No.662: “The Man Who” by Travis (1999)
Popular but rather samey in their musical attributes Scots band led by the likeable Fran Healy. This second album was the one which pushed them into the mainstream from their previous indie roots with no less than five top ten hit singles. This is the most well-known of the lot:
It did take me a while to get into it too, Nom, but I grew to like it very much after a couple of weeks.
Radical departure though I agree.
Maybe some ‘Magic Numbers’ ?
'Fraid they just didn’t manage it Longdogs.
Magic Numbers? Obviously asked in jest 
No.661: “The Zombies Begin Here” by The Zombies (1965)
From St. Albans, The Zombies were (and occasionally still are - although that may now be put on hold due to the sad death of bassist Jim Rodford Colin Blunstone with his beautifully airy vocals and Rod Argent’s keyboard skills brought some cool and classiness to the mid-60’s beat boom.
I met both members a few years ago after a concert to sign albums and found them both very genuine and accommodating people, though when I gushingly mentioned to Blunstone that I thought his vocal on The Alan Parsons Project’s ‘Old And Wise’ track was the best thing he ever did he looked at me in bewilderment. My fault for being out of my head on ale I guess!
Debut hit ‘She’s Not There’ is included on this debut release.
No.660: “Children Of The Future” by The Steve Miller Band (1968)
Guitar legend Steve Miller’s first album of psychedelic bluesy material mainly comprised old blues standard but with a smattering of some original songs too. A very competent album which led to Miller’s continued progress we see him achieving to this day.
This is a continuous play of side one of the album.
I really liked some of Miller’s later stuff ‘Keep on rockin’ me’ and ‘Abracadabra’.
No.659: “Jazz” by Queen
The thing is about Queen is that due to their massive popularity they have become the most overplayed band on UK radio. This is a very good album and the first time I saw them in my youth, but if I hear ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ again this week at work I’ll be hanging from the rafters, good song though it always is.
However, there were other goodies such as the terrifically sexist ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’ and this one which is long remembered for it’s legendary video:
Oh terrific songs, Longdogs. Rock n’ Me especially, one of my favourite Californian road songs of all-time. You may see it’s parent album a little later on…
No.658: The One" by Elton John (1990)
Into the 90’s went Fat Reg with this vary good release full of classy material.I saw him live on this tour. Key tracks are ‘When A Woman Doesn’t Want You’, ‘Simple Life’, ‘The Last Song’ (about his father’s last days) and this brilliant single:
No.657: “Stars On 45 - The Album” by StarSound (1981)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b3/Starsound_-_Stars_On_45_-_The_Album.jpg
Okay don’t laugh, I do throw one or two surprises in from time to time.
For cover bands (albeit assembled in the studio), this is a superlative “band” of artists. The brainchild of Dutch producer Jaap Eggermont, Star Sound released a number of montages of almost note-perfect renditions of our favourite acts’ music.
The first time we saw them of course was with their rather stunning Beatles interpretations. If you ignore the cheesy handclaps you would be hard pressed to differentiate between this and the real thing. They continued to have hits with medleys of Abba, Stevie Wonder, The Rolling Stones and an instrumental collection. If you have access to YouTube, check out their 60’s medley which features all those wonderful California Dreamin’ and San Francisco type songs. For now though, this is the full-length Beatles medley:
No.656: “Operation Mindcrime” by Queensryche (1988)
A couple of metal albums for you now and the first is this conceptual work by Geoff Tate’s U.S. rockers. Telling the story of a future world controlled by a maniacal dictatorship, it contains some excellent music. Lead track ‘Suite Sister Mary’:
No.655: “Ride The Lightning” by Metallica (1984)
http://images.rollingstonejapan.com/articles/25693/410x618/fa124145c18081f507d2c9b31e1ea5ae.jpg
Lars Ulrich’s Metallica really hit the ground running with this, their second album in 1984. Shunning the histrionics and poster boy image of contemporary hair metal bands, they brought heavy metal music back to the forefront and to stadium audiences.
Ride The Lightning is a thrillingly rocking album from start to finish best played extremely loud on headphones and has a couple of the band’s most famous on it; ‘For Whom The Bell Tolls’ and this slice of brilliance with it’s accompanying but harrowing video, ‘Fade To Black’:
No.654: “Tonight” by David Bowie (1984)
Following the massive success of the Nile Rogers-produced Let’s Dance album of 1983, David Bowie’s next released was unfairly dismissed by most as a rushed cash-in. I disagree. While there are a couple of stinkers on the album (his version of ‘God Only Knows’ is excrutiatingly awful), tracks like Iggy Pop’s ‘Neighbourhood Threat’ and the title track duet with woman-of-the-moment Tina Turner were really good. This is of course the first hit from the album:
No.653: “An End Has A Start” by Editors (2007)
One of the great English bands of the new millennium, Editors despite numerous line-up changes have released a succession of well crafted albums. This second release features this big hit single:
Last one today:
No.652: “Kick” by INXS (1987)
Australian megastars INXS and their tour de force of an album from 1987. Michael Hutchence’s combo released no less than seven singles from this wonderfully upbeat rock-pop classic including ‘Need You Tonight’, ‘Mystify’, ‘New Sensation’, ‘Devil Inside’ and this one:
Thanks for Editors.They have a Joy Division feel about them I think.
All new to me. We miss a lot of UK bands down here in the bush.
I would have had this in the top 200 for sure.
A great live band too. Saw them finish their show with Fran Healey singing an acoustic encore of Flowers in The Window …no electric, no lights , the rest of the band off stage and Healey getting the audience to all sing the chorus whilst he played the guitar and sang the verses …Goosebumps it was so powerful and yet so stripped back.
Love the Editors too, never get tired of listening to them!
Hopefully there will some more ‘new names’ for you soon, PS. There’s so much out there and 90’s indie perhaps didn’t transfer too well overseas…
Thanks lads 
The Man Who is the only Travis album I bought. Good album, great singles from it but I don’t think they have diversified very much in over twenty years. Tried and tested formula - why change it I suppose?
Saw Editors on the ‘The Weight Of Your Love’ album tour about four years ago in Leeds and thought they were great live. I have all their albums…two more to come in here yet.
And yes, very Joy Division influenced.
I’ll put another couple of their videos from this album on here tomorrow before we continue.
Found a few minutes in my tea break for two more editors tracks from the above Editors album. Firstly, ‘The Racing Rats’ followed by the album’s title track:
Two more Editors albums to come incidentally 
