


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R.I.P. Adam Yauch / MCA

BEASTIE BOYS: Website – Facebook – All Albums

KINGS OF LEON – Sizzling Southern Rockers’ Debut Album ‘YOUTH AND YOUNG MANHOOD’ Is 20

Posted on by JL

Back in time

8 July 2023

Nashville’s rock family KINGS OF LEON started their crusade to global stardom
20 years ago – 7 July 2003 – with their debut LP YOUTH AND YOUNG MANHOOD.

It peaked at #3 in the UK but didn’t even chart in the US, but that would change quickly.

NME said: “Arriving in the poker-faced wake of The Strokes, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
and The Libertines, ‘Youth & Young Manhood’ was a breath of fresh Southern air. A gaggle
of hot-blooded 1970s throwbacks with more hair than Dolly Parton’s wig storage space, their chugging hillbilly groove wasn’t overly deep, but it was heavy with hooks, snarling personality and glorious imperfections, like Caleb’s cracked vocals on ‘Trani’ – the only track on the album to broach the five minute mark by a significant margin.”

TUTV: Good old sizzling Southern rock riffage. Their most authentic (read: before turning into major record label’s slaves), unrestrained and unbridled album to my ears and eyes (they were cooking on stage back then). Afterward, the albums’ quality became more and more mainstream and lost its original we do what we fucking want to do spirit. The big money came in. The band became a brand.

Singles/clips: Red Morning Light / Molly’s Chambers / California Waiting

– RED MORNING LIGHT –

– MOLLY’S CHAMBERS –

– CALIFORNIA WAITING –

ALBUM


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KOL: Instagram – Bio – Discography

TALKING HEADS – Second Album ‘MORE SONGS ABOUT BUILDINGS AND FOOD’ Came Out 45 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

NYC’s new-pop-wave legends TALKING HEADS released their 2nd LP
MORE SONGS ABOUT BUILDINGS AND FOOD this day 45 years ago,
on 7 July 1978.

The first of 3 albums produced by Brian Eno.

The front cover of the LP, conceived by Byrne and executed by artist Jimmy De Sana,
is a photomosaic of the band comprising 529 close-up Polaroid photographs.

Tina Weymouth (bassist) about the LP’s title: “When we were making this album I remembered this stupid discussion we had about titles for the last album. At that time
I said, “What are we gonna call an album that’s just about buildings and food?” And
Chris (drummer/husband) said, “You call it more songs about buildings and food.”

The longplayer peaked at #21 in the UK, #29 in the US, and #4 in New Zealand.

The only single was their fabulous cover of
soul giant Al Green‘s Take Me To The River.

ROLLING STONE wrote: “The eclecticism of ‘More Songs about Buildings and Food’,
its witty distillations of disco and reggae rhythms, its reconciliation of “art” and punk
rock, is masterful, The music represents a triumph over diversity, while the words spell
out defeat by disparities between mind and body, head and heart. Score: 4.5/5.

TURN UP THE VOLUME says: Mostly thanks to neurotic frontman David Byrne TH
had the genial inventivity of making alternative pop music sound fresh and hip and
totally cool. One of the most significant bands of the punk/new wave era.

ALBUM


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TALKING HEADS: Facebook – Biography – All Albums


Back sleeve

RADIOHEAD – Number 1 Album In The UK With Their Monumental Masterpiece ‘OK COMPUTER’ 26 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

Back in time

28 June 2023

Band: RADIOHEAD
Album: OK COMPUTER

Released: 21 May 1997 – their 3rd LP
Score: No 1 in the UK on
28 June 1997, today, 26 years ago.

TUTV: A 5-star classic. Glorious from start to finish.
Visionary musicianship. Hands down.

Two of the supreme tracks.

– NO SURPRISES –

– KARMA POLICE –

Full Computer


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RADIOHEAD: Facebook