Yeah,
Two brilliant Quo tracks - always loved them both and saw both Live.
Wow, I can’t keep up with you bud. I thought I’d mixed up my Quo post for a minute there somehow, but it was your quote!
I saw Quo once in 1984. End Of The Road tour.
I had never heard of this band until my English girlfriend told me about them many years ago. Wonder if they were primarily known in Britain?
No.426: “Songs Of Leonard Cohen” by Leonard Cohen (1967)
Debut album from ‘Laughing Len’ for bedsitters in the late 1960’s everywhere. Deep, morose, depressing but in a remarkable enticing manner, Cohen was highly regarded for his craft however miserable he sounded. The track featured here is about one of his muses…
Last time I saw them was about 16 years ago in Portsmouth.
We got there early, so were right at the front and as close to the band as you’d get.
The wife had never seen a famous band live before, so was kinda watching with a plain face and open mouth. Between one of the tracks, the bass guitarist looked at her and told her to cheer up and get rockin’…
Ho Bobby 
They probably were, bud. They have that quintessential English vibe about them that perhaps never transpired too happily to American ears I dunno.
Bit like The Kinks, or Madness later on. All London bands, so it may have something to do with the accents. Perhaps you guys understand the Liverpool Scouse tones more…
Haha fantastic.
One of THE great live bands ever I think, with a massive Quo Army following.
I had no idea this was coming up next, but talking of The Kinks…
No.425: “The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society” by The Kinks (1968)
One of the Kinks’ most popular albums, this came out recently as a 3CD box set with loads of extra stuff in it. For now though, here’s a taster of the title song:
Lol. Ya, maybe.
No.424: “Happy Families” by Blancmange (1982)
Remember this band? Neil Arthur and Steven Luscombe were a popular hit-making duo from the early 80’s who specialised in highly danceable electronic music with a very humorous twist.
I saw the band last year supporting Heaven 17 in Hull and it’s basically just Neil Arthur now with some backing singers, but what a droll, dry chap he is. A fantastic night out which was all the more entertaining when Heaven 17 came on stage.
No.423: “Travelogue” by The Human League (1980)
Early Human League one year before the massive success of Dare and ‘Don’t You Want Me’ (and adding the two girls) catapulted the band to worldwide acclaim. Travelogue was the band’s second album and included this updated version of their very first 1978 single, ‘Being Boiled’.
I’ll have to leave you with this tonight folks. Thanks for tuning in
No.422: “Workingman’s Dead” by The Grateful Dead (1970)
Jerry Garcia and the stoner hippy gang with one of three albums they churned out in 1970, Workingman’s Dead. Somehow, YouTube are a little thrifty with their official videos of this band, but I did find this live clip from this year:
I missed out on a piece of pop music history.I had a ticket for the Kinks gig when Avory hit Dave Davies over the head with the drum stand, but got the flu.
They are in my list of top groups but their early records were so different.Apparently Ray said he wanted to write songs his father liked, so they changed.(This could be just a rumour)
Nice to see a few of the early 80`synth bands any BEF to come ?
I didn’t know about that event, PS. Lots of in-fighting with The Kinks over the years.
One of the true greats of British songwriting is Ray Davies. I like his solo albums too - Working Man’s Cafe is especially good.
Morning Nom.
Heaven 17 yes. Couple from them, one not too far off actually.
With some time to kill whilst my car is in for its service, therefore housebound, we’ll have an early session with the chart…
No.421: “Jagged” by Gary Numan (2006)
You can probably tell by now that I am something of a Gary Numan fan, with several albums mentioned already. Jagged was his first album for five years after spending some 20 or so uncharacteristic years delving into dance-type music which didn’t particularly gel with his audience. A couple of his early 90’s albums were particularly dire. This album was a comeback of sorts to his early experimental electronic style but by now Numan had ditched the ‘all-synth’ sound and employed a permanent rock band (with real drums!) and this style continues today - more about that later though.
No.420: “Magic” by Bruce Springsteen (2007)
Archetypal Broooce with his late noughties record supported by a two-year world tour (I saw him on the Manchester Old Trafford date), and with all the ingredients for classic songs present, together with the E Street Band always in top form, nothing could fail on this release. Springsteen at his best.
No.419: “Young Americans” by David Bowie (1975)
I think we’ve had around eight Bowie albums (out of 23!) so far and Young Americans was a massive departure from the previous year’s Diamond Dogs. That was what made this icon such a valued talent, his ability to change with the times…or actually be able to see into the future and get there first, letting others follow in his wake.
Young Americans really divided people. The older Glam school of people hated it with a vengeance, whilst America really took to it as it fitted in so well with the mid-70’s soul scene at the time over there. I have mixed views. Some tracks I’m not too fond of (his version of The Beatles ‘Across The Universe’ is a strange choice on here), but the really funky stuff such as his first U.S. No.1 single ‘Fame’ is awesome. Whatever we thought, it paved the way for a further transition coming a year later with The Man Who Fell To Earth coupled with an absolute belter in Station To Station - but we shall talk about that one later (much later).
No.418: “On Air” by Alan Parsons (1996)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/1b/On_Air_(Alan_Parsons_album_-_cover_art).jpg/220px-On_Air_(Alan_Parsons_album_-_cover_art).jpghttps://i.pinimg.com/236x/54/76/54/54765424ea552cca898972f067ff4b90--alan-parsons-cd-art.jpg
A decade since he ditched his “Project” and went solo (despite still featuring most of his studio session musicians), Parsons was still massively popular all over the world except in his native UK which must have irritated the hell out of him over the years. But despite that, he was always very well respected for his production skills and this conceptual work proved that all of this was still very much intact. Two songs here: Blue Blue Sky part 2, with vocals by 10CC’s Eric Stewart, plus a heart-wrenching ballad called ‘Brother Up In Heaven’.
