Hi Ffosse. Thanks 
Night Moves is imminent actually…very imminent, plus two or three more after that too! 
Any Josh Ritter or the Jayhawks in your list? I saw you have a couple of Gene Clark and they are quite similar style country/folk/rock.
They are not unfortunately mate.
I have Josh Ritter’s Hello Starling album and just the odd one or two tracks from the Jayhawks. They are just a couple of acts I need to explore more to be honest.
So much music still to discover which is the beauty of it.
Perhaps you could recommend a couple of each from them?
Do you remember the BBC Ad from 1997
Perfect Day.
Roxy Music.I have all their records up to and including Siren,after that ,nothing.
I remember that ad very well, PS. I can’t believe it was over 20 years ago! It was for charity I think.
I’m the opposite with Roxy Music. The first one I bought was Manifesto in '79 and then the last two. I then bought a 4CD best of box set before finally getting the earlier albums. They never made a bad album on my opinion.
Ferry’s solo records were a bit hit and miss though.
A quick hi-five today:
No.334: “Document” by R.E.M. (1987)
On the independent I.R.S. label came the Greatly missed band for Georgia’s fifth studio album. After his superb indie-rock release the band went globally famous with a string of mega-selling brilliant releases. Three excellent singles and corresponding videos for you:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/6f/R.E.M._-Document.jpg/220px-R.E.M.-_Document.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=559eWB93jW4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0GFRcFm-aY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7oQEPfe-O8
No.333: “One From The Modern” by Ocean Colour Scene (1999)
This vastly underrated band from Mosely in Birmingham feature Simon Fowler on vocals and Steve Craddock on lead guitar (who is also Paul Weller’s long-term guitar maestro) and others and are a band I have been fortunate enough to see live three times, putting on a very energetic show.
No.332: “Send Away The Tigers” by Manic Street Preachers (2007)
Welsh trio the Manics followed up a couple of pretty mediocre albums with this return to form in the late noughties. The two videos I’m showing here are the invigorating ‘Autumn Song’ plus the massive near-No.1 single with The Cardigans’ Nina Persson dueting on vocals with James Dean Bradfield.
Are you ready, Ffosse?..
No.331: “Night Moves” by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band (1976)
Hot on the heels from his last appearance in my list, the great Bob Seger returns with one of his undisputed classic album, Night Moves. Couple of songs featured here. The video to the title track plus a live rendition of ‘Mainstreet’ from 1980:
No.330: “The Luxury Gap” by Heaven 17 (1983)
Sheffield’s Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh left The Human League when the band were on the cusp of releasing their blockbuster Dare and missed out on worldwide fame and success. Recruiting childhood friend Glenn Gregory as a singer (who was actually being a photographer at the time in the U.S.A. when Philip Oakey was selected as original Human league vocalist). They had their own thing going on though with the record label B.E.F. in the early eighties whereby they released some excellent dance material, notably for Tina Turner amongst others.
The band released three popular dance-pop albums until Marsh left the band in 1987 and Gregory and Ware carried on ever since. I saw the band (with Blancmange as support) last November in Hull and they were the most humorous personailties (with support from three girls on vocals and synth) that you could ever imagine. A fantastic live act.
I have found a video taken of the band on the night I saw them perform taken right from where I was standing (in the VIP area) of their classic ‘Temptation’ which I show here, the dark-haired girl being from Hull herself. Preceding that is my favourite song off the album ‘Let Me Go!’
More tomorrow folks
Not too popular a selection yesterday it seemed. let’s see if we can improve today. As my poor aching body needs a rest from work and the gym, got time for a bit of a marathon today hopefully. You wanna start with some Sabbath? Rock on…
No.329: “Paranoid” by Black Sabbath (1970)
The godfathers of doom metal, in fact very probably the originators of what we term “heavy metal”, ignoring Steppenwolf’s decription of a Harley, Ozzy, Tony, Geezer and Wardy made their gothic mark on the rock scene fully with this second release. Improving a great deal on the stodgy grunge of their first, Paranoid spawned the classic single of the same name and the band were off with their tales of devils, demons and generally dark and bad things.
No shortage whatsoever of videos on the net, so here’s a three-song feast. (If anyone wants to post the great ‘War Pigs’ too, you have my vote on that).
No.328: “Love And Dancing” by The League Unlimited Orchestra (1982)
A phrase coined from Barry White’s backing band, this album was basically a remix of the Human League’s 1981 album Dare by Martin Rushent. Employing all the technical wizardry of the day, it was a very catchy and well-received spin-off from the parent album’s key songs.
Here is side one of the album which features the b-side ‘Hard Times’, ‘Love Action’ and ‘Don’t You Want Me’ all segued together into a non-stop medley.
No.327: “Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots” by The Flaming Lips (2002)
Wayne Coyne’s fun-packed experience on record and live are the Flaming Lips, a band who have been on the scene since the mid-80’s. This album is their best IMO and features that spine-tinglingly thought-provoking track ‘Do You Realize??’ as part of the theme about robots taking over the world.
I saw this band in all their weird and wonderful glory on tour last year and from the moment a hundred huge balloons burst from the stage the show was one of the most trippy, amazing things I have ever witnessed live. I also include their tribute to David Bowie with Mr. Coyne inside his giant plastic ‘crowd ball’. That song had me in tears.
No.326: “The Bends” by Radiohead (1995)
The only album you will find by Radiohead in my list. This second album was a proper ‘guitar album’, a diversion from the basics of their first and had some quality “avant garde indie” songs on it. Everything else the band have done has left me deeply unimpressed. I can’t stand Thom Yorke’s unintelligible dirge of a vocal delivery, which is probably why I can’t abide their music in the main. Two goodies here though, and then we’ll move on to something really good.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8b/Radiohead.bends.albumart.jpg
No.325: “The Promise” by Bruce Springsteen (1978)
The Promise is a double album of outtakes and session recordings from the time of the Darkness On The Edge Of Town album Bruce was working on in 1977/78. It’s a superior recording I think, although the more compact final version is still a more complete album (and you will see it placed higher in the list). Talking of superior recordings though, I do rate the song ‘Racing In The Street’ from this album a better song than the recorded version; it has more depth and really gets into its groove. A phenomenal track. The other song I have found is a little unconnected, but it is a version of a track Bruce never committed to vinyl himself, giving it to Patti Smith instead and it became her first big hit single. ‘Because The Night’. Here is Patti, Bruce and U2 on the same stage doing that song.
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81TP96-8yDL.SY355.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEylfg0cicU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwf_6Rx8l5c
No.324: “No More Shall We Part” by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (2001)
I bet you’re getting a little tired of seeing Nick Cave in here, are you not? Almost as prolific as Neil Young, Cave dished out his albums of sadness, death, misery and woe but with their breathtakingly aching lyrics and highly musical ability to offset the distress and despair of it all. Still more to come, but for now give this beautiful song a chance:
No.323: “London Calling” by The Clash (1979)
The BIG Clash album; the one that made their name in the USA, London Calling on reflection isn’t the great album is was geared up to be at the time. I see it as a kind of ‘White Album’ thing, half brilliant/half very patchy, but it earns it’s place as my highest-placed album by the band nevertheless. Three tracks: the classic title track, the bluesy-reggae ‘Train In Vain’, plus the non-album single from the same time, the tremendous ‘Bankrobber’.
No.322: “Morrison Hotel” by The Doors (1970)
The Doors previous album The Soft Parade almost fell by the wayside so they upped their game with this release which was short on single hits but made up for it with some deeply bluesy material with strong lyrics and a band at their peak. In two distinct halves (the second side called ‘Hard Rock Cafe’), it was a fine record indeed. Here’s the lead song later covered by Status Quo.
No.321: “Psycho Candy” by The Jesus And Mary Chain (1985)
Now what a revelation this band were in the eighties. Championed by the late, great John Peel after hearing the early single ‘Inside Me’, brothers William and Jamie Reed thrust this album upon a very unsuspecting general public. It’s noise, it’s extreme feedback, it’s melodic with it and it’s a classic album.
No.320: “Sounds Of Silence” by Simon And Garfunkel (1966)
The folk duo with their third album which broke them through into the mainstream, largely due to the nature of the sublime title song. Featuring many tended ballads (the beautiful ‘Kathy’s Song’, a case in point) plus a few near-rockers with the superbly-worded ‘I Am A Rock’ this record would pave the way for Paul and Art on a long, if at times hostile career.
