Big Blasts From The Past

Remember When PETER FRAMPTON Came Alive? It’s 50 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

15 January 2026

PETER FRAMPTON was only 16 when he was a member of British
pop band The Herd (1965-69), who scored a couple of top 10 hits
in the UK.

Afterward, he formed, along with Small Faces‘ frontman, the late Steve Marriott,
a group named Humple Pie (1969-1975). Frampton already left in 1971 and went
solo, but also worked, in between, with rock stars such as David Bowie, Bill Wyman
and Ringo Starr.

On 15 January 1976, today 50 years ago, he released his most successful LP,
a double one, in his career with PETER FRAMPTON COMES ALIVE!

It debuted on the charts at No. 191. Only weeks later, it reached No. 1 in the US, spending 10 non-consecutive weeks in the top spot. It was the best-selling album of 1976 and has sold over 8,000,000 copies in the United States.

AllMusic/Bruce Eder: “At the time of its release, Frampton Comes Alive! was an anomaly,
a multi-million-selling (mid-priced) double LP by an artist who had previously never burned
up the charts with his long-players in any spectacular way. The biggest-selling live album of
all time, it made Peter Frampton a household word.”

Peter Frampton: “I’m very aware that when I kick the bucket, the first paragraph will be,
‘The man responsible for Frampton Comes Alive! just dropped dead, after coming alive all
these years.'”

Frampton showed millions of screaming girls the way.

ALBUM

Instagram – Linktree – Short Bio – All Solo Albums

OASIS – Their Millionseller Album ‘(WHAT’S THE STORY) MORNING GLORY’ Topped UK Charts This Day 30 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

14 January 2026

Manchester‘s giants OASIS topped the UK Charts with their
2nd LP, millionseller (WHAT’S THE STORY) MORNING GLORY? .

The record jumped to No. 1 on 14 January 1996, today 30 years ago,
for 10 weeks. The album sold a record breaking 345,000 copies in
its first week and stayed in the charts for a phenomenal 145 weeks.

It also led to the band’s breakthrough in the US, reaching #4
on the Billboard 200 and being certified 4× platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Rolling Stone Magazine wrote: “What’s the Story is more than a natural
progression, it’s a bold leap forward that displays significant musical and
personal growth. Tension and instability have been inherent traits of great
rock teams. For Oasis, the addition of shared genes gives their songs extra
impact and dimension.”

TUTV: I saw Oasis 28 times (so far), including
Wembley Stadion, London, on August 3. I guess
I’m a fan.


Oasis, Wembley London, August 3rd – Photo by Turn Up The Volume

Noel Gallagher: “Those songs are just a privilege to be a part of. It’s like when
you do great gigs, you come off stage and say well it was a privilege to be at that
gig, regardless of my part in it. ‘Wonderwall’, ‘Don’t Look Back’ and ‘Champagne
Supernova’ when I play them sometimes I think ‘wow it is a privilege to be a part
of this.”

Liam Gallagher at the time: “Without my voice he’d still be ironing
Clint Boons knickers.” A reference to Noel’s past as a roadie for Inspiral Carpets.

SINGLES: Some Might Say / Wonderwall /
Don’t Look Back In Anger / Champagne Supernova

– SOME MIGHT SAY –

– WONDERWALL –

– DON’T LOOK BACK IN ANGER –

– CHAMPAGNE SUPERNOVA –

ALBUM

Instagram – Linktree – All Albums

JANIS JOPLIN – The Late Great Voice Had Her ‘PEARL’ Album Out 55 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from the past

11 January 2026

The late great voice and charismatic performer JANIS JOPLIN
(January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) had her second and final
solo LP, named PEARL, out on 11 January 1971, today 55 years ago,
3 months after she passed away following a drug overdose.

The LP went to No. 1 in the US and #20 in the UK.

Pearl features the number one hit ‘Me and Bobby McGee’, written by Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster (Joplin played acoustic guitar on this track); ‘Trust Me’ by Bobby Womack, Howard Tate wrote ‘Get It While You Can’. ‘Move Over‘ and ‘Mercedes Benz‘, the latter co-written by Joplin, Bobby Neuwirth, and Michael McClure.

Rolling Stone: “Pearl is a good record and Janis is often magnificent. The voice cut off was clearly in its prime. I suspect that some of the tracks are not in their final shape, but these are not scraps, and there is every indication that Janis was working toward a new maturity and confidence.”

Janis Joplin: “I’m one of those regular weird people.”

TUTV: That voice! A pearl of a record! Janis 4ever!

– SINGLE –

– ALBUM –

Short Bio

DAVID BOWIE Released His Final Album ‘BLACKSTAR’ This Day 9 Years Ago On His 69th Birthday

Posted on by JL

Back in time

8 January 2026

The late genius released his 26th and final album BLACKSTAR, stylised as ★,
on 8 January 2016, today, 10 years ago, on his 69th birthday. Two days later,
David Bowie passed away due to cancer.

The LP was recorded secretly in New York City with his longtime
co-producer Tony Visconti, and a group of local jazz musicians.

The artwork for Blackstar was designed by Jonathan Barnbrook, who
was also the artist who came up with the covers of other Bowie LPs.
Heathen (2002), Reality (2003) and The Next Day (2013). The cover’s
star image is credited to NASA in the CD booklet.

The record topped the charts in almost every country worldwide.

Pitchfork wrote (on Jan 7th, 2016): “Blackstar has David Bowie embracing his status
as a no-fucks icon, clutching onto remnants from the past as exploratory jazz and the
echos of various mad men soundtrack his freefall. This tortured immortality is no gimmick: Bowie will live on long after the man has died. For now, though, he’s making the most of his latest reawakening, adding to the myth while the myth is his to hold.” Full review here

Still goosebumps when listening to this stunning opus.

SINGLE

ALBUM


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Linktree – All Albums

BLACK SABBATH Released Their 2nd LP ‘PARANOID’ In The US 55 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

7 January 2026

Metal pioneers BLACK SABBATH released their 2nd LP, titled
PARANOID in the US, this day 55 years ago, on 7 January 1971.

The longplayer was originally titled War Pigs, but the record company allegedly
changed it out of fear of a backlash from supporters of the ongoing Vietnam War.

The front cover, with the original title in mind, was designed and shot by Keith McMillan
in Black Park, Buckinghamshire. His assistant, Roger Brown, was the weirdo with the sword. It was a choice by Vertigo Records with the potential visual and commercial impact in mind, and was designed by Tony Iommi.

Ozzy: “What the fuck does a bloke dressed as a pig with a sword in his hand
got to do with being paranoid, I don’t know, but they decided to change the
album title without changing the artwork.”

It featured 3 of their epic hammers, Paranoid,
War Pigs (highly relevant again) and Iron Man.

The LP peaked at #4 in the UK and hit the top spot in the US.

Rolling Stone Magazine said in a retrospective review: “Sabbath ruled for bummed-out
kids in the Seventies, and nearly every heavy-metal and extreme rock band of the last three decades, including Metallica, Nirvana and Slipknot, owes a debt of worship to Iommi’s crushing” guitar riffs, Ward and Butler’s visigoth rhythm section and Osbourne’s agonized bray.”

TITLE TRACK
More than 1,542 billion
streams on Spotify.

Geezer Butler: “‘Paranoid’ was about depression, because I didn’t really know the difference between depression and paranoia. It’s a drug thing; when you’re smoking a joint you get totally paranoid about people, you can’t relate to people. There’s that crossover between the paranoia you get when you’re smoking dope and the depression afterwards.”

ALBUM


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Bio – All Albums

BOB DYLAN Released His 17th LP ‘DESIRE’ 50 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from the past

5 January 2026

Living, 84-year-old, singer-songwriter icon BOB DYLAN released one of his
best longplayers in his illustrious career, with DESIRE, on 5 January 1976,
today 50 years ago.

Seven of the songs were co-written with Jacques Levy.

It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart for five weeks, becoming
one of his best-selling LPs, and was certified double Platinum. It reached
No. 3 in the UK.

It’s one of Dylan‘s most collaborative efforts, featuring the same caravan of
musicians as the acclaimed Rolling Thunder Revue tours the previous year.


Back sleeve

Rolling Stone said: “Love songs aren’t the focus of Desire, which is one of the things
that differentiates it from Dylan‘s other post-rock work. On the best songs, he returns
to the fantastic images, weird characters and absurdist landscapes of the Sixties.”

The record opened with the single Hurricane.

A song about the imprisonment of boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter (1937–2014).
It describes acts of racism and profiling against Carter, which led to a flawed trial
and a murder conviction that was eventually overturned.

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ALBUM


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Instagram – Website – All Albums

EMMYLOU HARRIS – Country Shero Released Her Third Album ‘ELITE HOTEL’ Today 50 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

29 December 2025

Country shero EMMYLOU HARRIS (aged 78 now) released
her classic third LP ELITE HOTEL on 29 December 1975,
today 50 years ago.

It topped the US Country Albums Chart.

AllMusic said in retrospective review: “In addition to the usual eclectic mix
of covers — which includes the Beatles’ “Here, There and Everywhere” and Hank
Williams’ “Jambalaya” this time out — Elite Hotel offers renditions of the country
perennials “Together Again” and “Sweet Dreams,” which were, respectively, Harris’
first two number one chart hits.”

The album featured her first 2 No. 1 singles. Together Again and Sweet Dreams.

ALBUM


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Still touring.

UK/Europe 2026

Bio – Discography – Instagram

PARLIAMENT Released Their Classic LP ‘MOTHERSHIP CONNECTION’ Today 50 Years Ago

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

15 December 2025

PARLIAMENT was a musical team formed in 1968 by colorful
funk icon George Clinton (aged 84 now), as a flagship act of
his P-Funk collective.

Clinton is regarded, along with James Brown and Sly Stone, as one of the foremost innovators of funk music. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, alongside 15 other members of Parliament-Funkadelic. In 2019, he and Parliament-Funkadelic were given Grammy Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Today 50 years ago, on 15 December 1975, Parliament
released their 4th LP, titled MOTHERSHIP CONNECTION.

Clinton: “We had put black people in situations nobody ever thought they would be in,
like the White House. I figured another place you wouldn’t think black people would be
was in outer space.

I was a big fan of Star Trek, so we did a thing with a pimp sitting in a spaceship shaped like a Cadillac, and we did all these James Brown-type grooves, but with street talk and ghetto slang.”

Rolling Stone Magazine wrote: “It’s a parody of modern funk. Unlike the Ohio Players or Commodores, the group refuses to play it straight. Instead, Clinton spews his jive, conceived from some cosmic funk vision.”

SINGLE

ALBUM


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Instagram – All Albums

THE CLASH Released Triple Album ‘SANDINISTA!’ 45 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

12 December 2025

Punk icons THE CLASH released their 4th LP, a triple one, called
SANDINISTA! today 45 years ago, on 12 December 1980.

#19 in the UK, #24 in the US, #3 in Canada

The longplayer(s) crossed various genres including funk, reggae, jazz, gospel, rockabilly, folk, dub, rhythm and blues, calypso, disco, and rap. For the first time, the band’s songs were credited to The Clash as a group, rather than to Joe Strummer and Mick Jones.

The band agreed to a decrease in album royalties
in order to release the 3-LP at a low price.

Rolling Stone said: “The Clash drop the big one.
To hell with Clash style, there’s a world out there.”

Mick Jones: “I always saw it as a record for people who were, like, on oil rigs.
Or Arctic stations. People that weren’t able to get to the record shops regularly.”

Joe Strummer: “It was triply outrageous”.

KEY SINGLE

ALBUM


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All Albums

JOHN LENNON/PLASTIC ONO BAND Released Their Debut LP 55 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

Significant longplayers from the past

11 December 2025

JOHN LENNON had his first solo LP, following the split of The Beatles out today 55 years ago, on 11 December 1970. The album was credited to John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.

It went to #8 in the UK, #6 in the US,
#1 in Japan, Canada, and the Netherlands.

Co-produced by Lennon, Ono, and Phil Spector the record contains a largely raw
production sound with songs heavily influenced by Lennon‘s recent primal therapy.
Its lyrics reflect Lennon‘s personal issues and include themes of child-parent
abandonment and psychological suffering.

Creem (legendary American rock magazine said: “It’s totally enthralling to see
that Lennon has once again unified, to some degree, his life and his music into a
truly whole statement”

John Lennon: “You’re just left with yourself all the time, whatever you do anyway.
You’ve got to get down to your own God in your own temple. It’s all down to you,
mate.”

Yoko Ono: “My husband John Lennon was a very special man. A man of humble
origin, he brought light and hope to the whole world with his words and music.”

Turn Up The Volume: Lennon always was my favourite Beatle – the rocker,
the big mouth, the challenger, the dreamer, the maverick, the misfit, the open
minded musician/human – and this solo debut is his best post-Beatles work.

Singles.

– MOTHER –

– WORKING CLASS HERO –

ALBUM


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All LENNON Albums